Spring in the Gazebo!

Grab a cup of coffee or ice tea, if you please and pull up a chair - It's time for the spring gazebo tour! You know we are all about the rust and repurposing vintage items. If you are new here, our gazebo was literally pulled from a trash ditch a few years back and we have had fun with the makeover project and decorating it each season. The first spring we had the gazebo, I decided that I would no longer have visible plastic or store bought containers in my yard, so everything is rescued and given a new purpose!

We have lots of galvanized goodness in our yard! 

You can catch the video and my tips and tricks for planting in vintage washtubs here.

As I said, we rescue and repurpose buckets, even if they don't have a bottom. This bucket has a rusted out bottom, but I still turn it into a hanging basket! (You can find the original post on planting in bottomless buckets here.) 

I had this piece of grapevine laying around after we changed our booth up last month, so I decided to drape it over the doorway and I like how it looks. If it's laying around, its apt to find a place decorating the gazebo. 

When we first planted the 3 bushes around the gazebo, they were small and the bicycle really stood out. Now it's hiding in the bushes! I have lights on the bike and at night you can see the outline better. A gym locker basket has been wired to the handles of the bike and holds an assortment of clay pots. 

In the back of the gazebo, a metal pig feeder is a pedestal for a vintage chicken feeder with flowers. 

It's pretty and it's pink! I fell in love with this ceramic dish at the thrift store and immediately knew succulents belonged in it. 

 A fern sits in an old crock.

 Sweet potato vines and dianthus are nestled in this old water cooler.

 Evenings in the springtime are my favorite and the light is almost magical!

The birdcage with herbs and the itty, bittiest little fern you ever saw hangs on the left side of the entrance. I use trampoline springs to adjust the height of the planters. We were cleaning out an old barn one time and came home with a wooden tool box of oddities - included was the trampoline springs. (I shared my birdcage planting video here.)

 Fresh herbs from the yard are the best!

Some have commented in the past about why was the door in the back of the gazebo? Well, it has a few purposes. 

1. Block the view of the storage building behind it. 

2. The door serves as a backdrop for me to photograph items like wreaths and shirts for my shop. 

 3. I get to hang funky, junky wreaths or hang plants on the door. 

I was digging through some of my junk the other day and decided to make a new wreath. I found a grapevine wreath in the greenhouse, then tied on a license plate, made a star with a folding ruler, a very rusty handle from a shovel, a chicken feeder, and a piece from a roll of barbed wire. 

To me, the four loops from the barbed wire spool looked like a flower outline. The chicken waterer thingamajig  (a mason jar can screw into it) formed the center of the flower.  

 That little blue piece was a tag on the barbed wire spool and added just a touch of color to the wreath. A scrap of burlap ribbon made a bow, along with raffia and jute twine used to tie everything to the wreath. 

You might be wondering about the rectangle frame - Angea ask me about it recently and wondered where I found it. Well, way back when I first started gardening, we had a wheelbarrow planted with flowers. Over several years time, it finally rusted out and broke apart. The frame above is actually the old rim of the broken down wheelbarrow! I hung the wreath and frame together on the door with a wreath hanger. Now see, that's a good reason to have a door there, right?!?

The undercarriage of the wheelbarrow found a home in a flower bed, protecting a few plants from the dogs making a home on top of them. Nothing goes to waste! 

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed the tour. 

As I stated in one of the videos, the gazebo and plantings are ever changing and evolving, so stay tuned to see how things progress through the seasons. 

Tips for Planting Flowers in Washtubs (or other large containers.)

Today, I'm sharing another one of my spring planting videos! This one shows how I plant flowers and ferns in vintage washtubs and large upcycled containers. 

Here's a little video I shared on Facebook, showing how I made this planter. 

I've had questions in the past, wondering how I can still have pretty flowers in late summer, when it's so hot. Well the answer is that I change out the plants! I arrange multiple pots in one large container and can change them out seasonally. I have doubts that the ranuculus will last very long, but they were so pretty, I wanted to give them a try. When they fade, I'll remove the pot and can add in something new. In the fall, we can add pumpkins and mums, and the display will always be evolving and changing.

 The ferns are very full and have cascading foliage that covers the edges of the container and hides all the plastic pots. Sometimes I do add some mulch around the edges, so that you don't see the mechanics and it looks like one big planting.

You do have to pay attention when watering, so that all the different plants get watered.

 I had the large enamel dishpan in the yard (from when I had the dishpan snowman) and I decided to prop this one up in the back of the planter.

So that's one of my secrets to having pretty flowers almost all year long. Hope you are enjoying the videos and ideas. 

Until next time, happy planting! 

P.S. The full gazebo reveal will be coming soon! 

Slightly Obsessed with Flower Trucks!

Okay, I admit it, I'm obsessed with flower trucks! I even have a Pinterest Board dedicated to Flower Trucks. Check it out to see some fun inspiration and garden ideas. I really wish Jeff would let me plant flowers in one of his old trucks, but I seriously doubt that's ever going to happen.

I created this turquoise truck with pink flowers as a "Goodbye January" graphic and it kinda went crazy on Facebook and then I decided it needed to be on some shirts too.

I had already started on the Rust and Romance flower trucks when I created the one of above and then we already had the red flatbed truck with flowers. Oh and then there is the Vintage Soul shirt with a vintage truck and flower!

Read more about the Rust and Romance theme and how it resonated with me on this blog post. 

