Finally Spring

It only took 27 days into April for Spring to FINALLY arrive! It was a lovely 70-75 degrees Saturday and Sunday here in Iowa. Unfortunately, looking ahead to the end of the week shows that we will drop down to the low 40’s due to arctic winds blowing in from the Dakotas… Darn them!

The beautiful weather came just in time for all the farmers here in the mid-west. They were really getting anxious to get in their fields… they includes my husband. He will be baling Hay this summer on part of our land. This field was a MESS when we first arrived, so he needed to disc it down a few times and re-seed it so we get a good hay crop off of it.

He loved every minute of being out in the field. 

In between running to the field to help open and close gates I began working on my list of Spring Projects. As I was working on one project my eyes would catch something else to add to my list.

Our walk way to the door has been driving me nuts! There is no divider between the mulch and the concrete so it just blows on the walk for me to have to sweep back. I remembered we had some left over bricks around the farm so I placed them along the rows. I think I did pretty well!

The next huge item on my list was the back cement patio. You can tell at one point it had the retro turf glue to it.

My husband and I originally wanted to go for a light gray blue but as it went down I kept second guessing…. I thought it was hideous. 

I had run out of paint and needed to run to the store to get some more so I made the decision to go BOLD and paint it a dark blue instead. 

Too Bold?

{G} thought so. But I love it. Once all the furniture, rugs, plants, and new cushions go on it the blue on the ground is going to make every thing Pop.

I told {G} if he really hates it in a year we can try something else. Paint isn’t that expensive to redo.

Now I need to get the rest of my list checked off

• plant the garden – have all the plants we grew ourselves from seeds but it’s been too cold
• fence the garden – maybe we can do this prior to planting to get it done
• Plant new flowers in the garden
• find an 8’ windmill for my garden
• get a flag pole

I love working outside so I don’t mind spending the time on any of these.

Quick Update:

My U10 soccer team is 1-1-1 so far. They are a great group of kiddos and parents to work with and I enjoy having the extra excuse to get outside!

Another Update:

It’s suppose to be a 34 degree Thursday with a chance of snow… I may not be planting that garden anytime soon.

Stenciling Rugs 101

 

 

Is anyone on Joss & Main? I oogle over their stuff daily on their app with out ever purchasing a darn thing because the prices usually scare me away.

I have been really into the rugs that I have seen but can not talk myself into spending $100-$500 on an area rug.

This girl still has her school loans to pay off so there is no way I could pay for that.

Although I can’t afford any of it, I can window shop and get some ideas with in my budget.

Once I get ideas I either “Google” or look on pinterest to see if there are any DIY post.

So that’s exactly what I did, I did some pinterest searching and came across some awesome post about stenciling rugs, walls, furniture, etc.

From there I found a site that sells stencils. I was shocked by the cost of the stencil but it’s something I can reuse

for other projects and I made sure to take time in deciding on the one I wanted.

{$39.95}

After I ordered my stencil I needed to purchase a reasonable indoor/outdoor rug,

one that if I messed up I wouldn’t curse myself out. I ended up finding a 6 x 8 rug at the Home Depot for only $19.89!

They come in Tan or Black.

 

{ Foss Ribbed Taupe 6 ft. x 8 ft. Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug }

 

Here is my Taupe rug laid out in my barn ready to stencil! Really not bad looking for $19.89

 

 

Lay stencil in a corner to start, match up all edges so that the stencil will continue in a downward line.

Make sure to lay cardboard or plastic at edges so that your floor doesn’t get stenciled as well. 

For anyone who is looking to spray paint in the future you MUST invest in a $3.00 spray handle.

Your fingers will thank you in the long run! I’ve used this for many of projects! Also found at any hardware store.

First stencil completed!

 

Once you completely cover your stencil pick it up and carefully move it to align with the paint left on the rug. I went in the downward pattern.

I bet you see my ROOKIE mistake at the top right of the first stencil… classic over spray that settled.

In the future I would make sure to place covered on all edges to keep from the over spray. Good thing I don’t care

since this is an outdoor rug.

Once you complete the row move to the top and start again.

WARNING” As the spray paint started to collect on the stencil it got hard to move due to access paint dipping off the stencil.

Half way through I needed to stop, rinse off the stencil, let dry then continue.

You can see the paint drip on my cardboard… it was a MESS!

Even with the over spray in some areas I think it turned out great for a 6 x 8’ rug that only cost a total of $60.00 total

Again. The stencil will be used multiple times so really the cost initially spent will earn interest over time.

{ I already plan to make another rug for my mud room with the same stencil }

 

Final product!

We just bought stained concrete paint for the neglected back patio. Can’t wait to see the Rug and the freshly painted patio together!

If only it would STOP raining! I’m also working to find… possibly make… some new cushions as well for our wicker furniture.

 

DIY Headboard

We still don’t have an awesome headboard to go with our even awesome-er king size bed.

{Boring}

I am pretty obsessed with trying to find an old farm door to use as a head board but I refuse to spend $50 and up for something I know I can get at an estate auction for nearly nothing.

They are pretty neat though…

I had pretty much given up hope until…

I was in the barn with my husband while he was fiddling… yet again … with his new “Old” square baler. As I was talking to him I noticed out of the corner of my eye the pile of old farm junk in the corner.

Why hadn’t I thought of this before!

In the front of the pile you will see some old farm truck racks upside down. They were left from previous owners so the word “FREE” along with the fraise “Finder Keepers” enters my mind.

I mentioned using one of the rack sides as a headboard to {G} and he came back with some smart A remark like, “How about we use the rusted tin from this baler while were at it”. He sometimes thinks my ideas are way out in left field so I dropped it.

Later we were in the house, he was reading, and I was on the floor playing with Winston when he says, “So do you want to measure the bed then go measure the wooden truck rack?”

kjfakjhdh… you say Wahhhht?

My eyes popped open with excitement!

We did the measurements and think that we can make it work. It really needed some dusting off but once we did that it looked awesome!

We are not going to stain this nor paint it. The wood against our Sage walls is going to look Amazing!

{G} says we need to power wash it to get it completely “Sanitized” before brining it in the house so I am hoping that by next weekend we can showcase it!

I’m still in the look out for a runner for our basement stairs… still no luck but I’ll keep looking!