Different Idea for Patio Floor

This is a very unique idea for creating the floor of a patio.  I love these black stones!

Apron

Isn't this the cutest idea.  This was my hostess gift for the bridal shower that I recently hosted. I loved it!  I'm such a country person and it fits right in with my country kitchen.  I will enjoy wearing it.  For you readers who like to sew, you might want to give this a try.  The bride's mother who made this said, " that overalls really make cute aprons also." 

After writing about strawberry pots and using my picture from the fall, which didn't do it justice.  This morning while I was outside the pot looked so pretty I wanted to post this recent picture.  You can see the succulents that have taken off and the pansies are growing like crazy after the rain.

Love Pillow

I was looking in a magazine with my daughter recently and saw the love pillow (in purple) and loved it.  I like rectangular and of course the purple caught my eye.  A couple of days later, I had been working with my friend on planning the bridal shower and I thought that pillow would really be cute as a little give away gift for the bride.

So the brown is my rendition of the purple one.  There were no small rectangular pillow forms so I ended up with a 14 x 14.  I have shown a side view of the pillow so you could see the pipping.  I actually had in mind a paisley print for pipping and a solid back but could never find anything I really liked so I just went with a solid back.

I looked at the original pillow and traced the word love.  I used french knots to form the word and so did they but I think they wrapped the needle four times and I only wrapped mine two times.  I like the way the purple pillow looks the best but my turned out ok. 

I did the front of the pillow in about four hours and I had someone to do the pipping and put the back on.  I'm not the best seamstress and I wanted it to look nice.  I wanted to share this idea because I think these pillows look cute thrown in with other pillows that you might have on your couch and like the purple just sitting alone on a chair would also be eye catching. 

Try making one using your favorite word on your favorite color!

Strawberry Pot

I love these strawberry pots and over the last several years they have become very popular.  This is one my mother-in-law gave me years ago and it sits in the corner of my front flower bed. 

This is a picture from last fall after our first freeze.  As you can see, the flowers look a little wilted.  These johnny jump ups looked so cute in this strawberry pot.  There are also some succulents in there from the summer.

If you like these pots you will have to get one and plant some small flowers in them or succulents look great in them.  Last year at the farmers market in Norman, there was a vendor selling several different styles of these pots.  I'm sure most garden stores carry them.

I have had succulents in the side pockets and one year I planted caladiums in the top and another year I planted the grass that is bluish purple that has a small fury cone, its an annual.  Another idea, would be to plant basil in the top for this large pot I have there would be room for it.

Since I mentioned herbs, don't forget that herbs look beautiful in the flower bed.  Lavendar and rosemary are beautiful and they grow into good sized bushes.

Love These Colors

I saw this in a magazine and I absolutely loved these colors.  I really have never been much of a blue color person but for some reason I'm starting to love purple.  I'm thinking of taking these colors and using them to redecorate one of our bedrooms. 

These are some antique pillow cases I have and I am excited about being able to incorporate them into this project.  I can't wait to start looking for paint maybe paper, curtains, bedspread etc.  Will keep you up to date as the project takes shape.

Window Treatment

Instead of putting a heavy drape over this window, I like to keep things light and airy.  My thoughts would be to insert a 1x3 the width of the window and secure it.  This board would sit underneath the arch.  The arch would be left open.  Then put a decorative rod in front of the board and find a beautiful sheer fabric.  There are lots of fabrics that are sheer to choose from.  A good fabric store that has a good inventory of sheer fabrics is located on N.W. 23rd in OKC between Classen and Penn.  I think the store is called Fabric Outlet.  It sits on the north side of the street and is closer to Classen than Penn. You can't miss it. 

Now, the fun part! Find unique bottles, vases, or interesting glass animals to sit on your board. Look for items that will compliment each other and arrange them attractively.  The light shining through them will look beautiful and you can transform this window with a very unique look.

I have seen some beautiful glass pieces at Ross, Stein Mart and T.J. Max.  It's great if you can hit these places when they have just received  new shipments.  Once you're looking for this type of item, you will be surprised where you see things.  Always, take your time and wait until you find what you love.  DON'T just buy something to fill in the space.

So Thankful for the RAIN!

Aw, the rain, so thankful......one down pour after another all day long.  Wasn't it wonderful!  I can't remember it raining like that for a long time.  And we get another day of the rain today. YIPPIE!  The official reading for Chickasha was 2.5 inches.  My rain gage isn't up yet but it look more like 3 inches at our house.

When I got in bed last night, another thunderstorm was starting to move through, the thunder, the rain and lightening are such wonderful sights and sounds.  I was and am so very thankful to God for the rain. 

I don't know if my peach trees will have peaches this summer.  All of those beautiful pink blossoms turned brown after that freeze we had about two weeks ago.  Our pear trees are just starting to bloom so I'm thinking they will probably make it. 

When thinking about your flower beds and new flowers you would like to plant don't forget to add those vertical items to your landscape.  They make such a huge difference.

 

 

This looks like an old antique pillar.  You can find old porch columns at junk stores or garage sales and these look great in the flower bed or you could even buy a wonderful birdhouse and sit on top of the column or post.  If you would use a birdhouse, then plant a vine like a clematis or a black eye susan, morning glory, or red cypress vine to climb up the post and drape it over the birdhouse.   There are lots of vines you can plant to grow up a post or pillar or topiary structure that adds a vertical interest with some beautiful flowers on it. 

If you have an out building, spruce it up by adding a window box or see this vine they have planted that grows up over a ledge.  We had an out building and I added a ledge, like this ledge and nailed all different sizes of bird houses and watering cans onto the shelf.  I secured them by screwing in a screw from the bottom. It really looked great. Also, if you plant a climbing rose bush by a window, train the rosebush to go around the window. The window becomes draped by the roses and it looks beautiful when it blooms. This adds a lot of interest to your home, something different than just a manicured hortizonal flower bed.

It looks like we will be having a beautiful weekend so go outside and get creative with your yard.  You will have fun doing it and don't say you are not creative because you are!