I am so excited that it’s time to  start sprucing up the patio! Or as we like to call it the “partio” . Although believe me, there is no partying going on! But it sure sounds more fun.

We bought this buffet from a local big box store.

It’s actually a tool box/ workbench for the garage, but It’s perfect for an outdoor buffet.

Even though it’s under the covered patio pergola, since it’s metal I don’t have to worry about it being in the elements.

I found this lantern at a local store for a steal.

To say that I was beyond excited was an understatement as I have been looking high and low for outdoor decor.

The pickins are slim this year.

I put it out on the buffet and quickly realized that it just blended in.

You couldn’t see it at all.

So, I painted it white.

Then distressed it a little so that the brown would lightly show through.

Now I needed something to go in my lantern.

I could do an outdoor candle, however to get one big enough the cost was astronomical.

So I decided to put a colorful flower pot in it.

I painted this terra cotta pot.

Then sealed it with a couple of coats of triple thick.

Then it was time for the fun part.

The decorating!

I put out my new lantern and painted flower pot.

On the opposite end of the buffet, I added a few other decor items.

Since this is near the pool, I added a fun metal piece to hold my sunscreen.

I think that it is suppose to hold silverware, but it works perfectly for the sunscreen too.

I plan on putting a large shelf or mantle over the buffet in the future, however that won’t be happening anytime soon.

But the big, blank wall bare was bugging me.

The solution?

These wood and metal candle holders.

While not perfect for this spot, they complete the decor of buffet area.

This buffet is going to be perfect to serve from this summer at family dinners, BBQ’s and swim parties.

Sprucing up the patio is so much fun, especially since we live on the patio in the summer.

I can’t wait to finish the rest of the patio.

Until next time…

                                                            PIN for later!

I’ve been sprucing up the front porch over the last month or so. Lots of projects to keep me busy for sure. I added some pretty black and white striped cushions to my bench and chairs. Almost immediately I knew that I wanted some hot pink throw pillows added to them for some color. Except I couldn’t find hot pink pillows that were the color, fabric, or price range I wanted. It quickly became apparent that I was going to be making them. So today I’m sharing how to make outdoor throw pillows on a budget!

Here’s what you will need:
Napkins  18 x18″ , 2 per pillow
Pillow form 16 x 16″
Sewing Machine
Thread
Pins
Scissors
Scotchgard

First of all, this project is so easy it’s almost ridiculous, and using the same steps below, you could make these a no sew project. Just use a heat n bond type tape or fabric glue! I found my napkins here.

They had a 12 pack of 18 x 18, 100% cotton napkins  for $17.81 Which would make each napkin $`1.48. You will need two napkins so we multiply the $1.48 x 2 = $2.96

Step 1:

Wash and iron your napkin. Once that is done, lay napkins right side out, one on top of the other. Pin all the way around leaving a 6 – 8 inch opening.

Step 2:

Sew along the previously sewn hem line all the way around the napkins, leaving a 6 to 8 inch opening for the pillow to be inserted through. If you miss sewing along the hem line perfectly, no worries. You won’t see it when it’s done.

Step 3:

Remove the pins. Stuff your pillow form into the opening. I found my pillow forms here, each cost me $4.74. The pillow forms cost Make sure the pillows forms corners fill the corners of the pillow cover and that the pillow form is evenly distributed.

Step 4:

Once you have your pillow form inserted into the pillow cover, at the 6 -8 inch opening put the outer edges of the pillow cover together and pin. Make sure that your pillow is not in the opening! Sew the opening shut.

Step 5:

Once I had made all of my pillows, it was time to Scotchgard them. Following the directions on the can, I gave each pillow a solid coat of Scotchgard on both sides.

Let completely dry.

I placed mine outside on a table to dry.  As my  young niece would say “ooohhhh, stinky!”

LOL

It will definitely fill your house with that chemical smell!

Step 6:

Put them outside! Total time to make? I have to say that the sewing part of my pillows took me around 1 hour. Not bad at all. Waiting for the Scotchgard to dry took the longest in this process. Probably a half of a day.

