It's full on spring in our area, with cool nights and mild sunny days....it's been really pretty weather, and it's been so nice to be outside. So, before our weather turns scorching hot and humid, we've been doing some clean up and getting our home and porches cleaned, and the garden cleaned up too, and ready for this new season. (I'll be sharing more about all of that in an upcoming post hopefully soon).
I've also been doing some before and after garden projects and makeovers. So much fun! I always love seeing before and after's and it's always a fun challenge to make things look refreshed again after winter! These garden projects are things I've worked on in February through the end of March.
I'm happy I can share my projects here in my home diary this week. I hope it inspires you!
So, here's some of the garden things I've been working on this spring...I'll show the after photo and then the before for each ....
I'll start with my watering can....
~AFTER~
I hand sanded it, then I used Rustoleum Hammered spray paint in silver, then I added some faux rust with some brown acrylic craft paint from Dollar Tree (that I already had on hand), and Waverly Antique Wax, then for the edges I used Folk Art Metallic Copper craft paint, and then some clear spray paint to seal and protect the acrylic paint a little better....
~BEFORE~
It always amazes me what paint can do to transform things...
These little yard sale tables (or they could be stools...they had a sticker on bottom that gave a weight limit of 250 lbs. so I think they could be used as either),they got a makeover with paint, napkins and mod podge decoupage medium.....
They were only $2 each...
~AFTER~
~BEFORE~
This is the napkin that I used for the top of the table...for this makeover, I also used Waverly Celery chalk paint, Waverly Antique Wax, Mod Podge decoupage medium, Folk Art Brown Metallic craft paint for the edges, and Rustoleum clear spray paint to help seal and protect it.
~AFTER~
This beautiful mosaic tile table with pink roses was a $5 yard sale find, and I repainted it white on the legs and edges...
~BEFORE~
See the light green pot in the photo above on the right hand side beside the green table? I have 3 of those and they got a makeover as well...
~AFTER~
For these, I hand painted them a color that is nearly the same color as they were when I got them last year. When I purchased them, they were hanging baskets that had petunias in them already. They were still in good shape, so I took the hangers off and I used Waverly Celery chalk paint (to refresh their faded color) and make them appear to look more like pottery instead of plastic, I used Folk Art Metallic Copper craft paint, and clear spray paint over that once it was dry. I love these paint color combinations for the garden. I remember seeing these colors over at Cecilia's My Thrift Store Addiction blog...she did a post last year, and I thought it was so pretty how she refreshed her garden pot using this paint combination with copper spray paint, and she did hers differently, but her garden pot and other copper items turned out beautiful that she redid. I was inspired by her, and so I wanted to try that same combination this year myself. Cecilia, if you happen to read this post, thank you for sharing your color combo idea! You can see how she made over her garden pot HERE.
My little table got a fresh coat of Rustoleum Copper spray paint and black matte spray paint...
~AFTER~
~BEFORE~
The fire pit/plant stand got a fresh coat of paint as well with the same colors...
~AFTER~
~BEFORE~
My hanging butterfly bell got a refresh...with copper spray paint and some colorful beads strung with galvanized wire...
~AFTER~
~BEFORE~
My windchimes also got a makeover...since one of my chimes were missing, and it was getting so rusty too, I decided to create a colorful hanging yard ornament...it's so pretty when the sun hits the beads...
~AFTER~
For this refresh I used copper spray paint, some beads I already had on hand that I'd salvaged from other outdoor things over the years, and some beads that we'd found at yard sales, and I used some galvanized wire I had on hand to string the beads.
My copper spray paint went a long way for refreshing things this season!
~BEFORE~
I also used some copper spray paint on the faded spinners....
I touched up painted some tables and a couple of my chairs with black matte spray paint to spruce them up and protect the worn places.... that's something that's needed every spring it seems....
I also refreshed some white pots I had....
~AFTER~
I decoupaged a napkin to the top edges of the pots with mod podge, I took the white backing off of the napkin and then cut it into strips that would fit the top part of the pot and then used Mod Podge in matte to apply the napkin.... I really like how these turned out.
~BEFORE~
Lastly, my little garden angel got touched up with brown metallic craft paint that I had on hand...after I touched it up, I sprayed it with clear spray paint. Now, you can hardly tell that some fingers are missing can you!? lol!
Well, that's some of what I've been up to lately.
Behind the scenes, I've also been working on video clips for my YouTube Channel of my outside garden projects and makeovers and how our porches are looking this season, and how our little secret garden is coming along. I hope to have it put together and ready to share hopefully sometime in May, I'm just waiting until I can get my last bit of footage with everything grown in a little more. I can't wait to share how things have transformed.
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of the year and that you are feeling inspired!
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Until next time...
Stay creative and have a beautiful day!
This week I'm linking up at these fun places:
You can click each link to visit the hosts and other participants
Edited: April 18, 2024
I was so happy to see that Barb picked my post as one of her features on this week's "Share Your Style" blog party, you can see it
HERE and see the other features over there that she picked as well. What an honor for me to be featured by her! Thank you so much Barb! If you don't already know Barb, she has a beautiful blog called French Ethereal, she is such a beautiful person, so sweet and welcoming and has a beautiful home....there is so much inspiration over there! You can visit her blog
HERE.
