Chandelier For The Porch
Here it is. This is the fancy project I completely with the ugly, little, pink basket.
Here is the before picture:
Here is what I made:
I took a 75cent basket from the Salvation Army and spray painted it black. I hung crystals and beads on it and added a length of chain. I added some mini candles in jars and viola! We now have a chandelier above the ice cream table on the porch! I found this idea on Apartment Therapy and think its super cute. What do you think?
Our Backyard
Our yard is a mess. The landlord kept it full of leaves, twigs, branches, logs, compost piles and even garbage. We are tearing all of this up. Slowly but surely we are cleaning up the mess we inherited, and making a pretty, and useful yard. So, over the weekend we plugged away at the daunting yard. We have, of course, started by picking up and disposing of his garbage and old broken items. The other items such as old pots, tools , and yard items were collected and stored neatly away in the already packed shed. Here was where the real fun began. We had already started to rake and remove the massive amounts of leaves from the back yard, but so much more remained.
This weekend is when we started working on a fire pit. This way, once this chore is finished, we can move onto the chore of burning the branches and debris that remain. Tony dug a very nice, large, circular hole, and we started with placing the first ring of bricks. We then layered the bottom with rock (the landlord also had much random rock to be picked up from the middle of the yard!). The pit is unfinished, but looking gorgeous already! Here are some pictures:
Here is some of the mess left in our yard.
Here is a bit more of the mess. We are removing all of the compost, which is those lumps, and the twiggy looking trees are going to be moved from the clump he planted them in.
Here's the start of the fire pit. This project is going to be a fun one for the summer!
Whats In Store For Next Week
Over the weekend I have a long list of fun little projects to tackle. If I get myself into gear and get them done you can plan to see updates next week. I hope to be working on the kitchen curtains, painting some pots, planting flowers, cleaning up the yard, building a fire pit, and working on redoing a headboard for the master bedroom. It sounds like a lot, I know, but I think I have most of it covered! And, my favorite little project…
Check out what I do with this ugly little pink basket!
Check back all next week for updates, photos, and how-tos of my many projects! Have a great weekend!
Other Green Ideas
After posting about saving household items on Wednesday I got to thinking about other green tricks and tips for your home. Often these green ideas are not only environmentally friendly, but also easier on the pocketbook. And who couldn’t use that right about now? Here are a few I think would be easy and helpful to start in your home. Now you can be on your way to “going green”!
- Unplug electric items when not in use. Items like TVs, coffee pots, and cell phone chargers suck electricity even when not in use.
- Use less bottled water. Get a thermos to take with you when you go and get a Britta pitcher to refrigerate tap water for better taste.
- Get energy efficient light bulbs as each bulb burns out. Also, use more lamps than overhead lighting, it not only looks better, but saves energy.
- Make a rain barrel. These collect rain water to be used later to water plants, or clean your yard items or car. These have a net on top to keep mosquitoes out.
- Buy shampoos and other products in the bulk, family sized containers. Not only are these products cheaper for the amount you get, but you use up less plastic waste.
- Hang dry your clothes outside or on a line installed in your laundry area.
- Use cloth napkins and towels for cleaning instead of disposable, paper products.
- Pull your yard and garden weeds by hand instead of using chemicals.
Tomatoskin's photo "Go Green!!!" on Flickr.
Although these are only a few of the many ideas, these are all ideas that are easy enough to get you started in your quest to being more green and saving money. These are all ideas that we are currently trying, or are going to try this summer. Any more ideas?
Chair Love Again
This week I have been slow. But, it just hit me. My daily Apartment Therapy email just came in, and there is was, this amazing industial looking chair. I do not know much about the chair itself, but Atelier 154 in France is the shop where this baby can be found, and the stylists of this blog that contains manygorgeous photos other photos are Elodie and Karine Kong. See them here: http://bodieandfou.blogspot.com .
Just simply beautiful.
P.S. I think that my weekly chair loves are so random and different because they tend to match my mood for that week (or day). I just noticed that as this chair even kind of matches the outfit I am wearing today. Casual, but classic, but also unique. Anyways…
Another Project Finally Finished
Remember that little stool with the opening lid I got from my grandma a few months ago? It has been on my to do list to redo the stool for a while now, and it is finally finished. See the before here: http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/new-little-project/
I took the lid off, which actually made recovering and painting much easier, and ripped up the fabric. I tacked down new fabric and replaced the old black backing since it was still in good shape. Backing helps cover the ugly seems when they are on something like this, as the lid being lifted will constantly expose this back area. I then sanded and painted the wood bottom, put the top back on, and TaDa!
Much better, don’t you think!?
Waste Not
Last night I stopped at my mom’s house and she was telling me about how my great-grandma used to save everything. She said that it their time people never wasted, and reused everything imaginable. I am pretty much a pack rat and always try to find new uses for old things too, but she had a couple of cool ideas I never thought of.
One no-brainer that she mentioned my great-grandma did was save her bread bags. She would shake or rinse them out and reuse them as baggies. Really? We use baggies for everything, so why had I never thought of this? You could use them as a cheaper alternative on dog walks, or even to bundle or store the items you normally use a baggy for! So simple, yet so green and effective!
She also mentioned that they often saved the same bread bags for making rugs. I have seen these in my grandparent’s old house. Here is a picture. Visit her site to see instructions for crocheting the round version here: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/09/27/recycled-round-plarn-rug/
I think these could be really fun and funky. Now I need to learn how to crochet!
Other things that my great-grandma saved were more common, and things that we already frequently save, but still great reminders nonetheless. Cool-whip containers, coffee cans, other plastic, cardboard, or metal containers. These can be reused in so many different ways in the home. You can even recover or paint them to match! One more thing that she saved was the little plastic eggs her pantyhose came in. I had to laugh. My mom said she had tons of them. Hmm… what would you use those for?
Especially in hard economic times, but always to be healthier for our planet, its great practice to reuse such commonplace items. What other ideas do you have?
Some Color In The Pocket Office
Over the weekend I made a few tiny but fun changes to the pocket office. First, I added some bright red paper to the blah sides of the drawer set under the desk. It looked as if it had just been stashed under there, but now it looks as if it was intended to be there. I also tried to eliminate some clutter. I took down the picture mobile, arranged some of the hanging photos on the inspiration wire, and changed the art a bit.
I had seen online where framing simple art in a blank CD case can be easy to swap and add a fun punch to your walls for little money. So, I hung three of these CD case frames with some strange art in them above the desk. The art was small, cluttered, and mismatched. I changed the art out to something more simple and in the color scheme. I then hung them vertically to contrast with the inspiration wire. I think this is starting to look much better than my original office a few months ago!
The colored paper on the drawers.
The CD case art I made.
Doesn't it look so much better!?
And, the other side of the office, so you can see the pretty matching boxes.
What do you think?
Our House- The Outside
When we moved into our new home it was getting cold and dreary out, and I have yet to post pictures of the outside of our house or our porch. Until now, that is. This weekend was so gorgeous outside that I took some pictures of the porch and the newly covered bench, as well as the patio furniture that I had time to repaint. Here we go:
The front view of our house.
The little bench by the front door and our red vintage lawn chairs! 🙂
Our gorgeous chairs!
And on the other side- our lovely vintage ice cream table and chairs!
Enjoy our sunny pictures!
New Chair Love
This week I found this cute little Mid Century chair on Flickr.
This is a walnut and naugahyde rocker and ottoman. I’m not usually super into MCM furniture, but I can totally see this rocker being used in a living room or nursery for a new baby. The white leather look with the dark wood is great.
Make Mine Eclectic 