container gardening | DishOnDesignGal

I’m back in the sunshine state to work with Gigi and thought I’d take a breath and say hello! Isn’t that container grouping (photo above) on her side patio adorable? I was busy earlier this week working, getting ready to travel and doing last-minute things at home before I left… things like making sure my ~~poor abandoned~~ husband has food, clean laundry and a blank check to pay for the golf league that starts this week – the last being most important. I’m in the middle of lots of projects around my house, but I’ll have to wait to share them till I get back and have time to finish them! Projects like a guest bedroom, making a workstation for my office/craftroom, using milk paint, experimental wedding decorations and more! Here’s a snap shot of this week!

I found this fabulous chandelier at The Ohio Valley Antique Mall for $69.00 and finally hung it along with the ceiling medallion in a guest bedroom…

Isn’t it pretty? I am in love with it! The room is finally starting to take shape!

As I said the other day, I am ~~addicted to~~ exploring Pinterest for Wedding Ideas for Ashley and Greg’s big day. One thing she has said is she wants lots and lots of candles on the tables. She also likes some of the DYI tissue paper flowers we’ve seen. I’ve been playing with all kinds of ideas. One was flowers made out of wax paper - I decided to give it a try…

It has potential, don’t you think? I really like effect of the wax paper back lit by a candle, I’ll show you that when I get back home.

Yes. I am reading Fifty Shades of Grey. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a New York Times Best Seller. It’s a book that some are calling mom porn. Really? I don’t think that covers all the bases… I know women ranging from 23 to 75 years of age that are reading/loving this book and being a mom has nothing to do with it. Okay, well yes, its ~~a bit~~ racy. Some might say naughty. Others will say trashy. Literary critiques will say not well written. I say lighten up, loosen up and enjoy. I got it for the plane and yes, in retrospect, I should have covered it in brown paper, haha! All I can say if you want to get lost in a highly charged story about romance, sex, sex and sex… run out and get this book. Warning: Like Hunger Games, it’s a trilogy. Be prepared to read two more. I am getting the second one for the trip home. Yes. I. Am. Don’t judge me.

When I got off the plane, I made a new friend who hung out with me as I waited for my luggage…

Nothing fazed this guy.

And before I left Cincinnati, I had to stop my car and take a photo of this guy…

He wasn’t moving either. Crazy birds. Speaking of things that have wings…

GiGi picked me up from the airport and when we got to her house, the first thing I did was look for the baby owls who last time I was here, looked like this…

But their nest in the Banyan Tree was empty…

GiGi took a photo of the tree right after I left last time…

Do you see one of the parents on the large branch?Look underneath it… someone has ventured out!

I couldn’t find them anywhere… and then I looked in the back yard, up in a really, really tall tree…

One of them is sitting at the top right at the end of a branch – he’s just a dot. Our babies are growing up!

Next week we have several garden projects to do including one that involves this…

and these…

Say tuned! Have a great day! xo Amy

Wednesday was a really tough work day this week, but I suffered through it so I could share these really great ideas with you! In the name of creative exploration, Gigi and I decided to go to Epcot in search of new ideas and a little bit of fun! We took along our friend Loring who made it magical!

According to Loring, Disney is all about the Ball. I really hadn’t explored Epcot before, but quickly discovered it is an amazing mix of flowers, plants, science, rides, people and food. Truly an amazing place!

Well, okay…it’s all about the Ball AND the fashion. Loring of course, as anyone would know, is Rapunzel… note the fabulous hair she personally designed with a pair of scissors, colored hair bands and scissors. She sleeps in the hair. Every night. She also decided to add my terry cloth Tassi-like headband which she ~~stole~~ borrowed. I use it to hold my hair back when I wash my face or put on make-up. I had no idea how important it was for a princess to have the right “look” at Disney… you should have seen those precious little girls checking each other out!

Meanwhile, this is what we were checking out….

I have an inexpensive black “treasure” chest that once housed dress-up costumes for my kids, in my storeroom. After seeing this, I think I’m going to dig it out and use in my backyard…

I really like this wagon filled with pots of flowers. You also could fill it with dirt and plants directly!

And check this out….when your kids graduate to a larger bicycle, preserve the memories by adding a basket and filling with plants! Adorable, yes?

Go grab some old shoes. Add some dirt and a couple of pretty little flowers and looky what you can make…

Have a broken old metal chair frame? How cute is this for re-purposing?

I don’t have a lot of space in my yard for a traditional garden, but these metal tubs would be perfect for my first ever herb garden this summer, don’t you think?

And speaking tubs… Do you spy what I spy?

And I love these flowers on top of a boulder…

If you have fountain that doesn’t work anymore, no worries! How about this fab idea?

Last, but not least, I found this amazing idea over at Pinterst… I’m going to try this in my yard too, I just adore it!

We have so many more photo’s of great ideas, but hopefully that got your imagination flowing! Gigi is going to get started on some ideas soon (she’s in Florida) and I will next month – it’s not warm enough for me to plant in Ohio yet! In the meantime, I’m going to hit some GoodWill stores for some unique and inexpensive containers for my deck. Stay tuned for some more fun landscape ideas in the next week! Got any cool ideas? We’d love to hear them! xo Amy