RED BICYCLE WREATH FOR SUMMER

I've always loved old red bikes. I've got them on my coasters.

And on my plates.

Heck, I've even got one in my garden!

So a few years ago, while flipping through the channels, looking for something good on TV, I saw this on QVC. I wanted it. I needed it. Darn, I couldn't afford it! I know, I'll make one!

And so began my search for a little bike that I could put on a wreath. Two years later, I bought a Barbie doll bike, and got to work painting it red.

And this is my version of that wreath. Doesn't it scream SUMMER?!

Here's a close-up of the bike, with a little basket full of flowers and little flags.

And speaking of the basket, do you know how hard it is to find a cute little basket that would fit on this bike? Well let me tell you, it was impossible!

The only thing I could think of was to cut some of the wild grapevine that sprung up out of nowhere in the garden, and weave a little basket.

And what bike would be complete without some streamers on the handlebars?

I'm so happy with how this wreath turned out, and it makes me smile every time I look at it, hanging on the back door. It's so ME!    I'll be linking this up to REDnesday over at It's A Very Cherry World!

 

 

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!

Before I get started, I'd just like to take a moment to remember and honor the men and women who lost their lives while in service to our country.

OK, so let the junk extravaganza begin! This is my first purple vintage quilt ever. I'm not a big purple fan, so I didn't even really want it. It was marked $5, which is a great price, but I walked away because I'm running out of room to display them. When the seller said "Well how about $2?" I really had no choice, did I?

Apparently I now collect vintage Lady Sunbeam personal care products. I found this little pink Lady Sunbeam electric razor and it looks pretty darn cute sitting next to the Lady Sunbeam hair/nail dryer I found last week.

I hate to cook, but I sure do like vintage pink hand mixers and recipe boxes!

I would have loved to take a picture of these two pottery deer where they're really going to go, but that would have involved dusting all of the white pottery on the shelf. It just seemed too exhausting!

I found that dark blue globe bank in the middle at the flea market a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't want to be the only person in blogland to not have the Donkey Party game, so I grabbed this one because finally there was one in my price range!

I will never ever pass up Halloween stuff. It's right up there with Christmas for me!

More vintage gardening tools. It's amazing how once you decide to seriously collect something, it seems to pop up everywhere.

And last but not least is my favorite find this week. It's an old record from the 50s, and in case you haven't noticed, I do like to have vintage pin ups on my blog, if they're not too risque. I wanted this record real bad, but first I had to mentally will the guy that had it in his hand to put it down, so that I could buy it. Then I had to do some serious haggling to get it into my price range. It was a very satisfying win for me! So, did you haggle your way to any treasures over the weekend? 

A Bunting For The Garden!

Let's take a peek at what's blooming in the garden this week!

I made a bunting for the new picket fence!

I wanted to use oilcloth, but the selection is extremely limited around here, and I would have had to spend a fortune online to get a variety of patterns. So instead I bought this vinyl tablecloth at JoAnn Fabrics. It matches the tablecloth on the patio table, so I knew it would hold up really well outside.

I cut a bunch of diamond-shaped pieces, folded them over the nylon rope and glued them shut. Can you say NO SEW?!

,

I have a friend who is a floral designer, and she brought me one of these stands used in weddings at her shop.

I got a white pot at Menards and planted purple Calibrachoa and pink Torenia in it. I can't wait for it all to cascade out of that pot!

The orange Asiatic lilies are in bloom.

I think the Betty Boop rosebush is having it's best year ever.

A close-up of a Betty Boop bloom.

The poppies are blooming too. It was a windy windy day, so unfortunately this is the best shot I could get.

The alliums are blooming too. They're a member of the onion family, so whenever I'm working around them, I get a whiff of onion and I start to get hungry!

Are you doing anything special this Memorial Day weekend? I plan to work in the garden, but I certainly won't be getting sloshed, like these two. She looks like she's talking to that geranium, and he's hiding a sharp tool behind all of that beer. See, nothing good can come from getting drunk in the garden! 

