Create an Outdoor Room

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.

Random Coats of White

Fire damage and bad taste leftover from the 90's are no match for a can or two of gloss white spray paint!

So Where Have I Been?

Construction on the house has started, and we're putting together a play by play of what "they" are doing and what we are doing ourselves to bring my grand lady back to grand style. Stay tuned, I'll be getting the first posts ready over the long Christmas weekend, and then I can't wait to hear your reactions as Casa de Redneck rises like a Phoenix from the ashes of the August fire. Okay, maybe not. But hey, I'll have walls.

See ya!

Ahhh, Babies

A lot of my favorite DIY bloggers are pregnant. I find this amusing because it's such ancient history for me. My children, usually referred to as The Teen Minions or The Love Spawn, are pretty self-sufficient at this point. The oldest even recently told me he's an adult. Yeah right. As I hand him his allowance.




But since the Hubster and I have managed to get them to this point in one piece with no criminal record, I thought I'd share some parental pearls with whomever is bored enough to click and read this.




First, the Top Ten Things You Think You'll Never Do Once The Baby Arrives!




1. The first time your baby sleeps through the night, you WILL wake at some point and in a panic hold a mirror under that squishy little nose.




2. You WILL take the carrier into the bathroom with you for the first couple of days. God only knows what you think will happen to the baby if you leave him alone while you pee.




3. You WILL suddenly find your chic decor over run by bright plastic things that smile back and make noises.




4. You WILL have nothing decorative in your home lower than seven feet. There are two kinds of items in a home with children: things that belong to the baby, and things the baby can't get to.




5. You WILL marvel at the fact that you've been wearing the same pajamas for two weeks. 24 hours a day.




6. You WILL banish the word "spontaneous" from your vocabulary. Spontaneous will now require a ton of planning.




7. You WILL realize how good you look in a ponytail. And you will no longer wonder why so many moms have short hair.




8. You WILL pick someone else's nose.




9. You WILL end up with a diaper full of Cheez Whiz exploding all over your dress two minutes before you are planning to walk out the door no matter what kind of diapers you use or what the manufacturer promises.




10. You WILL be amazed at how in love you are with this tiny person who just took over your life. Because you may think you knew what love was, but this is the most profound, consuming, unbelievable stuff ever.

Center of Attention

Inspiration is a funny thing.

Since a lot of my Christmas decorations were slow roasted on an open flame, I'll be going minimalist this year, but as always, I want noteworthy, I want a theme, and I want....

Cheap.

The centerpiece that caught my eye in the homestore was tall, elegant, white, and could be wrangled into the decor of any season. It was also $80. That sooooo wasn't happening.

A little trot to the garden center of Home Depot yielded a tall slim clay pot and a clay bowl that fit together very nicely. I slathered on a generous bead of Gorilla Glue, positioned them together, and let it dry over night. Then it was out to my rickety project table for four coats of Rustoleum Gloss White. Once that dried, it looked nearly ceramic.

I took another package of white and silver frosted garland snagged at Big Lots last year for 90% off and just draped it along the rim of the large bowl. I found a hurricane in my decorating cabinet thant fit perfectly, added a tall white pillar candle, and then surrounded the hurricane with a bag of clear and white frosted marbles.

The Budget News:

Tall slim pot: $1.98

Large bowl: $4.98

Spray paint: $2.97

Glass marbles: $1.97

Garland: $0.40

Pillar candle: $4

Totally Cool Receipt: $16.30

That's a FAR cry from the $80 one I fell in love with, and that would have just been the bowl. We light candles for dinner every night, so this has had a test run, and the sparkle factor was perfect. Now for the rest of the holiday ambience...

I Did Threaten...

When I did the green wreath, I did threaten to do a silver one for the holidays. I already had all of the stuff to do this one too!

A thick coat of silver later, I had the festive base of something that really didn't really need a lot of embellishment, so once it dried, I dug out a package or garland that I bought 90% off after Christmas last year and just twisted it into the grapevine. I added a wire loop to the back, and once Thanksgiving has passed, it will grace my front door.

Did I mention that a lot of my Christmas decorations were in THAT room?

The Budget News:

Wow. $0.40 worth of garland. SCORE!