Backyard Happy Places

                !~!~!~!  Hello Hippy Friends  ~!~!~!

I have been busy in the backyard this summer... Our poor yard has taken a beating with this long, terrible drought. A beatin' with a long, dead, dry stick.... New Mexico is experiencing the worst drought in the entire USA right now. After two years of little rain, we are really feeling the "heat" and my poor yard is reflecting the experience.

I have decided that the backyard is in need of a little { long, over-due } TLC.  But I can honestly say I have felt overwhelmed bc our yard is BIG, SAD, and DEAD.

In trying to take this task on... I at first felt daunted... like it was insurmountable... and then I realized that there is only one way to "eat an elephant"....

I thought that starting w/ making small, "HAPPY PLACES" within this unconquerable badland would be at least do~able. I began to think of ways to create little fun, colorful  areas within the scheme of the desolation.  A friend that is working on her own yard { they are building a new home } has encouraged me by her own skills of making happy, little, fun places on her patio and around her trees ... Her own yard is HUGE... so.... watching her gave me creative spark.

Thx Butterfly ~!~!

One day this week, I looked at my tired, dejected glider. Faded... droopy.... and miserable. Now, I'm no Martha Stewart... I don't pretend to know how to sew the best... and I have never taken painting lessons but I had an idea of starting w/ this little sad~sack ....(the glider..... not Paco ~!~!) 

I found a large panel of fencing in our garage. It has been there for more than ten years.... I talked hubby into dragging it out and he made a brace and screwed it to the fence. { Thx hubby !!! U know sometimes that I'm in need of your 'manly, man-skills' . }

Off to Wal~Mart and Lowes. Black and Pink kept popping into my head and right away I found some material that I thought bright and cheerful.

The material is "ducking". I do not know how well this will hold up thru the heat that we have. But it cost me less than $20 to cover.. and so much cheaper than brand new cushions. I can change them next year very easily.

I spray painted the glider "Watermelon Pink" {Krylon} and gave the faded cushion a new cover. I didn't try to cover it exact. I made a large " pillow~case" type of cover and slipped the old cushion inside. My aunt helped out a great deal by covering the pillow and bringing an old couch cushion out of the garage to cover. I then made ties to "tie" it to the glider bc the pillows are what fly all over the yard when the wind blows. And we get horrible winds here.

Lowes has "sample" paints that are great for small projects. I purchased white, Berry Blush, and Iced Berry.  I had left over grey-black.

They cost about $2 each... (and I used very little paint ~!)

After doodling on scratch paper, I began with a pencil to stencil out what I could actually do on the fence. ... I did not use a purchased stencil. It is all done out of my own head... which means it is not perfect... But I do not aim for perfection in my projects.

I was very pleased with how this little "sitting area" turned out ~!~! It is shaded in the morning and a perfect place to sit and have my morning java and play the ukulele.
 A perfect little HaPpY pLaCe ~!~!~

                                           ~~~ Happy DIYing ~~~  

Flower Power Pin

Flower Power Pin

This little project is easy. It takes no time at all...I made it out of scraps.

I used ....

felt, material (made into a pinwheel) buttons, clasp,

tow-sack material, and tulle, and a glue-gun.

I cute the felt into a circle and then glued the

clasp onto the back.

Glued the tow-sack, tulle, and flower in layers.

Glued the buttons on top.

Put them together....

Trimmed up the tulle and splayed out the two-sack...

Cute on a brown corduroy jacket

with matching t-shirt !~!~!

Palazza Pant Party

Palazza Pants

Hippie Fun 4 da Summa

Hot weather is coming and I'm ready to get cool for da summaa... I found the easiest pattern to make palazza pants (a.k.a. "clown pants") @ Wally World and have started making sassy, simple, silly, summer pants. I like clothing that really does NOT touch my body.. so these are perfect.. but still cute w/ a matching t-shirt, 
flip flops or sandals, and costume jewelry.

For this project I used 2 colors of material... black print (on sale for $3 a yard) used for the trim and a green funky print (on sale for $2 a yard) for the pants. I also bought 1" elastic... my fav... bc it doesn't roll at the waist.

It's So Easy Pattern #A2119 by Simplicity

Cost ~~ a couple of bucks...

I am able to get a pair of pants w/ 2 yards , but go by

instructions on the pattern for yardage.

For funzzz, I cut about 4" off of the bottom of the pant and

added 5" of the black print... !~!

Measure, press, and pull thru the elastic at the top.

