Chair Planter in 6 Easy Steps

Hello and welcome. I thought this tutorial  would be perfect for Inspiration Avenue's Blog Party this weekend. You should stop by and check out all of the fun stuff over there.  There are all sorts of links to tutorials, recipes, tips, etc. Invite your friends along to play.

This is a fun and rather easy project to do. I made this last spring and it lasted through fall.  I just changed out the flowers from Spring to Summer and then in the Fall.

Supplies you will need:

Chair

Drill

Jigsaw

Staple gun

Pencil/marker

Screen

1. Find old chair (mine was from the road side)

2. Use a round object (I used a plate) to mark out where the hole should go for the plants.

3. Use a drill to start the hole in the center of the marked out circle and then onto a jigsaw to cut out the rest of the circle.

4. Next place screening (can be metal or not, doesn't matter) over the hole and allow for it to droop down inside the hole low enough for a good amount of soil and moss to fit in (makes for better water retention) and staple it all the way around on top of the chair seat.

5. Cut off excess screening , leaving about 1/2" overlapping the chair seat (this will be covered by the moss and plantings.

6. Fill with moss and then soil and lastly whatever plants/flowers you want.

Remember you will need to water regularly as the soil is in an exposed area only being held in by the moss and screen. I planted pansies and ivy in it in the spring and then when summer came along, I left the ivy and took out the pansies, added in Petunias and Sweet William for height. It was lovely. This picture is when I first added the petunias, before the whole thing went crazy with blooms and some of the ivy was wrapped up around the back of the seat, while the rest reached for the ground.

Life's Simple Pleasures

Look at these sweet violets. I found a whole bunch of them in my yard. I just love them. They fit perfectly in a small glass, okay a shot glass, on my kitchen window sill. They make me smile.

  Sidewalk chalk art. Every child should be free to express themselves artistically. My daughter and her boyfriend drew these one afternoon and I had to laugh. How cute they are in 11th and 12th grade and still playing with colored chalk. ;D

  I just love when I see faces, shapes like hearts, butterflies and dragonflies, etc. in nature. This is one of my fence posts. It looks a little sleepy, doesn't it? It made me think of Scarecrow off The Wizard of Oz. Do you see it?

Shadows, especially palms and swirls. This is the afternoon light on my front porch. I love photos taken     around 7 pm. The lighting is superb!

 Crystal designs. Frost on the windows and snowflakes.

                                           Silhouettes of trees against the sky. It is dreamy. lol

                                         Fall colors, palm fronds and the sounds of rustling leaves.

                                                 The beach and wet sand between my toes.

Sunsets...the sound of laughing children, friends, smiles and so much more. Smiles are contagious, I always say. It is hard to see a smiling face and not smile back. Try it. I try to smile at everyone that I make eye contact with. No, I am not a creeper.  I don't go around and look at every person I pass but if my eyes meet someone elses, I will smile and 9 times out of 10 they will smile back. There are always those folks that are in their own world and that's okay. It just make me feel better that I brought a smile to someone's face.Okay off you go now. You have to try this experiment. Well you don't have to but I highly recommend it.
Oh yeah one more wonderful thing and that is YOU. Yes you, my dear blogging buddies. I love your comments and hopping around seeing what everyone else has going on in their lives. Fun stuff! Xo,Tammy

Nature transformed to art

This week's challenge on Inspiration Avenue was Magical Transformations. This was my submission. Nature to me is magical. To see the other submissions go here

Paper Collage Box Swap

The Collage box landed in my mailbox today.Inside we were to add a snippet and sign the booklet. Each person was to take 12 items and put 12 items in and then ship it off to the next person on the list. These are the 12 pcs I took to create a collage with and below are the 12 items I added to the box before sending it off on aother journey.

This wonderful little box contains all sorts of fun little bits and pieces. It is a treasure trove for the collage artist. This little box started out in Germany, and has wandered along through the UK, France, The Netherlands, Poland and the USA so far. It has a few more stops before it returns home to Lawendula , the lovely lady who started this fun collage swap.  Lewendula comes up with some of the most fun paper swaps. I'll post what I make using the bits I took from the box.

BLOG Partay! Whoot!

Hi all, just wanted to let you all know that Inspiration Avenue is hosting a Blog Party! The party will consist of all sorts of tutorials, recipes, tips and such. The party is in celebration of a successful art auction. We invite all of bloglandia to join us. It's going to be such fun! Click and read all about it. 

An Excerpt from the invitational post:

"One thing we do know however is that you'll be taking away quite a goodie bag. Yes my little chickadees every visitor, every player and every participant will be given some wonderful gifts - for this is a special sharing party. No posh frocks required, for you will be getting most messy, seriously sticky and terribly tangled. Just bring yourself and your gift... your lesson.... your tip.... your tutorial..."

Please feel free to post this button with a link in your sidebar and/or blog about this fun blog party. We invite everyone to share a tip, trick, recipe, tutorial, etc. Links to your blog will be posted on Inspiration Avenue.

 

Naturally dyed Easter Eggs and a Happy Easter

Our daughter made these chocolate covered peanut butter eggs in her Senior Foods class at school. Delicious! Look at the cute little flowers she made. The last image is of naturally colored Easter Eggs. Here is the link for Natural Dyes.  Here's a great link on how to boil your Easter Eggs for coloring. We are going to try the natural dyes this year. Should be fun! I hope each and every one of you has a peaceful and restful weekend. Happy Easter dear friends.

~ Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life. ~ S.D. Gordon

When in Rome

My husband and I go to the $1. theater at least once a week. Tuesday night we went to see, "When in Rome". It  is an adorable lighthearted movie. A high strung workaholic (Kristen Bell) no longer believes that she will find a Mr. Right that will make her put her career second. She flies to Rome to be in her sister's wedding and something magical happens. Here is the YouTube link for the trailer. This film is fun and makes you laugh.
And here's the fellow that makes her believe in love again. Heck, he'd make me believe in it too. Woooeee! He's one hottie! Just found out he is Fergies Hubby. Drats!!