Vibrant Flowers

Okay,  so a funny story: - maybe ridiculous to you, but it made me laugh!!

Funny story:
So I am out in my backyard doing some weeding and trimming of my flowers.  Making things beautiful, and I am pulling weeds when I accidentally pull a flower out!  Shoot!  So careful as I can be I dig a deep hole and place the traumatized flower -root and all- in the new hole, and I carefully fill it with dirt and hope it will still live!  As I am going around weeding the rest of my backyard I see more of that same flower I pulled out!  I come to the realization that I have taken careful effort to replant a WEED back into my flower bed.  Uggh!  So off I go to not so carefully rip it from my bed, and throw it in my burn pile!  hahaha.  Ya, I know, crazy!  Haven't you done the same?  No...?

Anyways, on with the show, I am posting some pictures of a the flowers in my backyard that make me happy with their vibrant colours!

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(this picture I had to take off line because my camera is acting funky, and won't load my photos)

I've read in gardening magazines to pick a colour palette for your garden.  It had never occurred to me that you may want a colour scheme in your flower beds.  So as I am looking through these magazines that tell you what colours look good together, and picking pastels, or monochromatic colours... I have decided (or lets just say my eye decided- because I am attracted to beauty) that I like bright, bold, vibrant colours!  So, without a thought I have a bright flower bed, and I think it looks pretty.

What is your colour scheme?  Maybe you didn't know you had one? I didn't, but there it is for you -Vibrant!

Garage Sale Finds

So, lets see... why have I not been around as much lately?

Well lets see:
-the kids are out of school (so I am entertaining four little kiddies)
-the weather is crappy (so I am entertaining four little kiddies indoors!)
-I have a blog addiction which resulted in my house becoming completely an unorganized mess! (so I have been hashing it out with the cupboards, and closets lately)
-my van has not been working, so I haven't been able to get out and buy "supplies" to finish up my projects

Ahh, but through it all, I will make it back, and I will conquer my house, and my blog once again!!


BUT, I did get to garage sale-ing a few weekends ago.  I went with two of my lady friends, and I have to tell you I was hesitant about going with them, because well... I am fierce when it comes to garage sale-ing.  I like to zip around in my van, I drive crazy, make crazy turns, change lanes at the last second when spotting a sale sign.  Not only that, but I don't like to peruse garage sales, I like to strike.  Look, spot, buy, done.  I don't like to dilly dally before I am off to the next!  Luckily, I was able to get into (this is a fun girls outing mode), and we had a ball.  I loved going with them, and would do it again!

So here are a few items from my latest trips:

I know!  Another lantern (have you seen my collection?), but it was $2.50 , and came with the candle!

A beautiful white queen sized duvet cover with two pillowcases.  It looked brand new.  It was $2.50!  I love it.  It's so soft, and pretty.  I was looking for a new one to match the new paint colour in my room.  White goes with blue for sure!

I love finding clothes at garage sales, they are always so cheap in comparison!  This is so sweet, it was only $3.00.  My daughter has already worn it and received compliments on it.

I found this table and chairs for $2.00.  I had to get it.  My kids need one for their playhouse outside, and this one looks like it needed to be saved and given a little bit of love (and paint!!)

I love it when I find clothes that fit me!  This cute "Guess" jacket was $2.00.  I don't know much about brands for clothes, but I'm "guessing" -haha- it was way more than $2.00!!

Now, I have said before that I will buy birthday and Christmas gifts at garage sales.  Don't think that is weird, because it saved the day for me on my daughter's birthday.  She REALLY wanted makeup for her birthday, so I went about looking for a kit with lots of makeup in it.  They usually have a ton of these around Christmas, but I was not having luck finding any!!  I even went to check out buying individual peices of makeup, and they add up!!!  Too much.  This yard sale I went to saved the day.  Two days before my daughter's birthday and I find this:

The price at the top was $19.99.  I paid $5.00.  It's brand new!!  Yay for MOM!  She LOVED it!

And look what my daughter found at a garage sale for 25 cents:

This could be a birthday gift.  It's still in the package!!!

Now this wasn't from a garage sale.  It was from the thrift store.  I LOVE the colour, and the cute polka dots inside, I had to get it.  I replaced my old, raggy makeup bag with this cute fresh, smaller sized one.

So on to another week of happy garage saleing...

For a fun eventful morning the cost came to:

Lantern: $2.50

Duvet Cover and Pillowcases: $2.50

Polka Dot dress: $3.00

Kids table and chairs: $2.00

Guess jacket: $2.00

Make up kit: $5.00

Dora play set: $0.25

Make up case: $1.00

Total: $18.25

(that is still less than the price tag on that makeup kit!)

It's a hit!  Find anything you like?

All Things Beautiful

I am dedicating this post to my love for all things beautiful.  The way a colour will draw me in with inspirations bursting, the way a photograph of a room makes me wish I were there, the way scenery with thickness of greenery grabs my heart.  I can't get enough of beautiful photography, art, places, colours, I want to be surrounded.  Here is what I have found that are peaking my senses, and bringing me to another world, because right now where I am, it is raining, raining, with more rain.  I need to escape!  So here it is:

(Country Living Magazine)

(photo courtesy Better Homes and Gardens)

(NessaK)

(bomobob)

(JLDesigns)

(JLDesigns)

JLDesigns

Better Homes and Gardens

JLDesigns

JLDesigns

JLDesigns

So you can conclude from this post that I am either hungry (well, yes I am), or that I would rather be in any of these outdoor escapes than this dingy weather where I am now.  And well... I guess it's both.

