"Change, when it comes, cracks everything open."
Dorothy Allen

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Makin' it

So, like I posted yesterday, I have been working on the house and making some changes.  I have been doing some crafts and fun stuff.  I figured today, I could cover some of that stuff.

So, starting with the house: Obviously, we have been working on the back yard.  I have put some before and afters just below. Sorry, for the before shots, all I had was pictures from the White Trash Party last year.

coming through the gate

by the tree, facing the fence
During, by the tree, facing the fence
During, the walkway

During, by the house
After, by the house

After, the walkway

After, facing the fence

After, the side porch
These pictures really don't do it credit.  I wish I had taken the exact same pictures from the exact same spots.  That would have demonstrated the drastic changes.

Here are some pics of the fairy and pirate gardens.

The teacup waterfall

There are smurfs in the garden

look for fairy doors.

Papa made the covered bridge.  Fairies come and go.

coming down the river.

The pirate cove.  Yes, a giant squid has the raft.  Papa built the wooden boat.

shipwreck and pirates and buried treasure on the beach.
Look close, you can see the octopus in the water.

through the foliage, you can see the lighthouse.
So, I have made some other changes.

I painted my front door black.
This is my new litmus test, to see if we can be friends.
 If you know what this means, and why it should be on my door, you are welcome in my home.
If you don't, then you must be cool in other ways.  So, you are still welcome. :)
I did another craft for the front porch.  I had 2 rusty, brown wrought iron hanger for flowers.  However, I very rarely put flowers in them.  So, I found 2 fish-bowls at the dollar store, got some tea lights and some stones and some paint, and made them better (at least in my opinion.)  The light-switch my sister-in-law gave me inspired me.



I have a plant stand, that I want to fill with other various glass containers, with other spells, potions, etc painted on them.  That might be the work of the winter.  :)

These next pictures don't do justice to the front of the house either, but they are all I have.
In this one, I had already cut off the wild clematis.  But you can see the unruly garden and the rusty twisty  plant things from the previous pictures.  Maybe you can tell that the wicker furniture needs painting too.

Note the gardens, the trim around the door and the windows.  The bunny by the door is pretty blah too.
Gardens, cleaned up and beautiful.  Trim around the windows and door, painted in black and white.  Bunn cleaned up, with a new painted black hat and flowers.  Wicker furniture painted.
I am recovering the cushions on the furniture to black and white this week.

painted the garage door black.  Painted the space above the garage, with the black diamonds and new numbers.  The ferns and the milk cans (formerly green, now black) are a change too.
I also helped my mother in law around her house.  She is planning on adopting a rescued racing greyhound and needs to have a fully fenced yard.  She needed a gate and a small fence put up, to finish it off.  My friend Carrie, who is an amazing do-it-yourself-er, led the party and Kathy and I followed her lead.  In one day, we got'r done.
The work crew.

Finished product.

I have done some crafts for other people.

This is for me.  It's a shadow box that holds all the ticket stubs from the plays, shows, sporting events, concerts, etc that we go to.  Keeps them in one spot and when you open it, you have a million memories to go through.
Has an awesome quote from John Lennon in it.  

Started making and selling crayon wreaths to raise money to send Sebastian to school.
These are for a little girls room, back to school and fall theme.

For a baby boy.
I am starting to get requests for specially themed wreaths.  This was my first Halloween.
I have 3 more requests for Halloween now, 2 for Christmas and several others.
That's awesome. :)

Plaques for Geoff and Joel, to hang over their desks at the store.  I used the font that is going to be their signature.
Purple and green are the colours of the store (super villain colours.)
So, as you can see, I have kept myself busy.  It's been fun.  I have more projects started- working on the side porch, painting the adirondack chairs (thinking of making them look like a Stormtrooper and Darth Vader).  I am still working on the crayon wreaths, and will until people stop buying them.  Then I will move onto other crafts and other ideas.  I am going to recover my wicker furniture cushions this week, with the help of my mother in law. I am feeling inspired and I have plans, plans, plans.

So, now you know, if I am not blogging, I am still doin' sumpin.  :)

Rosie N. Grey
The N stands for "new stuff, all over".

10 comments:

  1. Great progress Anita! The Harry Potter porch is awesome!

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    1. Thanks! I knew you, of all people would appreciate the HP touches.

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  2. Wow just loving what you've been doing....especially your little fairy doors

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    1. Thanks!! I lived with my house "as is" for so long, I am really enjoying putting my own style and spin on it.

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  3. this is amazing. I love all of the creative projects. Especially the fairy doors and the pirates and all of the fun whimsical touches.

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    1. Thanks Emily! the fairy door was a really find. A local craft show had them. Now I am inspired to try and make more. I like the idea of having a home that has the best little things kind of hidden in plain sight. Where you don't know what's there, until you really look.

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  4. All I can say is your ideas are AWESOME and I wish I was young again to play around the fairy & pirate gardens!!! xoxo

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    1. Aww...thanks Aunt Barb. The one thing I have found is that you don't have to be young to play pirates and fairies or Harry Potter. And doing the little fun projects has really added something to my life that was missing for a long time.

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  5. Looks fantastic....the work of talented people paying off!!!

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    1. Thanks!! All of it started with Adam...he got my butt moving and inspired me to make everything else look as good as the stuff he changed.

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