Almost there and can't wait to show someone

My son has finished the wall for me.  It is really beginning to come together.  Come with me on my guided tour of my usable patio.

The wall is behind the couch.

This is my sitting area, hopefully people will come and join me :) 

Using art to tie in the colors.  It is getting there, although it is still lacking fabric and soft stuff. 

Over on the other side we have my small kitchen.

The bar is still being made, I started with simple and got carried away.  My K.I.S.S.  ability is broken.

It is in the process of being tiled and accents added. 

Still have a nice walkway and we won't be stumbling.

Although it needs to be prettied up.

This is the wall from the parking lot.  I think I'm going to stain it dark brown and add something to it,....not sure what gotta see what I can find first. 

It is really starting to come together and some may think it is finished.  I am not some.  I just got the hard lines done and I am also soooo wanting to get a better grill.  This one was a propane cast-off I turned into charcoal with the help of a baking pan.  I want to upgrade to real propane grill, never had one before.  If Craigslist doesn't help me out real soon, that reality may continue. 

I am loving my planter!  I have even kicked it and all that happened was my foot hurt.

Isn't that awesome?!?!?!  The cat can't knock anything over nor the teen mow it down.

I am giddy. 

Isn't it cool?  After I succeed in growing lettuce and snap peas.  I might throw a big leafy plant in there for the rest of the summer. 

Yep, it's beginning to look like a real patio and maybe have a real summer party, with people and everything. 

So far this is what I've spent

bench/couch  5.00

rug       3.00

wood for bar and wall 29.00

tile  5.00

art    5.00

table .99

coffee table   5.00

planters  9.00

grey stain   1.50

Everything else I had hanging around or was free.

Now to cozy it up.

Really Cheap Art

This is a discarded Ikea Lacks table top.  Actually there's two of them.  The were abandoned outside my local Restore.  So love when that happens!!

I thought it would make a totally awesome outdoor canvas and if I screw up, who cares it was free.

Have I told you free is my favorite number?

To convert it to said art d' object, you need wire and staples.  I suppose I could screw in eye screws but I'm into simple.   

See?  A couple of staples and pounded in with a hammer and instant hanger. 

Then I just painted a simple poppy. and added grey squiggle's to tie in grey...dang how do you spell grey anyway?  is it grey or gray?

So I didn't prime it  or anything wanted to use the black for shadows.

tada

The tada would of been bigger but I am never impressed with my art work. 

Ok next up is this funky framed cloth thing I found at a thrift store for 5 bucks.

I think it might of been silk screened but I'm not sure.  I just really loved the colors and knew it would work for the patio redo. 

The major problem was, the dirt, mold spots, and some one writing on it with what appears to be a sharpie.

Poor neglected, abused art :(  it needed to come home and be loved.  It even liked me very much, it said so.

So I pulled out my duck tape and paint and even a few sharpies.

TAAAADAAAA! 

It is looking so much better.  I hope this encourages you to bring home neglected art and love it. 

The patio now has  theme, it called fun and enjoyment.

I'm seeing spots!!!!

I have accomplished a few more things.  Remember the glass top and croquet set and board?

Also the 3 dollar rug I found at the Restore 

Well, they have been transformed!!!  I painted it grey first and then decided it was too much grey,...so.

With the help of a random teenager.  Not mine, sadly, but she was awesome to help me.

Isn't she cute? 

I had ambition to do "the chevron" stripes that are so hot in blogland right now.

But then I realized it would take math and measuring and  I am just not that anal or even a smidgen of perfectionist in me to do it well.  So we came up with a different design that took very little effort.

(I like very little effort)

All it took was dollar store plates, spray paint, some rocks, and some pieces of wood.....oh and of course duck tape.

TAAAAAA-DAAAAA!!!!!! 

So much cuter than the boring classic Asian design.  Plus part of the rug was destroyed and I was able to cut it down to fit better.   OH yeah the other pic.  That became my coffee table.

My husband bought me an awesome cement planter for mother's day.  My thumb is not very green but I grow irony, witty, quizzical, with a touch of insanity, very well.  

Do you get it?  Teapot, croquet balls, wickets, and pink flamingos?

"cuz we're all a little mad in here"

They call it Mellow Yellow

Remember this relic from age that brought you polyester pants suits, hot pants, bad hair and comb overs.  Apparently a lot of people want to forget that era.  I found this abandoned thing at Goodwill.  It must of been there quit awhile as I got it for 99 cents.

To be honest the only reason I bought it was the 99 cent price tag.  But not any more, I will now keep an eye out for these forgotten reminders of a past some purposely  forgot. 