Cost? The napkins per pillow were $2.96. The pillow forms per pillow were $4.74. The Scotchgard I had on hand, however you can buy this at any grocery or big box store for around $6.00 per can. My can was almost new when I started and I would say I used about 1/2 of a can for all of my pillows. So estimated cost: $3.00. So .75 per pillow. Total cost per pillow: $8.18!

I can honestly say that’s how to make an outdoor throw pillow on a budget!

Until next time….

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Welcome to our Knock-Off Challenge. If you are coming from CD’s Country living, I am so glad that you are here! Every Month our fearless leader Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip gives us a  decorating challenge.

This month Terrie also asked if we would like to participate in a Knock Off challenge.

YES!

You know, when you see something you love, but it’s out of your budget or you think to yourself, “I could make that!” We’ve all been there. Well, that’s what happened to me.

Today I’m sharing how to make a HOME sign.

I saw this “HOME” sign at my local grocery store’s gift isle right before easter. And immediately fell in love with it. It’s part of The Round Top Collection, which is one of my favorite.

In the space where the O should be there is a small hook where you place a piece of art called a charm.

So cute!

However, the board itself was over $55.00. Not terribly priced, but I paint wooden signs a lot and knew I cold make this one for a few dollars, if not for  free.

Charms can be square pieces of art or wooden cut outs like the bunny you see here. They make just about every theme you can imagine. Bats, Christmas trees, candy corn, American flags, hearts, flowers, four leaf clovers….

If you can think of it, they probably have it. My favorite place to buy the charms is online from Miss Cayce’s Wonderland in Lubbock, TX.

You can also buy them here.

We had an old oak stair tread left over from our stair makeover at our last house.

The Hubs removed the bullnose portion and I had the exact size of board for my home sign.

Since my home sign was going to be on my covered front porch, I decided to paint my board with the same paint that I used on my front door.

I love Modern Masters front door paint because it doesn’t fade, dries quickly and goes on smoothly!

After my paint dried it was time to add the lettering.

I searched my fonts on my computer until I found a similar block lettering like the original.

Once I found it, I printed off the letters from my computer.

I used white transfer paper to put the lettering onto my board.

Simply lay out your letters that you printed off, then slid the transfer paper underneath.

I like to tape the top layer down so that there is no movement when tracing the letters.

Trace your letters with a stylus and this is the end result.

Once you have transferred your letters to the board it’s simply a matter of painting them!

Once your painted letters have completely dried, it’s time to distress your board.

I sanded over the entire board, letters included.

How distressed you make your board is up to you!

I like to use 220 grit sandpaper for this step.

After I distressed my sign, I gave it a good coat of poly to protect it.

I looked high and low for a simple black hook to hold my charms just like the original sign, but no luck.

So I decided to go in a different direction.

I had a bunch of old key hole covers in my stash and thought that they would be a pretty background to a simple cup hook.

Both of those together created a pretty hook for the charms.

I painted both of these gold.

Here’s my finished HOME sign.

I couldn’t be happier.

And guess what?

Since I already had everything that I used it cost me nothing.

My kind of project!

These signs were so easy to make and I loved them so much that I made a few for birthday gifts.

I made the signs and ordered the charms from Miss Cayce’s.

Remember, if you love it, be sure to PIN it!

Happy Mother’s Day and Welcome to $10 on the 10th!  Each month a few blogger friends and I get together on the 10th and share ideas for under $10. This month our theme is Upcycled or Recycled. Which is right up my alley!

I love it when I’m able to use bits and pieces of other left over projects to create something useful. Today I’m sharing my Recycled Pool Towel Rack.

We are in the process of putting in a pool here at the Castle. Which means that we’ve had to put in a new fence mandated by our HOA. The Hubs decided to build the fence himself, board by board. So we had quite a few 2 x 4  cedar wood scraps left over. They were perfect for what I had in mind. Which was to make a towel rack for the pool area!

