Front Garden/Porch Tour

I'm really enjoying sitting on my front porch lately. I updated all the cushions, painted the furniture and added some fun new touches since spring - like a chandelier. But it's really nice because it's covered so I never have to move cushions in when it rains , which it's been doing a lot of lately, and it's right off the living room so I can step outside anytime I like. Let me give you a little tour...

First , this is on the tree lawn around a new tree the city planted after our giant oak died and had to be taken down,   Hostas and impatiens...

This is the view from the sidewalk. We have a very small front yard. I added yellow this year which I'm loving and my sum and substance hosta is doing great...

This is to the side by the driveway. Hostas, ferns, astilbe, begonias and impatiens

Let's go on the porch. I put a planter right by the mailbox - sweet potatoe vine, begonia, petunia, impatien, vinca vine and spikes.

 It's hard to believe that all the furniture was found in the trash! I can't believe what people will throw away. A little paint and fixing up and it looks great!

I really love my new chandelier , the crystals sparkle in the morning sun.

 Birds and bunnies are my favorites...

This year I added yellow to my wreath.

Oh, and our city Garden Club gave me a little award for my garden

Hope you enjoyed the visit.

Porch side table

Found this old side table in the trash - nothing wrong with it just needed some sprucing up. I painted it yellow and now it sits on my porch. 

Recycled light cover

I found this beautiful light cover at my local thrift store for only $2.00 but I didn't know what to do with it - until I  thought upside down it would make a great birdbath!

 

It had a hole in the center where it would attach to the light so I just filled it with silicone. I set it on top of an old base I had which matched in color. I wish I took more pictures but here's the finished product. :)

 

 

Porch candlelier

I wanted a small chandelier for my front porch but since I couldn't find an old used one I decided to make one myself.

First I bought a candle holder at my local craft store.Then I gathered some things I already had - white spray paint, pearls and clear beads and gorgeous crystals I bought at a yard sale and 3 candle holders.

I spary painted the candle holder white and drilled 3 small holes on each side.

Then came the fun part . I strong a bunch of beads and added the crystals -

I used some chain I had and also made a cover out of fabric to coordinate with my porch furniture. I hung it right above the coffee table. What do you think? I LOVE it and the whole thing only cost about $7.00

 

Valentine Decorations

Valentine's Day Decorations

I usually don't put things up for Valentine's Day but this year I wanted to do something fun. And besides, it really looks bare after all the Christmas stuff comes down. So I went to my local thrift store and dollar store and bought a few things - very inexpensive - but I think it turned out cute!

Insted of taking down the Christmas decorations on the front porch, I left them up and added a bunch of hearts! I think it looks so much better than a bare porch and the pink and red go great with my pink poinsettia Christmas stuff!

Cards

Haven't done much blogging at all lately.... but that's ok. I have been busy and recently I made a couple of cards for the up and coming holidays and I'd thought I'd share them with you.

this is one for Thanksgiving. The pic is a bit blurry - sorry. I did want you to see the sentiment I made on the computer. It's 1 Chronicles16:34. I always think people are getting thanksgiving wrong. They keep saying "oh I'm Thankful for my kids" or "I'm Thankful for my health". but who are you thankful too! Every good thing we have is a gift from God - so let's be Thankful to God in Heaven for all our blessings1

and here is a Cute little card that I thought might be nice for an invitation to a cookie exchange for Christmas

I hope everyone has a Blessed Thanksgiving and can make a loooong list of all the things you can be grateful (to God) for.
                               Happy Crafting :)

Faith Family Friends sign

I've been making these wood signs lately and I decided to make myself one. Usually they are only 12 inches long but I wanted to make a longer one to go under a shelf in my office. I LOVE the way it turned out! I'll show you how I did it. SO EASY..
First, find yourself a piece of wood, mine is 6" x 40"

Any scrap piece will do, mine was from an old deck we took apart. Paint it black or white or whatever background color you would like. I did mine black and I only paint where the paper would not be.
Then find some pretty scrapbook paper and head to your computer. I used Word to print the words Faith Family and Friends. You might have to play around a little to get it just right, and remember to leave at least a 1 inch border. I also had to print each word on a seperate piece of paper. 

  

Then I used my favorite stamp and added black to the corners and around the edges.

I used mod podge to glue the paper down.

Then I went to my favorite little machine - the Cricut! I cut seven 3"curly shapes.

I added some black ink to the curly shapes to give them more depth and then glued them in place

A sweet little silver heart glued between the words and I put upholstery tacks in the corners but the picture didn't show them very well

Since I wasn't going to hang it on the wall but off the bottom of the shelf, I used cup hooks and eye screws. I attached the hooks to the underneath of the shelf and the eyes to the top of my sign. A little tip - put a dab of toothpaste on the eyes and then touch it to the shelf, it leaves a mark exactly where you need to screw in the cup hooks.

This is the before...

And here's the after...

What do you think?

I LOVE it!