Spring Porch Sprucing

Say that three times fast!

Warning – fat post on porch stuff ahead.

I have done a little sprucing up around these parts to Spring-ify my house.

It started by hanging a Spring wreath (70% off last fall at Joann’s), keeping up with my weekly grocery store flower purchase…and well that’s all I can think of. Don’t wanna think too hard I may hurt myself.

Anywho, I got the bright idea that I wanted to give my milk can another makeover after seeing this beauty on Pinterest.

Gorge, right? Source

That’s right, mine already had one makeover. But, I can’t find for the life of me the blog post I did on it. I KNOW I posted that one. What is it with my posts? Are they disappearing or am I going crazy? I can picture reading that post and I think I was even wearing a purple v-neck shirt. Grr…

Well I took an old rusty milk can my Dad let me have and first painted it red.

It’s been sitting on my front porch so was icky.

Well it’s been red for the past two years and yesterday it got a makeover!

I was thisclose  to painting it white but decided last minute to jump ship and go yellow. You know, for Spring. I think it turned out really cute. But it may still end up white one day. Or peacock blue with white numbers…oh the possibilities!

Ta-da!!

I lurve it.

Now, let’s back up a little for the deets.

First I cleaned and primed it.

Oh and it went from drab to fab in one evening. I am impatient.

Then it got three coats of Krylon’s Bright Idea.

While it was drying, I whipped up a few things on my Cricut.

I got this blank slate sign from Michael’s for $1.99.

I cut the word welcome out in a fun font in white vinyl and stuck it on.

Then I did the address in black vinyl.

The light color shows the imperfections of the can, but that’s okay. It’s really old and it’s okay if the character shines through.

I picked up a flower arrangement from Walmart and put it all together on the front porch. What do ya think? Springy right? I love it. Makes me happy!

The great thing is I can change out the address real easily on my next house. It’s interchangeable!

Here’s the before:

Not awful but nothing to write home about.

Okay, so now that the front porch was looking up to par, it was time to tackle the back.

My Adirondacks were faded and plastic pieces were broken, and everything was covered in pollen.

After reading Brandi’s post about sprucing up her back deck, I was inspired.

I fell in love with the table she posted about.

When we lived in our last house we had an awesome patio table. It was huge but when we moved we sold it and ever since I have missed having a patio table outback. My porch isn’t very big so I didn’t need anything massive, so this would be perfect!

I really love to sit out back but my blue bench has now broken for a second time and my plastic chairs were breaking so I’d go out there and with three broken things to sit on, end up sitting on the ledge of the patio. No bueno.

 

Light bulb moment!!!

 

Whoa! I just realized something. I really need to layoff the food. All three of my seating pieces are broken! HAHAHAHA!

Anywho, I went to Target and they had it, and it was on sale for $99, but it was too small for what I was looking for. The chairs didn’t have arms and the table wasn’t large enough. And they only had it in white that was boxed. Boo. But it was SO cute!

So I did a little browsing in the patio section and ended up finding a table on sale for $40 and two chairs for $30 each. They didn’t come as a set but they are both wrought iron and match perfectly. The chairs are big and comfy with arms, and the table is plenty large. And I spent the same amount of money.

Score! And the cool part is I can always spray paint it

They had lots of cute sets but the others had chairs with cloth and in my experience they get yucky quick and tend to mildew. These are perfect cause they can be wiped down or hosed down. Minimal tending – I like!

But first, my discard pile.

Anyone else still have a pumpkin chilling on their back porch? I never got around to carving it and it was still in perfect condition. It’s in the trash now though. Poor pumpkin.

So here’s my new set, styled for the “after” picture of course. Don’t think I actually leave that cute stuff outside. Which brings me to my next search…outdoor décor!

Don’t mind the tarp out and junk in the corner. It’s my firewood pile!

     

I love my blue Ikea glasses.

You can find them here. Can’t beat $6.99/6 pack.

So there you have it. A big blog post about some Spring Porch Sprucing!

Girl’s Night Out–Skating Edition!

Friday was a night on the “town” with some of my sweet girlfriends.

I am just a hippy girl. And I don’t mean child of the seventies…I mean I’ve got some child bearing hips!

