How To: Flower Tower

Mother's Day is right around the corner! This weekend folks.  In our family, it became a tradition to get our Mom beautiful plants for her patio.  Each year my sister and I attend the Cabrillo College Plant Sale the day before Mothers Day, and pick out a ton of great plants for Mom. It's great- the College's horticulture program sells all the plants they've propagated all year to the public, in one massive Mothers Day fundraiser.  We have always found the most unique plants!

When I saw this tutorial on the Home Depot website (actually it was a commercial and I quickly scoured the internet for instructions. Hard to find!) I instantly thought we should try it one of these years.  If you are looking for a great Mother's Day gift, think about this:

Tah-dah! Wouldn't that be great?  It's not terribly challenging either, looks like they are using a simple wire cylinder frame lined in landscape fabric.  Simple yet sophisticated, consider making two to frame an entry.

Hop over to Home Depot's Garden Club for the full instructions. (Disclosure: This post was NOT sponsored by Home Depot, I just love this idea!)

What are your plans for Mothers Day? Do you make or buy your gifts for Mom?

Love hearing from you,
     -Jesse

**Here was last years post for a great Mothers Day Vase idea.. check it out.

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Spotlight: Straw Bale Gardens

I was way bored the other day and started browsin' around the internet... you know how it goes.  I came across this little gem of an article about making raised beds with straw bales.  My first reaction was NO WAY a million weeds will grow from the seeds! Right? Wrong.. I guess straw bales are different than hay bales, in that straw bales are the leftover stalk once the seed has been harvested.  And hay is full of grass& weed seeds.  Ahh.. I'm obviously no farmer.  See what you think:

 Source

That tomato looks delicious...What I love about this is how EASY it is.  The look is a little rougher than I'm used to seeing in raised beds, but I dunno - it looks kinda cool? Especially with the black bark around it.   Joel, of StrawBaleGardens.com explains that's it's pretty much lay it on it's side, plant your plants, keep it watered and enjoy your bounty.  The warmth of the decaying straw is great for the plants, as well as the nutrients it provides.  When the seasons over, it just turns into soil.  This would be perfect for those areas with poor soil or hard to dig.

Hop over to Joel's website Straw Bale Gardens  for more info, directions and a few videos.  What do you think of this idea?

     -Jesse

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Guest Room Tour: Finally!

Finally, now that the major projects are done - we can close the chapter (for now!) on this room!  I'm really happy with how it came out, especially when you compare how it was before.  Miscellaneous storage room no more! While it's set up to be a guest room, we do use it daily.  It's our dressing room.  Hahaha... I can hear your laughter from here! But hey - it's nice to have a separate spot to get ready in the morning, don't knock it til' you try it.

So here's how I'll do this, I'll run the first set of photos through for viewing, then the second set will have details and links to all the fun projects that took place in there.  A-here-we-go, I'm moving in a circle to my left:

Had to give a close up of that light, I love it (thanks Sarah!).  It got a little drowned out in the last photo, but it's above that dresser.

 

There she is! What do you think, not bad for a tiny room, huh? I know it seems odd to have a ginormous mirror in that tiny room, across from the bed, but whatever.  It does make the room look bigger, and remember this is our dressing room 75% of the time. So it works!

Alrighty - here are the project links, paint colors, etc. as promised:

1. One of my first Cut Canvas projects! See more here.
2. Coming soon: Adding an easy pull cord to absolutely any light.
3. DIY Floor Mirror: Tutorial here!

1. Decorating with Driftwood
2. New Room, New Paint! This paint was from our local Ace, called Soldier something..
3. Jute Wrapped Chandelier Tutorial
4. How To: Geometric Art Tutorial

1. This is a space heater. I've been asked so many times if it was a table with a radio or something. Nope! 
2. No room for a door? Hem a plain bedsheet to size and make it into a curtain. Add some rings and a tension rod. Done. No tutorial necessary.
3. This paint is by Behr, Paint & Primer in one, called Loft Space.

1. Message in a Bottle Tutorial: Hard to see in this, but it's there. Aging paper tutorial included.
2. Built in Shelf Tutorial: We took a weird space and made it super functional.
3. Cyan Chalk Paint Nightstand Tutorial: Recipe included.

1. American flag blanket that Ralph's Grandma made.
2. Reverse Tie-Dye Tutorial:  This is a fun one.

1. This is our new light fixture. Please ignore the unpainted ceiling, it's my least favorite job in the world. We got it at Home Depot, and here's the link.

There you have it! Any questions? Feel free to ask, I probably  may have left something out. As for the window, I just realized it's not in any of the pictures. Well it's there, it's just small. Left of the dresser, above the bed.  That's part of the reason we wanted the room to feel really cozy and interesting, because we knew there wouldn't be much gazing outside.. heh.

Thanks for touring our guest room! 

xoxo, 

     Jesse

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DIY Floor Mirror

I wonder if you've been in the same shoes as me on this one - you've always wanted one of those gigantic floor mirrors you see in stores, but did not want to pay that gigantic price! ($499!) After all, it's a giant mirror in a very simple giant wood frame - can't be that hard right? Well guess what, it wasn't. It was easy. I did it in an afternoon, and my total cost was under $25.

Gather round friends, this is an afternoon project that anyone with a few basic tools can do. Before we start with my usual step-by-step in pictures, here's a collage that's pin-worthy, for all you Pinterest addicts out there (guilty as charged!):

Let's get this done.

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String Art: Otis the Owl

***Update: Otis the Owl Complete Pattern download is now available in my etsy shop, as well as complete kits that come with everything you need: Pattern, board, nails, string... you name it. Check it out here***

Hey, hey! So his name doesn't have to be Otis, I'm just a sucker for the whole alliteration thing... I'm excited to show you my newest string art design - this was a project for the winner of the String Art Giveaway I did on Better After a while ago.  The winner and I discussed all types of ideas, she showed me a board on Pinterest she had created that focused on many styles she loved.  She really wanted an Owl.  So I took inspiration from her ideas, and combined them into this:

I love how it came out! It was so challenging to figure out all the details (especially on the feathered chest) but it all worked out great - I'm happy, the recipient is happy, Otis is happy, we are all happy.  It's bigger than usual too, about 11.5" wide by 23.5" tall, and for a new trick I mixed some paint action in there. The wood was hand distressed using the Aged Wood trick from a while back. This one takes longer than usual, but so worth it.  Hope you like it!

I'm going to throw this design into the etsy shop, which you can access by clicking here or the My Etsy Shop tab above.

If you want to make it yourself, I have downloadable patterns & directions here, and complete kits here. 

Let's make it a good week ahead! 
     -Jesse 

Want to see other string art designs? Clicky Clicky....

Up next on the blog: DIY Floor Mirror - huge wood frame!

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