Garden Color

I am a Pinterest addict.  I admit it.  I love to surf through Pinterest and pin all these wonderful ideas!  I especially love that I can go back to my pins for inspiration, or sometimes to purchase an item, or to get a great new recipe.

So I have been seeing these amazing painted fences on Pinterest.  While I would love to paint my fence to add some fun and color to my backyard, I have a shared fence and painting it is not an option.  I have thought about it for a while and decided to paint a garden gate that I can put in my garden.  Problem solved!  I was able to purchase the 4 ft fence boards at Lowe's for $1.38 each!!  I used some scrap wood to anchor them together on the backside.

It's not perfect but it looks so adorable in the garden!  I can hardly wait for some of the plants to creep up the sides....

I decided that I should paint the fence boards a light whitewash to help it stand out in the garden.  I have used all outdoor paints so it should stand up to the weather.  I will say it was not nearly as easy as I thought it would be!  One - the boards are really rough.  I even sanded them some.  Two - the boards do soak up the paint quickly.  And three - it is a BIG surface!  My son helped my paint the leaves and pick out colors.  I learned that it was much easier to use a thicker brush heavily loaded with paint.  It is so humid here that I painted inside the house (brought the fence in the night before to acclimate the wood to the inside temps).  Once it was dry I set it outside.  I have placed it in the garden but first added a light coat of polycrylic in hopes the colors will stay nice and bright.

I just love it!  We have gone a bit silly painting old fence boards here!  Oh, see the little white boards sticking out at the sides?  Those are the backing boards I used to hold it all together.  I could not find the saw when I was putting it together and told myself I would cut them off after I painted.  Not.  I have hung birdhouses, small lanterns, and even a small container of climbing vines on them!  Really integrated it into the garden.

Enjoy your day!

Playing with color

Good morning everyone.  It has been a bit since I posted a project.  Life has consumed me!  I am sure some of you completely understand.  I look forward to school ending each year so that I can spend time with all of my children.  However, as they have grown and moved to college, the time isn't as specified as it once was.  I am learning to enjoy all my small moments with each one of the children whether it is an hour or a week.  Seems so crazy to think that life was simpler when they were all small and at home!

So, I carved out some play time in the craft room - finally.  I had some cards that needed to be made, a few vinyl projects to make, and a bunch of cleaning to do!  First I want to show you a little pure fun I had:

I was thinking about Father's Day coming up and decided to make a fun tag for my dads gift.  Gecko Galz has some of the best images.  Looking through my stash I found several of my favs and decided to add them all to the tag.  Somehow I ended up using most from the Through the looking glass sheets.  Once I had adhered all the images on different levels I covered the entire thing in clear gesso. I chose my color scheme and using my fingers began blending all the colors.  I just could not get a good pic to show the depth.  But I am hap[y with it.

Next up, a vinyl project.  My boys run cross country and track and have plenty of ribbons and medals from those events.  For several years I have promised to make a display for them.  Here is what I made:

This is a 12 x 12 board I bought from the hobby store and spray painted navy.  I cut the design from 631 vinyl and applied it to the board.  I let my board dry for several days before adding the vinyl because I was worried about the vinyl lifting my paint off - but it didn't!  I dabbed white acrylic paint through my vinyl and then removed all the vinyl when done.  I did have to do some fine touch ups but I love it!   (Can you spot my mistake?  Look in the wing of the shoe - I apparenty left a small piece of vinyl there!  oh well)  I made one for each of the boys and one of my sons friends.  My thought was that as they need more room for medals they can add more cup hooks on the bottom and sides of the board.  My oldest had over 200 medals so he has a lot more hooks and we hung them 5 per hook.  Looks awesome hanging on the wall.

The summer heat has begun in Texas.  Since I don't like the high humidity I am hoping to get some things done in the craft room!  Be inspired today - and stay cool!