Here was the plan. I knew I wanted to make a 40″ x 12″ rack, painted in blues and browns. Lots of distressing, but very colorful. But then I realize that it really wouldn’t match anything that I planned to do in the backyard. So, I went to plan 2.

The size was still going to be 40″ x 12″, however the colors changed. I pulled the spa tile sample and chose all of the blues in it to paint my towel rack.

Now, it made sense! 

So here’s how we made it. The boards were a little thick for what I wanted. The Hubs was kind enough to to cut them in half for me.

After The Hubs gave each board a good sanding, they were ready for paint!

Using the tile samples, I chose 5 different paint colors.

I painted the 9 boards 4 different colors of blue, then painted the cross braces navy.

Once the boards were all painted, I gave each several coats of clear poly spray paint.

I know that it may be over kill, however since this towel rack was going to be outside it needed a protective top coat.

Next, we put the towel rack together using waterproof wood glue and a nail gun.

I found these hooks and bought a set of 5 for $6.81 which includes the shipping and tax.

I attached the hooks to every other board. Since we had 9 boards, this allowed me to put one on each end, as well as a few in the middle, leaving plenty of room for towels. Each hook has two arms, so the rack will hold a total of ten towels.

Perfect for when we have the family over to swim.

Once we were finished putting the towel rack together, the holes for the nails really bothered me. Not the look I was going for. At. All. So I filled them with a little wood filler. Repainted each board and gave it a couple of coats of a  poly top coat.

Ta Daaaa!

My recycled pool towel rack is ready for the swimming to begin. Total cost was $6.81 as I  already had the paint, scrap lumber, poly, and wood filler.

Now, If only the pool and backyard were as easy to finish up as building the towel rack was!

Please join me in visiting my blogger friends and see what recycled or upcycled items they are sharing today!

Decorate and More With Tip

The Apple Street Cottage

Pandora’s Box

At Home With Jemma

The House House

Blue Sky At Home

French Ethereal

Let’s Add Sprinkles

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Let’s get this straight. I am no expert gardener by any means. However, over the years I’ve learned what works for me. And what doesn’t. A lot of what I know comes from trial and error. Anybody out there in the same boat? So in case you might be a new gardener, or maybe a frustrated one, I thought that I might share a few of my tried and true container gardening tips with you!

Always start with great soil. I learned a long time ago to start with a great foundation.

My flowers always thank me!

Miracle Gro Potting mix (not an affiliate) is my go to every time. And, once I get the flowers potted, I fertilize them every two weeks with plant food.

It makes a HUGE difference.

Soil is heavy, so if I’m planting in a large pot, I always put something in the bottom of the pot to take up a little room, like cut up pool noodles.

I fill up my pot about 1/3 of the way, then put potting soil on top. The pool noodles don’t absorb moisture and are light weight. This saves on the cost of soil and makes it easier to move the pot for cleaning.

Thriller, filler and spiller.

The perfect trifecta for planting arrangements. Ever heard of this? If not, it’s a simple reminder of one way to plant your flowers for maximum wow factor. The thriller part of the equation is a plant that you would put in the back or the middle of your planter.

A thriller ( see #1) is a plant that is going to be taller than the rest. It will also be “showy”. I like to use grasses and tall wavy, flowing plants for thrillers.

A filler ( #2) is exactly what it says it is. A plant that fills up the middle space. I like to use medium flowering plants in this area.

Geraniums, Periwinkles, Abelia, and Daisies are some of my go to’s.

As you can see here, I have a tall grass for my thriller. And Geraniums, Periwinkles and Abelia for my filler.

Now I just need to add my spiller.

And finally, the spiller. ( #3) A spiller is planted in the very front or on the edge of your planter. I like to use colorful trailing plants or frilly ferns here.

Some I like to use are Air Ferns, Creeping Jenny and Sweet Potato Vines.

As you can see here, I have all three – a thriller, a filler and  a spiller- in this pot..

Don’t pass up buying discounted plants. I was at the grocery store and these geraniums were on Sale for $1.99. They regularly sell for $5.99.

Why?

I checked them over and they had no disease. They were just a little windblown and need to be put on a pot.

