Birdbath Makeover Tutorial

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope the week has been good to you and that you have great things planned for your weekend.
 Remember when I told you how my birds were not very happy with this here

Come on, would you be?

So, I decided to give the ole birdbath a makeover, this was a first and won't be a last based on the beautiful results.

Supplies Needed for this project:

• Nasty bird bath that needs some TLC
• Old plates or tiles for inset- for this project I used 6-8 small plates
• Hammer to break up tile or ceramic plates
• Non-Toxic spray paint for stone birdbath. I used some left over White Ultra Hard Enamel Appliance Epoxy from Rust-oleum since it is moisture resistant
• quick set concrete to secure tiles or ceramic
• Safety glasses to eliminate flying debris in your eyes
• Work gloves to help minimize sharp pieces piercing your skin
• Small bucket for your pieces

First step is to clean and sand down your birdbath. Remove any dirt,water or loose paint

Spray the inside and outside edge of the birdbath with your spray paint. You do not need to cover the inside of the birdbath since your concrete will be covering it. Let dry

Next you will want to begin smashing your tile or plate pieces with a hammer. Safety glasses are suggested so you don't get flying debris in your eyes.

Do NOT smash your plates from the front side or this will happen

Smashing from the back side reduces sharp pieces from flying and cutting body parts - yes that's blood from a cut on my finger.

This is the proper way to smash the plate

Gather your pieces with your gloves on and place them in a bucket

Prepare your concrete mixture according to directions. I used Quick Set for this project. Pour a small to medium layer on the bottom of your birdbath.

Smooth out the concrete on the bottom of your birdbath making sure to not cover up your sides. Your painted sides should be exposed.

Place your tile or broken plate pieces in the concrete with any sharp edges submerged in the concrete, as we don't want to hurt the birds

Let dry. Paint the remainder of the birdbath base, being careful not to paint the inside of your birdbath.

Last thing, fill with water and watch your birds enjoy there amazing space!

Perhaps this will be your weekend project. If so, let me know how it turned out!

          
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4th of July on the Front Porch

FYI- forgive my use of Southernisms. I tried to make corrections where I could.

 There are two things every Southerner wants- A big pitcher  of sweet tea and a big ole front poach porch.

A poach porch to shoot the breeze on , eat our supper on and take naps on. You see, that's just what us Southerners do. In fact we caint figure out why people don't just live on their porch.

See, in my family, we like to entertain and more then

 likely it will be outside on the poach. We built this house for that very reason. So this year, I reckon the 4th is on the porch.

Most of our friends will walk on over from somewhere down yonder the road and find a seat to just sit... and sit, which is not really a problem cause every  Southern porch should have plenty of seats.

 With big comfy cushion and pillows-  but you wanna make sure they aint to comfy or they won't go home!

This is an example of the conversation you might hear on a Southern Porch

" Did ya'll hear about lil Johnny causing a ruckus down over at Stans place last evening"? or maybe this 

 "Yall young'ns stop a-carryin on so we cain't hear each other talk." 

Or when my neighbor asks  

"How'd all them dadburned "junebugs" git on your rose bushes?"

 And then there's the little extras that help us to celebrate Independence day, like these little pin wheels tucked inside a mason jar

or a stash of sparklers for the kids, although locals around this part prefer to set off dynamite as firecrackers instead

And goodness gracious, don't forget to serve the sweet tea. It's kinda like the law around here to drink your tea out of a chilled mason jar

 Although in a town of 500, chances are the one and only police officer ( aka- po-po) is sitting right next to you drinking his sweet tea too!

  Most important is to celebrate our country's independence and enjoy the day with your family and friends on wherever your front porch is!

 PS- you can find my Burlap summer wreath tutorial  here and my Stars and Stripe pillow here

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The Easiest Summer Burlap Wreath

Remember when my Rock Star Burlap Wreath went on a Springtime Tour?

You know, the Rock Star Wreath that may have more twitter followers then Lady Gaga

Maybe more facebook friends then Mark Zuckerberg

and I am thinking more stage props and dancers then Celine Dion in her Las Vegas shows?

