The spot that the Hubster and I like to watch the spectacular Florida sunsets from was nice enough; we had comfy chairs I had recently painted to update the forest green, lots of flowering plants, and market umbrellas overhead to tame the light. The trouble was, it was completely undefined.
To anchor a room, you use a rug. Why not an outdoor room?
First, hit the home center. I picked up weed blocker fabric, leveling sand, pea gravel, 12" pavers, and some cool U shaped pins to hold the weed fabric down.
The beer was not a bad idea either.
Next, lay your fabric out, cut to the desired size, and use the U pins to hold it in place.
Grab the leveling sad and spread it evenly over the fabric.
All projects go more smoothly with adequate feline supervision.
Next, place your pavers in a grid pattern, spacing them evenly, the liberally perform the Riverdance on them to flatten them out.
Dump all of the pea gravel on top of the pavers, and use a broom to sweep it into the spaces between the pavers. Get it nice and even.
Replace your furniture, and enjoy! This whole project was less than $100 and it took the The Teen Minions and I just over an hour to complete. Check your local ordinances, but since we did no digging, no permits were needed.
Behold what lies behind the walls of an old house.
My dear friends the Reillys had been unable to find bedside lamps for their weekend house, known as Sylvan Run, and since they know I'm a little lamp-nutty, the husband of the duo asked me for a pair for Christmas. These are people who can afford anything. So here I am, challenged with creating something up to their standards on my budget.
Once this is done, carefully peel the backing off of the contact paper. Lay it over your vase and smooth it into place, flattening any air bubbles that affect your pattern. Next, explain to your teen-aged daughter that you're exhausted from the really difficult stuff and get her to use an exacto knife to cut away the part of the contact paper that will form your stencil. Using plastic cling wrap, cover the rest of the exposed glass so that only the part you want to spray is left.
The challenge: choose just one table setting to use through all of the holidays. Everything else had to go into storage for the post-fire reconstruction. So what to keep out...
Put the two pieces together, allow to dry, and then fill it with cookies, candles, river rocks, potpourri, or anything else your heart desires!
Next, lay your fabric out, cut to the desired size, and use the U pins to hold it in place.
Grab the leveling sad and spread it evenly over the fabric.
