Outdoor Winter Urn

It's been a while!

I haven't been kidnapped by aliens...

or living it up in Las Vegas...

I've just been busy with the day-to-day life of three kids and a dog, volunteer commitments - and now Christmas.  Nothing terribly exciting has happened (unless you count Awesome Possum's braces as exciting - I'm sure he doesn't).

I couldn't stand seeing the Hallowe'en post on my blog one day longer, so I thought I would show you my big decorating accomplishment for the last few weeks ;)

Every year my dad brings me an assortment of dogwood, pine, fir and cedar boughs to decorate my outdoor urn.  This year I kicked it up a notch and asked for some birch logs.  They seem to be the trendy thing to add to outdoor displays this year...

... and I'm nothing if not trendy!

My dad always manages to get some branches with pine-cones. I'm not sure what the red berries are - but they are real and they look great.

I still have to add the twinkle lights and since I've got some free time today I might even add some ribbon...

... Las Vegas and the aliens can wait.




 

Autumn In A Jar

This is another fall display I really should have photographed earlier...

 ... because those adorable little white pumpkins don't enjoy being trapped in their glass prison.  (I have cleverly positioned the pumpkins so that you can't see the brownish spots.)

This is the first time I've put these mini white pumpkins in my apothecary jar.

Live and learn.

It was very easy to put together this fall display.  I used leftover Christmas nuts (I can't believe I kept them!) for the base...

... added in pine cones, the little white pumpkins, and fake fall foliage.

The great thing about faux plants and leaves is that they don't start rotting just when you want to take some attractive pictures.

The apothecary jar sits on this table in my front hall and I have fun changing it for the seasons.

Since Halloween is right around the corner I don't mind changing the display a bit early.  I have some bones and rats that I can use as filler.

Fake bones and fake rats, that is.


 

Inside Out: My Backyard Deck

I've always loved the idea of making your outdoor deck or patio feel like a room inside your house.  At the same time, our summers are so short, that I'm all about easy and fuss-free living from June to September.  When we have lunch or dinner outside, I set up the food and plates buffet-style on the kitchen counter where we make up our plates and carry them out to the deck.

This is where we spend a good deal of time in the warmer months.

I bought the outdoor carpet last summer and was happily surprised at how it anchored the furniture and brought us a little closer to making the deck feel like an actual room.

The cushions on this cozy little bench under the pergola are new this year. I haven't bothered with cushions until now because the chairs are comfortable- even though they may not look like it, and, I think I would be horrible at remembering to bring them inside during bad weather.  We'll see how it goes!

I've seen many of these mason jars turned candle holders on a number of blogs, but this particular version is inspired by one from The Inspired Room.  Thank you for the wonderful idea, Melissa.
 

A group of three mason jars placed on a wicker tray makes a nice summery centerpiece.  So far I have only seen the candle light at dusk. I don't sit outside when it's really dark because I'm terrified of bats- and no amount of rational explanations have cured it!

Moving on...

I love ferns and tucked this plant stand in one corner of the deck.

I have another little seating area on the lawn. I used to have a bench here, but it fell apart last year.  The two chairs are more practical because they can be brought onto the deck when we need more seating.

This is a nice sunny spot, and it's relaxing to sit here with a trashy summer novel and have tea- or something cold from the fridge.

Another one of my painted pots.

That's it for the main deck- I just have to show you one final picture of my peonies.  This will be the last one because the heavy rain that fell last week took all the petals off... at least I have the pictures!

We're ready for summer- I hope the weather forecast is good!

I'm joining Amanda's party this week...

Painted Pots

Last week while Mr. StyleBurb sanded and re-stained our back deck,

I dragged out my spray paint booth to give our mismatched flower pots a fresh look for summer.

I know...  you want one too!

Our flower pots were a mixture of colors and styles- some plastic and some terra cotta. I decided that the best thing would be to unify them with a few coats of soft black paint. We have black outdoor furniture and I love the way black looks with our taupe deck stain.  I used Rust-oleum's oil rubbed bronze spray paint that says it can be used on "wood, metal, plastic, masonry... and more."

Clearly I didn't plan to paint our flower pots when I put annuals in this big planter a month ago!

 Our flowers had to spend an afternoon covered up with a garbage bag.

But everything worked out ok, and I think the planter looks very sharp!

 I've had this large terra cotta pot in my garage for years.

 Now it's holding my tomato plant.  I even have tomatoes!

Every year we buy hanging baskets from the garden center and every year the plastic pots are different colors and shapes.  We have quite a collection.

I removed the hanging apparatus, wiped them down and spray painted a few of these plastic pots as well.

