spoons and a bird bath...no really it's a BIRD BATH!!!!

hi all! i've been blog obsessed lately. i can't get enough, i stay up 'til the wee hours just hopping from decorating blog to decorating blog. it's a sickness. i need help, but i don't want any! i just love looking at all the blogs by all the talented women! they are decor inspiration for me. so inspired was i by manuela's cute garden spoons, that i just had to copy! after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! i first saw these kind of garden markers at manuela's blog, then i saw them on the anthro website. they were $28 smackers for 3!!! way out of my price range! so i went to harbor freight and bought the same kit($4.99) manuela got online and made my own, using some cute little old fruit spoons i bought on ebay for .99 plus about $7 in shipping and a random spoon i had layin' around. so i made 7 spoons for $13!these spoons could've been headed for the trash, but now they're a treasure! quite a deal i'd say.these spoons have new life as garden markers and it doesn't take any time at all! you can get this blackening liquid to make the impression darker but i didn't want to search for it or buy it(sometimes i'm cheap, i mean thrifty like that!)so i just used some black paint and smeared it on w/ a rag and then wiped it off. so easy! they are so cute and i've already given one to a friend as a little thank-you gift.

soooo, while i was at harbor freight with cold-hard-birthday-cash burning a hole in my pocket, i spotted the cutest little bird bath, and i just had to have it! i have had this idea in my head about putting a bird bath in my yard for years. so after the metal stamping, i did this...

my son offered (yes, my 11 yr. old boy OFFERED!) to help me take out the grass- such a sweetie! then i centered the bird bath in the circle and planted stella de oro day lillies and blue salvia and some vinca for annual color.

my sweet little 7 yr. old daughter (who declined to be photographed), dug the rocks out of another area of the yard (they were remnants from the former tenants)and made a border- all by herself! i said it would be nice to have rock border and while i was busy planting, she quietly went off to dig up some rocks. i know- cute, huh??? so i let her place them and she is so proud! i must not forget to include my 9 yr. old daughter, who was in the pool cheering us on! :)encouragement is always nice!

i'm not really a gardener, but i do want my yard to reflect the same cosy, come-on-in attitude my home does, so i do my best. right now it's been in the mid-90's in my area, so it's nice to go outside and work on things and take a quik dip in the pool if i need to and get back to work...creating. please leave a comment when you stop by, my door and garden are always open!

p.s. i will be linking to these lovely blog parties;
toot your horn tuesday

trash to treasure tuesday

transformation thursday

please check it out if you get a chance!!! thanks!

I'm in the garden!

today i took advantage of the beautiful weather and worked outside.(this sign is one of my favorite things in the garden besides my roses. in case you can't read it from this pic it says, "it all began in a garden") i planted the new hydrangea i purchased this morning at h.d. as well as a very pretty yellow petunia called "lemon zest". it is sooo happy! yellow is the sparkle of a garden and i love sparkle so i must incorporate it more!
here she is! so pretty. so, i got home and planted my hydrangea in a pot i painted and realized i didn't have a pot for the petunia. i could have put it in the ground, but the snails love to eat petunias so i wanted it up off the ground to control the snail salad bar a bit. i looked around and found a hanging basket i had from last year minus the hanging part! it was also missing the coco mat stuff- so i got out the burlap scrap i had in the craft cab. then i just laid it in the metal basket and added the soil and plant. i trimmed up the burlap and voila! i set it out in the garden on this adorable little wicker chair i got a couple of yrs. ago from my neighbors trash p/u pile. (love that!) ain't she sweet!?
here's the hydrangea(below) i potted up today after i gave this free pot a coat of lovely bright blue. i just love the combo of the bright pink w/ the blue. my sis was throwing this pot out cuz she didn't like the grape motif, so i snatched it right outta the trash! yes, i'm a dumpster diver! i'll share more of my trash pile rescues in another post! anywho, i don't really care for the grape motif either, but i REALLY like the FREE motif;).
my parents are replacing parts of their white picket fence around their pool so i snagged a couple pieces of fence. it was already weathered to perfection! i just screwed it onto the patio cover post behind the hydrangea pot. i think it adds just the right cottagy touch, don't you?
i hope you are enjoying spring in your neck of the woods:)!!!! here are few pics of the rest of my garden...enjoy!

p.s. i have linked this post to fertilizer friday over at tootsie time- a gardening blog, you should check it out she has a beautiful garden!