I simply cut off any dead leaves or spent flowers, put them in a pot and gave them a little food. As you can see, they are doing beautifully and are about to flower like crazy!

Which brings me to my next tip.

Dead head.

Always remove spent flowers. That way your plant can focus on growing healthy leaves and new flowers.

I always use the Thriller, filler and spiller rule of thumb with a couple of exceptions. The first being mass plantings. Sometimes, the planter just calls for one massive group of one flower.

Like this one.

All of those bright pinky red geraniums look fantastic against that dark metal planter!

The second reason I use only one type of flower is when you are using a small planter and there just isn’t any room.

Other than that I almost always use the trifecta.

My container gardening tips are pretty basic, but if I adhere to those tips I always have good luck with my  container plants.

 I hope these tips help you too!

Until next time…

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 It’s time for April’s DIY Challenge. Can you believe that it is already April?  Our challenge this month is Grapevine Wreath Inspiration.

I want to give Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip a huge shout out for hosting the DIY Challenge. I love that each month she puts out a fun, creative challenge that makes me stretch my creativity.

Yay, Terrie!

If you are coming here from Through A Vintage Door, Welcome!!!

Now, on to the challenge!

The rules of this months challenge were simple. Take a grapevine wreath, any shape or size, and create something fabulous! No pressure there! lol!

The first thing I did was to determine my color palate. Since I recently painted my front doors black, I thought that I’d stay in the neutral zone. After checking out my craft closet, I came up with these pretty ribbons. Black and white check, a neutral ribbon with a gold beaded trim and raffia.

For greenery, I used some eucalyptus garland that I already had. I simply cut 6 inch sections off of the garland, then hot glued them to the wreath.

Next, I wanted to make a small welcome sign out of wood to put in the middle of my wreath.

One small problem, I didn’t have the correct size of wood. However, I did find several blind slats that we had removed from our living room blinds when we installed them.

 The blinds have these notches where the blind strings go. Fortunately for me the middle sections were the perfect size to make a small sign!

Using a small miter saw I cut the excess wood off, using the notches as a guide.

Now that I had my faux wooden sign for my wreath, I needed to put my wording on it. I could have just hand painted welcome on it, but thought that it would look better if I used vinyl. I designed and cut out my welcome using my Silhouette. If you don’t want to hand paint and don’t have a vinyl cutting machine, you could always use a stencil for this part of the project. 

Once my Welcome was cut out, I simply  applied it to my faux wooden board.

With my sign ready to go, I hot glued it to my grapevine wreath! After that was done, I made a bow from my ribbon and glued it to the wreath also. For the life of me, I thought I took a picture of this step. But, no! Serioysly? For the love!

This is what my wreath looks like finished.

I think its the perfect addition to newly painted front door!

I love how simple and clean it looks, as well as how easy it was to put together. I don’t think my wreath took more than an hour from start to finish to complete. And, while I didn’t intend to do this, I used everything I had on hand. So my wreath cost my nothing!

Next on the hop is Paula from Sew Sassy!  Please hop on over and check out her beautiful wreath and when you are done join me in visiting the other talented DIYers.

It’s day ? – who knows how many – of quarantine. Sorry, I’ve lost count. Some days I’m not even sure what day of the week it is. I’m trying to watch just enough news to keep up on the issue, but not enough to depress me even more than I already am. I’m trying to stay busy, finish up old unfinished projects and plan new ones. Which is proving harder by the minute, since all my favorite stores are closed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m all for social distancing and hope that you are too! It’s just that supplies for projects are getting harder to find than a unicorn on the moon. Because of that I’m finding that my days are filled with a little of this, a little of that.

I pulled out all of my Easter decor and started to do a little decorating. This poor bunny wreath was a hot mess.

So I fluffed her fur, gave her ears a facelift and made her a new bow. Now she’s ready to rock the front door!

I love this bright turquoise color this yea.

It’s just so happy!

Plus, this ribbon may possibly be my favorite ever. It has tiny poms on the edges.

So cute.

