Garage Sale Bargains In My Garden

M

ore garage sale finds in my garden this year. I found this lovely pot for $5 at a garage sale, it holds about 3 gallons worth of plants. Isn't it beautiful? I still can't believe I found it for such a price, I didn't even try to "bargain" them down which is a rare event for me. The pic doesn't really do justice to the wonderful colors in the geranium or the pot.

My next item is the chair this pot sits on. I got this a few years back and placed it last year in the front of my house under the big oak tree that covers our bedroom areas in our house to keep it cool in the summer. I moved it to the back patio area and it really shines here now. 

I got this in my neighbors garage sale down the road one year. I was even lucky enough to fit it into my little corolla too! I couldn't wait to paint it to match my trim and display it proudly. My back yard is a better fit. This year I am painting an old wicker rocker to go in its place in the front yard. I paid $15 for this gem.

This is my friend Pat's laundry tub. Isn't it cute in MY back yard? I would hate to give it up, she's hinted she might take it back next year, please don't Pat its found a good home here!

Lastly I will show you my porch swing with its new clothing, not exactly a garage sale find but, already had the fabric. I recovered my pillow from last year. Some animal got a hold of my old covers and so I made new ones--still making the second one up. I thought this fabric felt more casual and playful, plus I already had it! Can't go wrong with free stuff. My new porch rug (which is out of sight and had to be replaced since it faded so much after I washed it) was also a garage sale find for $10. It is not outdoor carpet but when you pay so little it doesn't matter much if it lasts more than a few years!

Later...

Rain Boots In the Garden

I

am a collector of rain boots. Call me strange or ego-centric and I will not argue the point. I have fallen in love with the new rain boot patterns and the old yellow children's boots. I have put them on a higher plane than to just be stepped on and plundered (so to speak). They are my new garden ornaments! Yes decoration for my lowly cottage garden. 

This is my first pair that I got a few years ago, though this is the first year for them in my garden. They are actually a planter made of resin to resemble the old yellow children's boots. They are from years gone by, when they had the awful rubber smelling yellow slickers to go with them, remember how they stunk in the rain?! They smelled so rotten.

Don't tell my son, but I secretly wish I had a little girl so I could dress her up all in pink and lace. This is a set of boots I would have gotten for her to stomp around in the mud. I remember when I was young my parents had a stone driveway that would gather big puddles after a rain storm. My sister and I loved to stomp around in the puddles with our little yellow boots on. Memories...

This is the third pair, actually the second one I bought at goodwill. I am trying to keep them in the shade so the sun doesn't wear the protective surface off them (I learned this from my own experience a few years ago!)  These are so obviously pink, they are obnoxious, but cute in my garden!

I have just gotten a new pair, care to guess where they will go?

Making Old Things New Again

T
his was my son's old dresser. We inherited it from my cousin, Sharon. It belonged to her mother-in-law and was very old and very black. We painted it red for his dalmatian themed room, then I repainted it another shade of red for his nautical bedroom. Sharon thought it was time to move it to my master suite for another session of use.

So off I went to the local paint store. I found a lovely shade of green to match my decor which was $32/gallon--decorator shades can only be made with decorator paints. Lesson learned, take the designer paint chips to Walmart for paint mixing.

Here it is after I primed it. It already looks pretty different.

I forgot to mention that while visinew hardware for my "new" dresser. Since I just closed up my latest garage sale, I decided to splurge on some really awesome drawer pulls. Can't wait to show you.

Well since I can't wait here it is in all its glory! The paint color shows up white but it really is an artichoke color of green. I like the art deco look of these knobs, they are polished bronze colored.

The mirror on top was something I picked up a few months ago for another project. I put it on top and decided it was a match, so there it is.

The pièces de résistance was my wicker chair which used to be black. I painted it a hammered brown color and it looks magnificent with my "new dresser". 

So what's the verdict? I really like it, it actually matches the new hardware on the chest, I love my new look. I was getting a bit tired of my wall paper but now it feels revived too. It's amazing how a few dollars can make such a big difference in how a room feels and looks.

Next my back entryway--two years in the making!

Halloween Spirit

I
ts that time of the year again, time for the Halloween dances. Yes this is my beautiful son at his first dance--ever! He had a slow time getting started but soon joined in the fun.

They had pizza and candy and lots of fun. Here he is with a friend from our church, she was so excited to see him!

She was a bumble bee, isn't she cute? I believe she won a prize for one of the best costumes. Brody won't wear costumes so he went "straight". He enjoyed seeing all the costumes at the party though and talked about it all night.

He spoke about the dance all night and even wanted to visit friends after the dance to tell them all about the fun he'd had.

Brody was so excited all week about this dance, it's all he could talk about and for good reason I see.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Welcome Autumn Party

 W
e got some a small group together for our "farewell to summer and hello autumn party". My cousin Sharon with my son Brody who seems to enjoy supervising. But alas, supervisors need to be trained in the tasks also, he didn't seem to mind although the hotdogs were a bit over done!

My cousins Vicki and Butch contemplating the possible risks of roasting hotdogs! Butch accused Vicki of wearing his warm jacket--WIMP!

It was a bit chilly (62-65F) but boy did we have fun! Hotdogs, the works potato salad, baked beans, jalapeno chips, cauliflower and bacon salad and the list goes on...

Here is George with his grandson Blake. Blake was a joy to have, he roasted our marshmallows to suit for our s'mores. Yum! We offered a variety of treats from plain , roasted coconut, and strawberry marshmallows and chocolate bars or peanut butter cups for any combination of s'mores. I guess everyone was just too full to taste the caramel apples!

Some people come to parties hoping to bypass the cameras...she didn't hide fast enough!! By that smile I'd say she was having fun even if she was shivering a bit:-)

  All in all I'd say it was a success! Even though the weather and the hot cider were both cold, the company was warm and refreshing. Blake (Sharon and George's grandson) was a push-over for roasting our marshmallows for the s'mores. I think this just might be an annual thing for our family.

A Great Porch Swing

W
ant to know how to build a great porch swing? I have the secret to this pondering: find a great bench. I found this wonderfully large bench at a garage sale, I bought it for a different reason, when that didn't work out I ask myself "why couldn't this be made into a nice, large swing?" So I asked my "handyman" Chris, whom you see with my son here on our new porch swing.

Chris took the legs off, reinforced it a bit and added the hardware and chains. This photo shows it just after he set it up, you can see the extra chain still dangling on the sides.

 Brody loves to sit here and watch the garden, he can sit here for hours. Five dollar Pottery Barn pillow covers really seems to set this off. We love our new swing, thank you Chris!

Our Shaded Paradise

H

ow do you make a sunny porch a haven? Put up some trellises and vining plants is one way. When I first moved in to my house, the neighbors had two pine trees that added shade to my home, one in the corner near my living room and another in the back corner near my porch. This all changed when they suddenly without warning, had them taken down. I was saddened. But I eventually found a solution for my porch area.

I found these trellises at a garage sale, they were originally a craft bazaar display. I took off the shelf and asked a friend, Pat's husband Dave (photo on the left), hang them for me; he added some feet to stabilize the lower part. Don't they look great?!! He did a  wonderful job (excuse the mess, I was just potting up some things here). I have another one hung on the adjoining space to this one. My morning glories vine up during the summer months and shade my porch in the mornings. I will try to post a photo when the morning glories are blooming, they are beautiful:)