Have I mentioned my daffodils and jonquils have started blooming?!? They are a couple of weeks early, but we are excited to see them.

Which Flower Truck is your favorite? 

(All the shirts are in my etsy shop now or I'll have them at the Mineola Antique Fair this weekend. The flannels and plaid shirts are all one of a kind, but I can always make more of the t shirts, if you don't see your size.) 

Happy Spring! Video of How To Plant Flowers in Bottomless Rusty Buckets

Happy Spring!!! The countdown to spring is finally over and it has been a glorious week here in East Texas! I celebrated winters exit by going plant shopping. I couldn't put it off any longer! I know some of you are still battling winter weather and snow and I hope that spring shows up to your neck of the woods soon.

Some of you may remember me planting this rusty bucket of flowers a few years ago. (If not, you can find that blog post here.) It remains my most popular how to post to date and always a favorite of gardeners and junkers every spring.

I decided to do a Live Facebook Video and show how I planted in another rusty bottomless bucket and you can watch it below. 

So the next time someone tries to throw away an old junk bucket, be sure to grab it up and give it new life as a flower container! 

As one of my favorite shirts says

 "For the Love of Junk 

Reuse ~Repurpose ~ Rescue" 

I will admit to buying a new garden trowel, because I can't seem to keep up with mine. Its probably somewhere hidden in the greenhouse or lurking in a random place and I'll find it eventually. I mean, can a girl have too many tools?!? (affiliate link provided to help with my flower and tool addiction, at no additional cost to you.) 

I am planning to do a few more videos in the coming weeks, as I decorate the yard and gazebo for spring, so stay tuned! 

A Week of Farm, Flowers and Snow...

With the new year, I set a goal to blog at least 2-3 times a week and here we are a week since my last post... sigh...  In the last week, our Texas weather has been on a roller coaster, from 60's on Monday to ice and snow Monday night and Tuesday morning. Wednesday morning was 6-10 degrees, depending on which thermometer you looked at. I know for some of you, you live with negative temps every year, but I seriously don't remember it ever getting that cold here and I consider anything below 40 to be cold (actually I prefer it never go below 50). My mom seems to think the winter of  '82 or '83, it got that cold... Yesterday was in the 70's and I was working in the yard in shorts, followed by thunderstorms and another temperature plunge last night.

(I used a watercolor app to edit my snowy barn scene picture.)

It seemed like a lot of our week was spent taking care of the farm animals and making sure they survived the cold (and they did just fine!) I was driving the truck for Jeff to put out extra feed and snapped this picture... I loved that it showed both of us working together to feed the cows. I'm not a fan of snow or cold, with the one exception that it does provide a few different photo opps! 

 While most of Texas seemed to shut down with the snow, we did not! We had packages to ship out and since we were already getting out to go to the farm, we went by the post office and dropped off some pretties.

This bouquet was in one of those boxes, headed to Canada (where y'all are probably laughing at how we deal with snow.) 

 I created woodsy, outdoors style arrangements for our neighbor, who lost his battle with cancer. He loved to hunt and some of his antlers and turkey feathers were included in his casket spray. I love being able to create arrangements that are personal and reflect the person's life and interest.

 Y'all know I am a former 4-H member and think it is a wonderful organization - I was ask to help out at their local fashion camp last week and we worked on creating fabric flowers. I have to admit, it was a different style of flower than I usually make and I learned a few things myself! Our niece was one of the participants. We are very much alike, except she loves cold weather and I can't wait for spring and summer!

I'll be boxing up these jade burlap bouquets this morning and shipping them out this afternoon!
I often get ask about the different sizes - this is a medium size bouquet and two small bridesmaid bouquets. Occasionally the medium size is used as a bridal bouquet or most often used as a maid of honor or bridesmaid bouquet. The medium is similar in diameter to the bridal bouquet, although it is not near as full of roses.

While Jeff did some farm work outside of the barn, I spent time inside the barn, photographing some new bouquets and dream catchers I created this week. This video shows the details of a new bouquet. It is ready to ship now and can be found in my etsy shop.

I created a sample toss bouquet for a potential customer with navy and maroon burlap roses, since I didn't have any pictures of a bouquet in these colors. She is still deciding on  her exact colors and style for her wedding, so I decided to add more to this bouquet and offer it for anyone interested. Its in between the small and medium bouquet size, with maroon, navy, and tan burlap roses, white and ivory lace, and dried babies breath. This bouquet is ready to ship or I can create additional bouquets for your wedding. 

 When we got to the barn, we noticed a bird had been there and we cleaned up the evidence. Later on, I saw new evidence in the same exact place, so I looked up and found this owl roosting in the barn rafters.

Dreaming of Spring!!! Can't wait for the forsythia and spring flowers to start blooming and birds sitting on their nest!

The following two wreaths were also created this weekend. I have several local customers who like this style of wreath and often send them to funerals, as something a family can keep. These are listed in my shop and can be shipped or you can contact me for local delivery.

The first wreath is in white and cream colors, with cotton and burlap ribbon. 

 This wreath has red roses, peonies, and daisies, along with the white heather and burlap and lace ribbon.

We've been talking to lots of bride's-to-be and excited about creating lots of things for all of you!

So that's a run down of what happened last week with the farm and flowers. Hope you all have a fabulous week and if you have a tip for how to keep your feet warm, please pass it on to me! (Wool socks and/or 2 pairs of socks and fuzzy, fleece lined boots didn't do a good job.)