Bang for your buck: Ridiculously large birdcage

Whimsical almost to the point of ridiculous, but still elegant in a over the top, in your face way. I passed this big guy on the way to school the other day and thought "I don't need it." The next day in class it hit me, what was I thinking passing up such an amazing piece?! A piece like this can set a whole array of moods with ease and I passed it up! Thankfully when I went back to the antique store the owner still had it! A steal at only $55.(Minus the prisoner lawn gnomes, they make me laugh for free) Although the distressed metal is nice, I'm not going for a rustic look in the garden. Imagine this painted gold, hanging from a huge hook off of a wall in the garden or painted silver amongst plants in the sun room. Fantasy garden, anyone?

Sneak peek: Living room makeover

Dear Everyone,

Please excuse my absence for the last few weeks, I have been working hard on the renovation of my living room, digging a patio in the garden and designing my friend Olivia's new apartment! Now as you all know good design takes time, so I can't quite show you the 100 percent finished product of the living room yet, but I can show you a few tid bits of the room. :D

Before I lived inside of a squash:

Sneak peek:

How do you think it's coming along?

Two dollars and some tap water

There has been a concrete fountain in my garden for quite a few year's now which is rarely used and frequently forgotten. Not anymore! A little over a week ago I set to work making this forgotten feature a focal point of my garden. Believe it or not, this tranformation only took two dollar's in acrylic paint from Walmart, Tap water and concrete sealer(the most expensive part running around twenty dollars) Quite a change, huh?! 

I love this fountain now. It no longer feel's cold and unwelcoming and when you turn the corner into the garden it immediatly catches your attention as it should! The inspiration is from traveling to Guatemala about a month ago and seeing all the beautiful colonial colors and tones faded from the sun. I also really love the fact that the colors are more saturated in some part's of the fountain than in others giving it a true aged feeling.(I'm telling people my firey latin grandmother from Uruguay painted it many years ago...)

Here's how you can get a similar effect on any of your concrete features:

• Clean the surface very, very well making sure to remove as much of the dirt and build up you can. I used a brush.
• Choose your color's, mine main colors were yellow, blue and green. Purple, white and auburn being used for accent colors on the grape's, the angel's hair(I thought about black but I didn't want three dancing Selena's) and white for the wings and they're holy paleness.
• Mix with water, you want the consistency to be a stain, not a paint! Be sure that the color is saturating the concrete. Two coats were neccesary.
• Let dry, Brush on two coats of low luster concrete sealer letting it dry between coats.

I can only imagine how this fountain will look when it is a piece of the completed garden, surrounded by blooming flower's and gorgeous green leaves!

How do you think it all turned out?

Plain and simple: How to compost

Anyone who garden's knows the importance of having good "Black gold" or compost to add to your soil. Composting takes your everyday natural waste such as vegetable peeling's, egg shell's, newspaper( shredded black and white print only!) and of course clippings from your garden and dead leaves from the yard to make a natural fertilizer for your garden. 

The best part is:

IT'S CHEAP AND IT'S EASY!  

Here's how:

1.

• Save your eggshell's when you make breakfast, oh, and while your at it save those coffee ground's too!
• Cooking dinner? Vegetable soup you say? Well, save those too.
• When those pretty flower's your boyfriend gave you die, save them and throw them into the compost bin too. 

Get the point by now?

SAVE ALL THE NATURAL STUFF! THESE ARE YOUR "WET" INGREDIENTS!

2.

• All those dead leaves in your yard that you have to rake up, don't look at them as a burden ANYMORE! 
• Watching the movie Fargo and realize that you have some wood chips to add to your compost bin? Great! 
• Hay is for horses, but also works great for composting!(Somehow, this is not as catchy of a comeback...)

THESE ARE THE "DRY" INGREDIENTS!

The process:

1. Put a six inch layer of dry leaves in the bottom of your compost bin.
2. Put a two inch layer of wet ingredients over that.
3. Repeat,Repeat,repeat,repeat...

Wet the stuff, You want the pile to be uniformly moist but not sopping. Keep the pile moist constantly.

The ratio of dry to wet ingredients should be between 5:1 and 8:1. If it's off a little don't worry too much, it's easy to fix. You basically just don't want a pile of leaves because all it will do is sit, and you don't want a pile of rotting veggies either. Gross. You want both! That way they will assist each other and decompose fairly quickly.

