Garage Sales & Summer Blooms

Two of my favorite parts of summer!

Hope you all have been enjoying your weekend and keeping cool!  We are having one hot & muggy summer here!  I think garage & yards sales, and flowers are two of my very favorite things about this time of year!  Already I am wondering what I will do for fun once summer is over with!  Well, I am sure that I'll find lots of things to keep me busy, especially since I have been trying to stockpile junk treasures that I find at sales! I am always on the prowl for things that I can makeover, and I have quite the stash going! This weekend was like the previous two, not very many good sales.  Phooey!  But I still have hope for future treasure hunts!  Already I am looking forward to August when we have what is billed as "The longest Garage Sale in Michigan" right here in our area!
So I thought I would show you what few goodies I did manage to find, as well as some shots of what I have blooming around the yard.

These vintage wooden clothespins are my very favorite find of the week!  I was so excited when I found them, and I quickly snatched up all three bundles at only 50 cents per bunch!  I don't know what it is about vintage utilitarian stuff that is so appealing to me. I guess I really like how something so simple can be so attractive and charming, too!

I am a sucker for wooden organizers.  At $2.00, I couldn't pass this one up!  Guess the dust was free (yes, that's dust on top, lots of dust!).  I am going to transform this puppy with some paint, a wooden applique, and a new nob.

I found this really neat iron trivet for only 10 cents!  And I didn't realize that my toes were in the photo!  Ooops :)  While nice as is, you know me.  I just have to paint it!  And glaze it, too!  I'm thinking either Heirloom White, or else aqua, not sure yet.

At the same sale, I found this cute garden marker for just a quarter.
I also found this tin planter (for lack of something better to call it) at the same place for only 50 cents.

She's going to get painted & decoupaged, probably with a great image from the Graphics Fairy!

Now for a few of my blooms!

I love daylilies.  They are so easy and low maintenance!

Close up of balloon flower.  They really are this blue!

I love sweet peas!  They make me think of orchids, and look so pretty in little bouquets.

Ok, I am always saying "this is my favorite flower", about nearly all flowers, but purple coneflower really is one of my favorites!  Looks like this honey bee loves it, too!

Bee balm.  the hummingbirds really love it!

And yet another one of my favorites, black eyed Susan!
 Hopefully we will get some much needed rain, soon, as I have been busy hauling the sprinkler around the yard to all of my thirsty plants!

Le Fleurs

Hope you all are doing well!  One more day til garage sales!  I hope to find some good ones this weekend!  Thought I would give you a little tour of some of my gardens and flowers.  The daisies are going crazy, and my irises are so pretty!  So I have been picking lots of flowers and putting bouquets in just about every room in the house!  See the pretty orange butterfly on the daisy?  Today's post will be mostly pictures, not alot of me talking, mainly because I am sooo tired tonight, but also because I think the flowers are just so darn pretty!

I really am happy to see the clematis doing so well!  It's growing at the base of our mailbox.  It really is this pretty vibrant bluish purple color, I didn't enhance it!!  Hope you enjoyed the little tour!  Have a great weekend!
I am joining Cindy over at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday

A few spring blooms

Hello and happy Friday!

Spring is my very favorite time of year, and it has been a great one here in Michigan!  Actually, today feels more like summer, with temps in the low 80's!  It was such a gorgeous day that I spent about every second outdoors.  I snapped a few close up photos of what's blooming in our yard right now.  I love to garden, and have quite a few flower beds.  Last year I finally realized that because of this, our yard is really high maintenance!  Oh, to have a full time landscaper!  At any rate, I will show you more of the bigger picture soon as my flower beds start to fill in.

Here's a close up of euphorbia, most commonly known as "spurge".  I love the bright chartreuse color, and bees love it too! It looks great in a rock garden, but be careful to put it where you don't mind it spreading, 'cause it can really take over!  Smells good, too!

I just love this little froggy!  He's watching over a patch of grape hyacinth.
Love the bright pink creeping phlox. You should see my bleeding heart! It's huge!

 

I love violets!  And I was so happy to see my lily of the valley starting to bloom!  they should be out in full force in a few days.  Check out this neat Jack in the Pulpit!  I've got some in the shade gardens in our back yard, and the woods surrounding our house is full of them!

That's it for today.  Have a great weekend.

Turning and ugly concrete slab into a faux stone patio

From Drab to Fab
How I turned an ugly concrete slab into a faux stone patio

Hi everyone, today I am reposting one of my very first blog posts from 4 years ago. (Wow, where did the time go?!)

I've had a major case of bloggers block this past week, and since I couldn't come up with any ideas for new things to write about, I thought I'd share with you one of my most visited entries, since most of you probably have not seen it.

Still waiting on spring here, but it does help to look back at photos of our yard and my gardens!

So, here is my faux stone patio, hope you enjoy!!

Today I thought I would share with you how I transformed an ugly, cracked concrete slab into a pretty, faux cobblestone patio.  My hubby & I take great pride in our yard and flower gardens, but there was this one problem.  A very ugly problem!  On the side of our house was a really nasty, cracked and uneven concrete slab that was a real eye sore, not to mention an embarrassment.  One day last summer I had a brainstorm.  Why not paint it to look like cobblestones?  Now, I had never done any faux painting before, but I figured anything would be an improvement over its' sad, sorry state!

First off, hubby gave it a good power washing, then leveled it up & repaired the crack.  I am so thankful that I married a handyman!!  I went to Lowe's, and the man in the paint department recommended a concrete stain.  I picked up two different colors.  I would have chosen more, but they only came by the gallon, and that would have broken my budget!  I also picked up the concrete sealer that he suggested.  The concrete stain directions said to damped the concrete before using.  I should have followed my gut instinct and applied it dry, but I thought I better follow the directions.  Well, when I put the base coat down, the wet concrete just absorbed all of the stain!  You could hardly see it!  Frustrating!  Keep in mind that I did all of this on my hands & knees!  Anyway, after a day of so of letting it thoroughly dry out, I reapplied the base stain.  Then I outlined my "stones" with chalk, working in one small area at a time.  Since I wanted more than two colors of "cobblestones", I took several colors of exterior latex paint that we already had and mixed them with the concrete stain, so I had an entire palette of colors.  Then the fun started!  Over the course of a few days, I painted all of the stones, followed by two coats of concrete sealer.  I was so happy with the result!  It turned out alot better than I thought it would.

I wish that I had a before picture of the bench.  It was unpainted, weathered and very tired looking!  I mixed up a few colors of paint we had on hand til I came up with a shade that I liked.  Isn't it amazing what paint can do!  I then "accessorized" with a few plants and garage sale finds.  I can hardly believe that this is the same piece of concrete!  Now I can't wait to faux finish something else!

I am linking this project up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special 
and Metamorphasis Monday
and Tools are For Women Too