DIY Window Boxes

Hello everyone!

Anyone else mourning the end of July? We love the unhurried pace of summer around here!

This Spring, Justin built us three beautiful window boxes that we filled with gorgeous flowers from Whitaker Farms. If you are local, you must check them out! This has added a lot of curb appeal to the front of our house and is helping us to continue to create the farmhouse/craftsman style we love!

The boxes were a simple, easy project that you can find some plans for here or here.We used Rustoleum's Dark Walnut stain, which is obviously our favorite since we use it on everything! Justin also lined the boxes with some left over weed barrier.

The real magic, though, happened when we filled them with plants. To be honest, I didn't really know what I was doing when I was selecting flowers. I knew I wanted some that would overhang the boxes and trail down, so after some research, I determined that I needed to look for petunias and then place something taller behind them. I also talked with someone who worked at the nursery and she suggested some cheaper filler flowers to go along with the petunias. Most of the websites I read said that more flowers were better, but you also have to keep in the mind that whatever you select will grow and expand as well, as you can see in the following pictures.

The day we planted everything at the end of April

 

End of May:

End of June

And as an added bonus, here are a few more pictures of our porch and flowers:

I have to confess that even though our flowers were watered a few times while we were on vacation we suffered a few causalities! A few items need to be replaced and hopefully the others can be nursed back to health. All of the rain we had during June was great for the flowers (and weeds- yuck!) but unfortunately July has been very hot and dry. 

What are your favorite flowers to plant that are easy to maintain?

Until next time!

a DIY backyard fire pit!

Happy Memorial Day Ya'll!

I've had a really great weekend that I'll share more about another time, but I did want to share a little backyard DIY project that my hubby worked on this winter and then debuted this weekend at a cookout.

For Christmas Justin received a very simple fire pit (and some bundles of wood, haha!) that he decided to add some stone to for a more personalized look. It was super quick and can be easily broken down and moved if needed. Plus, it was budget friendly as well.

And here we are with a fire going! We're ready for smores!

If you are looking for some similar ideas or more specific directions, check out Boxy Colonial or How to Nest for Less.

Linking up today at: A Bowl Full of Lemons

house: updated

Wayyyy back in January the hubby repainted our front door and shutters! We had wanted to do a red door and black shutters, but our HOA said they couldn't be different colors. Anyway .. with out new black roof  from the storm damage we suffered last year we wanted to give our house a more updated look. I've been waiting until we had planted some flowers and everything was in bloom before I shared!

Check out the changes the front of our house has undergone:

 June 2012 - when we first moved in.

April 2013 (see post here)

May 2014

This wind chime was a wedding present from a former teacher. She said that every time we heard it we should think of why we first fell in love. It was one of the sweetest presents we received and I do think about my hubby every time I hear it chime. : )

You don't realize how different the front of the house looks until you start to compare pictures. I really need a new door hanging .. in my free time. (HAHA!)

 I'm going to be so sad to leave this little home behind. It's cozy and filled with our hard work and love. It has really been a "sweet nest" for us!

a DIY flower pot

ahhh Spring ya'll ... the weather this week is beautiful and most welcome after the cold of last week!

I would really like to just forget school work and just sit outside, do craft projects, and start on my Spring cleaning! Just a few more days until break .. I think I can, I think I can!

I have a super quick DIY project to share with you today! We planted some flowers the past weekend and I thought the flower pot on my front porch was just too plain! I used chalkboard paint and twine to add a personal touch! I think it turned it out really cute!

I have few more Spring projects in mind and of course my Spring Mantel is ready to reveal.. check back soon!

I am linking up today over at House by Hoff! 

Front Yard Reveal

Today I want to share with you our finished front yard! A few weeks ago my hubby ripped out all of the overgrown bushes and we bagged up all of the old mulch. We then laid down landscaping fabric, which had to be redone thanks to the hail damage we suffered! Finally, we were able to plant some new small shrubs and flowers!

Here is a before picture, taken when we moved in (June 2012):

Here are some pictures in process:

Ahhh it looks so much better without those bushes! As you can see we also added some furniture since last June as well!

Here are the afters:

 We planted some knockout roses, a flowering almond tree, some shrubs, and some flowers. I do not remember if the exact names of the shrubs! Please ignore the tarps on our roof ... but we get a new roof this week!

 I had been wanting a barrel planter forever .. but was unwilling to pay full price for it! We found this one at Lowes for half price!

 

This hangs on my front door and is something I made last summer. The idea came from Pintrest but unfortunately doesn't have link. I simply wrapped a letter from Micheal's with twine and added some decoration!

We've gotten lots of compliments and we are happy with our work! We also planted a small garden in our backyard this weekend! I sure do hope that that our plants grow.

That's all for today!