I found the red and white version last year at Hobby Lobby and loved it as well. Today I was surfing a blog that I love and she was sharing a darker blue version of it.

LOVE!

Must have… some day.

I’ve even done a few Easter crafts, which I hope to be sharing with you soon. If you look super closely at this picture you might even see some packed boxes.

From last October.

I know, but I’m waiting on The Hubs to build shelving for that room, as the boxes are full of books. The Hubs is waiting for them to start our pool so that the fence can be built so that we can put in a shed. Because there are boxes in the garage in front of the saws.

If you give a mouse a cookie…One vicious circle…

Before being under quarantine, I started sprucing up the front porch. I painted the front doors, bought new door mats and a few plants.

Recently I found the perfect black and white cushions for the chairs. I was so excited, as I’ve been on the hunt for black and white cushions for months.

I quickly ordered the cutest hot pink throw pillows to go with the cute cushions. And then the virus happened and now my pink pillows are on back order. Til next fall.

Not sure I’m going to need them then…

All of the flower beds are horribly over grown here at The Castle. To the point that we feel like we needed to pull everything out and just start over.

We started with the north bed. We cut down small bushes that became trees, dug up a year – or two – worth of weeds and planted new plants. I even ordered the prettiest Japanese Maple for the north end of the bed.

Only for The Hubs and I to decide that we don’t like the shape of the beds or the faux Austin stone around them.

Back to square one.

I didn’t get discouraged about the beds. At least we made that decision before we did the other 3 or 4. And it was a beautiful sunny day. This cute Tree frog hopped in for a visit. They aren’t native to North Texas, so I have a feeling he hitched a ride in with the new plants. Isn’t he so vibrant and pretty? For a frog….

Not to be outdone, this lightening quick Anole did an Olympic sprint by the bed we were working on. He’s super fast, which may be why this photo isn’t quite in focus!

This might add a little humor to your day, I know it did mine. My sis-in-law, who has 3 kids at home with her now, and I have been sending each other memes.

It started with toilet paper memes and has quickly progressed into other areas. I sent her the above meme and her response was that the fire drill was already on her agenda along with a tornado drill. Which consisted of the kids locked into a closet for 30 minutes…at least! I told her that the closet was considered a “safe” room and that she should go for it.

And maybe a little wine wouldn’t hurt her either.

We ARE just kidding!!!

This is the meme she sent me yesterday. I believe that it is not only humorous, but that she has officially won our meme off.

Cause we both know that if Hobby Lobby were open that this just might, or might not, be the truth in my case.

Yes, we are a couple of crazy girls!

Or maybe we’ve just been quarantined a little too long and have officially lost our minds…

I’m thinking that maybe that wine might not hurt me either!

One more thing before I go…

This isn’t the best picture, so just know that this cute Easter basket from Viv and Lou is tons cuter than this photo. And it, along with several other equally cute baskets are on sale for $9.50!

I had never ordered from them before, so I was so happy when I received it in days, it was made well, the colors were so pretty and the monogram was perfect.

Could not be happier.

I stuffed it full of fun Easter things for Beep and can’t wait to give it to her.
As you can see, all I’ve gotten done here at The Castle this week has been a little of this, a little of that.

Hopefully, next week will be better!

Stay healthy and safe my friends!
Until next time…

With staying at home as much as possible being the foremost thing on our minds, I am trying to put a positiver spin on this thing by trying to get a few projects done.

One of those things was to work on the front porch. As you can see, our front porch was a little blah. In fact, painting the entire house is on our must do list.

With all of the crazy rain we’ve been having painting the house was an obvious no, however there were a few dry days recently that found us painting the front doors.

Some day I plan on replacing the front doors, however since that is not in our budget right now, paint it is!

At our last house I found the perfect front door paint. It’s made by Modern Masters.

I love it because not only is it water based and dries in 2 hours (You can literally shut the door in 2 hours!), but it also comes in some of the prettiest colors in a satin finish.

It goes on smooth and is super easy to clean up. Need I say more?

In our last house we painted the front door a beautiful navy called Peaceful. It was the perfect dark blue. Not too dark, not too light.

