Hydrangea Love!

(taking a little break from all the ORC chatter!)
I love my hydrangea bushes.

A lot. Probably more than I should.

 I had to dig them up and put them in pots a few years ago because

 I really love my two big Goldens as well and they are not easy on gardens.

The hydrangeas outgrew those pots and this year my handy husband

 used pallet wood and a plastic bin to create some great big planters.

An aerial view: We decided to build around the plastic bin to help the wooden framework hold up better and to allow for legs on the bottom so that we could level the planters on sloping ground.

We looked at a lot of ideas on Pinterest and then just went for it.

 I'm sure there are some good DIY's to follow if you want to make some. 

We didn't take step-by-step pics because there is a ton of info out there already!

They are very simple and rustic. 

We knew they would be covered by the plants and 

we really didn't need anything too formal or fancy. 

I just needed a very economical way to get really big planters. 

The pallets were free and the tubs were less than $5.00 at Wal Mart.

 Seriously, nothing swanky going on here.

And look at how the bushes have taken off!! 

They are covered in blooms about to burst into color!!

I'm obsessed!!

The hydrangea behind the pond is in a huuuuge pot and is loaded with buds this year, too.

I add something to the dirt to convince my blooms to be blue but I have lavender and pink blooms this year anyway! I think it must be all the extra soil added to those huuuuge planter boxes. I'm just happy to have so many blooms - whatever the color!

And this hydrangea bush is Limelight and makes all the other bushes green with envy!

#summerinthesouth

Pink Chinoiserie!

For Valentine's Day!

I had a scrap of birch plywood on the porch

 and I had not put anything on my front door since the Christmas decorations came down

So I cut out a big, fat heart.

I put a quick primer coat of white paint on it.

And then I grabbed some pink paint.

A little bit of quick sketching.

And then I just quickly painted some images
 from my favorite blue and white dishes that I have around the house.

 It was a lot of fun.
 You just need one color of paint and some white paint. 
That's it!
I used Sherwin Williams Eros (deep pink.) 

I wanted to freshen things up a bit. It's been so gray lately.

And Mollie has a friend coming to stay for the weekend. 

A group of them are going out to celebrate "Singles Awareness Day" this weekend. 

The name for February 14th if you are unattached :)

I had the perfect pink Greek Key ribbon!
A quick bow and on the front door it goes!

 There! 
Nothing says "hello" like a pink Chinoiserie heart
 and some sunshine!

This was a quick and easy project. 
And since I have wanted to make blue and white Chinoiserie Christmas ornaments for literally two years
 I'm feeling pretty accomplished to get this painted 
and show the front door some love!!

The Care and Keeping of Topiaries

I absolutely love topiaries.
Of all kinds - the clipped boxwood ones or ivy trained on topiary forms or tuteurs.
However, topiaries are difficult to care for, keep looking lush and green... or just keep alive, for that matter.
So my secret tip for the care and keeping of topiaries is...

...

 

.... Just paint one!!
Yep, that's what I've got for you. Secret's out. Cheater topiary.

(in progress on an old piece of scrap board.)

 

Summer Colors and the $15.00 Patio Makeover!

I'm having a colorful start to Summer. Painting everything like crazy.
On my "list" for a while has been this sign in our backyard. We call it our "M.A.S.H." sign. Remember the show with Alan Alda? It was a family favorite - we still watch it and laugh. They had a sign in the middle of the compound with places and mileage and I always loved the show and the sign. About 10 years ago - maybe longer- we made one for the backyard with all of the beaches we have visited as a family.


Well, 10 years of Atlanta weather has taken its toll and I needed to add some beaches, so it is getting a major overhaul. The signs are spread out all over the table on the screened porch and are getting fresh coats of delicious Summer colored paint.
Also, on the agenda is a little project for College Girl's new place. Yes, she is on the move again. Seriously. Last Summer it was in to the Sorority House. This Summer it is into a super cute townhouse with two of her Chi O sisters. One will graduate next May but College Girl and the other sister have vowed to stay in this place for 2 years.... I'll believe it when I see it. Five moves in 3 years of college makes me doubtful :)
We moved her in an absolute monsoon - what an experience. All I can say is thank Heaven for a certain Kappa Sig and his truck, muscles and patience.
But now the fun part - settling in. As always, it is a low budget proposition.
While all the great paint colors were out I grabbed a square scrap of exterior plywood and gave it a coat of oil-based primer and then started painting.

 

Base coat in a great turquoise blue. Outline in SW Urbane Bronze.

 

Puffy white Summer clouds.

Adding the "fun" colors. Quick, messy brushstrokes with colors all blended together on the palette.

 

 

More color.

 

 

Whooo's a colorful guy?

More boards. More summery colors. I love those samples from
 Sherwin Williams and Lowe's.

I loaded up the finished painting of the Chi O owl, a little garden table we had (and used at a place she lived year before last), a string of colorful outdoor lights that we had in a storage box, a metal Ikea lantern that I used at Christmas and my pruning shears.

I headed to college Girl's new place and...

 

... after pruning overgrown bushes, cleaning off the little patio (thank you previous tenants for a bag of trash and the largest guy's tennis shoes I've ever seen ! ) and putting everything in place we had a sweet little spot to have a meal or sit and talk with friends. All I bought was the red patio umbrella for $14.99. Instant atmosphere for less than 15 dollars.

Hopefully I'll have "after" pics of the "M.A.S.H." sign soon.

Linking up:

My Scrap Bin and a Board....

turned in to this:
A 6 foot long ABC picture.

I can't even figure out how to photograph the whole thing!

It's longer than my work table in the studio!

I've been seeing all the cute ABC signs and walls on Pinterest and I love anything with the ABC's, typography, fonts, etc. I didn't have any reason to make one until.... I decided to make one to donate to a Silent Auction at Georgia Preschool Association's Training Event  this weekend at the Cobb Galleria! Yeah - an excuse to go for it.
( wow - time to clean in the studio! and yes - phone still smashed.
 It's upgrade month! I just need to make time to go!!!)

I figured out that if I wanted the squares to be about 3 inches, which is about as small as I felt I could go and it could still be big enough to do letters and images and not be too small to see, that I would need a board 6 feet long.
That's 24 squares 3 inches wide which works by combining XYZ.

Seemed reasonable and didn't even seem that crazy until I got the whole thing done
and it is one big ABC board!!!

Of course, the "O" is an owl!!

 
So, here are my ABC's

 

 

 

 

 

.... won't you say them, please, with me?

 And hopefully it goes home with someone (who likes loooonnnnng art)
and is a good fundraiser for GPA!!!

I kind of want to make another one. True story.

Update : it sold and is going home with a very happy school director!!

Linking Up: