Now that it is officially Spring, I’m ready to start planning our landscaping. I found a bunch of clever, unusual, and some down right weird ideas for garden borders and edging one day while I was researching what to plant and where to plant it.
I thought I’d share because maybe you need new garden borders too.
Or you just like to look at garden p*rn. that’s OK too.
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2015
15 Unique Garden Border and Edging Ideas
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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3/22/2015 09:00:00 AM
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Thursday, March 19, 2015
21 Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Yard
You are getting excited for the Spring planting season?
Me too!
Although I am not looking forward to how much it will cost us to keep a new landscape watered all summer long.
One way to avoid a high summer water bill is to plan my new landscape with native plants. Since I often forget plants need water to grow, they should be drought tolerant too.
Since I know pretty much nothing about native or drought tolerant plants, I'm cruising over to Organizing Made Fun and reading her 21 suggestions for Going Native: Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Yard.
Check it out now and pin it for later!
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Me too!
Although I am not looking forward to how much it will cost us to keep a new landscape watered all summer long.
One way to avoid a high summer water bill is to plan my new landscape with native plants. Since I often forget plants need water to grow, they should be drought tolerant too.
Since I know pretty much nothing about native or drought tolerant plants, I'm cruising over to Organizing Made Fun and reading her 21 suggestions for Going Native: Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Yard.
Check it out now and pin it for later!
Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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3/19/2015 08:07:00 AM
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Thursday, February 12, 2015
Romantic Pink Rose Centerpiece
Husband likes to surprise me with flowers – often. I’ve gotten decent at arranging flowers by necessity. (I know you feel sorry for me.) A few times, people have asked me to do flowers for them, most recently for Mother and Father-in-Law’s 50th anniversary party.
By luck I bought the flowers for their centerpieces from ProFlowers because they were having a rose sale. That’s when I clued in that ProFlowers sells flowers you can arrange any way you want.
Need a DIY fresh flower Valentine’s Day, wedding, anniversary, or party centerpiece? Keep reading I’ll teach you how I made this one!
By luck I bought the flowers for their centerpieces from ProFlowers because they were having a rose sale. That’s when I clued in that ProFlowers sells flowers you can arrange any way you want.
Need a DIY fresh flower Valentine’s Day, wedding, anniversary, or party centerpiece? Keep reading I’ll teach you how I made this one!
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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2/12/2015 06:03:00 PM
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Friday, February 6, 2015
18 Unique DIY Floors to Inspire You
I’m still not sure if or what I want to do with our master bedroom floor as I plan our water damage remodels. Carpet? Hardwood? Or something else?
Since I am a nontraditional gal, who likes to build, decorate, and renovate with nontraditional materials, maybe one of these fabulous non traditional flooring ideas I put in this roundup might be the one? Let’s go idea shopping!
DIY Geometric Wood Flooring For $80! – Vintage Revivals. She made and installed this floor for a vintage camper. It would be a stunning floor in any room of a house.
How To Glitter A Concrete Floor – Crafty Chica. A floor as sparkly and bright as Kathy’s personality.
Since I am a nontraditional gal, who likes to build, decorate, and renovate with nontraditional materials, maybe one of these fabulous non traditional flooring ideas I put in this roundup might be the one? Let’s go idea shopping!
DIY Geometric Wood Flooring For $80! – Vintage Revivals. She made and installed this floor for a vintage camper. It would be a stunning floor in any room of a house.
How To Glitter A Concrete Floor – Crafty Chica. A floor as sparkly and bright as Kathy’s personality.
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2/06/2015 08:55:00 AM
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Sunday, February 1, 2015
6 Smart Strategies to Organize a Garage and Workshop
Our garage and workshop was an unorganized mess! I put the organize the garage project off for long time because I was overwhelmed by the clutter. Where do I start? Ack!
By accident or design (I’m going to go with by design because it sounds like I had a plan all along instead of a make it up as I go along series of happy accidents) I broke my big garage organization project into several smaller, less overwhelming projects.
