I love this time of year. Wanna know why? I’ll just show you, it’s better that way.
I needed pots, and I didn’t have a small fortune to spend on them. So what’s a girl to do? Why, do it yourself of course! Terra cotta pots are pretty cheap to purchase, but lets face it, they’re not real pretty to look at. They also tend to pull all the moisture from the soil, so overall not a good choice. Or are they? They are in fact, they just take a little prep.
I wanted my pots to be colorful, but have an aged look to them. I chose to use white and a turquoise color. I used both outdoor house paint and craft paint – mostly because that’s what I had on hand. My first step was just to paint some white spots on my pot.
I used what I call a “dry brush” to do this project. Basically that just means I dipped my brush into the paint and then jotted my brush on paper before using it on my project. I wanted the terra cotta to show through, and a dry brush works great for that.
Next I used the same technique with my turquoise paint. I painted all around the white spots, and overlapped on the sides.
I found it easiest to use the side of my brush like above. I simply went around the pot both outside and on the inside lip. If you feel like going the extra mile, you can take a little sand paper and sand down some areas around the pot (which I did not do because I’m lazy!).
And here’s the final secret…
Krylon Crystal Clear. I used it both on the outside to protect my paint job but also on the inside. That’s the big secret. If you don’t want terra cotta stealing all your plants’ water, seal the inside. I used 2 coats outside and 3 inside.
And there you have it. Great little pots that you can make in any color or style, and you don’t have to spend a months paycheck to do it. My total cost for this project was under $35 for 8 pots!
I enjoyed this project so much that I went back and painted some more pots for my herb garden out back. Too cute!
Yeah, I couldn’t think up a better name, sorry. I am proud to say however, that I FINALLY finished the Ball Jar Vase and Hooks project, and Holy cow! I never thought I would get it done. It started off with me assuming that it would be a quick, easy, finish in one day project. And it would have been, if I were a normal sane person, but I’m not, so I’ve been waiting ever so patiently to finish it. And today was the day!
If some of the screws look a little crooked, it’s because they are. I forgot to straighten them before their photo shoot. Forgive me.
This really is a simple project… unless you start bidding on antique hardware, and then decide you want something else once it gets there, and then forgetting to buy flowers, and such and so on. Which is of course exactly what I did. But here’s the short version.
A list of what you need:
I started off with a left over piece of barn wood from the chicken coop project and my picture hangers. Start here, because it’s really hard to get hangers on the back once you add all the other stuff to the front. Believe me, I know. Attach your hangers on the back and then flip it over to start on your hose clamp. The size of your clamp will depend on the size of your jar and whether you want the clamp to go around the rim or around the middle of your jar. Either way works fine. I drilled a hole in the back of my clamp (which was actually a little difficult) and attached it to my wood. Make sure you can still reach the screw to tighten the clamp once it’s attached. I used a wood screw to attach the clamp to the board.
Next I drilled 3 holes across the front and screwed in my extra special vintage hooks. Easy peasy.
Once I had all of my hardware in place, I attached my ball jar in the clamp. In this picture you can see what I meant by leaving enough space to be able to tighten your screw.
Add some flowers and voila! You’re done. A great way to bring in a little spring.
I originally saw this idea on Pinterest, and adapted to fit my space. You can see the tutorial at TheBarefootSeamstress.com.
Every year I give myself a book challenge and this year is no different. My goal for 2012 is 30. I reached last years goal of 25, so we’re upping the anti a bit. Maybe I can make it. At the least, I’m starting off on the right foot. So here’s what I’ve read so far…
1. 11/26/63 by Stephen King. Excellent, this was a really a pretty interesting book. Neat concept.
2. Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson. Good, although there are some discrepencies between his books that drive me crazy. How many kids does Alex Cross have? 2, 3 or 4???
3. Cross by James Patterson, Good.
4. Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) by Jeff Kinney. Good, Ok so maybe I shouldn’t count it, but I figure since the King book had almost 900 pages, it probably balances out in the end… right?
5. London Bridges by James Patterson, Good
6. UR by Stephen King, Interesting, but in my opinion a very short and somewhat boring ending for King
7. Cross Fire by James Patterson, Good, but I feel like all Patterson’s books are pretty much the same. Alex meets girl, killer tries to kill girl and Alex catches said killer.
8. The Beach House by James Patterson, Excellent, this is by FAR the best James Patterson book I have read. It had it’s own plot and everything. Good read.
9. Blindman’s Bluff by Faye Kellerman, Good book, I really enjoy reading all of the Kellerman’s books
10. Double Cross by James Patterson, Good, same as before (and yet I keep reading them!)
It’s my favorite time of the year…. Garden time. It’s a lot like “Hammer Time” only more fun. 
Tomorrow is the first day of spring, but we’ve had beautiful weather in the 70′s this week!!! Oh the joy! Warm weather means it’s time to clean out the beds, and get some of those transplants out.
I started with the easy stuff, strawberries. I really know nothing about strawberries, which is why it’s so easy. I just weeded them and added a little compost. I’m sure I should thin them, or do something else spectacular, but the rabbits eat most of them anyway, and we have a great pick your own nearby.
If your wondering what that pvc is for, it’s our makeshift greenhouse for when the temperatures drop too low for our early plants. We put a sheet of clear plastic over it and anchor the sides to the ground. Keeps our plants nice and cozy. Not sure why it’s on the strawberries, since they don’t need the warmth, but I’m sure some small children and a hubby were involved.