AND It only took one coat of blue – with a few touch ups – to cover.

I had so much left over that I think I painted everything in our backyard! Adirondack chairs, flower pots, signs, the back door…it really went a LONG way.

This time I decided I wanted to paint this house something a little more classic that featured black and white.I chose to go with MM Satin Elegant.Which is a deep true black.

I love it.

However, with this color it took almost 3 coats to cover the door. Still, a little over 6 hours, for 3 coats, from start to finish, is not too shabby! It looks fabulous.

This house has a wrap around front porch. Which means we have a side door that leads to my office. This door also faces the same direction as the front door, so you see both doors from the street. Since I was already painting the front door, it just made sense to go ahead and paint the side door too.

And I am so glad that I did. The difference just painting the front doors made was HUGE!

I told The Hubs that now I can’t wait to paint the rest of the house!

Patience is not always a virtue for me…

The weather is still not co-operating so I think I’ll just focus on not only painting the front doors, but also sprucing up the front porch.

But that’s for another day.
Until next time….

Every year I know it’s summer when it’s time to hang the paper lanterns in the garden. I get so excited over something so silly and so easy. It’s crazy really!

However, whenever I think about not hanging them I remember sitting on the partio in the evening and how much joy they bring.

All the bright colors, slightly swaying in the breeze… well hopefully we have a breeze! It just makes me happy.

This year my inspiration piece for choosing my lantern colors was this pillow.

It has my favorite colors.

Navy, hot pink and all things bright and happy.

I never spend a lot of money on my lanterns.

This year I purchased them from the Dollar Tree and here.

None of which were over $1.00.

Usually, I hang around 9 paper lanterns.

Also, I always stagger the height and the depth.

Which makes it look like the Partio is FULL of hanging paper lanterns!

Using fishing line or twine makes hanging paper lanterns a breeze!

I will admit that I wait til The Hubs is around to get up on the ladder.

Since I don’t have a “help I’ve fallen and can’t get up” button, I feel that it’s for the best!

This photo has nothing to do with hanging paper lanterns in the garden, however it was a rare sunny day and the sky was so pretty.

I couldn’t resist sharing!

Plus, I can’t help but show off the stained fence that took forever to stain. FOREVER!

Until next time….

If you loved it, be sure to PIN it!

I have new outdoor patio furniture! A week or so ago I shared with you my crazy Walmart adventure about buying patio furniture. If you missed it you can see it here.

The short version is that I bought patio furniture and it had multiple parts missing.

The Hubs called the furniture makers and they agreed to ship us all the missing parts.

Free!

It sat just like this on the back patio for a week and a half.

Good news. The parts came in on Friday!

I had one goal, just one. All I wanted was spray paint from Walmart. That’s it. In and out.

Unfortunately, I decided to go through the garden center.

Why? Because it’s less crowded, right?

It was less crowded, it also had a HUGE sale on patio furniture. That I didn’t need!!!

Y’all know that I can’t pass up a good sale.

Not much has changed with my redneck pool this year and at the same time everything has changed! I bought a new, bigger redneck pool. (The old one bit the dust.)  Which meant making a bigger crop circle pad for it to sit on,  buying new bamboo to go around the pool, and basically updating everything.

Recently, I have had two questions asked about my pool. Why didn’t I show a finished picture of it in my last post? And, how do I put up the bamboo? So I’m going to answer both of those today! It’s a LONG post, so grab something to drink and enjoy!

Did you know that there are pink flamingos in the Target dollar isle? Well, there are. Of course, I had to bring a few of them home. They were calling my name. And it helped that they were perfect to feature at Ten on the 10th!

The weather has been perfect here in Texas lately, so I’ve been working on the patio. I have been spray painting anything that looks even the slightest bit tired and worn. Sadly, I’m going to be here awhile!

Spray painting isn’t the only work on the patio. If a little TLC couldn’t revive anything that looked a little tired and worn, it went into the trash. I have been ruthless!

I love sprucing up the front porch every spring. New flowers, a wreath, and few decorations. It makes the whole house look great.

