Summer Garden Tour

Summer is finally here and like most of you, I have been anxious to plant things in my yard.  Here are a few shots of it as it is at the moment.  So many more ideas in my head and so little time, lol.

Here is the beginning of a plate border.  The idea came from Pinterest of course - unfortunately there were various links that went to nowhere.  Just pictures, but you get the idea.

The plates came from Goodwill and are all a similar buttery yellow color but actually from 3 different sets of dishes.  Here they are all lined up!

Off to the left of the plates on the other side of the rock path is what I refer to as the "circle garden".  I planted a young Forsythia bush there this year.  I am looking forward to cutting some of it's yellow branches next Spring to bring inside to welcome the season.  I have a little semi-rusty red lantern sitting on top of a rock to add interest.

Here is the part of the yard that I call the "rock garden".  It is surrounded by rocks on one side, a white picket fence and the plate border on the other side.  There are a lot of plants that will eventually get big and full and fill up this space over time.  The rusty wheelbarrow is filled with annuals.  In the Fall, I plan to add some pink tulip bulbs on the right side of the wheelbarrow.  I love tulips and will be anxious to see them popping up next season.

Here is another angle showing off the plate border, the rock path and the wheelbarrow.

This is a view from the backside.  I love a white picket fence, don't you?  It gives it such a cottage feel!

To the right of the rock garden are my trio of trees.  The one in the middle is a Redbud.  And this year I added a pink Dogwood tree - which is the one to the right.  I would love to see a little picnic area set up in the midst of them at some point.  Maybe a pallet idea?  Who knows - like I said, I have a lot of ideas swimming around inside my head!

And here is a shot from the other side of the yard looking towards the rock garden.  I have a small brick patio with an old wooden spool as a table.  It's not much, but it's a nice place to sit.  I envision some type of Pergola here someday - maybe with some old windows hanging from it.  Hmmm.

Here is the side yard where I have planted a small garden.  From left to right there are strawberries, pumpkins, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and a blueberry bush.  I love picking the blueberries every day and can't wait till I can harvest even more fruits and veggies!

And here is the view from the other side:

This is the front of the house on the side of the steps.  My wonderful Lilac Bush which smells so sweet when it blooms is in the back.  Up front is a Hydrangea and some annuals.  There is a rusty orb at the corner to add some character.

Same spot, different angle:

Under my bay window I have some Prairie Grass, a Russian Sage, a Magnolia Bush, another Russian Sage, and a Rose of Sharon.  Again, when these all get bigger and fuller over time it will fill up this space nicely.

They say "to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow".  That is SO true because I am already looking forward to a few seasons from now when everything is more matured.  Hope you have been busy outside so far this year as well.  I would love to see your pictures of all of your gardens and outside spaces.  Do you have as many ideas in your head as I do mine?  Not enough time or money to do it all in one season.  But for now, I am absolutely loving my yard!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cupcakes

My sweet and adorable cooking assistant and grand-daughter, Riley, helped me make some Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cupcakes that we found on Pinterest.  This recipe was pinned from The Capitol Baker.  The first step in these yummy treats is to mix up the batter.  Try not to eat it all, lol.

Next, get your adorable assistant to mix up the chocolate cake:

Once the cake is nice and chocolatey, pour the batter into cupcake liners and put a dollup of filling on top.

Bake them in the oven until they are moist and fantastic -

Here is the actual recipe from The Capitol Baker:

Chocolate Cream Cheese Surprise Cupcakes

adapted from Hershey's

(6 PointsPlus per serving)

Ingedients

for the filling:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

for the cupcake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin cups with paper liners. 

Prepare the filling- beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and salt in a bowl until smooth and creamy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Spoon 1 level Tbsp of the filling into the center of each cupcake. 

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the cake portion comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans.  Remove from pans to wire rack.  Cool completely.

These are very good and they make a wonderful presentation for your own family or if you are bringing them to a party.  Let me know if you try them and if you like them as much as we did.

Interesting Wooden Box Turned Spice Rack

I went junking the other day and I found this very unique wooden box.  It has an odd shape and random holes drilled in it.  But . . . it had character, so I grabbed it up.

