Dollar Tree Pumpkin Goes Coastal

I have been looking all over for white or coastal looking pumpkins. Every thing that I find is so expensive and  not within my budget.  As I was strolling through Dollar Tree last week, I found it! Pumpkins within my budget but not the right color. These pumpkins were made from foam on the inside and smooth on the outside.  I bought 4 and went straight home to get started.  Here is a picture of what they looked like with painters tape on the stems.

Next, I put a garbage bag down on the floor and spray painted them white.  It took several coats. I let them dry over night.

 Then I took some blue paint that I had in the shed and made stripes on the pumpkin grooves.  The last step was to take a dry brush and lightly go over the rest of the pumpkin with the blue paint. Again I wanted that coastal look. 

Here is one in it's new home.

 

 

 

These little cuties are just what I was looking for and had the just right price of $1.00 each. 



Thanks for reading my post!! 

Have a great day everyone :)

 

Sprinkler System Disguise

Every time I swing on my Granny’s swing, I keep staring at our sprinkler system pipes. How Ugly! While they have an important duty, they are not very nice to look at. 

 After a few weeks of thought, I gathered up my DIY courage and went to the wood shed.   I had already taken the measurements for the size of my bench. 

 It had to be:

72 inches long

25 inches wide

22 tall

  I found the following wood in the shed in various sizes:

2x4s

Old fence posts

A 72 inch plank

First, I made a square from the 2x4s. Next I cut the legs for the table out of the old fence posts and screwed them into place. Then, I cut (2) pieces of  2x4 to put in the middle for support. Finally, I screwed the plank on to the front.

I had to be able to remove the top of my bench to adjust the different sprinkler zones. If I made it one piece, I wouldn’t be able to lift it by myself so I made the top in to three different sections. To make the top, I cut several 2x4s the same size and secured them together from the back to make the 3 sections.  I forgot to take a good picture of the three sections but you can see one of the sections in the bottom corner in the above picture. 

After my table was built, I put some sealer on and put it in its new home.  Yea, No more sprinkler.

I wanted a boat paddle to put on the front for decoration but I didn’t have any. I think that my Boat Captain husband has hid all of his old boat stuff from me. Discouraged but not defeated, I got my boat paddle towel rack from above the spa. I traced it on a piece of wood.

 

The paddle was a bit too big for the wood so I improvised a bit by adjusting the length of the arm. 

Then I called my Daddy. He has a jig saw. After about 15 minutes with the saw and some sandpaper to smooth out the edges, I had my boat paddle. (I’m doing my happy dance again) :)   I found some nails and fastened the paddle to the front of my table.  I think it might be a bit off center. Something I will fix later. 

Now I can swing without spying the sprinkler system. Oh Happy Day!

 Simplify Life One Step At A Time

Creating Curb Appeal: Update

The week before last, I shared with you how we put some grass seed down to fill in the gap where part of our flower bed used to be. You can find that (Here).  Yesterday, I went outside to find this!!!!  I did my happy dance!!!!   I'm sure that there are some weeds mixed in with the grass. It is so hard to get rid of every weed. Well at least it will blend in with the rest of our grass and it is not dirt.

This method was much cheaper than laying sod. It would have cost me $75 to sod the area. I bought the seed at my favorite garden spot for $29. With all of the rain that we have been having, I didn’t have to wait long.

I just love progress!

Curb Appeal: Update

I just love project progress. This weekend my husband and I did a bit more to our front porch.

This is what our front porch and flower bed looked like in the beginning. 

right corner

left corner

I tackled the left corner about a week ago. (here) 

 The boarder stone was next on the list to go . (That was a job all by itself)

The stones were uneven and ugly.

 I wanted to decrease the size of our flower bed to cut down on the weed situation so we relocated some of the rock to make way for grass. I was picking up rocks for hours. I missed some but I will just pick them up as I can.

 After that, a layer of compost mixed with black dirt went down first. Then we sprinkled seed on top of that.  Next came some water. Then another layer of the compost and black dirt followed by more water.  Now all that was left to do was keep it watered and watch it grow.

There were just so may rocks that it was impossible to get them all.

I had an idea for the right corner by the front door. I took one of the chairs from the back yard that my husband built and put it by the window. It looks great next to the lighthouse.  I added a pillow that I got on clearance at Wall-Mart for $5.   I really like this look. Kind of Coastal meets Comfy.  

On the steps, I wanted to use some lobster traps as planters. However, the price tag of $30 each meant that it wasn’t going to happen. I was strolling through my favorite gardening store and came across two planters that would work just perfectly. They were the mini version of what I was looking for.  Here the little cuties are.

Here is a view of the front porch area now. I wanted to repaint the steps and driveway but it is too much for our budget right now. Maybe some day.  

right corner

left corner

There are two more things on my list for the front yard. The first thing is to put mooring pools around the flower bed. We will do this in fall when it is cooler. 

 

Here is my inspiration. (Via)

The last thing is to plant some hardy plants that will look pretty year round. This will wait until spring.

Almost Done!