Brittney, Nicole, Katie and I started out with some dinner and drinks at Chili’s.

Yum.

Then we went skating! It was Brittney’s idea and I’m so glad she thought of it!

Picture stolen from Katie. We had some rule breakers in our group and it wasn’t me!

Missing Nicole!

Couple’s skating for friends!

Thankfully none of us fell or suffered any broken bones. We enjoyed ourselves!

We ended the night with TCBY. Brittney’s concoction was too pretty not to have a picture of.

It’s back to work tomorrow.

Working for the weekends I tell ya!

Sidenote…does anybody have any suggestions on a Picnik alternative for when their site shuts down in April? It’s how I currently do all my collages and I think I’m gonna cry when they’re gone. I got an email from them with some alternatives but after brief looks they didn’t look promising. OR, anyone know how to do pre-made collages using Photoshop Elements 9? Please share because that I DO have!

Lamp Lovin’

I’m in love.

With this beauty.

It’s okay, you can crush too.

You know that line from Austin Powers/Goldmember, “I love gooooooold!”

Picture me saying that with lamps.

“I love laaaaaaammppps!” 

Any lamps. I am obsessed with them. Last night I had two gorgeous ones in my buggy at Marshalls but I literally had not a flat surface left in my house to put them. So I sadly put them back. But I did separate them so they had a better chance of not being bought for if I decide I need to go back and get them. Lamps in pairs are my weakness.

Sigh

Anywho!

Betcha wouldn’t have thought that this svelte little lady looked like this before?

Oye.

I saw her sitting lonely and sad on a Goodwill shelf for $7.99 and knew I could bring her back to life. She’s unfortunately been sitting in my laundry room for several months while I searched for the perfect color.

{If you buy used lamps, have the cashier put in a bulb and check to make sure they work before purchasing!}

Well, remember when I was looking for some aqua spray paint and couldn’t find it? Unfortunately yesterday I searched a few more stores and still couldn’t find it.

I was definitely bummed. Especially since my lamp was primed white and ready to go. I almost sat down and ordered it online last night but really didn’t want to order spray paint online and have to pay shipping, so I held off.

It had become kind of an obsession to find it. Even some friends knew I was looking. It was bad. It was consuming me.

Kidding…sort of.

So imagine my surprise when I got back from lunch today and get a text from my sweet friend Erin that Hobby Lobby has it in stock AND it’s on sale.

Thank you Spray Paint Gods!!

I kind of freaked and got way too excited and thanked Erin far more than was probably necessary but THANK YOU again Erin!

HL was one place I hadn’t checked yet, and go figure. They had it!

Anywho, here’s that blasted color I’d been searching for forever for the past three days since crushing on it from this project I saw it used on.

Krylon Catalina Mist

But let’s rewind a little.

First I primed her with my new favorite spray primer.

This.stuff.rocks.

She’s even pretty just after priming.

Rem helped. And by helped I mean I kept having to holler at him to quit digging because dirt dust was flying everywhere while I was painting. No bueno.

After several days of the primer setting (while looking for paint) today I finally painted her.

3-4 light even coats. Don’t want any dripping!

Once the misty aqua was pretty dry to the touch I sprayed it with a Glossy Clear Finish so she’d really shine.

The result? I love.

I stole the shade off my bedroom lamp, but it’s okay because I replaced it with a fun new one I’ve been eyeballing forever at Target

My lamp’s future’s are so bright…they gotta wear shades.

womp womp

Beautimus! And rather Springy I might add!

 

Like my new chair cushion? It was with the outdoor patio furniture for $12 at Ross. Perfect.

And so you don’t have to scroll all the way up, here it is one more time for your viewing pleasure.

This little lady definitely got better with age!

I can’t stop staring

St. Patty's Day

Saturday we went downtown with the Collins fam for some green festivities! Basically it was a downtown get down with a green theme. It was really hot and since we weren't there for the beer, we hit up the food! It was an ok time but we had more fun at the mall and then Chili's. Good times!

David, Fisher & Tanner

Funnel cake - yum!

Sarah and I.

Hope your green day was happy!