Yardly Pleasures

This is one of my favorite times of the year when everything comes alive around the yard.  The other night I was strolling through the yard looking at all the little interesting sights thinking about how I needed to get out my camera.  However, at the time in my hand was a glass of wine and the very real sense that I finally had time to just keep walking around gazing and enjoying the moment.  

So gazing I continued to do!  This morning however, it is overcast with cooler temperatures and a chance of showers.   I decided to grab my camera and made my way outside to capture a few of these sights just for you.

Wow!  So sorry for all those pictures but as you can see things to blend together all over the place around here.  I have actually spared you several photos I took of the Iris's which are in bloom as well.  I will be back at another time with a post to feature them.  

I hope you enjoyed your visit strolling around my yard today.  It is one of my favorite things to do! 

I am joining the following parties today;

Fertilizer Friday/Flaunt your Flowers

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Window Dressings?

 If you have picked up on anything from viewing my blog, I'm sure it's no secret that I love color!  Lot's and lot's of bright bold beautiful color.  There are times when I like to go neutral but for the most part I prefer to live in color.  My neutral color of preference tends to be black.  I like black because you can bounce so many vibrant colors off of black and that's exactly what I'm going to show you.

What do you think?  Too much?  Well, not for me.  Those new drapes I put up several months ago look fantastic against the wall color, but were just a little too dark for this old summer gal.  So I decided to liven them up with a little color.

I used this beautiful fabric to make some pillows and a table runner several years ago and still had a few yards left.  If I had my druthers I would have long beautiful curtains made in this fabric.  However, I've got to be a little more thrifty these days so I decided to just dress up the drapes I have.  Since I never EVER close these drapes (it's a claustrophobia thing), I decided what would it hurt to improvise.  I simply made little mini panels to go across the top of each drapery panel.   I could do this easily since I use rings with clips and let each panel swag a little in the middle. I'm still thinking about adding some type of tassels or fringe on the edge, not sure though.

I realize this may not be ideal or even close to what some of you might consider doing, but I love it!  I even love mixing these patterns like I did.  I was really surprised how much I actually liked the mix.

It was "sew" simple and I can take them down easy enough this fall and winter when I'll be ready to move away from the tropical look.

I even made some new slipcovers for the brown pillows we keep on our club chairs.  You've seen me make slip covers for these pillows before in a blue fabric.

I only had enough fabric left to do the fronts of both pillows so I used a mini check fabric that I already had on the back.  It's a black and tan color similar to the drapes.  I like the mix!

Here's a glimpse of one of the older pillows I first made with this fabric.  I used a beautiful and fun fringe on the edge for these.  I got the bright solid pillows from work before I stopped.  These were big sellers and came in all sorts of fun bright colors.  They only cost $7.99 each too.  I chose coral and ...

...and lime green to bring out a brighter pop of color on the sofa and to coordinate with my lime green lamp shade.

The turquoise blue leopard pillows were my last splurge from work.  My final employee discount!  Oh, how I do miss that discount!  LOL!   

This runner was one that I had made for this table several years ago.  It's reversible and has the gold fabric on the back that I usually have on this table.  I finally am able to flip it now and use this side without it seeming so out of place to me.  Fun!

The sailboats are moving around now and the shells are coming back out taking center stage for the season.  I still haven't finished tweaking the small vignettes yet.  I will get to it soon enough because there's plenty of time for that now.

It's feeling much more exciting around here now to me.  I love how color just makes me come alive!  How about you?

I think I'll link this up with Marty over at A Stroll Thru Life

for; 

Inspire Me Tuesday.

Just to show you how out of touch I've been, I just realized this morning that Marty had changed the name and theme of her Tuesday party.  LOL!  I'm very happy about that though because now I get to share my, let's call it, "window dressings", shall we?

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking it out.  Let me know if you likey!  If not, you can just smile anyway, okay?  LOL!

Have a great day Y'all!

Birds, Bee's, Flowers and there's a Tree Outside

Let me tell you bout the birds and the bees and the pollen in the trees...wait, you mean that's not the way it's supposed to go!  Well, that's certainly the way it is around here!  LOL!

Please don't look too closely because the floor of my screen porch is covered in pollen again.  I have already thoroughly cleaned this porch once but it's back again.  Atleast this time is just a dusting and will clean up easily.  Just another beautiful reminder that spring is here, right?

