Succulent love

Another new obsession of mine is succulents!  I found this shelf in our black widow reproduction factory and cleaned it up...as much as I could.  It's pretty much on its death bed but I still love it! 

I want to collect different pots to fill it up but here is what I have so far. 

Donovan and I made this beauty.  Dont you love it?!  I wish I could claim the idea but I saw it at Backstreet, a local sandwich shop here in Riverside.  

Diy to the rescue

I hated the way all the pool floaties were always in the pool.  It looked ugly and the skimmer had a hard time going around them.  So I had this ingenious idea! 

I found these plant hanging hooks in the indoor plant section at Home Depot.  

Now it looks like we have giant floating donuts!  Yum!  

Backyard love

Happy 4th!  I wish we were having people over, maybe next year!  This year we are just working on the yard.  

Our new yard is huge.  We went from 12,000 square foot lot (1/4 of it was an unusable slope!) To .4 acres of flat land!  I love it but man its a lot of work! 

Here is a little peak at all the areas. 

This is our garden.  We were so excited to have it when we found this house.  We are going to add to it making that entire area all garden area.  Donovan is mapping it our with the black spray paint if you can see the line.

My weeping willow.  ♡ I have wanted one since I was a kid!  

This is the only unusable area, but there are tons of birds so we still love it.  

My favorite area.  These trees are actually uprooting the pool and it kills me but we may have to remove them someday.  

The black widow reproduction factory.  Lol! 

We plan on removing some grass for a hopscotch path and maybe an area for a firepit.  What do you think??

Twine, twine everywhere!

I saw a post on making a yarn ball so I decided to make a twine ball.  And it worked perfectly! 

You mix Elmers glue and water 50/50 and soak the yarn/string then wrap it around a cheap bouncy ball.  I left it to dry about 24 hours.  I didn't do it completely correct, I forgot to leave an opening to pull the deflated ball out so I ended up cutting the ball and throwing it away.  You can also make a giant one of these and use it for a hanging lamp!  So cool. 

Somebody stop me!

This little piece has been screaming for a makeover for a long time.  I used Annie Sloan French Linen again and on the top I used Java Gel.  This was my first time using java gel and I am in love!  It went on smoothly and the color has great pigment. 

I bought it from a shop that has long since closed.  It was a wine cabinet,  the 2 little shelves used to be made for wine bottles but donovan made shelves for it.  

here is what I used.  TSP is the only prep I did.  It removes oils so the paint adheres better.

I have used this spray paint on everything so why stop now?!  

After gel stain coat #1 one of the cats decided to add their own distressing.  Luckily it sanded off easily before applying coat #2.

I LOVE it!!!!!  

See how rich the black is?!  Gorg!  

What's next????  

Laundry room mini makeover.

30 years.  My house just turned 30 last year and it never had knobs in the laundry room.  I can't tell you how many nails I have broken trying to open them!

I painted them with Annie Sloan chalk paint in French Linen and although I love the color I think $160 for 4 pints of paint is a bit steep.  Ok, way steep. 

But it's done and I finally have knobs and I love it!

I didn't even want to go in there for about a week.  

my handy work, 1 hinge on the correct way...1 the wrong way.  So done with this "quick" project!

We don't use the laundry drawer thing for laundry but it's the perfect spot for dog food!  

My love for old and new

I love finding old things and mixing them with new things.  Rusty items with shiny items.  Here is my newest find from my friends shop The Weathered Feather.  I added the twine on the bottom to add a "shelf".  ♡

The lazy handyman

Old outlets may be ugly but you know what's worse?  Electrical plugs literally falling out of the outlet.  At some point these faux plates were put on to cover the old style plates.  Lazy!  I'm so glad I have an awesome handyman all of my own to replace these! 

More spray painting!

I loved this little hello sign but I knew it couldn't stay boring.  I wanted a color that would pop and something that would go with all the different things I add to my porch so here it is in all its copper-y glory! 

A little spray paint goes a long way.

I am always looking for decor and more decor on the cheap lately.  I found this on a Facebook site for $10 and the best part was it was only about 5 minutes from my house! 

The color wasn't bad when I bought it but not my style.  I thought about black or oil rubbed bronze but I didn't want it to look goth!  So I decided to go springey. 

What do you think??

I hung it upside down from the basketball hoop to get the undersides.  My neighbors must think I am absolutely nuts.

Isn't it adorbs?!  And the best part is the total project was under $15!

Hop on over!

I have always loved the holidays but I love them even more at my new house!  I love decorating my porch and mailbox, I do miss being able to hang a wreath on my front door though.  I may have to talk Donovan into a permanent hook.  The over the door wreath hanger makes it too hard to open and close the door. 

I don't know what the white stuff is on top of my mailbox.  I've tried cleaning it a number of times.  I may just have to repaint.

I just love this little bunny butt decor!  Made by me!

It's all hard to see from the street but I can't pass up a chance to post a pic of my house.  I love it so!

Top o the mornin to ya!

I have some Irish in me somewhere so I'm  decorating!  I'll pretty much decorate for anything actually.  :)

The problem is I never see much cute St. Paddy day stuff.  Well, I take that back.  I saw tons today at Wendie Monroy's shop in downtown Riverside but being on a budget made it difficult.   I have so little that I just do my porch! 

So here it is.  My pathetic St. Paddy's Day decorations.