Guess what? Three days later (I had a lot of stuff to deal with) I had an organized workshop I can use without tripping over anything. I discovered some things I thought were working weren’t and why. I made changes according my needs and organization style. My garage is now neat and stays that way.
Yay!
This method worked so well on helping my clear my garage clutter madness that I’m using it to organize other parts of my house. You can too!
Pin this post for later!
Guess what? Three days later (I had a lot of stuff to deal with) I had an organized workshop I can use without tripping over anything. I discovered some things I thought were working weren’t and why. I made changes according my needs and organization style. My garage is now neat and stays that way.
Yay!
This method worked so well on helping my clear my garage clutter madness that I’m using it to organize other parts of my house. You can too!
Posted by
Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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2/01/2015 09:00:00 AM
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Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Organize Your Garage in Three Easy Questions
Welcome to my nightmare.
I have even more people telling me I should create/build/buy garage organizers like the kind they like. I appreciate the helpful suggestions. But I have some of those suggested organizers and they aren’t working for me right now.
I need to learn how to determine how to organize my workshop and garage according to my habits and organizing style first before I go crazy installing the slat wall of my dreams or whatever.
How to Make a Garage and Workshop Organization Plan with Three Simple Questions
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1/20/2015 08:06:00 AM
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Monday, December 29, 2014
My 10 Best DIY Projects of 2014
Wow, 2014 was a great year for Condo Blues! I made a lot of changes behind the scenes to bring you the best projects and content possible. My hard work paid off because more of you have stopped by to my virtual home to say hello.
Let’s look at the 10 most popular posts on Condo Blues in 2014!
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12/29/2014 03:18:00 PM
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Monday, December 22, 2014
42 Homemade Christmas Gift Tags
I like wrapping a pretty gifts for Christmas. I keep a box of gift boxes and bags I reuse every year and another box of wrapping paper and things like silk flowers, fabric ribbon, and bows I recycle into clever gift toppers for the Christmas gifts I need to ship.
For the gifts I deliver in person, I made gift wrapping easier on myself by using the reusable cloth gift bags I sewed from my historical costuming scrap stash. I still get the pretty and fancy look I like but with a time and sanity saving green twist because I reuse my homemade gift bags year after year.
For the gifts I deliver in person, I made gift wrapping easier on myself by using the reusable cloth gift bags I sewed from my historical costuming scrap stash. I still get the pretty and fancy look I like but with a time and sanity saving green twist because I reuse my homemade gift bags year after year.
I sewed my cloth gift bags as a post- Christmas cabin fever project and used them the following year. Read my homemade cloth gift bag tutorial here.
With all of the attention I pay to buying meaningful gifts and their fancy wrappings, I’m ashamed to say I have long history of phoning it in when it comes to Christmas gift tags.
Posted by
Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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12/22/2014 10:00:00 AM
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Sunday, November 23, 2014
Black and Bronze Bottle Cap Christmas Wreath
You need to start DIYing early, If you want to make this year a crafty Christmas and I have just the project for you!
I poked around my bottle cap collection, got some Christmas decoration inspiration from this year’s popular bronze and copper color scheme, and made a glitzy bottle cap Christmas wreath!
How in the world did I recycle metal bottle caps into something green AND glitzy, two words that normally don’t’ go together?
I poked around my bottle cap collection, got some Christmas decoration inspiration from this year’s popular bronze and copper color scheme, and made a glitzy bottle cap Christmas wreath!
How in the world did I recycle metal bottle caps into something green AND glitzy, two words that normally don’t’ go together?
Posted by
Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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11/23/2014 08:21:00 AM
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Thursday, October 23, 2014
Craft Fail, the Book!
Craft FAIL When Handmade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann
More often than not, in between the coming up with a crazy scheme stage and the perfect beauty shot stage there is an epic fail stage like the time I tried to make homemade shaving cream and it exploded all over my kitchen.
The fuzzy spots in the photo are shaving cream on my camera lens.
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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10/23/2014 04:23:00 PM
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Sunday, October 19, 2014
The Bathroom Vanity Hunt Begins, Maybe
We are ready to move forward in renovating the water damaged master and guest bathrooms.
