Shell Memory Frame

This post is going to be short and sweet. With all of the shells that I collected in Florida, I used ideas from Pinterest to create this nice memory. I took a cheap frame from Goodwill and white washed it. While at Goodwill, I picked up some fake pearl necklaces and shiny marbles. I then, just glued away! All the shells were cleaned and ready to be hot glued, but adding the pearls and marbles added something more!

Fast, easy and a lasting family memory!

Painted Garden Window

I also wanted to give my mom something to tie her garden books (see previous post) to her garden...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/30317462/sample-painted-windows?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=painted+window&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159054701/garden-library-cicero-quote-a

I used these two pins as inspiration...I collect things for future crafts. Last summer, a church was giving away windows so OF COURSE I grabbed a bunch. Every day, my husband complained about them and the fact that I wasn't using them. I decided to try my hand at painting one. I am not an artist; however, I am pretty fearless so I went to Fleet Farm (I work at Home Depot and know that we do not have paint for glass) where I found paint for glass. Little containers for like model cars and things. So I jumped in and tried to mimic the painted window while incorporating the quote.

 The hardest part was waiting for the paint to fully dry between steps. I am not patient and I am used to quick drying latex, but I did it...

 For not being an artist, I thought it came out pretty nice...

And Mom loved it!

Books for Mom's Garden!

Garden "Books"

http://wasbella102.tumblr.com/post/61762198667/bricks-painted-to-look-like-books-in-the-garden

I was inspired by this Pin last year. I decided I would give it a try! My mom loves her garden, and I thought it would make a great birthday gift for her! I went to Home Depot and bought a variety of paving stones. I brought them home, cleaned them and allowed them to dry for 24 hours.

I used Exterior Behr Marquee white semi-gloss paint and painted the "pages" of the books (3 edges). Once they dried, I used any and all exterior paint I had in my garage to paint the covers of the book.

Then, came the tough part. I spent hours at the library looking for copies of some of my mom's favorite books. I checked them out and brought them home. Then, using paint markers, I tried to replicate the covers/font and edge to the best of my ability. Once I finished, I let them dry, then sprayed with a clear protective coating.

 I think they turned out great!

And my mom loved her gift!

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!!

A Shell in Your Pocket...

Our family took our first vacation in about six years and went to Florida!  What a fantastic time! Of course, every time we hit the beach, there I would be collecting shells.  One time my daughter looked up and I had wandered about a mile down the beach with my shirt FULL of shells! I can't help it, they are such a beautiful gift from God, and hey! Free souvenirs!  When we got home I had over 300 shells! What to do with them? Of course, I went to Pinterest for inspiration. There are sooooo many awesome ideas out there! Then I stumbled across a number of pins that said I had to clean them. :( I was not a happy camper. We live near lakes, so I am aware of the need to clean shells we find here because the water is stagnant, but really? The beautiful, ever changing ocean needed to be cleaned from my shells? I was NOT going to bleach them - NO WAY! I do that with lake shells and it makes them white. I wanted to keep all of the glorious colors where they belong so I grabbed Dawn dish soap, a bucket of hot water, a strainer and a toothbrush and I scrubbed every single one. That sucked! It took about three days to clean them all.

So, they were finally clean and I had one day before I had to go back to work. I wanted to make something for my co-workers at Home Depot, because there was no way I could afford to buy everyone something in Florida. I combined a number of ideas from Pinterest and created a pretty cute little gift for my friends!

Simple. Easy. Pretty cute! How did I make these? I chose the biggest and unbroken shells with smooth insides (to write on). Then, I rifled through my craft supplies...

I took a super fine Sharpie made for porous surfaces and wrote the phrase, "May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your shoes..." Someone had pinned that for a wall and I loved the saying! Once I wrote on all the shells, I took metallic Sharpies and colored just the edge of the shell (front and back) and then added a little starfish after the phrase.

For good measure, I wiped a layer of Mod Podge over the markered areas and let them dry.

That's it. Simple, fun and a great little gift for all my co-workers at the Depot! I made about 25 the first night and another 25 the next night because they went so fast!