Did you notice the credits!  I found this beautiful blog with the most amazing, inspiring photography.   Thanks to JL Designs for lifting my spirits!

A small profit with big rewards!

So, funny things are going on around here.  You might not think so, but they sure made me smile, and of course grab the camera!!

My son had a friend over to play, and I could hear them busy outside building (with the tools, I got him for his birthday last year, they have come in handy for me when my husbands tools aren't near by) with scraps of wood.  I thought "oh, how cute".  Then they are shuffling around in his bedroom, and carrying things out the front door!

I innocently ask "What are you guys doing?"

"Having a garage sale mom".

"OH!  Okay???"

So in all his glory, he is posing in front of his homemade table he and his friend built.

A few minutes later I see my daughter who also has a friend over come inside and ask me to make some lemonade for them, and they start setting up.  They can't let the boys earn money and not get involved.  So up goes their table, and where do they get their toys to sell from...? The Goodwill bin!  Good, get rid of it, then I don't have to take it in!

I stood back and just watched them get all excited and let them do the pricing (it was going to Goodwill anyways right?)

Now, they are waiting for their first customer...

 After the girls yelling at the top of their lungs for people to come to their garage sale a neighbour boy stops by.

Here he comes...

(notice my kids hovering around and my daughter displaying something she wants to sell)

They make a sale!

Look closer to the background of this photo...

A big Garage Sale sign on the van across the street.

Looks like their advertising was done for them, I think people were trying to find that garage sale, and maybe stopped short at my kids because our house comes first!  Who could miss 3 young girls with high pitched voices yelling "Come and get your lemonade!  Garage Sale!!"

Apparently they had a LOT of customers!

How much did they make you ask?

$9.30

Split evenly between 5 of them!

At 5 and 10 cents a buy, I would say they were successful!

Everyone was happy at the end of the day, and lets just say their friends want to come over all the time and what do they ask to do??  Set up a garage sale with my Goodwill bin!

*****

I also made some money from garage sale-ing recently.  Have you heard of the blog "My Dear Trash"?  She buys things at thrift stores, kijiji or garage sales, and turns around to sell them for what they have potential to sell at.  Well, she has inspired me to buy cheap, and sell big (or reasonably at least).  So do you remember my garage sale trip (here) when I bought this night table to fix up for $5?  And how I mulled over it before deciding when some other lady asked if she could buy it if I didn't...?  Well I of course bought it.  But...

At the very next sale I found this one for $5 and decided I wanted this one more.

Which by the way is a lot bigger than it looks in the picture and is so pretty all cleaned up.  So I ended up selling the first one on Kijiji for $10.  Yeah small profit.

Then last weekend I found this table for $5:

Which was SO cheap for being so cute.  Now I had to scrub all the stickers and marker off it to look like this but I sold again on Kijiji for $15.  Again a small benefit!

Total Spent: $10

Total Earned: $25

Profit: $15

Hmmm, what will this weekend bring???  

Painted Plant Pots

So I bought these plant pots at a garage sale (all for $3.00), last year (close to the end of summer), so I never got to use them.  I love flowers, so this year when pulling them out to use I decided they needed a face lift.

I fully intended on sprucing them up when I bought them, and thought I might try a stone spray paint.  I haven't tried one of those kinds of spray paints yet, but would love to try one some time.  But for this project I decided to just go with black.  I know, simple, but I had black spray paint on hand, and I wanted them to look classic and chic.

Here is the before:

Yuck, dirty, and they have that cheap speckle grey look to them.

I gave them a good scrubbing, and primed them.  They are all ready looking better!

Next,  I spray painted them black using this wonderfully silky smooth Krylon spray paint.  It actually says on the front that there is no need for priming, and it adheres to plastic.  I primed before I read that!  haha.

And Voila!  They are new and pretty looking.

I added these lovely ladies to the pot, and I am happy with my $3.00 purchase!

For now, they are gracing each side of my bench (which by the way I got at a garage sale 4 years ago for $5 - maybe I'll replace it one of these days)

P.S. I noticed people posting comments on the post after the one intended.  If you want to post it is at the top of this post beside the title (me and my fabulously creative titles right?!!)



I am linking to the parties in my top menu bar.

Happy Canada Day!!

For those who are Canadians...

Have a Happy Canada Day!

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Go out and enjoy a fun day of red and white, and some patriotic mounties.

Go to the parade, and make sure you put your cute kids on the front line to rake in the candy!  

Just stay away from the Bull.

Check out what events are going on.

Share a festive treat.

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Don't forget to pick up some sparklers for the kids while you wait for the fireworks show to begin.

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And don't forget my favourite part:

Watch some fireworks while you are enjoying time spent with family and friends.

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Oh Canada, our home and native land.

Some fun facts about Canada:

-Many inventions including basketball, the electric light bulb, the electric range, the electron microscope, the telephone, standard time, the television, and the zipper, and the first snowmobile were invented in this remarkable country.

-Canada has two national sports; Lacrosse as the country's national summer sport, and Ice Hockey as the national winter sport. Its citizens invented the game of Lacrosse.

-Here is an interesting website that will tell you all the things that were invented by Canadian Inventors.  It's pretty interesting.  It's called Canadian Inventions.