And by move forward, I mean trying to decide on a bathroom design plan, pricing options, what to keep, what to refurbish, and what to replace besides what needs to be replaced due to the water damage.
Both bathrooms have this plain jane basic builder's style vanity. The master bath has a double sink and vanity which is the secret to our long and happy marriage.
And by move forward, I mean trying to decide on a bathroom design plan, pricing options, what to keep, what to refurbish, and what to replace besides what needs to be replaced due to the water damage.
Both bathrooms have this plain jane basic builder's style vanity. The master bath has a double sink and vanity which is the secret to our long and happy marriage.
Posted by
Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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10/19/2014 12:30:00 PM
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Thursday, October 16, 2014
Wood Laminate Floors: Yay or Nay?
I never really thought about the carpeting in my house except for vacuuming dog fur tumbleweeds when Lacey's coat changes for the season and spot cleaning coffee spills because I am a klutz.
Th Great Water Damage Room Renovations is forcing me to think about replacing my bedroom floor covering. The question is with what? And am I stuck with horrible wood laminate flooring if we don't go with carpet?
Th Great Water Damage Room Renovations is forcing me to think about replacing my bedroom floor covering. The question is with what? And am I stuck with horrible wood laminate flooring if we don't go with carpet?
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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10/16/2014 02:02:00 PM
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Sunday, September 28, 2014
How to Cover Popcorn and Textured Ceilings
One of the first things Husband wanted to change when we bought in our condo are the textured ceilings. I told Husband if he wanted to soak the texture with water so it is loose enough to scrape off off with a hand scraper while standing on a ladder in. every. room. of. the. house. the project is all his.
10 years later we still have textured ceilings we don't like.
We learned to deal with the fifth wall in every room we aren't crazy about. We didn't think about changing our ceilings until I flooded the house and damaged the kitchen ceiling.
10 years later we still have textured ceilings we don't like.
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Lisa Nelsen-Woods
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9/28/2014 01:16:00 PM
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Sunday, August 10, 2014
How to Make and Decorate a Decoden USB Flash Drive
Do you decoden?
Decoden is a Japanese craft that uses a thick silicon clay/glue that looks like cake frosting to bling out objects. It is addicting!
Not to mention decoden is a great way to use up the little bits of crafty this and that I found when I built my wrap around fence board shelves, reorganized my craft supply storage, and cleaned out my desk and closet in the computer room.
Decoden started with decorating phone cases. Now it is moving toward using decoden to decorate any object that doesn’t move. I have a USB Flash drive that is sitting still and wears a logo that I want to cover and a few beads left from my grandmother’s craft stash. Let’s do this.
Decoden is a Japanese craft that uses a thick silicon clay/glue that looks like cake frosting to bling out objects. It is addicting!
Not to mention decoden is a great way to use up the little bits of crafty this and that I found when I built my wrap around fence board shelves, reorganized my craft supply storage, and cleaned out my desk and closet in the computer room.
Decoden started with decorating phone cases. Now it is moving toward using decoden to decorate any object that doesn’t move. I have a USB Flash drive that is sitting still and wears a logo that I want to cover and a few beads left from my grandmother’s craft stash. Let’s do this.
Seashell and Pearl Decoden Decorated USB Flash Drive
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8/10/2014 01:30:00 PM
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Sunday, August 3, 2014
Recycled Tire Rim Ottoman
In the little fantasy land of my imagination, I would spend endless summer days, lounging in the summer sun with my feet up on fantastic outdoor furniture.
This will probably never happen because whenever I get down time in the summer I use it to build something that is - you guessed it - not fantastic outdoor furniture.
Instead I'm going to live vicariously through The Charming Farmer and her comfy, ready for a glass of iced tea put your feet up upcycled outdoor ottoman. You will never believe what she used to make it - a tractor tire rim!
Upcycled tractor tire ottoman photo courtesy of The Charming Farmer
A little rustic, a little modern and a whole lot of genius! Learn how The Charming Farmer made her tractor tire rim ottomans here.
What do you think?