I hope you won't mind, but I just couldn't pass up a chance to get back in the game with this tablescape challenge of Birds, Bees, Flowers or Trees from Cuisine Kathleen's.

It's been quite awhile since I've been able to play with you ladies but I hope this setting won't disappoint.  Also, please excuse the overcast look of my photos as the sun keeps going in and out trying to decide what it's going to do today.  

The best thing about this setting was I had everything right here at home at my fingertips.  All I had to do was pull it all together.

I had no problems finding flowers.

And certainly no problem finding any birds around here too.

I was especially excited to bring out my newest acrylic glasses that I bought from work several months ago.

They are acrylic hobnail glasses.  I saw these just last week at Hobby Lobby as well.  They also have them in different colors at HL if your interested.

I thought this flatware since it is so outdoorsy went pretty well with this setting too.

More birds... see I told you had lot's of birds!

Finally, because you have been sooo patiently waiting, let me show you my most favorite part of this setting.

This is it!  I actually had one thing with bee's on it!

One small little honeycomb candle holder that I picked up at a garage sale somewhere.  

Since it was so small and I didn't want it to get lost on the table I decided to make it a centerpiece by creating a whole cloche around it.  I love, love, a challenge!

Then to finish it all off I decided place markers were in order here.

Yep, those are actually old rusty metal markers I've used in my real herb plants.

Just print out a piece of paper with some names, a piece of tape and you are good to go.  Care to to be my guest and join me today?

Your always welcome!

And we can certainly talk about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees!

Please be sure and visit the following parties for more beautiful tablescape settings at;

 Let's Dish Cuisine Kathleens

and

Tablescape Thursday at BNOTP

Have a great day and great weekend everyone!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Making Memories of US

One of the best things about not having a full time job is definitely having more time to do the things I love.   I have already been doing quite a bit of catching up on things I love to do these last few weeks.  Things like working in the yard, planting flowers, organizing and cleaning the clutter away, planning projects and planning trips.

 Time to travel in our new to us camper is first on my list!

  We are getting closer to taking our first trip in just a few weeks and I can hardly wait.  I have been very busy making sure we have everything in order for our first trip.  Of all the things I've been getting together, one of those prep ideas included artwork for the wall behind the settee.  We creative types are somewhat picky about decorating our spaces right?  LOL!

   I really wanted to find something that spoke to me.  You know, something with words.  However, after searching high and low for just the right saying, I just could not find what I wanted.  I found lot's of signs that were very close, like the right colors, or fonts, the right weight or size but still just not quite what I had in mind.  After feeling satisfied I had exhausted all the best local places to find my sign I decided I was just going to have to make my own.  I am still having to remind myself that I actually have time to start and complete projects now days. It's a very good thing!

I decided I would use canvas because it is so light weight and that is very important in a camper.  I was pleased as punch to find just the right size I wanted too!

I painted my canvas with some leftover sample paint that I purchased last year when I thought I might want to paint my den this color.  That, by the way never happened.

Then because I was multitasking all day I brought my canvas back downstairs. Once I was in the kitchen and near the printer in hubby's office, I started playing with what I wanted it to say.

I typed out several different fonts and sizes using Word.  I also downloaded a free graphic from The Graphics Fairy.  I wanted something very scrolly to go in the corners and this design was perfect for me.

This is how I transferred my designs and my words onto my canvas.  

I used transfer paper and taped my printout over it, then traced them onto the canvas.  After getting my designs transferred, I simply painted them in by hand.  Could not have been any easier! 

The hardest part was decided exactly what I wanted my sign to say.  I knew I wanted it to say something about a Getaway Cottage but was lost after that.  Then I thought about what all of our camping trips have meant and the words "making memories" came to mind.  So, I googled those words and found the title to Keith Urban's song and knew I just had to use it.  Pretty sweet huh?  I'll include a link for that at the bottom of this post.

Here's my sign all finished and waiting to go in the camper.  I was thinking of putting a glaze over it but decided not to go that route after all.

I used a few of those adhesive strips with velcro (that you can remove easily) on the back to secure it to the wall

And Wah laah!  We now have something customized just for us to look at while dining and camping.

Thanks so much for dropping by!  

Hope your having a wonderful day!