I didn't prime anything I painted- I barely cleaned off the cobwebs- and I have no idea how long the paint finish will last, but I'm really pleased with how they look right now.

This green plastic pot won't make it through another summer- there's a hole in the back...

...but it looks better black, too. I wish my flowers looked a little healthier. I'm hoping they'll fill in and hide the green rim.

 

I bought some double bloom pink impatiens that needed to be re-potted, so I bought a few of these little cheapy guys at the dollar store.

I spray painted them gloss white and hot glued on some cute lady bug buttons I found at Michaels.

Again, I don't know what is going on with my flowers- they look a little sick. 

If they don't start looking prettier soon, I'm going to spray paint them as well!

I really want to show you how my deck looks, so I'm working on that post next.



 

Simple Spring: Introducing My Foyer

The Internet was down at my house for a few days this week.  This created a lot of Drama...mostly from me.

It's been a hard three days.  The worst part was that I had to reschedule my hair appointment because I had to wait around for a service technician.  The curl in my hair is natural; the color is "enhanced."

The good news is that I found time to add some simple spring accessories to my foyer.  I like to open the front door and see something pretty, so I added a new pillow to this wooden bench.  To me, nothing says springtime fresh like crisp white fabrics and hydrangeas.

When you first step inside my house, there are mirrored closet doors to the right. We always intended to replace them, but they reflect a lot of light and it's the last chance you get to check your outfit on the way out the door.

We have a coat rack in the corner, for a bit of charm and for guests to hang up their coats when the closet is full.  Those are my husband's straw hats, all ready to be worn on sunny days.

On the opposite wall is the cubby organizer my family gave me for my birthday last fall.  It reminds me of something you might find in an old hotel.  For spring, I filled the cubbyholes with a vintage looking bottle, a cute bee pot filled with boxwood sprigs from the backyard, and a black and white photograph.

The picture is of my Grandfather as a little boy, with his sister (holding her doll) and their parents.  They're standing in front of the boat that has just brought them to Canada from England to start their new life.  I like the way the picture looks unframed and unconventionally displayed in the cubby.

My son made the shadow box display of nature items in art class last year and then gave it to me for Mother's Day.  The leaves, flowers and moth have been hot-glued to the glass backing...so simple and yet so beautiful.

The foyer is a few steps lower than the rest of the house.  You can see the console table in the background with my apothecary jar full of newsprint Easter eggs.

It's been such a long, cold, dreary winter (isn't that from a Beatle's song?) that I can't wait to bring more spring inside.

Not that I want the Internet to fail again...    Ma'am, step away from the computer...

I am linking up to:

Eggs-tra, Eggs-tra...Read All About It

I "stole" my kids' craft project. I know that sounds bad, especially since we're just getting to know each other!  Hopefully you'll understand once I explain.

Also, keep in mind this delightful display as you read!

My three kids are enjoying spring break this week and I planned a few crafts to help keep them occupied.  I bought some of those dollar store plastic Easter eggs for them to paper maché and then paint with polka dots, zig-zags and swirls.

Everything started out innocently enough.

I watered down white glue, and tore up strips of newspaper. We dipped the newspaper strips into the gluey water and layered them on the plastic eggs.

See how my daughter used her sweet little hands to squeeze out the excess water from the eggs.

The Easter eggs were left to dry overnight.  When I checked them in the morning I was surprised.  They looked good - really good!

The eggs reminded me of something I might see in Pottery Barn.  They were faded and somewhat vintage looking.  They were perfect...  perfect for my giant apothecary jar (which my husband refers to as my 'hypothetical' jar....he's such a smart alec).

"Those pine cones have been in the apothecary jar since January....too long...not spring-like at all...is that sap leaking onto the glass....", I thought to myself.

That was the moment I decided that the paper maché eggs should be mine.  I tried whitewashing some of the eggs as an 'eggsperament'.

whitewashed eggs

The whitewashed eggs looked good, but not good enough to do the whole batch, so the rest were left as is.  I filled the base of my apothecary jar with shredded wood bark from Michael's and layered the newsprint Easter eggs on top.

It all looked so good, and so 'cheep' (24 eggs for 4 dollars) - which is why I had no choice but to "re-purpose" my kids' craft project!

 

Don't worry about my kids; I made it up to them.  We paper machéd more Easter eggs the next day and I've got more crafts for them to do.

As long as our St. Patrick's Day cupcakes can't be used for decoration, everything will be fine.

Actually, I just realized that the cake stand on my counter is empty.  It always looks better when it's filled...




I'm linking up to The Shabby Nest and Amanda at Serenity Now.