Wizard of Ozsome!

All of these garden projects I have worked on were leading up to my annual garden party. You may recall some of my previous parties. The first was Enter Eden, followed by the Blogiversary, and last year's 50 Shades of Fabulous! My girlfriends have come to know that I always throw a party with a theme, so they were especially excited when I announced this year's theme was inspired by the Wizard of Oz. My dear friend Melissa dubbed it "Wizard of Ozsome"
The inspiration for this party actually began a few years ago. One of my "long term" garden projects was to transform my ugly concrete into the yellow brick road. I want to create the magical whimsy feel in my yard and the yellow brick road was one way to do it!
Last summer I tried using a yellow tinted concrete stain but it did not achieve the look I wanted. So this year I went over the stain with a darker stain, and then used exterior paint that I sponged onto the sidewalk. The results were fantastic! Here are some before and after pics.

 

BEFORE

AFTER

  

With a sidewalk like that the Wizard of Ozsome party was only natural!

Unfortunately it was really windy that day so my rainbow backdrop didnt look as neat as I would have liked. But the effect was still phenomenal! 

 

Its not a real party unless I've got glittered wine bottles somewhere!

 

 

I had some bricks in the garage that I painted yellow. I used stained glass paint and a Dollar Store vase to create the Emerald City candle centerpiece. The poppies were also handmade out of crepe paper.

   

The buffet table

 

I made sure to add some whimsical touches to the buffet as well!

 

I made the Tin Man from soup cans and designed a custom wine bottle label too!

  

My Mom had made me a Dorothy inspired hostess apron, which went along perfectly with my current foster dog, Moxie.

 

 

We of course had to have a photobooth set up inside too! This is one of my favorite shots of the group.

Lastly, here is another one of my favorite photos that I instagrammed that night.  

 

This may be my favorite of all of the parties I've thrown! We had such a magical time!

DIY Garden Globes

Yes, I am still posting about garden stuff even though its October. In my defense it was sunny and 70s here in Minnesota yesterday. Im in denial that its autumn.
Today's project is a Pinterest Win!!! I saw a few tutorials on how to make your own glitter Christmas ornaments and I thought, well, why not turn that into garden art?!
I had purchased some plastic and glass ornaments at Michael's at the end of last season. I had grand intentions of making something cool out of them, but as a lot of projects go, I never got to it. I decided to use them for the garden instead.

 

Supplies you will need:
Variety of glass and/or plastic ornaments
Glitter
Pledge Floor Care Finish Cleaner (I was only able to find this at Wal-Mart)

Supplies not pictured:
Wood dowels that will fit inside your ornaments
Floral wire

To make the glitter globes is really easy. Pour a little bit of the floor care solution into the ornament. Pour a bit of glitter into the ornament. Cover the opening, swish and swirl around until the globe is covered. Add more glitter if needed. Do not add more floor cleaner though, it will make the glitter clumpy.
Set the ornament back in the try to dry. Repeat with all of them. I let mine dry over night.

  

To make them into garden stakes, I removed the hanger hooks and kept the cover piece for each ornament. I had to use my Big Bite Hole Punch to make the openings wider to slide the dowel through. I wrapped floral wire around the dowel, thick enough so the ornament piece wouldn't slide down past it.
Once secure, slide your ornament onto the dowel and into the cover. The dowel should hit the top of the ornament for it to sit right. Don't worry, I didn't have any problem with it ruining the glitter finish inside.
You may need to adjust where the wire/cover sit on the dowel.
Once this step is complete, insert your dowel into the ground and......

  

VIOLA!!! A beautiful glittery garden globe stake!

 

Pretty fun huh?

 

I am into quirky garden art so I made a few to go around my carousel horse too!
What kind of fun garden art did you make this season?

 

For The Love of Teal

Hello! I know, its been almost all summer and I've hardly updated this blog at all! I am so sorry that I've been M.I.A. for so long, but I've thought of you guys all summer! I've got lots of projects and fun things to share so I hope to have more regular posts coming your way for awhile.
So let me start by taking you back to earlier this summer.  Minneapolis had a wicked storm roll through the city and it took down hundreds upon thousands of trees, almost excursively from the city boulevards.  On the night of this storm, I was enjoying the power outage down the road at a friend's house when my neighbor messaged me that a tree feel down into my yard.