Well, my rock star is going on a summer tour.

 

To get me started with an appropriate costume change, and

in the spirit of summer, I decided to add some stars in traditional summer fabrics and a mossy butterfly. 

For my stars, I created a star to use as a template and traced it onto the fabrics.

I applied the mod podge solution to the stars, put the fabric on top and applied a second coat of Mod Podge.

 When the the stars were dry, I used 3D Adhesive Mounts to stack and secure the stars into position on the wreath

Once the stars were completed, I wanted them to have their own "dancer" and created a mossy butterfly.

I applied Mod Podge clear acrylic sealer over the butterfly to help restore the look.

The stars also got a coat of sealer.

Awesome performance, ugh?

And for an encore....

Eat your heart out J Lo, but I think my dancers are hotter!

To get a ticket for this show, click here for the wreath tutorial, here for the butterfly tutorial. 

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Favorite Summer Flower- Using Gladiolus

Question-

What do you get when you take  3-5 gladiolus cuts from the garden

A few green cuts from your crepe myrtle tree

And some blooms from the Butterfly Bush?

Answer- Beautiful Summer Arrangement

 

 

I will be back later in the Flip Flop Gardner Series to talk about some cutting tips for the Gladiolus and highlights of the Butterfly Bush, but wanted to leave you with a pretty arrangement to enjoy this week!

Sharing:

Between Naps on the Porch

Fishtail Cottage

Summer Cabana Tutorial

Ahhhh, this is the life. Just "chillin" here under my new summer cabana. Well not really, it's been raining here for the last few days, so I thought I would share the tutorial on how to make this great cabana so you can have a little protection from the sun and look great while you are!

Supplies needed:

• Steel Wire rope ( 1/8inch )
•  5 eye hooks
• 3 hooks to secure into your eye hooks
• 2 door hinges ( to secure the 1 x 6's together)
• clamp set ( to secure the wire rope to the eye hooks)
• 3 1x6 ( cut to your desired length) for this project my middle board was 10 feet and the two sides boards were 80 inches
• 2 6X9 drop cloths
• paint
• staple gun to secure the drop cloth to the board
• extra hands or helper

Instructions

Step 1- secure  3 eye hooks to your walls at equal distance to cover the area desired

Step 2- Secure the top eye hook (#4) for the center board . If you are familiar with sailboats think of this as a the boom connecting to the mast.

Step 3- Attach the 5th eye hook to your center board a little more then  1/2 way down on the board . 

Step 4- Next loop your wire cable through the eye hook (#5) on your center board and clamp it.

Step 5- Loop your wire cable through the other center eye

 hook( #4). 

Step 6- Attach a hook to the end of the center board to place in the eye hook ( center)  already secured to your wall. Note: Make sure your center board is level or it will make your cabana uneven.

Step 7-  attach the two hinges to both sides of the center board to secure the three boards together ( left board with center & right board with center)

Step 8- Align your center board to the middle of your cabana. Screw a hook on the end of one of your boards 1/2 inch from the top of the board. Insert the hook into the eye hook on the wall.  Repeat for the other board. 

Step 9- Sew your fabric pieces together to make one piece. Place over your cabana shell. Start at the top and center your fabric .  To secure to the top, I tied the end of the fabric to the top eye hook

( this is not the most ideal way to secure but so far it has stayed put).

Step 10- Wrap your cover around your outer boards and staple in place. I had to trim and tuck in a few places as well so that it looked even on all sides. I then painted my center board.

This is what you should see looking up when you are finished, while you are reading a book and sipping on some cold iced tea.

And this is the view looking out when you are sitting under your cabana and thinking.... ahhhhh "This is the life"

 And finally, the view people will have when they look at you sitting in your new cabana and thinking "man I wish I was sitting under there"

This was a relatively a quick and easy project and took us a few hours . All the materials needed can be purchased at your local hardware store. If you need any additional instructions after reviewing the tutorial, feel free to email me 

 you know where I will be........ under the cabana. 

Sharing with:

Home Stories A To Z

Uncommon Designs 

French Country Cottage 

Serenity Now 

Tatertots and Jello

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