Make the outdoors even more enjoyable with the space you have. Patio, deck, porch, doorstep…whatever outdoor living space you have, you can make it lovely on a budget.
I love the look of gazebos and pergolas. In all those home and garden magazines, they always make the outdoor space something special. And I wanted that for my backyard! For me, it turns out that patio curtains are a viable and waaay more affordable alternative. I’d stare out the window at our patio and daydream about how it would look with some kind of wall or roof. Our patio overlooks the backyards of about 5 of our neighbors’ backyards,…
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Since moving into our home nearly four years ago, I had a plan to put some nice tall planters on our front stoop. But I just never got around to it. Whenever I saw them for sale in the store or online, the tall planters (nearly 3 feet high) would go for more than $150 EACH! So I resolved to figure out how to make my own. Luckily, Pinterest came to my rescue and I found this wonderful tutorial on…
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I’m really enjoying the new life this bird food is giving our backyard. We’ve had deer, squirrels, and a variety of birds come visiting. Winter patio idea
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We have a nice view of our patio table in the winter. Just sitting out there not being used… Well, what if it could become a beautiful focal point of the yard as a bird/squirrel hot spot, great for nature-watching while helping the local wildlife get through the cold days? Just add some fallen branches, the bottom of an old planter, and bird seed. Now we wait to be discovered… Thanks for this idea goes to my father in law!…
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One of our smaller trees didn’t make it in our backyard this year, so my husband cut it down. Ever attempting to think of DIY/RRR projects, I dragged it into our garage with a plan to make something out of it. I’m still not sure what, but I read that tree trunks need months to dry out so that’s what I’m allowing it to do this winter. In the meantime, I am researching how I’ll debark it and make into…
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It is extremely important to clean the gutters on your home at least once a year. Twice a year is even better. You don’t want to skip it. Why? Gutter cleaning is one of those small home maintenance jobs that keeps other bigger and badder things from happening. However, it can be a bit expensive to hire someone to clean the gutters for you. For our smaller home, it would run about $100 per gutter cleaning. So I tried to…
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Feed your backyard nature! ? When we made our three jack o lanterns, we tried to get as much out of it as possible. I made three kinds of baked pumpkin seeds. And we decorated our porch for Halloween. But why just leave them rotting after the sugar buzz has worn off? We moved ours to the backyard, sprinkled bird seed inside, and watched the nature enjoy. It turns out the deer liked it even more than the birds! think…
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Ah, the power of power washing! I knew the patio needed to be cleaned, but I had no idea how badly. My in-laws let me borrow their power washer and I set to work spraying it down this morning. Once I got everything hooked up correctly and figured out how to turn it on, things went smoothly. Well, as long as you don’t mind getting dirty. By the time I finished power washing the patio, I was covered in a…
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This craft cost us nothing and was a fun way for us to decorate the stairs up to our front door for trick or treaters. We collected empty gallon milk cartons for weeks. Then we had a great time with our kiddo drawing spooky faces on each one. I cut an opening in the back, weighed it down with a rock, and stuffed in some white Christmas lights. Voila! It really looks great at night. Picture coming soon.
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We try not to let any food go to waste, but it happens anyway sometimes. When it’s stale bread, I like to provide a treat for the birds. Though I’m not sure if they’re the only ones who enjoy it. ? I recently gave the kiddo a few stale slices of bread and she put them all over our bird feeders. The next day, the bread was completely gone and the bird feeders looked like this: Maybe I need to…
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