Search Results for: potting bench

RED, WHITE, BLUE HOUSE & BARN | 2024

Happy Memorial Day a day late. The unofficial start of summer is here. I spent part of the holiday weekend adding red, white and blue outside around the house and barn. Let me show you around. The front patio is pretty much the same as last year with the addition of the buntings. Flags always adorn the ferns. That’s a given. Lots of green with a little red, white and blue. I should have spray painted the front door urn this spring but never did. I think we’re going with the rustic look this year. The porch in all...

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Indoor Outdoor Black & White Pillow Covers

DIY GRAPEVINE WITCH HAT

I’ve got one more Halloween DIY for you this year. I share one day before Halloween because now is the prime time to get the supplies for this DIY while they are on clearance. Just two items needed – a tinsel witch hat (currently on clearance for $5) and grapevine garland. Begin by removing the tinsel from the hat frame. Then wrap the form with the grapevine garland securing to the frame using the wire on the garland. I used two grapevine garlands for fullness but you could get away with using one. That’s it. So cute! I might...

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BLAKE SKELTON | HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN CARVING

It’s almost Halloween! That means it’s time to carve pumpkins. Blake Skelton wanted to take a stab at it. What did Blake Skelton say when we told him to be careful? “I’m bone to be wild.” He’s not afraid of the guts even though Blake has none himself. He saved the seeds for me so I can plant them next year. Ta-dah! Blake’s masterpiece. It looks perfect on the potting bench. Blake says it’s a self portrait. Do you see the resemblance?

SUMMER AROUND THE YARD

I realized recently that I take photos at the beginning of spring when the plants are fresh and new but never remember to take photos mid-summer when things are at their peak. Let’s pretend it’s a couple of weeks ago when I finally remembered to grab these photos and we’ll take a tour around the yard. This is what you see as you drive by. We’ll start as if we are walking up the sidewalk to the front door. This is the first year I planted the elephant ears and hyacinth bean vine here. I’m loving it as much...

FOUR PERENNIALS ANYONE CAN GROW

Are you a timid gardener? Do you want to have flowerbeds but don’t know what to put where? I’ve got four plants for you that are low-maintenance, come back each year, require little water once established and, I promise, anyone can grow. When we began our exterior home renovation five years ago, we removed the overgrown plants and started from scratch. Each year, I add a few more perennials to slowly fill the flowerbed. To help the bed feel fuller in the meantime, I added ground cover to fill in the blank spaces. It takes me years to fill...

LEPRECHAUN HABITAT

Welcome to my front porch leprechaun habitat waiting for the little guy to come home after his day of St. Pat’s partying. On this week’s “things I didn’t really need but bought anyway” we have a cute little moss covered house. In my defense, it was on clearance and was perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. It will look cute on my potting bench, too, which completely justifies my purchase. What is a leprechaun habitat without shamrock clover plants? Another must-have are gold coin stepping stones. And mushrooms, of course. Am I taking my love for decorating too far with...

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BIRD TREAT GARLAND

It’s day four of the week of homemade bird treats here on the blog. Today is a simple project stringing bird-friendly treats to make a garland similar to the popcorn garlands we made at Christmas at school when I was younger. String the garland from branch to branch, around a pine tree, or hang straight down from a tree branch. I made mine shorter and hung it on my potting bench. I used plain popcorn, dried oranges, raisins, dried cranberries and apple slices. Other bird-friendly options include blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, lemon slices, lime slices, pear slices, pineapple, strawberries, pumpkin...

FORAGING + DRYING PINECONES FOR DECOR

I use pinecones from my yard in so many different ways both inside and out. I’ve shared before how I love using nature’s free gifts to decorate. We have many pine trees around our property so pinecones are always plentiful and FREE. It’s time to replenish my stock before decorating for Christmas so I’m sharing how I bake them in the oven to eliminate any bugs or sticky sap when I bring them inside. Here I am collecting pinecones after work one day. I can only imagine what the neighbors think of my crazy antics outside. To dry the...

HOW TO USE FOLIAGE AS DECOR

An inexpensive way to decorate is to use foliage. I like to grow things in the yard that I can, in turn, use as decor inside and out. Here are a few of the ways I have used foliage as decor around my home. As a self-diagnosed cheapskate, I’m all for anything free. HYDRANGEA BLOOMS Hydrangeas are both gorgeous in bloom in the summer and as they dry into the fall. While I love to bring in a bouquet of fresh flowers in the summer, I make sure to leave plenty to harvest in the fall, as well. Here...

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HOW TO MAKE A FAUX FALL TREE

Continuing “the year of Christy doesn’t want to water live plants”, I went all faux on the potting bench for fall. I wanted something taller in the pot to the left so I made my own fall tree that will never die. I started with a dead branch from the yard. I stuck the branch in an old pot of dirt to hold it upright while I added the leaves. I used three packs of dried oak leaves from Home Depot. I picked mine up in-store as individual packs but they are available online in packs of two (link...