I never hand-sew on these pants. No buttons, no

zippers, no hand-work. NO FUSS.

I just zig-zag the bottom and make a French hem.

Cool! Cute! Fun! Less than $5 bucks! and Easy!

DIY Lotion

DIY Lotion

I'm sure you've seen this on pinterest and just about everywhere else.. but I have begun making my own lotion and now will NOT use any other kind. It is easy, great for my dry skin, and cheap. It costs about $3 to make and lasts a long time.

This recipe uses 1 bottle of Vitamin E lotion (16 oz), 1 bottle of baby lotion (16 oz), and 1 (7.5 oz) of vaseline all from Dollar General.

Put all ingredients in the blender and set on high for about 4 minutes. Then place it in a Glad container (also from the Dollar Store)

My hubbie was sure this would ruin the blender,

but I assure you, it will NOT.

It lasts quite a while ~~!~!

EnJoY !!

Strip Quilt Mural ~ Easy

Strip Quilt Mural

Repurposing what's on Your wall

w/o Spending Much $$$

$10 Project

I had a pic that I have had for a long time that was rather large.
It hangs in the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom is a conglomerate
of mismatched furniture... an island of misfit toys. One piece from
the 1950s, which was given to me... another piece from the 1970s... also
given to me. (another outcast), and the bedframe purchased by
my hubby during his 'single' years... which is rather quite stylish
and from overstock.com. The poor saggy lamp was a resale shop pickup and
is very generic.... which is rather 'safe' in our house....
The whole room just needed some freshness... something to pull it all together... to
make it at least appear that it was purposed to be together and not just
cast aside .... :(
So... I got busy w/ a color scheme in my head... and with a lot of snooping
around on pinterest, DIY blogs, and how to sites....

I started first with the big out of date picture... A big HONKING thang... it
was just not my style and it was another 'freebie' that someone cast off on me...


 I didn't want to get rid of it or store it... so ... I decided to repurpose it.
O.. so much fun %%%

Yellow ~ Black ~ and Grey... I've been seeing these
fresh, popping, happy colors a LOT of places...
or maybe it was just the bumble bees flying around the yard....
but I just HAD TO HAVE those colors somewhere in the house~
I didn't feel brave enough to bring it into the "master"... but
what could hubby say about the guest room? NOTHIN~~~
 

AFTER

BEFORE

(sorry about the glare ~ )

I took the measurements of the frame: 27 " x 37"

and took the glass and picture out of the frame.

This is MUCH bigger than the pics show ~~

I repainted the frame Krylon / Hammered Black

(also used in the hallway)

which does look line a dark grey.

U LiKeY ? ? ?

I cut out of an old sheet the size of the frame and marked the center of the sheet.

I made a center patch w/ 5 sides and pinned it in the middle.

I then began using the "Strip Quilt" technique.

Instead of making many small ones (8x8)...

 I decided to make one BIG ONE  ! ! !

 I saw this material other

day @ Hobby Lobbyand couldn't help myself.

I got a yard of each pattern... which

was WAY too much, but gave me left overs for another project 

 ~!~! (Uhhhh.. what can I do NEXT???)

Aren't the colors GoRgeOUs ??? So yellow~ yummy !~!~!

I also added some scraps from other projects...

Making a strip quilt is easy. It just takes time.

Cut strips about 2 inches wide and rather long if making

as big project like this one.

***

Really, I recommend doing small projects first... b4 starting

one this big.... U could make coasters (Another idea pop pop popping #*#*)

Sew the strips on one at a time, being sure to cover the raw edges of the piece sewn on before. Eventually it will work outward from the 5 sided center piece.

I have found it best to iron each strip BEFORE and AFTER sewing it on.

Lining up a strip before sewing it on....

Sewing on the next strip....

Now iron it down flat...

Keep adding and trimming...

(GOSH.. my hands look old.. I guess that's bc they ARE * LOL)

It all came together nicely for less than $10 ~!~!~

And hangs beautifully on the guest bedroom wall

just in time for SPRING ! Woop Woop.

AFTER

(I put my hand up there so u cld get an idea of the SIZE of this piece)

There are many youtube vids on how to make strip quilt pieces...

I watched quit a few before attempting to make strip quilt pieces.

But BEWARE ~!~!

U have been forewarned !!!

Once u get started it's VERY addictive...

U can NOT stop !!!

