Porch Paradise Project

One of my favorite parts of this house is the screened in back porch. In this century old house, with no central cooling, it is often the coolest place to spend time. And although I remember summers rarely breaking 90 in upstate NY, the last couple have been hitting those numbers pretty regularly. This year it has been pushing 90 already and its not even June! So with high numbers expected again, the porch is where me and the Mister can be found.

Since we spend so much time out there, I decided I would spruce it up just a tad. Not too mention, we had some small lighting concerns. With my porch paradise project, both issues were addressed.

 

I've had the last few days off, so I made it my mission to get the porch in ship shape before I had to head back to work on Monday.

 

Lights! As I mentioned there weren't really any lights out here. I work until midnight, so during the week the Mister and I are out here well into the night. Our makeshift solution had been the Mister's halogen garage lights. Great for garage work, great even for photography projects. A little too harsh for unwinding after work. The new solution, white string lights. These are perfect! They are bright enough to see whatever it is you are doing, but warm enough to allow for some relaxation.

Then I found a tutorial for fabric garland at Sew, Mamma, Sew!  Many of my projects use a combination of green and brown fabrics and leave me with small scraps that I keep around, but never know what to do with. Plus, the chairs I bought last summer were green and brown. I knew that this garland was the perfect project for all those scraps I had hanging around.

Throw in a focal piece complete with felt pomanders, tissue puffs, and origami cranes and you have yourself a summer oasis.

And let's not forget a fully stocked beer fridge, with a wonderful selection of summer craft brews and seating for six. So, who wants to come visit?

Earth Day Repurpose (a few days late)

This week I decided to finally do something about the collection of nearly empty candles that have been lying about the house. I hated the idea of throwing these perfectly good jars away, but until now I have been too lazy busy to do anything with them.

I followed this tutorial for how to get the last scraps of wax out of the bottom. It was a little tedious, but it did what it was supposed to. It wasn't until after I had cleaned all of the jars, I found that freezing the whole jar for about a hour garners the same results. I can't vouch for that method, but I will try it first next time I get to the dregs of my candles.

So now that I have the jars emptied of excess wax and cleaned up, the next step is making up my mind about how to put them to use. These are just a few of the ideas I have been tossing around.

Life Ann Style has some great ideas for using the jars in the bathroom.  One option is to add cute little birdies attached to the lid. this makes a great handle as well as making the jar a little more decorative.

[I know that somewhere on pinterest there is a similar tutorial where an object is glued to the lid and then spray painted, but for the life of me I cannot find it.]

Another option is to add some Epsom salts and essential oils to make an air freshener/ make-up brush holder.

I Am Style-ish takes it to another level with glitter. I love glitter, but when it comes to decorating I generally avoid it, as I am no longer a teenage girl. However, in this case I think the right color glitter could be a fun way to liven up the decor that currently exists in my bathroom. Plus, since me and the Mister are the only ones who use the master bathroom, no one will even be able to judge the glittery goodness =)