DIY hydrangea box

I have wood piling up in my garage, from old barns and stuff that people have given me from scraps...so it was time I actually made use of some of it. I put together a long box out of barn wood, it was super easy and cost nothing.

Turns out its a nice way to display my hydrangeas and let them dry out for the fall. ( a few are still in jars with water in them, just hidden in the box )
In a few weeks I'll take them out and arrange my fall display, that is made entirely of dollar store stuff and target clearance.

Random Target Deals

Patch NYC Poufs $79, come in several more colors too:

Clearance Poufs:

Privet Pouf $39 ( small )

Privet Pouf $55 ( large, other colors avail)

Target is also offering buy 1 get 1 half off, on select upholstered furniture...might come in handy for those of you in the market for upholstered dining chairs, or a pair of upholstered chairs for the living room, or even kid's twin side upholstered headboards.

Home Weave Navy Blue Pillow $16.99 ( in stores too, and in green )

Banana Leaf Trunk $34

I finally signed up for the Target RED Debit Card. Why I waited, I dont know. It literally took 2 minutes. Just take a blank check to the cashier as you're checking out, fill out a quick form, and voila. You're a debit holder. You get 5% off all purchases, and the best part, FREE SHIPPING ONLINE, ALWAYS. NO MIN. Hallelujah.

Vote on my bed color!

I'm finally going to take the plunge and sell my beloved  canopy bed. I do love my bed. I do. However, my master bedroom is so dang small, it makes it seem that much more tiny. *sigh* Besides, I've been wanting an upholstered bed for years now. I've been keeping my eye on this bed forever, I'm excited that I wont be out more than $50 for this bed, thanks to a craigslist buyer for my bed.

I love grey. I love whites, greys, blues, beachy neutrals. However I'm debating the color of this bed.
What's your vote? Buckwheat or Light Grey? Help!

Backyard Business

Here are some updates from the backyard. The fence line desperately needed something, and we needed more privacy since we are the corner lot. This picture was from last year ..zzzzzzzz.

This is today. We built more trellis supports out of free wood via craigslist, and have yet another wisteria vine growing, hopefully it'll really take off next spring, giving us a bit more privacy.

Another part of the backyard, I've struggled with filling correctly. This was last year:

And this is today. It's fuller, but not quite complete. Brick pathway to come. Anyone need rosemary? I have plenty.

And although this before/after isnt really fair, because it's a dead of winter shot, I still enjoy it. I added lillies and 4 more hydrangea this spring.

And today. We had a streak of very hot days, while we were on vacation( we arent custom to that here..) and my poor hydrangeas suffered a bit, but there's still plenty of blooms to come.

Did I mention I'm ready for fall?

DIY Canvas Painting for Nursery

Luli Sanchez is a famous textile designer/painter that caught my attention awhile back. Her pieces are one of a kind, and she doesnt even sell prints individually, BIG clients buy her pieces and use the prints in artwork and fashion and home linens. Which posed a challenged for me, when I desperately wanted this particular print of hers. It is the inspiration for my nursery design, all colors are based from this.

So I went to Joanns last night, and carefully picked out a few 59 cent paints and a canvas, spending about $24. The whole time I'm thinking, what am I getting myself into. I've never painted a picture...( well, you cant count the ombre/beach type print I did ages ago because my 4 year old couldve done it )

So there I sat, ipad with the inspiration on hand, paint and canvas in front of me, not having a clue where this would take me.
Once I got going though, I started to surprise myself, and I was actually enjoying it. The challenge was to get the acrylics to look like watercolor AND oil in some spots. But I underestimated myself and i'm very happy with the results. Check it out.