* * * * *

Happy DIYing

FraMed Dry~EraSe NoTepAd

FraMed   ( dRy~EraSe )   NoTEpaD

My hubby and I leave little "notes" of luv and appreciation
to each other all the time. I have stacks of note pad papers
with sweet little notes from him.... but I decided to try
something funky and fun.... A dry~erase notepad ~!~!
This is so simple. I made it all out of scraps I had around the house.
All I had to buy were the dry~erase markers for $1.
I already had the black frame from the Dollar Store.

Take a frame that u are not using. Trim material, special paper, or something u like to fit into frame. In this case I used scrap~book paper that I will never use up.

Make a cute flower out of matching material.

In this project I used some tow~sack material that had been given to me.

 Cut a strip about an inch thick and 12" long.

Cut out a circle of felt.

Begin glueing the material onto the felt, making pleats as you go.

The only hard part about this is not burning your fingers! (which I do every time)

Then use a decorative piece of jewelry, buttons, or something you

have in your craft box as the center of the flower.
I used 2 buttons...

Glue onto side of frame!

Now u can leave notes to those u love around the house w/o having
to look for paper ~!~!

Cute ~ Cute ~ Cute !

Easy ~ Easy ~ Easy !

Now, leaving little "heart" notes to
hubby is much more fun ~!!!

Using Material for Splashes of Color

Office Make~Over Continues.....

 

The office just didn't seem to have any color scheme... So I decided to make one. After painting
a few things turquoise with Krylon paint, I decided to play ....

I am not super great at painting... but I wanted some splashes of color thru~out the backdrop of the shelves... So I took my little self down to Hobby Lobby w/ a Christmas giftcard and purchased some "fun fabric"... This wld have been WAY out of my "sanity zone" to try to paint! I cut out a  few blocks, got out the hot glue gun, and glued away!

 I think it turned out pretty fab.

Even hubby liked it ~!~! ( and he doesn't likey likey much bc he isn't artsy fartsy...)Material can work better than paint sometimes for accents, small areas, etc.

Give it a try ~!~!

Rotary scissors, fab material, measuring tape, cutting board, and glue gun !~!~

Nuthin fancy here ~

Hot glue edges...

In case you don't remember... here's the B4...

Wahhh Lahhhh ~!~!

(I think I will add some more later on...)

This project took about $5 to create!

More to come w/ the office make~over ~!~!



Painting Picture Frames

Painting Picture Frames
to match & coordinate !!!

I decided that my hallway looked kinda drab... it just needed some updating.I love pics of family and friends but sometimes the collection of frames just seems so hodge~podge.. and I wanted a little more coordination and cohesiveness. I had painted the hallway about 3 summers ago, but did nothing with the frames and wall decor. It was time for a change... a little update.... hippy style. Not wanting to spend much $$$, I decided to paint the frames I had and just coordinate them by spray painting them the same color. I like hammered black. It's a textured look and doesn't show up if you mess up too much. Even better... ~! It seems like leafy wreaths, greenery, and fake trees are on their way OUT... so I got rid of the grapevine over the frames and pulled a wall decorative thing off of the wall of the bedroom. It was gold and wasn't doing much in that room anyway. I spray painted it a turquoise blue... and instantly LOVD it!!! O WOW... ~ And I don't even like blue all that much ~!!!  But for some reason it really popped to me and I think it looks really great over the black frames. So, this little project took little to no time, little too no money... and that's very hippie.... bc we hippies like things free and for a great price ~!~!

Before          &&&&          After

But I do not have much in the $$$ budget for new picture frames that match!  So.... I took the pics off of my hallway wall today and painted them...

I used Black Metallic Krylon Fusion Hammered Finish, which looked more like grey when finished.

• Dries in 15 minutes
• No sanding or priming
• Use inside and out on most plastics

Great for wood, metal, ceramic and more!

How can it get any easier that THAT???

I simply removed the pics, dusted the frames, laid them outside on trashbags, and SPRAYED.

Once they were dry... I put the pics back in and rehung. I think that my hallway now looks a little more "put~together" and coordinated! Such an easy project for less than $5 bucks!

While I was in the "painting mode" I went ahead and bought some turquoise paint, then sprayed a  gold wall deco piece that I had purchased @ Hobby Lobby (on 70% off)  a lo~o~o~ng time ago. It took some searching but I finally found Valspar - Gloss Topical Oasis @ Lowe's. I sprayed the piece to replace the vine swag originally over the pics. I also dug out a beautiful crocheted pic out from the back of the closet and put it on the wall. . . .

Now it's finished

I really don't hang pictures very straight! I need to work on that! LOL

Happy Painting~!~!~!