Spring Dining and Blooming Baskets!

Last week I showed your our lower deck with all the furniture and flowers.  I’m back to share our upper deck today.

We have a beautiful table and chairs that my Mama got for us several years ago.  We had the set powder-coated last year and now it has a durable finish that will last a long, long time!  So it was easy to spruce up for Spring this year, just spray it off with the pressure washer and decorate!

I found these beautiful turquoise and green watercolor plates at Walmart.  I just had to have them!  :)  So then I had to set the table for an alfresco dinner on the deck!

I paired them with aqua placemats, green dot napkins and my pink footed glassware.  For a centerpiece, I added a potted plant and my star votive cups.  :)

The table coordinates nicely with my herb pots in the corner.  I decided to buy another pot for the top basket this year and of course, it was a different color blue. :) 

I have rosemary, chives, thyme, and basil growing here.  The little plant markers were a gift from my friend.  Thanks, Andi!  They are quite cute!

Over by the door I have two planter baskets.  One is hosting my fairy garden again this year.  The other has a pink begonia and creeping jenny.

I also set up a hummingbird buffet.  Supposedly hummingbirds love fuchsia nectar, so here you go, little friends!  It’s all you can eat, please come!! :)

Aren’t these blooms exquisite?

My other blooming baskets are hanging on the fence at the end of the driveway.  I got these hanging art planters last fall on clearance from Gardener’s Supply.  I can’t find them on their site anymore, but I did find them on Amazon.  They are so pretty and really brighten up my shady garden!

I picked hot pink blooms for two and coral blooms for two.  They have colorful geraniums and impatiens and I filled in with blue lobelia and chartreuse sweet potato vine.

We’ll check back on these as summer progresses, hopefully they will keep blooming for months!

I’ll be back soon with a few more flowery spots to share!  Plus, we’ve been planting the big garden, so I’ll share progress on that when everything sprouts! :)

All Decked out for Spring

My sister came to visit today, so I took the opportunity to spruce up my lower deck furniture with all its pillows, lanterns and plants for us to enjoy this afternoon!

Luckily my handy Papa was here on Monday and helped me pressure wash the deck and furniture.  We didn’t do too good of a job on the deck boards because we are planning to tear down the deck this summer and rebuild it, whoo hoo!  Anyway, before we say sayonara to the old deck we want to give it one last hurrah!

My favorite spot is this corner chair with the butterfly pillow!

This beautiful planter is from Lowes, and I just had to have it for a Mother’s Day gift, it’s so PINK!  It’s brightening up the place until I deliver it this weekend.

I hung my new hanging planter from Ikea out here, too.  I love the colorful striped basket!

Last year, we moved the old sewing machine stand outside and I added a weathered wood top.  It makes a cool side table.

My flower basket is filled with pink new guinea impatiens and livingstone daisy, but it’s all still working up to blooming, yet. 

This new turquoise planter is from Lowes.  The giant lantana is from a local nursery.  The plant is several years old and has been overwintered in a greenhouse to get this size!  Isn’t it gorgeous?  I saw those beautiful pinks and oranges and just had to have it.  It’s so summery!  Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave it under the deck, this blooming beauty needs lots of sun!

Mama saved me some ferns from last year and I hung them out here again.

She also saved my geranium and livingstone daisy centerpiece from last year.  I just added some new impatiens to spruce it up. :)

Everything is ready for a fun spring gathering, I even got some new fun plates for my outdoor dining table.  I’ll be back to show you the upper deck soon, plus the rest of my hanging baskets and annuals!

Spring Blooms!

Have you all been enjoying this beautiful Spring weather?  I know I have!  We spend most evenings playing in our new yard with Riley and soaking up the sunshine. 

I’ve been keeping an eye on my plants, just waiting for their blooms to pop out.  Here’s what’s been blooming in the last few weeks…

Creeping phlox

Redbud tree

Azaleas

Rhododendron

Viburnum “Snowball bush”

Clematis

I planted my impatiens on the front walk and finished my hanging baskets last week, I’m just waiting for the perfect day to photograph them.  I’ll be sharing those and my deck containers, soon! 

Happy Spring!

Pink Spring Tablescape

It is another beautiful Spring day today!  All the pretty blooms have inspired me to create a table setting for a Springtime celebration.

I started with my grandmother’s pink rose china that she recently gifted me.  My grandmother Sarah Elizabeth “Lib” is my namesake, and besides a name, we share a love of pink roses!  She bought this beautiful china over 50 years ago.  It was her “fancy china” that she’d pull out anytime they had company for dinner.  I’ve always admired the delicate pink rose pattern, and Granny promised that one day she would pass it down to me.  So this year while we were visiting her at Easter, she let me pack up her beloved china and bring it home! :) 

I layered all the cute bowls and set the table for tea, as well.  Then I added my pink glassware that I received as a wedding gift.  The delicate footed glasses are perfect!  The embroidered white napkins I borrowed from my Mama.  I folded those up with my metal dragonfly napkin rings.  How appropriate for Spring! :)

The centerpiece is a bunch of pink silk flowers (can’t wait for my real peonies!) in my crystal basket vase that I got at an antique store.  I paired that with my crystal candlesticks and a couple of smaller crystal vases. 

Over on the flatware cabinet I put a trio of candlesticks that my Mama gave me for my birthday.  They match the paint color in here so perfectly!  They have flowers, butterflies and bees painted on them.  So sweet. :)  The little bunny is another springtime touch. :) (Thanks Andi!)

Now I’m ready for a Mother’s Day brunch! :)

In the meantime, I have weeds to pull and flowers to plant.  Have a Happy Spring Weekend!

A Bear Themed Nursery

My new nephew Barrett is almost three months old, which means it is past time for me to share his nursery with you all!  Last year when we were brainstorming nursery plans, my sister picked a woodland/bear theme for the nursery. (Since his name would be Barrett—which I didn’t know at the time!)  She painted the walls a pale blue/gray and the crib and changing table were inherited from big brother Ruger’s room. 

We found an adorable fabric collection at Joann’s with several coordinating prints of bears, foxes, moose, owls, and woodland themed graphics.  So we picked our favorites and a few stripes to match and made the nursery bedding and curtains.  The quilt is a pre-printed panel which Hannah stitched up with a coordinating print on the back and then quilted around the characters on the front. 

My mother recovered the armchair, which used to be in her house when we were kids.  New life for an old chair!

I have been obsessed with embroidery hoop art for a while, so I decided to do a couple for Barrett’s room.  I think they turned out nicely! :)  I had a lot of fun making them, too!

I also painted a couple of animals for the opposite wall.  My dad made the wooden frames for me with old fence slats and I copied the characters from the fabric prints.  :)

Isn’t this rocking bear adorable?  It was a gift from Barrett’s grandparents!  :)

The little fella seems right at home in his new nursery, don’t you think?

Love you baby bear! :)