A Project Finally Finished IN THE GARDEN

C'mon, let's see what's blooming in the gardens this week! And see a project that I started last summer, and finally finished.

I almost missed seeing this Clematis blooming on the windmill.

I wish I could show the top of the windmill, but then the neighbor's ugly deck would also be in the shot!

The Coreopsis seems to be bursting open all at once.

The Lysimachia Punctata, or Yellow Loosestrife, is blooming too, starting from the bottom and working it's way up.

This Hydrangea is just starting to turn pink.

The pansies in the windowbox by the back door are still going strong. I find that if I keep chopping these back, they will bloom for me all Summer long and into Fall

I totally ignore this Creeping Sedum, which sits in that red-rimmed enamel bowl outside year-round, and it does just fine. Those tiny yellow flowers look like little stars! 

Ok, let's talk about that project I never finished last year. I found several pieces of vinyl lattice at a garage sale last summer, all for $3.

And my friend had a ton of these 2x2s just sitting in her garage. Which was perfect, because then I could make.......

THIS SCREEN! This is where we sit when we have a fire in the firepit. Those chairs are vintage, and let me tell you, they weren't meant for a butt and hips from 2012! I'm guessing people were alot skinnier back then, because sometimes I feel like when I stand up, the chair will be stuck on my hips! Anyway, the purpose of that screen is to hide the mess that's behind it. I suppose you want to see what's behind it. Ok.......

It's my gardening shame. Tons of plants that still need replanting, lots of empty pots just waiting for me to buy some flowers for them, and bags of mulch that need to be spread.

And a ton of rocks from a kindly neighbor, that need to be placed in the rock garden and in the Secret Garden. Yes, it's a mess back there, but now I can't see it. But my neighbor with the ugly deck can! Honestly, they're lovely neighbors, and I hope to get that all straightened up very soon!

It's been drizzling here all day, and we needed it badly. For a while there, it looked like I was going to have to bust out my special rain dance! Go ahead and laugh, but it has worked in the past! So what's blooming in your garden? 

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?!

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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!