Summer front porch

This memorial day weekend I mostly worked in the garage getting it cleaned out and organized.  I didn't get it all finished but I did get the majority of it done.  I was able to get my front porch decorated on Monday for summer.  I did it real fast while my husband went to Home Depot to get supplies for making a shelf in the basement.

Here is what I was able to accomplish in a short amount of time.  Of course most of this was already here like the furniture and the rug.  This is the very back area of the porch.

Here is the bistro area by the front door.  I got these pillows at Wal-Mart.  I thought the colors would go well with the rug.

Now how it looks when you first step onto the porch.

I love sunflowers. They scream summer to me.  I think that I will plant some in my backyard this year.

Here is the most scariest room in my house.  Ok, so it's really not part of the house just attached.  It is the garage.  This is the room that I tackled on Sunday and Monday. I can't believe I am letting anyone see this.  When I pull into the garage I close the door as quickly as possible.

 In this picture you can see where we have started to put upper cabinets in.  We put in a total of eight upper cabinets and four base cabinets.  We also added another large metal shelf unit next to the one in the middle. I didn't get it all done so I wanted to wait to show the after pictures.  Right now it looks 100 % better than this.  This is what happens when you have to move in a hurry and have no time to organize it when you move in.  You should have seen it then.  We couldn't park in the third car area when we first moved as it was so full of boxes.

I might try to tackle it again this weekend since we will be closing the shop for a few days for a mini vacation.  It depends on if I get the patio furniture painted first.  That will be my first priority next week.

Linking with
A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth and Co, Coastal Charm, Our Home Away From Home,
Green Willow Pond, Savvy Southern Style, Ivy and Elephants, The Happy Housie,
DIY by Design, Easy Life Meal and Party Planning, A Delightsome Life,
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Posed Perfection, From My Front Porch To Yours,
The Dedicated House, Katherines Corner, The Brambleberry Cottage, Imparting Grace,
Between Naps on the Porch, The Charm of Home, Rooted in Thyme, French Country Cottage,
Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo, The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Craftberry Bush,
Whipperberry, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, Craft Dictator, The Pin Junkie,
Up To Date Interiors, Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating , Be Different Act Normal , Pieced Pastimes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Finding Silver Pennies,  Three Mango Seeds,  Thought from Alice, DIY Show Off, Boogieboard Cottage,  Dwellings-The Heart of your Home, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Creative Country Mom, Confessions of a Plate Addict,  Cozy Little House,
The Style Sisters,  Elizabeth Joan Designs, Burlap and Babies,Jennifer Rizzo,Sunny Simple Life
Whats Cooking with Ruthie,Six Sisters Stuff,At The Picket Fence,Lavender Garden Cottage, Home Goods

This little piggy

I found the most adorable pig at Home Goods the other day.  I was really looking for one with wings but this little one caught my eye.  Actually it isn't all that little.  It is about 14 1/2 inches long and 8 1/2 inches high. This little piggy will be going in my kitchen. 

I just love this face.  I made a bow to put around it's neck.  It just looked so bare.  Here she is all dressed up.  Yes it is a she now that I added the fancy bow.

I put her on top of the cabinets since I didn't have any room down below.

I also got the birdbath flowers planted out front.  That was the last of the annual flowers for the front yard.  Now I can concentrate on the back yard. I needed something that would not grow too high so I choose petunias.  I only wish they came in yellow and orange. 

 Here is how the front yard looks right now.  Some of the flowers are blooming while others are still growing.  I would still like to plant a few more flowers along the border to fill in.  I am one of those that love an instant garden.  I always like to plants things close together because I think that it looks better when they grow into each other.  I don't like gaps.

I wasn't liking the color of our house this winter but now that everything is blooming I think it looks much better.  I will do another post this summer once everything is in full bloom and I have added the rest of the flowers.