Y’all, I worked all afternoon in hopes that my front porch would be swoon worthy. In retrospect, I think that may have been a bit ambitious on my part.

My fall front porch is  slowly coming together. It’s still in the 90’s here, so it’s a little hard to shift from summer flowers to autumn leaves.

In fact, until this past weekend, you couldn’t find a mum or pumpkin for sale anywhere.

My sister and I hit Walmart over the holiday weekend, I believe I may have burst her eardrum with my great big girl squeal when I saw all of the mums.  We came for folding chairs and left with mums!

I found a garden pole that I fell in love with in Austin, TX.

In fact, I found several garden poles that were awesome!  The quality of the artist’s work was outstanding. The poles were beautiful. However, at $200.00 and up, they were out of my budget.

I don’t decorate all that much for the 4th of July, but I sure do love the holiday! The 4th brings back so many great memories of food, fun and fireworks. The cicadas and lightening bugs are out. Front porch – and back porch- rocking, drinking lemonade and visiting with neighbors. Kids having to be home when the street light comes on. Summer is in full swing.

I’ve already shared my July table with you…

I am obsessed with the pink flamingo!

I blame my obsession on Target.  A few months ago, I received my weekly email from Target introducing their Pillowfort line.  When I saw their pink flamingo sheets, I fell in love. One large problem. They were already sold out of the sheets.

I just got back from Oklahoma where we celebrated my sweet Daddy’s 76th birthday.  After months of working on the inside, my sister Terri has begun working on the exterior of  her bungalow. With that in mind, I was on Pinterest looking for ideas to share with her and saw where someone had taken a full size bed and turned it into a porch swing.  Well, you know we had to try one! I have to say that Terri’s porch swing turned out pretty cute!

I’m STILL working on the patio! Why am I still working on the patio? I blame it on the rain. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that it’s raining. Most of the time. The forecast here is for one more day of sun followed by another whole week of rain!!! It just hasn’t stopped raining long enough for me to get my patio, let alone the rest of the yard, put together.

This is what my patio looked like in years past. As you can see the iron part of the patio furniture is in excellent shape, but the cushions? Not so much!  I bought this set from the Better Homes and Garden line. I really, really love it. However, when I went to purchase replacement cushions for this set I was shocked to find that they didn’t sell any.  Say What?

I admit it. I own it. I pick up things from the trash occasionally. On my morning walks on trash days you might be surprised what people throw out. Now, don’t think I am actively digging in dumpsters, but a dresser by the side of the road will have me braking my car faster than you can say furniture! This past Tuesday I hit the trash to treasure jackpot!

I found this magazine rack/ table. You can’t really tell it in this pic, but it was an ugly yellow ochre color. Yikes! The one good thing it had going for it was that it was sturdy. Of all the things I have picked up on the side of the road, this one needed a trash to treasure makeover, more than any other!

In the makeover process, this piece went from a table/magazine rack to a table/ planter. It just screamed outdoor table!

First thing I did was paint it a beautiful fire truck red. The ends were open so I added chicken wire to hold all of the dirt and plants. It looks a little messy here, but I promise you won’t see the wire so much when it is finished.

Sheet moss was the perfect thing to put behind the chicken wire to help hold the dirt and plants. It also helps hide the chicken wire and let’s face it – it looks awesome too! There was a tiny crack at the bottom of the magazine rack, so it provided great drainage. No need to add more holes!

All that was left was to add the plants….

Here it is in the garden… apparently the cat  even likes it…or maybe he just likes to be in every picture that I take outside?

I think that it works much better as an outdoor table/planter than a magazine rack – well at least it does for me.  This trash to treasure was super easy, so easy I can’t wait to get started on the other finds of the day!

Until next time…

                Tammy

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Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays…

I came to the hanging of garden flags late in the trend, but once I got there I was on board in a big way.  But I am picky.  Maybe even a little snobbish about my garden flags.  I usually go for the bold colorful, embroidered ones. No cheap printed signs for me! Every once in awhile I  will make one when I can’t find one that I love. Which is what happened recently. Today I will show you how to make a garden flag!