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!

At first I thought this was an old radio, but then I realized that it was a vintage hair and nail dryer. So I walked away. Five minutes later I ran back! It's now sitting on the toilet tank in the bathroom. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: She's so fancy, she decorates her toilet!

Our town had it's citywide garage sale, and I must say that I was pretty darn disappointed. My friend Nancy and I went to about 100 sales, and didn't find much of anything. Except for this quilt, which makes getting in and out of the car 100 times so worth it! 

A close-up of one of the circles. Sure wish I knew something about quilts, like whether it's old. The seller said it is, and she was old, so maybe it's old! Or whether it's a newer made quilt, using vintage fabric. I've got an expert on the case though, and hopefully she'll be able to tell me something about it. Sarah has a fantastic collection, and knows her stuff!

This lady head vase came from a garage sale, on a table where everything was 25 cents. She doesn't look at all happy to be donning the cap and gown, does she? What a sourpuss!

A little pink lucite clock, from the flea market. 

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a juice glass just like this one on Barbara's blog, and I remember thinking, boy I sure wish I could find one too. It's a welcome addition to my overflowing juice glass collection, which just sits idle in a little cupboard. It's a real shame too, because they're full of memories.  I always had my orange juice in little rooster glasses at Grandma's, and my daughter always had her juice out of a different Swanky Swig each morning.

I'm pretty sure that the only way I was ever going to get one of these candy cane girls was if she was broke, like this one is, and that's why I could afford her! So these are some of my finds from the past two weeks. There's more, but it would have been a longer post, and I've blathered on long enough. So, what did you find over the weekend? And can someone please tell me how to start a new paragraph with this new Blogger format??? Whenever I hit ENTER, the cursor jumps up a few sentences, and won't let me start a new paragraph. HELP!

A DREAM COME TRUE IN THE GARDEN!

I've always dreamed of having The Secret Garden closed off with a picket fence, but I thought it would be too expensive.

So I put old metal headboards on either side of the arbor/trellis that Mr. Old Glory built for me. You can't even tell that they're there, because the Sweet Autumn Clematis has completely taken them over. It even attached itself to the tree and started climbing!

So I ripped the clematis off of the headboards, Mr. OG pulled them out of the garden, and this is what they look like, now destined for the curb. I bought picket fence panels at Menards (my favorite store) with a gift card Mr. Old Glory gave me for my birthday. Mr. OG set up horses in the garage for me to paint them on, and he even volunteered to park his car outside so I could paint. For a week! Isn't he terrific?

And then Mr. OG installed them for me, and now my gardening dream has come true! Doesn't it look SO much better? Most of those plants in front of the fence are summer bloomers, so it's going to look AWEsome real soon! I just love that you have to come on in to see what's back there. Psssst, it's a Secret Garden!

For Mother's Day, I received that gorgeous red Mandevilla vine. I had a pink one last year, and it grew to about 8' tall. This one is a giant variety. Should I be scared?

I also received a Fuchsia in a hanging basket. They always remind me of little dancing fairies when the buds are open!

The lilac color of  Dame's Rocket is looking quite pretty next to the red bike. I bought one plant several years ago at a garage sale, and I've kinda regretted it ever since. It's a biennial, and needs to reseed itself, and boy does it reseed itself!

So in order to not have a gazillion plants, I've learned to cut most of it and enjoy it in a vase.

Because of the amazing winter and spring we've had, the gardens are way ahead and I'm way behind. I've noticed some small trees that have planted themselves and need to be cut down, and there are a couple of patches of poison ivy that make me literally hyperventilate whenever I get anywhere near them. I almost weed-wacked a patch today, which would have been horrible if I'd actually wacked it. Makes me shiver just thinking about it! So be sure to come back next week to see what's blooming, and whether or not I'm still poison ivy-free!