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Posted by
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8/03/2014 01:34:00 PM
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Tuesday, July 15, 2014
How to Decorate a School or Gym Locker
My tween niece asked me for some design help. Even though it is the middle of summer, she is already looking ahead and planning on how she will decorate her first school locker. I remember how much planning I put into designing and decorating my school lockers to make sure everything was just. right. So I poked around for locker decorating ideas and came up with LLZ by LockerLookz. (I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)
LLZ is the original brand of high fashion locker decorations developed by two moms who started making decorations for their daughters, and later their friends, with the highest quality products.
How to Decorate a Gym Locker with LLZ by LockerLookz
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7/15/2014 08:00:00 AM
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Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Viking Ship Dining Room Table
THIS.
WANT.
Update: 9/10/14 Reader Mia gave me the source of the artist who created this beautiful Viking long boat table. UNIKA-Rógvi à Bø, design and craft is the artist and craftsman of this stunning work.
Update: 9/10/14 Reader Mia gave me the source of the artist who created this beautiful Viking long boat table. UNIKA-Rógvi à Bø, design and craft is the artist and craftsman of this stunning work.
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7/08/2014 06:19:00 PM
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Wednesday, June 25, 2014
How to Paint a Wavy Side Table
This post brought to you by FrogTape. All opinions are 100% mine.
I needed to repaint the side tables on my porch. I didn't want to paint them a solid color (again) and call it a day. I wanted to jazz them up with some decorative painting.
I needed to repaint the side tables on my porch. I didn't want to paint them a solid color (again) and call it a day. I wanted to jazz them up with some decorative painting.
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6/25/2014 02:29:00 PM
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Sunday, June 15, 2014
Vintage Train Toy Box Nightstand
My grandfather made me this train toy box when I was a little girl. As you can see, he made it with a lot of love.
And skill. My grandfather had mad carpentry skills he learned from his father the carpenter.
My train toy box has tremendous sentimental value. It was also the most difficult item to keep and make work in the new guest room/craft room. This is the only place we have room for my toy box. Husband suggested I repaint it to go with the color scheme I first wanted for the room.
I quickly vetoed that idea.
Every ding bump and scratch on my toy box came from two little girls having a good time pushing each other around their playroom in this train.
And skill. My grandfather had mad carpentry skills he learned from his father the carpenter.
My train toy box has tremendous sentimental value. It was also the most difficult item to keep and make work in the new guest room/craft room. This is the only place we have room for my toy box. Husband suggested I repaint it to go with the color scheme I first wanted for the room.
I quickly vetoed that idea.
Every ding bump and scratch on my toy box came from two little girls having a good time pushing each other around their playroom in this train.
This vintage toy box on wheels probably horrifies some kid safety expert because the wheels and vehicle aren’t incased in bubble wrap and the children riding in it didn’t wear safety suits and helmets made from organic feather pillows. Thank goodness we survived!
Posted by
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6/15/2014 12:30:00 AM
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Sunday, May 4, 2014
12 Natural Gardening Tips for Beginners
Now that I have a house with a yard, I’ve been forced into this gardening thing. Some days I like it. Other days, my fails remind me why I named this blog Condo Blues!
I want to keep our gardening habits as green and eco-friendly as possible because Lacey likes to run into our flower beds even though she knows she shouldn’t. The last thing I want is for her to be covered with or ingest some chemical concoction of unknown origin we put on our plants or in our soil. Frankly, I’m not crazy about Husband and I doing that either.
Husband and I need to rework the front yard a bit after a series of windstorms pelted our bushes and plants. I asked a bunch of blogger friends if they had any green gardening tips that I can learn from and share with you.
I want to keep our gardening habits as green and eco-friendly as possible because Lacey likes to run into our flower beds even though she knows she shouldn’t. The last thing I want is for her to be covered with or ingest some chemical concoction of unknown origin we put on our plants or in our soil. Frankly, I’m not crazy about Husband and I doing that either.
Husband and I need to rework the front yard a bit after a series of windstorms pelted our bushes and plants. I asked a bunch of blogger friends if they had any green gardening tips that I can learn from and share with you.
Posted by
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5/04/2014 01:30:00 PM
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