Monday, June 27, 2011

Garden Bling

If pink flamingos, garden gnomes and flashy garden art aren't for you, cute plant markers are a great way to add a subtle hint of style and fun to your garden.  I've been working on a few different styles of garden markers lately for Fat Dog Farms and have had fun both making them and sprinkling them throughout the garden.


Stamped Silverware Markers
Make these from used, thrifted, or inexpensive silverware. You'll need to pick up a metal stamping set (I got mine on Amazon for about $20). I've got a mini tutorial for how to make these that lives here.

Glass Gem Markers
These are made with large glass gems from the Dollar Tree. Printed designs are mod podged to the backs of half the gems (the backs of the other half are painted white). The gems are then glued together and to the top of the sticks. I twisted some raffia with a drop spindle to help twist it to a more rope-like texture and wrapped  it where the stick and gem pairs meet. The tutorial I piggybacked on to make these is here.

Stamped Clay Markers
I saw some cute stamped clay markers over on the Reese Dixon blog that I loved and was planning on making until I saw someone combine clay and what looked like vintage knife handles on Facebook somewhere so I went this direction instead. I love these! I think they are super fun and colorful.

Chalkboard Markers
Little wooden plaques painted with chalkboard paint and framed with twigs make fun little markers. Probably not super practical for using in the middle of the garden where it might be subject to downpour and sprinklers but sheltered porch plants or plants growing inside would be great homes for these fun little markers. I ended up selling all of these so I didn't have any left for me, but I'm planning on making more for the fall sale.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fathers' Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend last weekend. On Saturday, my husband and I took our son hiking at Silver Falls just south of Salem and on Sunday we met my dad, stepmom and cousin for breakfast and went fishing. My dad caught a 5 pound steelhead in a new lake we'd never been to before (for those of you who don't fish - that's a pretty awesome fish!).

But the main point of this post if to show you one of the things we gave my dad for Father's Day that I'm particularly proud of:


Not only was it super meaningful, but it was frugal, too! We got the frame that came with the four-part matting for $5 at Walmart and took pictures of my son holding different parts of the message on piece of wood painted with chalkboard paint. Prints are super cheap (about $0.10 each). So: awesome meaningful gift for less than $6? That's how it's done, ladies.

This could be re-fashioned for lots of different occasions, but I totally love the idea of kids holding up signs to spell out messages that you can frame as a gift.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fat Diggity Dog: Our first Fat Dog Farms sale round-up

The blog's been quiet lately because the first full week of June I was pouring all my spare time into getting ready for our first semi-annual Fat Dog Farms garden and craft show. Then the week after that I've been recovering!

We had a blast! Fat Dog Farms is my dad and step-mom's "farm" / very large garden / "wonder emporium" (as my cousins like to call it) a 35 minute drive outside of Portland, OR.  It's been something that's been talked about for a while but we finally organized (and when I say "we" I mean mostly Michelle with a teensy bit of help from me) a garden & craft sale with stuff from local crafters / gardeners and it was an absolute blast.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Our front yard: A Journey

2009
This is what our front yard looked like when we first moved in three years ago:

This was the inside of the courtyard, up against the house where we keep the main part of the garden:
not really much if you ask me. A few funky bushes (including some who did not fare the winter so well and turned into round balls of sticks)

Monday, June 27, 2011

Garden Bling

If pink flamingos, garden gnomes and flashy garden art aren't for you, cute plant markers are a great way to add a subtle hint of style and fun to your garden.  I've been working on a few different styles of garden markers lately for Fat Dog Farms and have had fun both making them and sprinkling them throughout the garden.


Stamped Silverware Markers
Make these from used, thrifted, or inexpensive silverware. You'll need to pick up a metal stamping set (I got mine on Amazon for about $20). I've got a mini tutorial for how to make these that lives here.

Glass Gem Markers
These are made with large glass gems from the Dollar Tree. Printed designs are mod podged to the backs of half the gems (the backs of the other half are painted white). The gems are then glued together and to the top of the sticks. I twisted some raffia with a drop spindle to help twist it to a more rope-like texture and wrapped  it where the stick and gem pairs meet. The tutorial I piggybacked on to make these is here.

Stamped Clay Markers
I saw some cute stamped clay markers over on the Reese Dixon blog that I loved and was planning on making until I saw someone combine clay and what looked like vintage knife handles on Facebook somewhere so I went this direction instead. I love these! I think they are super fun and colorful.

Chalkboard Markers
Little wooden plaques painted with chalkboard paint and framed with twigs make fun little markers. Probably not super practical for using in the middle of the garden where it might be subject to downpour and sprinklers but sheltered porch plants or plants growing inside would be great homes for these fun little markers. I ended up selling all of these so I didn't have any left for me, but I'm planning on making more for the fall sale.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fathers' Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend last weekend. On Saturday, my husband and I took our son hiking at Silver Falls just south of Salem and on Sunday we met my dad, stepmom and cousin for breakfast and went fishing. My dad caught a 5 pound steelhead in a new lake we'd never been to before (for those of you who don't fish - that's a pretty awesome fish!).

But the main point of this post if to show you one of the things we gave my dad for Father's Day that I'm particularly proud of:


Not only was it super meaningful, but it was frugal, too! We got the frame that came with the four-part matting for $5 at Walmart and took pictures of my son holding different parts of the message on piece of wood painted with chalkboard paint. Prints are super cheap (about $0.10 each). So: awesome meaningful gift for less than $6? That's how it's done, ladies.

This could be re-fashioned for lots of different occasions, but I totally love the idea of kids holding up signs to spell out messages that you can frame as a gift.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fat Diggity Dog: Our first Fat Dog Farms sale round-up

The blog's been quiet lately because the first full week of June I was pouring all my spare time into getting ready for our first semi-annual Fat Dog Farms garden and craft show. Then the week after that I've been recovering!

We had a blast! Fat Dog Farms is my dad and step-mom's "farm" / very large garden / "wonder emporium" (as my cousins like to call it) a 35 minute drive outside of Portland, OR.  It's been something that's been talked about for a while but we finally organized (and when I say "we" I mean mostly Michelle with a teensy bit of help from me) a garden & craft sale with stuff from local crafters / gardeners and it was an absolute blast.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Our front yard: A Journey

2009
This is what our front yard looked like when we first moved in three years ago:

This was the inside of the courtyard, up against the house where we keep the main part of the garden:
not really much if you ask me. A few funky bushes (including some who did not fare the winter so well and turned into round balls of sticks)

 
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