Continue to add to your treasure trove every day!

Every few day's "Turn" your compost. In my case I will be heavily shaking my garbage can(err...compost bin.)

IN 3-4 WEEKS YOU WILL HAVE BLACK GOLD! 

The "Anyone can make it" Compost Bin

Don't waste your time or money on any of those expensive compost bins you see in magazines or online, Make this. It only took about 15 minutes to throw together and it works wonder's for your garden! 

Here's what you need:

• A large plastic trashcan with a lid(I used an old one I had lying around)
• Drill
• The kind of drill bit you would use to drill a doorknob hole. If you don't have this size just use the largest size drill bit you have. The more hole's the better, ventilation is key with composting.
• Metal Screening

• Staple gun

Alright, have everything you need? 

The Process:

1. Grab your trashcan and drill hole's all over it, including the bottom.
2. Cut screen to the appropriate size.
3. Staple over the holes to allow for ventilation but keep your precious compost in.

THAT'S IT!

It should look something like this:

Please IGNORE all those dead plant's in the back, I swear I'm a better gardener than that! We just had a bad freeze here that wiped out some of my plants. :(

So, there you go! You should be on your way to a healthier, happier garden in no time! 

Chevron and garlic plants

I spent last night in my good friend Olivia's new apartment, sleeping on the carpeted floor in her room and dreaming about a chevron pattern accent wall behind a beautiful headboard. We talked for a long time about our relationships and the process of growing up. It was necessary talk, the sort of talk that only two friends who have been through thick and thin together could have.

Today I went to a seminar at my new job, a local plant nursery here in Corpus Christi. I can tell I'm really going to enjoy working there. If there are two things I understand it's plants and plant people! An unusual experience happened after the seminar. As I was walking by this elderly woman she called me "Hey skip!" I turned around and she told me she was going to be bringing me garlic to plant and that she was so happy to see young men interested in plants. We shook hands and she introduced herself as "Jane Johnson, but you can call me J.J." The most interesting part to me was that I didn't tell her I was going to be working there until after she offered me garlic, She just kinda knew I guess. Sometimes you meet people that change your life in seconds with no real reason and give you a whole new perspective. I can't explain.

Today's thought

Photo: sfgirlbybay

To be alive is to be beautiful. To be able to wake up another day, take in a breath of fresh air, linger another moment in bed, to be able to break the sleep from your eyes, This is beauty. 

Remember that we are all in control of our surroundings, no matter how out of control they may seem at times. We are able to change things, we are able to pick a dandelion out of the crack in the sidewalk and use it in a summer salad. The beauty in your beautiful life only needs to be claimed. Go ahead, claim yours.

I know you

I gave birth to you.

I've seen you grow.

I've seen you when your happy.

I've seen you when you are down.

I've seen you proud and beautiful after a summer rain.

I've seen you dry and thristy, your fate out of my hands.

Lush and radiant.

Sick and in need of care and love.

Attacked, Stripped and Beaten.

I have seen you, I know you.

You are my garden.

The simple life

• Go to bed early...ish, wake up early...ish.
• You check that growing bud on your rosebush everyday until one day it's perfect, true joy!
• Lighting is a major thing to think about.
• You focus on your handwriting skills.
• Your dad tells you its better that the original 1930's window's leak air because it's a safety feature when you have the original 1930's heater running...
• Organizing the garage is like a treasure hunt.
• Your heart starts racing at the thought of the "New week" over at thekitchn.com
• Reading in the bathtub is a must and your constantly trying to make it more ergonomically correct.
• You know the shapes in your hardwood floors like the back of your hand.
• A new bottle of Windex is like a gift to yourself.
• Re-imagine, Redesign, Repeat.
• You try your hardest to use both sides of the paper you write on, thinking maybe this is my controbution to saving the earth.
• The garden is a everyday thing.
• Everytime you look at the hexagon tiles of your bathroom floor you get a case of the smiles.
• You rhyme.
• Three good, real meals a day is a goal.
• You put rocks on your windowsill so when you wake up you get to see the morning light hitting them.
• A rose, a hand blown bottle from the garage, perfection.

      What are some of the simple things you love about your life?