 

It doesnt look too bad right? I mean, it missed the house! That is until you see how it looks inside the yard....

 

Nice huh? I cant really complain though. My fence is only a few years old, and I have a gate that I cannot stand. Its not very strong, and my dogs have broken through it before. Coincidentally, the tree fell through that particular gate! Thats was essentially the only damage! 

My parents were going to come visit and build a new gate for me. One that was sturdier and would keep my dogs from going crazy every time someone walked by. I had to wait about 2 weeks, so this was how I made it work until then.  

 

Classy huh?

But it was only temporary!

 

Gary got to work building the gate, I have a feeling he thinks this was the funnest project he's ever worked on!

 

 

A day and a half later, I had this beautiful new gate!! Now, I could have chosen to paint it white, but anyone that knows me, knows, normal is not my thing.

 

I chose to go with a bold shade of teal! I absolutely LOVE it!! I was so inspired I decided to paint the two other gates I have on this fence!

 

This gate is a slightly different shade. I had to use spray paint on this one because the gate is PVC. But I still love how it turned out. The difference is subtle, so I doubt anyone will notice.

 

This gate is on the other side of my house, not the street side. I painted this the same color and decided to add a decorate touch! My brother had given me this Disney door knocker a few years ago, but I hadn't had a door to install it on.....

 

Pretty fun right?!

So this was the first of many projects I took on this summer. I know we are approaching fall and everyone will be sharing their pumpkin recipes, but I am going to hang onto summer just a bit longer and share more projects from my yard! Stay tuned!

 

Office Library Random Room Makeover

When I first moved into this house I had a vision for the 4 bedrooms. Upstairs would be my guest room and craft room. Downstairs the master bath and office (which could easily become a nursery at a later date). However the "office" never really transformed into that. My habits lead me to working on my blog, paying bills, and other "office-y" type stuff in the living room. So its sort of my "office/library/random" room. I've hated that room since I moved in. Here's what it looked like when I first moved in:

I went on a crazy painting spree the first month I was here, and since I didnt have a cohesive design for this room, I just used some left over paint to create this disaster:

It stayed that way for 3 years because I just couldnt make up my mind. Then suddenly I was inspired. The room still is a hybrid of no actual purpose, but I do find myself spending time in my "library" reading books or just hanging out for a change of scenery.

     

I have to admit, I absolutely love it, even if the room is full of random and no real point.
Do you have any space in your home you just havent quite figured out what to do with? Are you happy with it as is or do you have a wishlist for it??

Bedroom Closet Makeover

Yesterday I shared with you how I made over my bedroom door and closet door. Today check out what I did to the inside of my bedroom closet!

This is what my closet looked like before. I attempted some creative organizing but it really wasn't working out.

   

Here is what it looks like after! Well without all of my clothes and stuff in it yet!

 

I decided to utilize the door as jewelry storage. I am a visual person and need to see my options laid out in front of me.

 

I covered the shelf with left over contact paper from my Pantry Project. I painted the inside blue with a 50's starburst retro design in aqua. 

 

Originally I had planned to use different door knobs to hang bangles and bracelets on. However door knobs are expensive. Instead I used glitter on some clear gems and hot glued them to long screws.   

 

For an added burst of fun, I painted outer frame of the door hot pink!!   

 

I wanted to create a whimsical vibe so I changed the door knob and added a key hole plate to it. The key hole part isnt functional but it looks fantastic! 

 

Here is the inside with all of my clothes and jewelry. Nice, neat, and organized!

For a little added glam I made this faux chandelier.

I also love elephants so when I found this crystal elephant pull chain, I had to have it! 

    

The final touch was to organize my clothes. I organize by color then sleeve length. I made these dividers for easy organization.

So what do you think?! I hope you love it as much as I do! Every morning its like opening a secret door to wonderland!!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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