And then we have our second sqaure foot raised bed. We built this one last year along with the strawberry bed. I use this one for the early stuff like lettuce and peas. We started the peas in our little greenhouse a few weeks ago, and transplanted them along with a few different kinds of lettuce.
The peas will need something to climb, but that’s a project for next week. I can tell you that peas are a very hardy plant. Our little greenhouse and George collided last week, and I lost most of my seedlings. I was able to save half my peas by simply replanting them. They later transplanted well, and they seem to be thriving. Go peas!
Lettuce? Not so hardy. We actually lost all of those seedlings early to some mischievious chickens. What they didn’t eat they knocked over. We picked up these transplants from our local nursery.
And then we have our final square foot raised bed. This one’s been around for 3 or 4 years now. I’ll be honest and say it’s the one that gives me the most trouble. Every year I plant something different, and every year I end up overgrown with a weedy and very dry garden. This year I gave it a little extra attention and spent a few weeks cleaning out the bed. I turned it over every few days and pulled out all the roots I could find. I have a couple of herbs that have done well despite my neglect, so I think I’m going to try and get mostly perennials and see how it goes. I have some seed planted both in the garden and in the greenhouse. Considering my track record so far, I thought this might be a safer bet. In this one I have Oregano which comes back every year, and it’s been dug up a thousand times and moved. My kinda plant. Same with the garlic chives. I also have a few flowers that graced us with their presence again this year in the bricks. Bonus. I have some bulbs planted in some of the others in the hopes of having similar success. We’ll see.
My friend, the super early producer, oregano.
Another good friend, and equally early producer, garlic chives.
I also have lavender, rosemary, dill, sweet basil and cilantro started for this bed.
Bring on Spring!!!
We have baby chicks! This weekend we picked up 6 new cuties to add to the coop. They are absolutely adorable. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
And I have no idea what’s going on with her hair…
The ladies aren’t very happy about the new arrivals, but we’re introducing them slowly (and from a distance!). Suzie made sure we knew how annoyed she was. This is her evil eye…
Even George came over and checked them out. He didn’t seem to care much about them one way or another, and only came to check them out when they got loud. He sniffed around for a minute and then went back to bed. He’s a lover not a fighter.
Little Cat (aka Nacho Cat) was a different story. He may look innocent, but believe me, he’s not. At all. He’s been eyeing the chicks all day, and trying his best to get close to them. We decided he was best kept inside while the chicks were out of their new home. He sat in the front window watching every move. We may have some trouble out of him…
I found this great little side table at a yard sale last summer, and it’s just been waiting for some love. This week I finally got around to giving it a face lift. I’m crazy happy with how it turned out.
This was a really simple project, and I didn’t sand much at all. There were a few places that had rough spots, so I quickly ran the sander over them, but never again will I sand from top to bottom. All thanks to this….
I lucked out and found a can of this in the “oops” section of my local hardware store, and it just happened to be tinted a fabulous shade of grey. Best $3 I spent all week! You can paint over shiny, glossy furniture without sanding. Dreams really do come true!
After a tad bit of sanding, I painted on a few coats of primer. I loved the color, so I decided to just use primer and not use another paint over it. It’s gotta be tintable for a reason right? I may be breaking some rule here, but it worked out well for me. I used about 3 coats of primer.
Next I chose a scrapbook paper to match my grey. I really liked this simple stripe, so I cut my paper to fit onto the face of the drawers and then got out the mod podge. I need to do a post on 8 million things you can do with mod podge, cause really, I’m not sure I would survive without it. I sealed the whole thing with a coat of Minwax polycrylic paint.
And there you have it…
Just thought I would post a few fun pictures from the weekend.
Little man scored 2 goals!
Boo’s first soccer game, she had a blast!
The electric ring pop.
Sweet Suzie
Hope you had a great weekend!
I love March because the local flea market opens back up, and I’ve definitely been having some withdrawal issues this winter. I was so excited about the big opening that I convinced the hubby and kids to come along so I would have extra hands to carry back all my treasures. The weather was great, and we had a really fun day finding lots of good junk!
Here are a few of my favorite finds…
I got these 2 fabulous crates for a really great price. I do so love the art of negotiation.
I’m not sure what this little box was made for, but I really loved the color, and the price was right so I made it my own. I think I may hang it on the wall to use as shelves.
And my favorite for the day… 2 antique tractor seats. I absolutely love the patina on these, and I’ve been looking for one of these guys for a while. I’ve been wanting to make a stool for the studio, and I think this will be super cute at my antique drafting table. I was really excited to find 2 of them, and the best part is that I paid less for both of them than I had planned to pay for 1!! She shoots and scores! Now I just have to decide whether or not to keep the second or put in the shop.
This week I found a really cool bench at a local thrift store. I couldn’t resist the beauty of it. The color, the detail. I knew nothing about it, just that it was lovely and I needed to have it. Lucky for me, it was very reasonably priced.
The detail on the back is just beautiful. It has all the original hardware, and one small repair in the back for support. The bottom of the legs show a little age, but overall a really nice piece.
When I got home I did a little Google search, and was pleasantly surprised by what I found.
Apparently the plant that bought out J.S. Ford, Johnson & Co. closed in 1933, which would make me think that this bench was probably made at or before that time. According to this information, the company moved from Chicago in 1908 and changed names multiple times from then until 1933 when it eventually closed. That would mean it’s possible this piece could be as early as 1908 which is the last year that they were in Chicago. Obviously the plates may have remained the same, but it’s fun just to have a piece that has some history (and for a great price I might add!).
