Happy Earth Day!

In honor of the awesome week dedicated to helping our poor wonderful planet, I thought I'd plant some tomato seeds. Good ol' Target sold this cute little pot which came with it's own soil and tomato seeds. A week later and here we are!! They're growing!! I can't wait to try my very first home grown tomato. Once they get about three inches tall, I'll plant them out in my backyard. If this goes well, maybe I'll go ahead and start growing all my fruits and veggies. We already have a bartlett pear tree out back! We had one pear last year, I can't wait to see how many we'll get this year!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter! It was a full day for me. Visiting with family, easter egg hunting with Lisey, and then gardening! Lisey found so many eggs, she won a prize. She was super excited, as you can see above. 

On Saturday, we bought the most amazingly wonderful scented trees - fragrant tea olive trees - and yesterday they went into the ground! We were planning on getting a different tree but every time we passed the tea olive tree, we couldn't help but get drawn in. The smell is almost too good to be true! We also planted some Japanese Boxwood Bushes, Dusty Miller Plants, and some colorful Begonias. I can't wait until they're all in full bloom! I'll be sure to post pictures when they do!

Here are some pics to show you what textures are now beautifying my front yard:

Fragrant Tea Olive

Pic from Gardening with Confidence

Japanese Boxwood

Pic from Clear Zone Nursery

Begonias

Pic from Backyard Gadener

Papasan Chair

Papasan chairs might be considered to be old fashioned or possibly something that belongs in a college student's dorm, but I happen to LOVE them. My parents had one when I was younger, so maybe it brings back a little nostalgia for me personally but, if you've ever sat in one, you can't deny how comfortable they are. I can't think of anything I'd rather curl up in with a good book for hours and hours (in reality...half an hour while my daughter is sleeping), so when I found one at a yard sale for $15.00 like the one below, how could I possibly pass it up? Exactly. I couldn't. Now comes yet another project (as if I don't have enough already). 

pic from wists.com

Here's my plan: First (a very important first) is getting a new cushion (I hope those spots aren't anything gross, but who knows! Better to get rid of it and start new.) I found this adorable cushion at Pier 1 for only $80. Doesn't it have Springtime written all over it?

  Pic from Pier1

With a new clean cushion picked out, my next plan is to paint. Paint is, hands down, my best friend. Anything, well, almost anything, can be brought back to life with a fresh coat of paint...if only I can get myself to open up a can and get to painting! A light glossy blue to bring out the blue in the pattern, or possibly a crisp glossy white so that the base and cushion can become one. I'll have to think about it some more, but I'm sure I'd be happy with both outcomes. 

This next pic isn't related to papasan chairs, but it is the prime example of how paint can breathe life into something that looks like its dying...from one of my favorite blogs, Decor8. Gorgeous.

If you have any suggestions or have something that you love enough to make pretty, let me know! 

Chalkboard Paint

Chalkboard paint is ALL over the blog world right now and I can't help but to jump on the bandwagon. It's just so fun, and not only does it give your wall a great look, it creates something that you can, well, create with. Perfect for my little two year old Lisey Doodle who absolutely loves drawing. My first thought, naturally, was to paint a small section of her room. I had it all planned out...it would be a small rectangle, I had the spot picked out, and I was going to frame it in with moulding to have a finished look...but then I realized...she's two, and completely untrustworthy with such things. 

For example...this is what happened with supervised crayoning (I left the room for TEN seconds, tops). 

Both sofa arm rests, and the fireplace...she's good!

I want her to be able to draw while I'm doing other things, not just while I'm in the room with her, so then came the idea of the dining room (below the chair rail). Perfect! Not only will the basic black look fantastic below the light blue I'm planning on painting, but it's the perfect location for Lisey to draw where I can watch her. I can see her from the living room, and also from the kitchen - just the thing to keep her busy while I'm cooking or *urg* cleaning.

Here are some of my favorite pics from around the web.

pic from ohdeeoh

pic from Apartment 2024

I also found a great blog post at minDIY. Mindy gives you great tips from start to finish as she takes you through her own experience painting a coffee colored chalkboard wall in her own home. If you want to check it out her tips, click here. I'll definitely be re-reading the post before I begin my own project.

pic from minDIY

The Garden

I mentioned in a previous post that I'll be getting married at a garden this spring. Well, I thought I'd tell more about it. Here's a little excerpt from the website: 

Bellingrath Gardens and Home was the creation of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bellingrath.  The Gardens first opened to the public in 1932 while a national garden club meeting was taking place in Mobile.  Mr. Bellingrath placed an ad in the Mobile paper, announcing that anyone who would like to see the spring garden could do so free of charge.  After an overwhelming response, the couple decided to keep the gardens open year-round, beginning in 1934 

With this newfound popularity, the Bellingraths decided to make the 65-acre garden their primary residence, building an English Renaissance home along side the charmingly relaxing Fowl River. Tours of the 10,500sqft. home are available today, and more importantly, the gardens are available to be rented out for parties and of course, weddings! 

I took a trip out there yesterday and snapped some photos. It's only march, and still chilly, but there are already gorgeous flowers in bloom. The fragrance is so wonderful I found myself taking deep breaths every few steps followed by a delightful sigh. If only I could have taken that smell home with me. 

Here are photos of the South Terrace. We'll be saying our vows under the low hanging branch, in front of those two pots filled with yellow tulips, looking down on the breezy river. 

And here are photos of the East Terrace, where the party will take place! I can't wait to see all the flowers in bloom. It will be nothing short of breath-taking!

New ART!

This fun flower drawing is now available in my Etsy Shop! I've listed two different colorways but, as always, custom colors are an option!

Happy Monday!

Over the weekend I was actually very productive. Not only did I help out my future brother and sister in laws fix up their new house, I also finished up a drawing (look for it in the next post)! There's nothing that gets you motivated into paint your own house than painting someone else's. It was quick and easy and the walls look worlds better. So I ask myself...Why can't our walls be painted so quickly? Oh, wait, they didn't have to strip wall paper. But that's okay, I got my trusted DIF and my motivation...that ugly 90s wall paper is coming down!  

What's going to take it's place? A light calming blue. Here's some of my inspirations! Can't wait to experience a whole new kitchen! I'll post before and after pics as soon as I'm done (which will hopefully be soon!) 

Photo from Sunset, from Apartment Therapy

Photo from Decorpad

Photo from Designmanifest Blog - Designer Windsor Smith

I couldn't bring myself to paint my kitchen floor blue, but how gorgeous is that??