Playing with Decoupage

I have wanted to decoupage some things for awhile now.  The idea of it is interesting, and there are so many items out there that are just beautifully done.  I put some things on the counter--two keys and a perfume bottle--to decoupage "when I got around to it".  Well, needless to say, they sat there for quite awhile (there is always something else to do, right?).  Finally, there was a bit of free time, and, seriously?...there were only three things to experiment with!  Seems like the hardest thing for me to do is to just sit and DO it...whatever "it" might be.  It ended up not taking that terribly long to do after all, and it was such fun.

I have some napkins that are just beautiful and decided to place pieces on a blank perfume bottle.  I ripped them up and with Mod Podge placed the pieces on.  How one side is all one color and the other all another is just how it turned out.

I sealed the bottle with a different decoupage sealer and added some wire and complimentary beads. They almost look like two separate bottles--but that just adds to the interest.
Next, I did the keys.

The paper on these is still from the same napkin used on the perfume bottle.  It's amazing the color differences and looks to all three pieces.  I added some wire and beads to these too.

I really wanted to try some vintage jewelry bits on these, but the bling took away from the beauty of the patterns in the napkin.  These are in my Etsy shop and haven't sold yet, but it was great fun to try something different.  If you're interested in playing with decoupage, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.  No doubt you will enjoy doing it as much as I did.

Morning Glories

My idea in the past was to have a mailbox out front of our house covered in vine and beautiful flowering Morning Glories--like our neighbors have down the street.  Well, we live across from a little wooded area, and the rabbits would sneak over across the street and nibble away.  Why they never found their way to our neighbor's house is beyond me (they aren't that far from the woods!).  So, I completely gave up on the beautiful mailbox idea.  Our mail carrier is probably glad that she doesn't have to fight bumblebees and the like when she delivers our mail.  So, I decided to try to cover up the ugly metal pipe above our well.  The Morning Glory growth has been wimpy to okay in the past...nothing too exciting.

Well, this year I scattered seeds on a whim not expecting much.  How pleased I've been with an abundance of growth and lovely flowers to enjoy!...not to mention not seeing much of that ugly pipe.  I could be from the abundance of rain we've had this year...maybe it was better seeds.  The bunnies never did find these, thankfully.  I personally think they were too busy in our vegetable garden on the other side of our property to care about these flowers.

Smell of Roses in the Air

Whenever a window is opened...whenever laundry is being hug...whenever the mail is retrieved....the smell of roses is in the air.

What a delight!  The winter was hard on my roses bushes, and I lost three of them.  However, the heartiest of them have remained, and how wonderful they smell. 

This huge bush out back we have let grow with sweet abandon.  It is really huge...probably too huge.  However, we can smell it all around.  I've brought some in to enjoy as well.  How I love roses!

For a Jeweled Garden Party

It took me a little while to think this through and complete, but it is finally done.  I had always wanted to embellish something like a purse.  It was hard to find the right purse first of all.  This one came the closest to what I had in mind.  It is faux black leather and has a great surface.  Then, it was fun planning out what it would look like.  The things that sealed it for me what it should look like are the pieces of a necklace that I thought looked like clouds.  Then, I decided to have a garden full of glittering flowers below.  There is a bright yellow sun in the sky, a rhinestone butterfly, and some birds above a next full of blue eggs.  I've listed it in my Etsy shop if you'd like to see other pictures of it.

The Garden is Now In....and a Game to Recommend

Well, we finally got our veggie garden in this past week (still working on the flowers). I know...it took us forever, but better late than never. It's a small garden really. It makes me sneeze and itch just thinking of weeding, but the veggies are worth it in the end. We put in tomatoes (of course, like, who doesn't put in tomatoes??), spinach, broccoli, corn, peppers (I finally will try to grow some peppers this year--yum), green beans, peas, and carrots. Yum! Hopefully we will get a good enough harvest so that I can freeze a lot for the winter. I so dislike wasting and try to make use of every bit that grows.
Speaking of gardens...I bought this game, The Garden Game, at a yard sale awhile back. It is a wonderful game! I played it for the first time this past week with my kids (6 and 9) after we finished with the garden (I thought it was appropriate since they helped plant the seeds). It was a little over my 6-year-old's head and I had to explain a thing or two to my 9 year old, but it taught all sorts of wonderful things about pollinators, microbes in the soil, composting, mulching, etc. while our little stones worked their way around the garden path. Whoever has the most in their garden (via garden cards--beautifully illustrated, by the way) by the time the first person gets to the garden gate wins. It was fun and educational, and I'd highly recommend it.

French Garden Gate

I love baths and am very blessed with a wonderful bathtub. It is big and sits in a corner of our bathroom. A window is on the left (frosted I might add!), a tall blank wall is at the foot and head, and a blank, 2/3 wall is on the right. There is enough room to look out into the rest of the bathroom. I truly feel as if I am in a secluded haven whenever I take a bath. Sometimes I light candles. Sometimes I use bubbles. Just the trickle of the water coming from the faucet is soothing, and I truly feel secluded, quiet, and peaceful there. *Ahhh* I have posted in the past about the small garden gates I placed on the window sill. I am still working on finding just the right glass beads, etc. to put on that, so I will post about that another time. However, I found this metal gate to put on one of the blank walls. They were just too tall and blank! I chose the wall at my feet to decorate first because, well, I wanted something pleasant to look at while in my little haven. I bought this gate at Hobby Lobby. It is roughly 2 feet wide and 2-1/2 feet tall and is quite sturdy since it is solid metal. I spray painted it a dark, mossy green to match the other colors in my bathroom and twisted raspberry-colored beads on metal wires around it to give the impression of growing flowers on vines. I am quite pleased with this French garden gate and how it transforms me to another peaceful land, another beautiful place while soaking in my hot bath.