I had many plans for this weekend to get things done outside but we are suppose to have thunderstorms today and Sunday so I guess I will be organizing the garage, cleaning the house and hopefully getting all the little projects done inside that I have been putting off.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Linking with

life on lakeshore drive-bouquet of talent
diy show off-the diy party
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sundays
three mango seeds-it's party time
the dedicated house-make it pretty monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
between naps on the porch-metamorphosis monday
my uncommon slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
cozy little house-tweak it tuesday
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
a stroll thru life-inspire me tuesday
confessions of a plate addice-the scoop
elizabeth and co-be inspired tuesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the happy housie-work it wednesday
diy by design
http://easylifemealandpartyplanning.
http://www.adelightsomelife.com
http://jannolson.blogspot.com
http://www.posedperfection.com/
From My Front Porch To Yours
The Dedicated House
Katherines Corner
The Brambleberry Cottage
Imparting Grace
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com
http://shabbyartboutique.com
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
The Shabby Nest
My Romantic Home
Craftberry Bush
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Be Different Act Normal
Pieced Pastimes

Ants in the kitchen?

 Since summer is around the corner I thought I would redo the kitchen table. I love to go on a picnic.  This should get me in the mood for the real thing (if we will stop having these thunderstorms).  I found these ant plates at Pier 1 and thought they would be perfect. Of course these are the only ants that I would welcome.

I didn't have any red napkins so I just used some white paper napkins for the picture.  I think red would of been better since I have a white tablecloth.  My table top is glass and the plates didn't show up as well as they do on the white.

So, who's ready for a picnic?

Linking with
between naps on the porch-tablescape thursday
imparting grace-grace at home
from my front porch to yours-treasure hunt thursday
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
the brambleberry cottage-time travel thursday
posed perfection-creative ways thursday
katherines corner-favorite things
a delightsome life-home and garden thursday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the charm of home-home sweet home
craftberry bush-the inspiration gallery
shabby nest-frugal friday
bacon time with the hungry hypo-antyhing goes friday
romantic home-show and tell friday
french country cottage-feathered nest friday
chic on a shoestring-flaunt it friday
The 36th Avenue
pieced pastimes-saturday sparks
be different act normal-show and tell saturday
life on lakeshore drive-bouquet of talent
diy show off-the diy party
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sundays
three mango seeds-it's party time
the dedicated house-make it prettty monday
boogieboard cottage-masterpiece monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
my uncommon slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
cozy little house-tweak it tuesday
creative country mon-home sweet garden
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
a stroll thru life-inspire me tuesday
confessions of a plate addice-the scoop
elizabeth and co-be inspired tuesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the happy housie-work it wednesday
diy by design
http://easylifemealandpartyplanning.blogspot.com
our home away from home-tuesday at our home
http://elizabethjoandesigns.com

Front hall tree and finishing projects

This weekend was for getting a few projects done.  I wish that I could say I finished all of them but of course that is wishful thinking. I did manage to get a little decorating done on my hall tree.  This was my grandmother's.  My mom told me that my grandfather got it for doing some work at someones house.  This would have been the late 1920's or early 1930's when my mom was young.  It has an angel on the back of it. I am not sure what it is there but I like it.  I will never paint it or replace the mirror (which really needs to be) as I like the worn look to it.

 

Sunday started off with a trip to the garden center at 8:00.  I thought that if I got there when they opened it wouldn't be too busy.  I was wrong.  I got there five minutes early and there were already twenty people there shopping.  I love this garden center but there isles are only wide enough for a cart and a half to fit. I always have to park my cart somewhere and go grab what I want and take it back.

When I left at 8:30 the parking lot was full.  Home Depot is across the street so I went there to get what I couldn't find at the garden center.  The back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee was overflowing.  I never know how much to get so I think it is better to over buy.  You can always get another pot.  I actually got enough to fill all my pots.  Well not all, I have more in the garage

First I needed to fix some of my pots that are looking pretty sad.  I have had these for about 10 years now.  Maybe one day I will buy new ones.