Up until today, this is the garden flag flying at the castle. It had three of my favorite colors, was embroidered and I admit I was crushing on it big time for awhile. Lately the embroidery was looking kind of sad and faded. Whether I wanted to or not it was time for a change. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one that I loved.  So I made one!

Here is what you will need to make one:

I used a scraps from a drop cloth.

Paint

Paint brush

No sew iron on tape or a sewing machine

Ribbon

I wanted my finished flag to be 12″ X 18″.

1.Cut a 14″ X 20″ rectangle of drop cloth.

2. Fold the material edge over 1/4″ all the way around and iron it flat, then fold and turned the 1/4″ material over again. Iron and pin to keep in place.

3.  Sew the folded material all the way around or use no sew iron on tape.

4.  Measuring 2.5 ” from the top,  fold the material over, pin it together, then sew a straight line about 1/8″ from the edge to form a pocket to hang the flag. Your flag is done!

I honestly thought I had pictures of all of this, but , ummm no. Hey – don’t judge! My mind must be going!

Now it is time to paint your flag. I wanted something simple, but fun.

5. I sketched the letter “L” on the front, smack dab in the middle.

6. Then measuring from the outer edge 2.5″and mark it using a ruler to make a boarder. Do this on all four sides.

7.  It is time to paint! I used a black metallic with tiny glitter pieces in it. So much fun!

8. Once the middle was done, using blue tape, tape off the outer 2.5″ border. Be sure to place your tape on the inner side of your line to make your border a full 2.5″.  If you are afraid that this will bleed, don’t be skeerd! It really does work as long as you rub your tape down well.

9. Now just paint the outer edge.

10. Let dry.

11. Add embellishments. I used ribbon that I had on hand in a black and white harlequin pattern to make a bow. I  may change this later but it works well for now. I used a black and white ribbon, but since my flag is so neutral I could really use any bold color!

12. Sew or glue on your bow/embellishment.

That’s it. It is just so darn easy! Not sure about painting the initial? What about an iron on initial? Really the possibilities are endless.

I am almost finished with all of my small projects that I told you about here.  I am getting excited about showing some really BIG – well big to me – projects with you soon.  For sure you are gonna want to see my post on Friday….I am trying out a new product that I have been crushin’ on big time and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Until next time….

                       Tammy

I have been knocking out a ton of small projects, which is good – and bad. Good that I am finally getting around to getting them done. Not so good that it takes time away from my bigger projects.  A lot of these projects would normally have been done in the spring, but this years torrential rains kept me from getting them done.

One of the questions I get asked a lot about is using chalk paint outside. Can you? Yes! It is as durable outside as it is inside. The only difference? The top coat finish. You clean and prep the same. Paint the same. However, you can not use a wax to seal it outside, which if you think about it makes sense. Wax melts in the heat, and honey it is one great big hot mess in Texas right now!

This clock has been on my back patio for awhile now. As you can see it has developed this patina from weather. At first I thought it was kinda cool and would just leave it alone. However, when I was replacing the battery I realized that it was one rainy, hot humid day away from rusting. My first thought was to just paint it the same color with spray paint, but where is the fun in that?

I cleaned it thoroughly and then taped it up.

Gave it two good coats of chalk paint.

Distressed the edges to make it look old. I love the oil rubbed bronze color showing through the paint!

Once that was done I gave it a good spay of polyacrylic top coat to protect the finish.

And this is my finished clock! Much better don’t you think?

It always amazes me how a little work can give you such great rewards! I mean, I literally took this clock down at 11:00 a.m. and put it back up at 4:30 p.m. I don’t think I spent more than 40 minutes of actual hands on time – most of that was dry time. Which allows me to work on a ton of my other small projects! Yay, me!

If you were wondering if using chalk paint outside was possible, this proves that you can. If you were wondering how it will hold up in my hot Texas sun… I promise  to share another photo of it in a few months just so you can see. Your Welcome!

Until next time…

                      Tammy