Deck Progress: What We Planted

The deck is pretty much done, yay!  Jeff is so excited.  We just need to put sand in the sandbox and build a cover for it.  Last week, Jeff planted some yummy plants in the deck planters.  Here is the run down:

And Jeff put the herbs he bought in this fun little table he built a while back.

Here is the {almost} finished deck

Planting crops

Last night we made a little family trip to Home Depot to pick up dirt and a few crops for our new raised garden planters.  The planters are so big that we ended up buying 20 bags of garden soil.  Before he filled them up, Jeff built a false bottom in the platers that was about 10 inches off the ground so that it would take less dirt to fill them.  He then lined the sides and bottom with 6mm all purpose plastic to protect the wood.

Here's 15 of the 20 bags.  Jeff had bought 5 earlier to see how much he would need.  I totally doubted that he could fit 15 bags on that cart.  Jeff is surprised that I still ever doubt him.

Here are the crops we got: carrot seeds, yellow bell pepper, zuchini squash, crockneck squash, watermelon, and some herbs: mint, cilantro, adn basil.  The watermelon and herbs arent actually going into these planters.  We have other plans for them that I'll share later.  We were at Lowes the other day and felt they had more variety, so we are going to check out their supply later and possible get some more veggies.

Wesley was a great helper.

Here are the planters all filled up with dirt.  See the plastic peeking through on the sides?

By the time Jeff finshed it was dark outside, so I will show pictures of the final reveal next week when we have the entire deck area completed.

Any suggestions on plants to get?  We are no experts in gardening so any tips you have for us would be great!

Super easy fabric flower tutorial

This weekend I changed up my front door wreath and added these easy fabric flowers for Spring!  I thought I'd show you all how I did it because I have not seen this technique on blogs before.  And it is really super easy.  Its my favorite way to make flowers because nothing has to be exact and you only need a few supplies.

Easy Fabric Flower Tutorial:

Supplies:

Fabric Scraps

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Step one: Cut a long strip of fabric.  I usually make mine about 3 inches wide and 15-20 inches long.  But you can do whatever size you want.  I thicker strip will make a larger flower, and the length will determine how fukll the flower is.  I like to have different sizes in my arrangement, so I just vary the size of strip I start with.  Notice, my strip isnt even even at all.  I love that it doesnt have to be exact because I cant cut straight to save my life. My piece of fabric was also very wrinkled...it still works!

Step 2: Fold stip in half length wise, and press (with your fingers, not an iron).

Step 3: While it is still folded, cut small stripes down the length of your big strip.  Start on the folded end and dont cut all the way through (go about 3/4 of the way down). 



Step 4: Add a dap of glue to one end and start rolling the strip into itself. 

Step 6: Keep rolling (or I like to wrap, once I get it started), adding glue as you go along to keep it together, until the whole strip is rolled up. 



It should look like this.

And when you flip it over, you have a pretty little flower.

Optional step 7: If you like the look of your flower you can stop here, but if you want it to have a more loose or messy feel to it, then start cutting the "petals" in half.

When you are finished cutting all your petals, it will look like this.

I used straight pins to attach the flowers to my wreath.  You could also use hot glue to attach them as well, but then you wont have an interchangeable wreath like I do :)

FYI- the rest of the wreath was made by wrapping yarn around and around and around a straw wreath I purchased from Joann's.  Then, I cut pieces of fabric about 1-2 inches wide and 4-6 inches long and simply tied them in a knot in the middle (like you are tying your shoe).  I made about 20-30 of those pieces and just layered them on my wreath, adhearing with glue gun.  It creates a nice background for the different flowers I add each season. 

Now go and make yourself a pretty little spring wreath with fabric flowers!