Fall Fun!

I realized I only really decorate my front porch for two seasons: Fall and Christmas. I am not sure why I don;t take the time to decorate for the other holidays outside but I don't.  Since last year's Fall Decorations got stolen I decided to go simple and try to use what I had but while I was at Pat Catan's I found a few things and I bought them. Bad I know but I wanted to stay under $20 and I know I'll use them again! My total cost for these decorations was $17 so not too bad. But I am chaining them to the front door! One of my BFF's Lynnie, warned me though! She said those acorns might cause the squirrels on our area to go wild! Well, If they have any sort of good taste they will leave my decorations alone! So far, so good....

What did I buy?  The husks, the giant acorns, the bird cage, the two birds and the white flowers in the vintage downspouts. Not bad. The chair, the orange throw, pine cones, wood stand and moss gourd are mine.

I found some good sticks and spray painted them gold and then just stood them up inside the cage for some visual interest.

I couldn't pass these little birds up. They clip onto things which I love and their tails were a beautiful mix of natural feathers, burlap, book pages (!), and wood scales. They are gorgeous in person.

I hot glued the brown ribbon on and then just tied them to the middle. 

Simple.

I used some fakey flowers  because I am terrible about watering my outside plants. I bought stems that looked more real and they were 60% off so I could spend a bit more.

Happy Gathering and Harvest!

What holidays do YOU decorate the outside of your home?

Just in case the thief now reads my blog........

Ephesians 4:28

²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/2013/04/01/that-diy-party-10/#xgMAcRCgRocl5vmh.99       

 

 

Rustic Bench Addition

I got another thing checked off of my To-Do list for the summer! I built myself some benches to replace my ugly plastic falling apart chairs.

 

Behold the beauty of the plastic! These in no way, shape, or form go with my farmhouse table that I found on the trash. Yes, probably one of the best scores of my entire life. Definitely the biggest thing I have ever found on the trash. We had to push that bad boy on a dolly down two blocks and up (literally) our alley, to get it to the backyard. 

It can sit 12 people, people!

I love it.

But what I did not like about it is those chairs! But it was all we had so you go with it.

I went with it for 4 years before spying some discarded lumber in my neighbors yard. It was an old picnic table I think. I asked him if he could ever part with such awesome old wood and he of course said yes! I think the thought of ME getting it out of his yard held promise. 

.....and then it sat in my yard...for about the whole summer.

But the good news for anyone coming to dinner is that the benches are done and I think I am pretty happy with them. 

They add the rustic look I wanted and weren't that hard to build. 

I am still not sure of these legs though. I had to put two pieces together because I didn't think one plank width would be sturdy enough and not rock. Not sure if these are as sturdy as I want. I may need to add something but not sure what. I am not sure if the little bit of wobble is from putting the two pieces together or if I need to put in a diagonal brace of some kind.

Any suggestions from you guys who build stuff regularly?

I also had big plans to age the new exposed wood using vinegar and steel wool to make the whole look uniform (the perfectionist in me) but I think I am going to let nature do its thing.  I have way more projects that need to get done and some things are better left to the experts.

Okay, enough chit chat and on to the "pretty" after shots!

Yes, we make our own wine!

These are sunflowers that we grew this summer and the piece of wood was found by Tessa. She thought it should be used somehow. I couldn't agree more.

Now who to have over?????

P.S. I am holding off showing you how I built these until I figure out the bracing thing. Then I will feel better about giving you information that shows you how to make a rustic bench without a neck brace included. That's probably a plus huh?

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!

http://www.remodelaholic.com

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/2013/04/01/that-diy-party-10/#xgMAcRCgRocl5vmh.99