Shells, Shells & More Shells!

As you might know, my family and I recently vacationed at Cocoa Beach and I returned with HUNDREDS of shells! I created some pretty cute gifts for my friends (in an earlier post), but I still have a few hundred left! I scoured Pinterest for inspiration then headed to Goodwill for a few frames. I found one really cheap...I think it was 75 cents but had an ugly photo that I couldn't remove. Why I chose it was because it was raised and the back had about an inch of empty space. 

After meticulously scrubbing each shell with Dawn dish soap, water and a toothbrush, I realized I had quite a few broken ones. I slowly started to add them to the inside of the frame on the far right above (ugly picture still facing out on what I now consider the back). I was out of my favorite craft glue (Liquid Nails for Projects), so I broke out the trusty old glue gun and glued them onto the back of the photo & mat. I then gather up these awesome blue muscle shells and used them as petals for flowers that rested (glued, of course!) On top of the broken shells.

 For the final touch, I found some pearl jewelry at Goodwill (a bag full was only $2) and cute the pearls apart. I attached them with hot glue to the center of my "flowers."

Overall, it was super easy, inexpensive and I get numerous compliments on the unique way to display our Florida treasures! 

Upcycling Project - From Old Railings to Stunning Compost Bin!

As many of you may know, we have been updating our front porch. My husband removed the old, bowed railings but I would NOT let him burn them in our bonfire pit. He LOVES to burn everything, in fact I still think a few of my "missing" dressers & chairs ended up in the pit while I was at work...He denies it but I don't quite believe him! Anyway, I was able to convince him to save the railings as would would use them for another project. A few weeks later - inspiration struck us both and we decided to upcycle them into a compost bin. I showed him some ideas on Pinterest and by the time I got home from work, he had built us a brand new, stunning compost bin!

The gate in the front can be removed so you can get your compost out! I was quite impressed!
Maybe I'll move on from the missing furniture...maybe. :)

It works so well, my daughter even built her own (with some help from her Dad)!

A Front Porch Makeover

Curb appealing now, but how did we get there?

My husband and I finally decided that the front of our home needed a MAJOR makeover. The process is long and far from over but I would love to share how it's going...

Original Front View

It always seemed so dark and, well, blahhhh.... One of my Home Depot co-workers once told me that a great landscaper is one who can decided to remove plants/trees as well as plant them. After consulting Pinterest for ideas, we decided step one was to remove - the ugly Arbor Vitae and the bowed and ugly railings (after consulting our state and local building codes to make sure that we could have a railing-less porch).

After that was done we were amazed at how large the porch felt. In four years, we have never sat on it as it always felt crowded - NOT ANYMORE! The next step was to purchase some large, beautiful Boston Ferns from Home Depot to give it a welcoming feel. Then, I decided I needed to paint the posts. The posts were in bad shape, so after washing them, I used Spackle to repair cracks and divets. Worked like a charm.  Next, came the paint! I used the brand new, Behr Marque in semi-gloss Ultra Pure White. It has the primer built right in and resists dirt. I LOVED it!

The posts made it look so much cleaner! I have plans to paint the front of the porch white as well, but for now, I am happy with the posts!  Now for the landscaping. For years, I have tried to line the long walkway with hostas, but the deer see this as their personal buffet, so I purchased various deer-resistant plants from Home Depot and got to work!  The first night was scary for me, and I went out in the morning to find the had nibbled at the plants, but not devoured them. I made a deer repellent spray with eggs, dish soap, & cayenne and that stopped the late night nibbling all together.  I think the landscaping will be a work in progress as well, we will have to continue to add to it over the years, but already it looks so much better!  I then stumbled across a beautiful, bright yellow in our "oops" paint. It was Behr exterior so I thought, "Why not?" I painted our front door yellow. But then, I stepped back and realized that with the screen door, you couldn't really see it so I painted the screen door as well! I LOVE how it turned out!

After a few weeks, I still wasn't quite happy with walking away from the project. I hated the area up by the porch! Even though we dug up the trees and left only dirt, weeds and trees began to grow in what we call, "The Dead Zone." We call it that because not only does it rarely get sun, but the trees changed the soil so most things I plant won't grow. I ripped up what I could, smothered them in plastic, and added a ton of mulch. Of course, while I was buying mulch I had to grab a few more plants! Now, I think I can rest with the way it looks...

From drab...

To Fab!!!!!

At least for a few weeks :)

And adding even more as years go by!!