So, I don't know about you, but when I find something unique I think in my head that I don't know where this is going to go, but I know it will have a place some where.  Sometimes it might take me a few days to find the right spot for it.  I have been known to take an item and literally walk around my house with it trying it here and there until the right spot just kind of happens.  I finally decided that the little spot right above my stove was the perfect spot for a little "shelf" to keep my spices in.  When I took my little wooden box into the kitchen and tried it in that spot, it just seemed to fit.

So, now my spices are handy and the little wooden box has found a home.  I'm not sure what it's original purpose was, but it works great as a spice rack!  Do you walk around YOUR house looking for the perfect spot for something?

Tool Box Makeover

I love my old wooden tool box, but I felt like it was a little washed out.  I showed you first in this post.

I decided to move it in front of my fireplace and the old weathered pallet board that I have in front of my fireplace is white and the white tool box just kind of washed both pieces out.  So, I decided to paint it a distressed olive which is a color I love and use frequently throughout my home.  I started out by painting it a darker shade of green.

I wanted to give it depth and contrast.  Next, I painted it olive and distressed it a little bit.  I added some pink flowers and now it looks really cute in front of my fireplace.  I need to get a few more flowers though, it needs to be a little fuller.  But, it's definitely working better for me now.

Love it.  Old wooden tool boxes are so popular in blog land and on Pinterest.  Do you have an old tool box?  If so, how do you use it?  Where do you use it?

Old Chippy Window Score!

I found a couple of chunky, chippy, old windows by the curb and had to have them.  I love them.  I have a short little wall in my dining room between my living room and hall that was perfect for them.  Here is what the wall looked like originally.

It was empty and boring.  I have known that I wanted to do SOMEthing for quite a while, but I was waiting for the RIGHT something, ya know?  Well, the windows were definitely IT!  I filled them with photos of my grand-kids mostly.

The number "554" in the top left of the left window represents my 5 children, 5 grand-children and 4 great-grand-children.  The little heart in the bottom right says "family" - both are made from book pages which I also love.

I already have big plans for the bottom half of the wall.  Here's a hint - it involves big chunky wood and chicken wire!  Stay tuned.

Have you fallen in love with old windows?

Small Start to Organization

I don't know if you are like me - but January is when I get inspired to get organized and do some cleaning and purging!  The problem for me is always getting started though.  Sometimes, if I start with something real small, it is like dominoes and gets me moving onto bigger and better things.  So ... I started with this little area next to my sofa where I keep random things that I "need".  It started out looking like this:

Not really awful, but not organized AT. ALL.  So, I pulled out a little wooden cigar box that I had.  It is small, but has lots of character.  I love the writing on the sides of it.

And now that little trouble spot looks like this:

Much better.  Now I think I need to tackle those chords in the back!  One little thing can get me started on the next thing and so on and so on.  How about you?  Do you need to start with something little or do you just dive right in to the big stuff?  Any fun boxes, baskets, or organizational tools?

Sugar Scrub & Decorated Jar

If you are a Pinterest fan as so many are, you know how many millions of sugar scrub recipies there are out there.  Well, they make great gifts and I have made a few myself.  This year I made brown sugar vanilla scrub courtesy of Home Made Ginger.  To make it you simply gather and mix together the following ingredients as per her site. 

Equal parts brown sugar and white sugar (ends up being about 1/4 cup each for a 6 oz. jar)

Fill to the top with olive oil (cover the sugars and then maybe an extra 1/2 inch)

Add about 1-2 Tbs of vanilla extract for some yummy flavor.

You could also add essential oils, but that is a little pricier.

Of course, after you have made your sugar scrub, it is always nice to gift it in a fun jar.  Mason jars are great for this, but if you do not have any at hand, any clean jar will do.  I chose a nice sized jar and painted the lid first with primer and then with glossy black spray paint.  I then decorated the top with a cute pink button and some twine, added a tag that I had in my stash and it turned out very sweet.

There was even a tablespoon or so leftover for me!  If you haven't tried one of the sugar scrubs, you definitely should.  Once you do, you will be hooked for sure.  They make your hands super soft and since most of them are scented, that is a nice bonus as well.  I hate having dry hands in the winter and this feels SO pampering.  Make some today, you will thank me later!

How about you?  Have you tried any of the many sugar scrub recipies?  Which one is your favorite?  How about containers, any unusual ones?  I'd love to hear.