Zombie Leaves

It's that time of year again, time to rake up all those dead leaves laying around in the yard. What you may not know is that sometimes a few of these dead leaves rise again to become... zombie leaves!! :)

Halloween Boo-quet

Boo-quet

For Valentine's Day you put red Roses on the table, for Easter, Lilies, Christmas bouquets are almost always Poinsettias, but what kind of a bouquet can you display for Halloween? How about a spooky BOOO-quet of dead flowers, & creepy looking seed pods!

I usually collect unique looking seed pods and dried flowers or seed heads during the fall and preserve them using clear acrylic coat before bringing them in to display or craft with. For Halloween I thought dead small Black Eyed Susans, or the seed heads, and a sprig of some random dried orange colored weed from the yard were perfect for this boo-quet. It was pretty simple, using a hand-held garden clipper I snipped the amount of Black Eyed Susan and unknown orange weed I wanted in my vase and then stuck them in, arranging them as I went, no water needed because they're dead!! Muahahahaha!

The small version of the Black Eyed Susans in my yard.

Of course AFTER I had finished this and uploaded my pictures I decided to take some of that fairly inexpensive fake spider webbing, that you can find at almost any craft or drug store, and drape it around in this arrangement. Then I added a fake plastic spider and voila! a whole new and more festively spooky boo-quet was born! Just too bad I didn't think about it before I photographed and uploaded all my photos. :(

If you want to try this you'll need:

• Some sort of vase, or vessel for your arrangement.
• Dried foliage, seed heads or pods, and or live flowers.
• Clear Acrylic coat for dried things.
• Fake spider web and fake spiders (optional)
  
• Florist's foam, if you want to get fancy.
• Water of course, if you are using live flowers.
  

Below are a few pictures from my garden for ideas for another version of a dried foliage boo-quet.

Neato and a little spookyish weed seed pods.

Globe Thistle seed head

Dried Sea Oats.

Martha's version of a boo-quet

If you don't have a yard with any of these things in them, and you don't have any friends or family with any sort of dried fun stuff either in their yards, then try an arrangement with live flowers like the ones above from Martha Stewart. Mums are great for fall arrangements and so are dark colored sunflowers, or how about blood red roses in a black vase? I like it. Pictured below is a lovely and spidery looking purple plant on my deck, & for some reason I am having brain issues right now and can't for the life of me think of it's name... but it would also make a great addition to a live Halloween boo-quet!Purple spider plant that I can't think of name of right now... pretty good caption huh.

SnapDRAGONS!

I decided to take some pictures in the garden the other day, before the frost kills all the little lovelies. After taking the pictures & upon reviewing them I thought "Hmmm there's something fishy about those snapdragons...but I just can't put my finger on it". :)

Creative Gardening: Ornamentation

Lawn and Garden Gnomes are always a good idea!

An antique wooden ladder becomes the perfect trellis, courtesy of my Mom!

A pair of old ceramic salt and pepper shakers and a glass spire decorate a potted plant in my backyard.

As the last installment in the Creative Gardening series (sad, I know :P ) I would like to showcase some of my favorite ways to decorate your garden. A person can go to any big box store and buy all manner of plastic type things to put in their garden, but it's so much more creative to do something out of the ordinary, besides, some of that stuff is so gag inducing (however Perry does enjoy those kitschy lawn gnomes as seen above). Recycle a kitchen pot that's ready for the trash and plant flowers in it, make a mosaic piece out of an old bowling ball, re-purpose old mattress springs as an one of a kind trellis...the possibility's are endless!

My Mom always adds tons of interest to her garden and yard with unique yard ornaments. She's so creative with her outdoor decorating. Almost every Christmas, or for my Mom's b-day, I get her something for her garden. One of my all time favorite places to get her something special for the yard is Uncommon Goods. They have a great selection of fun and recycled yard art, outdoor lighting, and even unique gardening tools and seeds.

Rock yard snails from Uncommon Goods

I had to add this bit of yard art below I found online a while ago. It's a trellis made out of bike parts from Crafting a Green World. I love it!

Want another nifty and thrifty yard ornament idea? How about these ladybugs made from old bowling balls from Birds and Blooms. I think I might have a thing for bowling ball art.

Creative Gardening: Mosaics

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials...according to the definition on Wikipedia. :) I have always been fond of mosaics, especially in the garden. The above and below pictured mosaic mushrooms were one of the first project tutorials I posted on here, and people loved them as much as I did. These mushrooms reside in my Mom's garden and she is quite fond of them as well!

After finding my Grandfather's old bowling ball a couple of years ago I started (but never finished :P) this tutorial on a mosaic bowling ball for the garden, pictured below. However, Marisa's lovely finished mosaic bowling ball is pictured below my un-finished version. If you have an old bowling ball I highly recommend this project, it's cheap, relatively easy, and looks great hiding amongst plants.

Marisa's finished piece!

My Mom made the unique mosaic birdbath pictured below with a terra cotta pot and saucer, strong hold glue, flat marbles, broken blue glass pieces, and grout.

Mosaic birdbath

Want to create your own mosaics for your garden, or even house ? You'll need a couple of things:

• Grout
• Broken glass, flat backed marbles, tiles, small round mirrors, buttons, plastic charms, etc!
• A Sponge (for cleaning the grout off of the tiles, marbles, etc.)
• Water

Mosaic is easy, very therapeutic, and a great way to use old broken plates or glasses if you have any!