Now for the after shot of the white pots.

Now for the green pot.

I didn't feel like completely changing the colors just a little sprucing up.  I got the flower baskets on the railings and the pot in the plow down below in the flower garden.  I completely forgot to get flowers for the birdbath.  It has cracks in it so it won't hold water anymore.  That will be the next time I venture out.  Here is the lonely little pot on our deck.  We are planning on putting roof over it so I only wanted to do one for now.  I usually do three and group them together.

Now for the front of the house.

Boy that birdbath is looking pretty bare.  I better get this done fast.  Maybe I will go back tomorrow.

I have an update on the bird nest on our front porch.  As I showed before mama bird laid five eggs.  It looks like only three survived.  I went to take a picture and the noise from the camera made them look up with their mouths open ready to be fed.  Here they are.  They are house finches and so cute.

I also got the baskets to hold gloves and stuff for the cabinet that I painted for my front closet.  Another project completed.

I haven't got my craft room done yet but I did manage to get it cleaned out and ready for some furniture to be painted and a little more organization done. This what it looked like when I cleaned out the walk in closet.  Of course not all of this was in the closet just most of it.

Now for the clean version. I also need to finish decorating the guest room area.  You can see part of the bed in the picture.  I only wanted a twin bed in here since it is primarily my craft room.

Well, that's all I could do for this weekend.  I am beat.  I think I need to soak these old bones in a nice hot bath.  I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Linking with
diy show off-the diy party
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sundays
three mango seeds-it's party time
create with joy-inspire me monday
boogieboard cottage-masterpiece monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
between naps on the porch-metamorphosis monday
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
confessions of a plate addict-the scoop
a stroll thru life-inspre me tuesday
my common slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
our home away from home-tuesday at our home
creative country mom-home sweet garden
elizabeth and co-be inspired tuesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
diy by design-swing into spring
the style sisters-centerpiece wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
easy life meal and part yplanning-four season blog hop
have a daily cup of mrs olson-share your cup thursday
the happy housie-work it wednesday
from my front porch to yours-treasure hunt thursday
the brambleberry cottage-time travel thursday
posed perfection-creative ways thursday
katherines corner-favorite things
duck n a row-wonderful wednesday blog hop
imparting grace-grace at home
a delightsome life-home and garden thursday
the charm of home-home sweet home
craftberry bush-the inspiration gallery

flower withdrawl

I am having a flower withdrawl.  I can't wait to get all my pots done.  This weekend is going to be nice so I will have to visit the garden center.  I found some pictures from our last house that were my favorites.  This will have to tide me over until the weekend.

This picture is from the War Memorial Rose Garden near old downtown Littleton.  I just love the gazebo there.  I wish it was in my backyard.

linking with

craftberry bush-plants and flowers linky party
shabby art boutique-shabbilicious friday
the dedicated house-anything blue friday

Vintage linens and a goodwill find

Well I went and did it again.  I told myself that I did not need another soup tureen but I was at goodwill the other day and I found this.  I think I have a problem.  They are just too hard to resist.

It was only $6.99 and it is huge.  This is the biggest one I have so far.  It doesn't have the ladle and there is a chip on the inside lip but I won't be using it for soup anyway.  I like to use these as vases for silk flowers.

As I was walking out to my car a lady driving by stopped and congratulated me on my find.  It will be perfect for next Spring.

I also came across some vintage linens and lace on Ebay.  Not sure what I am going to do with them yet but I'm sure I will think of something.  I have some that was my mother's and grandmother's but I hate to use them for projects.  Here are a few pictures, there is much more than what is here as there are lots of smaller  pieces.

I can't wait to get my craft room done (and the rest of the house) so I can get going on some craft projects. I have so much sewing to do but just can't find the time right now. I am pushing for the craft room to be done this weekend but I also need to get the patio furniture spruced up too.  So much to do and so little time.