Do you see the potential?  All I had to do was remove the top part by cutting the wire and unscrewing it in the middle.  I screwed the piece under the wood back in with wood screws (it was a nut and bolt system).

Fill in the holes with a real easy tip.  Shove a chopstick in the holes and break off.  Take some wood glue and sawdust and make a paste and shove in the holes so the hole is fully filled.  Then wait until dry, find something else to work on so you can forget about it later.  Then sand it down,....tada no more hole. 

I did toy with the idea of this.....I just loved it but I needed something more practical. 

Ok, I did also think about possibly tile to cover the top of the table.  I really wanted to make sure it would be water proof.  But that would of been too much time and money. 

After filling in the holes and then sanding it down, this is what I came up with.  Total cost?  99CENTS!!!!!

All the paint I had here at the house sooooo

TAAAAA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! 

It came out better than I expected :) 

The top was painted grey and then I used my yellow paint pen to draw the dandelion.

Then I sealed it up with a few coats of clear. 

Yep, definitely best dollar I ever spent.

How to cat proof planters....and various ramblings

So what does this and

this have in common?

This!

So what is my solution?

This...

huh?

Did that help any?

Every year I find these cute pots (all ceramic) and I put them around my house in my vain attempt at "pretty".

Every year I find them through out the summer in various pieces.  I've even kept the pieces in a delusional thought "I will use them for a mosaic."  I seriously need help.

But not this year!!!! It will be different!!  I have figured out metal doesn't break easily.

Thanks to the Restore and a couple of thrown out file cabinets, my planters will survive!

TAAAA-DAAAA!!!!!

It's even being warm and friendly.  Plus they are screwed into the wood and are going nowhere. HA!

Now the picture below is not.  It is stuck in a time warp, but I found it at Goodwill for 99 cents.

Can't loose there......I think.

"Editaaaaath get me a beer" is echoing through my mind.

(for you young people, that was a reference from a 70's show  called "All in the Family")

So tune in next week for the conclusion to this week's episode.

Grey and Yellow, Grey and Yellow, yeah uh huh you know what it is.

I am back, once again with randomness.  This here is Reginald P. Wiggliesworth.  I found him wandering around Seattle (five dollars!!) last Easter Weekend.  Right now he is sitting in my living room.

(He wasn't wandering around, I was! )

Not sure where to put him yet.  So he's just sitting there where the zombie heads use to live. 

I've also gotten a few things done for the grey and yellow scheme.

Like this chair.... 

Why yes, I did use duck tape.  Thanks for asking.  I sanded down the metal part, just enough to prepare for painting.  Then I sprayed a few coats of gloss white.  Then I started to cover the vinyl straps with duck tape.  Started with the back/underside first.  It looks soooo much better! 

This is what it looked like before I started 

This is the board I got for a dollar.  I took off all the hooks and spray painted them silver. 

Then painted the board white, added tape (not very straight and perfect, I have to admit) and then spray painted it yellow.  Then of course put the hooks back on. 

I guess I really should of measured the distance but I didn't and I sure am not gonna now. 

My laziness won out.  I have to admitt it wins far too often.

What I'm working with

So with my bedroom done and the rain slowing down.  My attention has been turned to the cement slab that is outside my back door.  Although is it really the back door if it's the only one that gets used?  So off garage sale hunting I go.  I have an idea and it involves yellow and grey.

Theses aren't going into the plan but I found them for only 40 bucks and I'm excited about it.  My husband is a drummer and can fix them up for some kid that can't afford them. :)

Ok, so on to the bits and pieces that will become my new patio "outside living space" and be used for more than walking through.  Here in Washington (the state) that is only for a few months out of the year.  Yet I am hoping to make it more waterproof than it is now. 

The lights were a buck a piece and the glaze and paint a quarter. 

I really just love this light.

Then I found a glass top and the other thing for 6 dollars total. 

The old croquet set was thrown out by an unwitting person.

This great bench was only 5 dollars at the ReStore. 

The outdoor rug 3 dollars at the Restore and the chair I found years ago for 5 dollars. 

My duck tape flowers survived from last year. 

Although the red one faded quite a bit but I can always paint it. 

This wonderful thing below was FREE.  My favorite number and soon to be a very useful and sturdy planter. 

Just gotta cut the wood down and add rocks and dirt.

So this is the beginning of what looks to be a wonderful summer relationship with my patio.

Alas old friend, I have neglected you and allowed you to wither away but no longer.  People will want to spend time with you.  To stop and rest, laugh, enjoy, stay dry and maybe even eat a meal.

Right now all it's saying is....

SIDEWALK 

and Ugly.  Might as well put an old broken washer out here.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, really, I mean it!