a garden, finally!

I finally had a few free hours to begin tackling the yard. It was a mess, to say the least. My first goal is to plan a vegetable garden, and this afternoon I got a few rows planted.

It started out looking similar to this (this is the next area I have to tackle):



For $2, I got a gigantic package of sugar snap peas seeds (note to self: I would never have room for even the entire $1 package) and planted two rows of beans. I will have to add poles to them as they sprout. Then for $1, I got 12 brussel sprout seedlings...seriously, these are one of my favorite veggies! It'll be cool to see them grow, as they grow in cascading clusters. And then in the front row, I planted marigolds to keep the cute but pesky bunnies away. The final result is:



I still have bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and maybe a few others to plant. I also want to plant some mini lilac to make it really fragrant in my backyard. It'll be the perfect addition to this:



I've got more projects coming, including some great finds at Goodwill!

ugly painting...no more...

It all started with a canvas painting.

A really ugly one at that. I picked it up for $3 at Goodwill (The cashier gave me that, "Really, you want to spend $3 on that?" kind of look as I proudly pulled my purchase up to the counter. I pretended to be oblivious.) I first bought magnetic paint, a bit of a splurge, but something that will last me a long time in a long time.

I painted right on top of the painting with the paint. While it dried, I took a 99 cent bottle of brown craft paint to a set of chipboard letters I picked up off of ebay. Then I used spray adhesive & Martha Stewart glitter (I highly recommend it--it is the most beautiful glitter out there--not cheesy at all). I attached mini magnets on the backs of each letter. The letters then looked like this.



When the magnetic paint dried, I spray painted a creamy color right on top of the magnetic paint & frame. It took several coats to cover, but it was time well spent.

The finished product is one of my favorite things I currently own (please just excuse the terrible photo quality). Just the perfect mix of recycled, new and antique-y. Love it! Now where to hang it...

renovations have started!

I have officially started fixing up my house!

My living room and dining room started like this color...



And they are now looking like this...





I LOVE the color that it turned out to be. Not really blue, not really green, but totally beautiful. These photos can't possibly do it justice. It looks great with the painted white trim & will look excellent with some other things I have up my sleeve.

Cost so far for these two rooms: $26.99 for a gallon of paint. Sherwin Williams matched a paint color I picked out a few months ago from a home improvement store.

More projects & photos to come later this week...including my fixed up patio set, in-the-midst-of-a-mess bathrooms (yes, I did say bathrooms, as in the plural) and my painted & started decorating guest bedroom. Whew, that's a mouthful...