DIY Hanging Basket EASY

This has got to be one of the cutest and simplest DIY projects ever!

DIY Finial planter

I bought two PVC fence finials, drilled a small hole in the bottom for drainage, planted my flowers and added string as a hanger.

PVC Planter EASY DIY

I love it and I think the white finial looks fantastic with my white DIY PVC lattice fence:)

DIY PVC lattice fence

Please see more pictures from CreatingCottage on Pinterest and Facebook!

Have a Great Day ~Renee

Turning plain into perfect

I love finding garage sale or dollar store items that have a nice shape and paint it the way I'd like to see it.

Here I've repainted a plain white dollar store bird into a sweet colorful piece for my garden.

This little birdie was really never noticed. Again plain off white and tan - now a brightly colored friend among my plants

brown was the original color. Now a distressed pink with white highlights. It's so fun to find something and turn it into what you really like and works at your own home.

Don't forget to gesso your piece first - it will make your paint stick. Finish with a few coats of clear spray paint, high gloss. You'll love the results

Hosting Hostas

Last year I didn't get to finish my front door walkway garden, so this year I was determined to complete it before the heat and humidity tried to crush me.

Although I had to do a few days of digging out and replanting, cutting the lower level out for the expanded path was just too much to take on myself.  My wonderful guys, hubby and boys, helped me with all the back-breaking labor of leveling hard-as-rock- clay soil.  The only payoff for the boys was that they got to use the hatchet to take care of the really stubborn roots that we kept hitting.

Although my ability to finish the mulching job was called on account of rain, I am already in love with the new look.....

My amazing husband had the idea of facing the front of the raised hosta garden with our reclaimed stones.

The sweet smells of Spring

Peeking through the pink

This time of year is when my uber-nose comes in handy.  I can enjoy the sweet smells all over my neighborhood, not to mention in my own yard.  

dipped into a little pinky-purple

Right now my Russian Lilac is in bloom and the heavy aroma continuously wafts through my window, enticing me back into the garden.

plant perfection

Cleo also thought it was a beautiful afternoon to see what new items might be blooming:)

Cleo

Blasts from the past

I was looking through some old pictures and thought I'd post a few favorites.

First up, last years Easter dessert plate.  Carrot cake inside these chocolate covered 'eggs'.

These were such a hit that a few months later my son requested them for his 13th Birthday cake. 

chocolate covered chocolate!

This time I created Chocolate cake pops!

May/June is the most wonderfully green time in the garden here.  I just love being in the garden then.  Please visit with me.......

Hostas and a fountain

 

even more hostas

beautiful foxglove

Snaps

I'm still working on this project, the transformation of my living room from this.......

 to this..........

CreatingCottage photoshop transformation

I would OF COURSE make my own special cottage style furniture applique for the fireplace redo.  I've already found the soft green color for the walls and after a year of 'discussing' it with him, I've convinced my DH to let us whitewash the brick.  It will really help brighten up the room I think.  The rose print's frame will be painted black.  Mostly because I think all frames should be either black or occasionally white - it's just a think with me. 

 Last summer we finished adding the flooring to the beautiful steps my hubby and kids built.  I painted the front boards and then we used the amazing peel and stick boards from Home Depot.  I love the way it came out and so does Cleo:)

peel and stick flooring

A wonderful Halloween recycle project.  Guess what the recycled material is?

It's cut up plastic litter boxes.  I drew on both sides and hung these everywhere.  They were great.

Another favorite was our study in shrink plastic or SHRINKY DINKS

I hope you've enjoyed this blast from my past.  I wonder what else I'll under.  TTFN

upcycle project for all

This is one of my favorite upcycle projects ever. I have so many of these types of project to post - just not the time to do so.

This bottle is actually a rubbing alcohol bottle (a fantastic thing to use when cleaning your bathroom/kitchen. Just pour contents into a recycled spray bottle and your fixtures and porcelain will shine with disinfected gleaminess) that I first painted with gesso and used the bottle's shape to design a kind of circus tent look. The way these bright colors show off in your garden is amazing. After you've finished painting remember to spray any clear (cheap) high gloss paint. I usually do about 3 or so coasts. This bottle has hung in my garden for three years now - summer and winter - and it looks the same today, as it did when I first planted the impatiens. These flowers, when kept well watered and given a little respite from the afternoon summer sun grew just as large as flowers planted in the ground.

What a great way to get your kids involved. How great would these look in solid colors with white pokadots - your kids would feel so proud!

I've shared this with...

Another bottle project is this 3ltr soda bottle. Again,

1. cover with gesso first and let dry

2. paint whatever your heart desires.

3. I painted a random design using all dots - very fun but doesn't really show from a distance, so keep this where people get in and can view it up close.

4. I had originally thought this to be a bird feeder, but it didn't work out. I did enjoy the trailing hot pink petunia here. When it grew to full maturity it was just stunning.

If you do this project, please share it - I would love to see everyone not throwing out their decent sized bottles to upcycle!

Quick Tip

Just a quickie about reusing.....I received a bunch of old T-shirts for the boys. They picked out the ones that fit and/or were interested in, and I was left to figure what to do with the remainder. Of course I could have donated them, like we all do, but this time I decided to use them......reuse them. I cut them up, parts were for cleaning rags (they do a great job when polishing silver) and the main bodies of the shirts I cut into strips. They have been wonderful in the garden to tie up plants. They have some give to them so the plants can grow fatter and not be cut like would happen with garden wire, but they are sturdy enough to really hold a heavy tomato plant to a stake. I also use them to tie up things like electrical cords and paint brushes. It's a great reuse for an old Tshirt that you can't donate due to stains or rips.

June in the Garden

Welcome ...........

Well, it's June again and that means I'm hoping to be finishing up my main garden plans for the summer. I'm not quite there yet but I am quite happy with what I have so far. Here is a beautiful colored Lilly that is very happy in one of the side gardens.

This yellow is so vibrant, I hope it shows up well!

I have abandoned all other roses now and only grow the Knockout Roses. I have Red and Pink. They really are so easy to grow and I never have any of those blight issues, as with other roses.

I love the way this picture looks with the background fuzzy but colorful. Hubby did a great job!
More purple, the Astilbe gives a nice color among the other plants

See how nice:)

Okay, one more purple. I grew this Malva from seed but realized that I really must grow some more. It's fantastic. I'm going more seeds now....snaps, lavatera, Digitalis and some others I can't remember right now.


Here's a nice area with our fountain and a faux chair potted with bee balm, purple cone flower and some cleome, most of which are yet to bloom. Come back later

Garden Touches

Right now it's just too humid to have the windows open but a few weeks ago it was just perfect! I had added a few touches from the garden, which really hadn't gone into full bloom yet, and the blue glass of these lovely little bottles added the perfect garden touch to the living room. I love blue glass. I love the way it sparkles when the sun hits it and feeling of water and sky that you get in the sunlight. I save my blue wine bottles and even look for them. These little charmers are from my next door neighbors garage sale last year. They are the perfect size to put on your dining table or just about anywhere. Even if your decor doesn't have a lot of blue in, somehow it still works. Sky and water is a lot like green in a garden, it's a background or base color. Enjoy collecting blue!

The June Garden

Now that June is coming to an end, it may finally get warm around here and believe it or not STOP RAINING. Despite all the cloud cover my garden is coming along nicely.

I thought I'd share my Lilly's that almost all seem to be blooming right now. I just love all flowers but Lillies can just be such show stoppers I think they're easy and a great addition to any garden.

What could be better than taking a quiet walk in your own garden to admire you handy work.....gardening, despite all the hard work or maybe because of all the hard work, is one of the most rewarding pastimes.