Creative Gardening: Herb Markers

My Mom loves to grow herbs in great big Terra Cotta pots on her deck, and herbs like Mint, Lavender, and Oregano that tend to spread more in a patch of soil in front of the deck. These unique and rustic looking metal herb markers are from Spoon Sisters, they come in a set of nine and are so much nicer to mark herbs than the standard plastic tag that comes with when you purchase it. I bought these for my Mom for Christmas and she loves them. She sprayed them with a weather sealant for extra protection from the elements, which is always a good idea for anything you plan to put in your garden.

Creative Gardening: Unique Planters

Remember my sink planter idea from last year? Here it is in full bloom now with shades of blue and white!

This second installment of creative gardening ideas is all about clever and unique planters. Pictured above is an old wash tub set filled with annuals next to my Mom's shed. The wash tubs already have drainage holes so they are perfect for planting. I love how she planted them to mirror each other! Wash tubs like these can be found at most antique markets, flea markets, or even garage sales. These wash tubs were from my Great Grandfather's house and have been sprayed with a coat of silver Rustoleum to prevent rusting and give them added shine. The legs have been set on old broken stepping stones so it has level footing.

The wash tubs before planting.

The old fashioned enameled metal baby bath below is perfect for planting, just make sure to drill several holes in the bottom with a power drill to ensure proper drainage. (Make sure to wear eye protection anytime you use power tools!) Then simply fill half way with soil and put your plants in. Old metal wash basins and baby baths can be found at antique stores, flea markets and garage sales as well. My Mom once again, was lucky enough to have saved these from her family.

The finished product with terra cotta added for interest :) Don't you love the cat planter in the background?

An old roasting pan and baby bath make a lovely place for shade loving Pansies.

Creative Gardening: Tool Caddy

A lovely butterfly in my Mom's garden

I have been watching my Mother garden for years, and she is not only creative in the way she gardens but thrifty and earth friendly as well. So for the next couple of weeks I am going to be sharing some of her most creative gardening ideas. Here is the first-

Golf Bag tool caddy:

Several years ago after my Grandpa passed away my family and I were going through some of his belongings and we came across his old golf bag with cart(just means the golf bag has wheels), nobody knew what to do with it, except my Mom! After lugging shovels, spades, and rakes around the yard for years she had finally found a way to easily move her big gardening tools. To find a old golf bag of your own look at Garage Sales, and thrift stores for a cheap golf bag then simply fill with your tools and wheel or carry around with you while gardening.

Perry is glad it's Spring!

Perry enjoying a lovely Spring day with his gnome friends.

Mosaic Mushrooms

Who doesn't love a good mushroom ? Whether on a pizza, or hanging out in the garden with the gnomes. Here is the how to for these super nifty garden mushrooms! You can of course take this how to and tweak it, this is a pretty forgiving project. The measurements I've given are just a guideline and you can use whatever size pots, and saucers you want, given of course that they fit together! :)

For the small mushroom you will need-

• -Two small Terra-Cotta pots, one inch and a 1/2 pot ( pretty tiny) and one 3 inch pot, for the stem.
• -One 4 inch Terra Cotta saucer

For the medium mushroom you will need-

• -One 5 and 1/2 inch pot for the stem
• -Two saucers, one 7 and 1/2 inch and a 4 inch.

For the large mushroom you will need-

• -Two pots for the stem, one 5 and 1/2 inch pot and one 3 and 1/2 inch pot.
• -Two saucers for the top, one 10 inch, and one 5 and 1/2 inch.

Other materials needed:

• -Flat marbles in color of your choice (they usually come in mesh bags, found at any craft store)
• -You can use polished pebbles (also in mesh bags at the craft store), or more flat marbles to cover the mushroom cap surface.
• -Acrylic paint in shades of tan or creme
• -Paint brush and sponge
• -Ceramic Tile Adhesive and Caulk in white
• -Clear Acrylic Gloss (or matte), water-resistant spray coat.
• -Grout is optional, I didn't use it but if you prefer that look go ahead and use it.

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Assembly-
Here is where the fun begins! Like I said this project is very forgiving so don't be afraid to use different sized pots than the ones I used, and different colored marbles or stones.

Step 1.) For the two larger mushrooms that have two saucers put together for the top. Flip the smaller saucer over so that the bottom is facing up and stack that on top of the larger saucer, which should also have the bottom facing up..they should resemble a mushroom cap when placed together. Then use the Ceramic Tile Adhesive to affix the smaller saucer on top of the larger saucer, let these dry for 24 hours.

Step 2.) For the small mushroom and the large one that have more than one pot stacked together for the stem, do the same thing as in step one. Using the tile adhesive, glue the smaller pot on top of the larger pot (just like you were stacking them ) and let dry for 24 hours.

Step 3.) After base pots dry for 24hrs, paint the mushroom "stems", with acrylic paint. I used a tan base coat, let that dry then applied a lighter creme or tan color, and using a dry sponge dragged it down the sides for a layered effect, it makes it look more like a real mushroom stem. Let paint dry.



Step 4.) After paint is fully dry, using tile adhesive affix the mushroom tops to their bases with a liberal amount of adhesive, let dry 24hrs again.

Step 5.) Now using the tile adhesive again, or a heavy duty glue, begin applying the flat marbles on to the top of the "mushroom caps", and down the sides, in whatever pattern or colors you wish. When you begin affixing the marbles and pebbles to the sides of the saucers, they might slide a little so sometimes you have to hold each marble or pebble in place for a few seconds until it sticks by itself. Let dry for 24 hrs again.


Step 6.) If you plan on putting your mushrooms outside spray them using a water resistant clear gloss, or matte spray.

It is a fair bit of work but when you are done you'll have a lovely set of mushrooms for your garden or home!