Preparing your Garden for Fall

I must admit that I am a newbie at Gardening. But I think that I did a pretty good job for an amateur. It's not that I don't like gardening, but I've never really had the chance to build my own. Mother's garden is so beautiful, that I would really like mine to start to look that way too. 

Now that summer has passed, I have decided to liven up my garden with some fall favorites. MUMS. Everyone loves them, I hope, well at least I do. 

Living in Military housing I unfortunately do not have a huge amount of space to garden. I've turned to container gardening, which seems to be all the craze on Pinterest anyway. 

~~ Follow my Gardening Board on Pinterest! ~~

With a mixture of Pinterest-inspired and Creative Thinking, I came up with a couple containers myself. 

First Up: re-vamped old grille

Hubby had purchased this grille about 2 years ago (so it really wasn't that old) but it had quickly started to become wobbly and dirty. When he got his new grille he asked if he should just throw it away, selling it or giving it away would be a waste. It was on its way to the garbage, when I saw THIS BEAUTY on Pinterest and I was ecstatic. I painted it green and I immediately fell in love <3 

My first use of it was during the summer.

These little flowers have since passed on and now it is standing mighty and proud with beautiful yellow mums! 

I even added a couple solar lights to make it stand out at night. This little guy is still located off my porch, but I plan on moving it once I begin my porch decorations with pumpkins and such! 

When I decided to plant the Mums - the soil had been dried up and the roots remained from my summer flowers. I dug up as many of the dried roots and leaves and threw them away. The soil had bulged up so I took my hose and completely dampened the soil. I added fresh "potting mix" soil and began planting the mums. I planted them about 3 1/2"  away from the edge of my container so that the roots would still have room to spread. Once I had finished I again added water. One mistake I did throughout the summer was that I left the holes at the bottom of the grille completely open. That caused too much water drainage, which is why I think my flowers died so quickly. I closed the vent completely this time around and found that the water will still drain but not as much as before. Well there you have it, my beautiful mums.

Second-Up: scrap wood garden container

This was another project that had been sitting in the garage for days. Honey had come across some scrap wood that someone was giving away. He had no use for it, but I jokingly once told him he should make me a flower bed. And he finally did. It came out wonderful, the perfect size to sit right on my porch. It took him about 40 minutes to do. All it took was 4 pieces of scrap wood for the side, 3 for the bottom, and some screws. Luckily the bottom wood had a couple holes here and there which worked out perfectly for water drainage (otherwise I would have had him screw small holes).

For these guys I used "potting mix" soil as well. I left about 3" from the sides of the container for roots and about 1" from the top edge.

 Mother told me to pick the flowers with as many closed buds as possible, so that they would bloom at home. I in the past had picked those that were already in full bloom so that they would look pretty as soon as I planted them at home - again a rookie mistake. Live and learn, right? 

I'm pretty happy with my garden at the moment. Pretty subtle, but once pumpkin season rolls around I think they will complement each other nicely. 

Love my mason jars turned solar lights? Here ya go! 

Want to know what else I'm up to for Fall?

Visit my Holiday Crafts page. 

The Art of Reminiscing -- ITALIA

OH the Beauty that is Europe, the beauty that is Italy, the beauty that is Italian Cuisine (and me getting fatter by the second due to the ridiculous amount of cappuccinos, pasta, bread, and gelato I would stuff my face with any chance I got).. Sorry about the side note, regardless I miss the crap outta Italy. And so does the hubs despite his incessant ridicule on Italian drivers.

Buying Gelato in Venice, Italy

So for anyone who is considering a trip to Italy in the near future don't let yourself be fooled by the people who insist that going to "touristy" places is over rated. When the hubs lived in Italy, Venice was about an hour away.. And so Venice was the hangout spot and please believe "over rated" was the last thing it was. There were so many times that we would hop onto the train at the Sacile Train Station and be on our way. Of course sightseeing is awesome especially if you're an Arts History expertise.. It's basically like all those pictures you saw in all those textbooks come to life. 

Vatican, Rome, Italy

I was fortunate enough to visit Italy during Spring, Summer and Winter.. and trust me all the seasons are wonderful. During the Spring you get showers and a nice breeze.. Perfect for boots, scarves, and pea coats.. Of course another perfect time to embrace Italian fashion. Summer is super hot with humidity off the radar, but the beaches are perfect! Filled with people who not only don't care what they look like in a two piece bikini but embrace being beautiful and confident in their own bodies. And last but not least.. Winter.. Now let’s talk about beauty! Winter in Italy isn't like winter in Montana, oh no.. You get rain, a bit of snow, and cold.. not unbearable cold, but just perfect! So regardless of the season that you may (or may not) be planning your trip abroad, Italy is gorgeous year round.

Lake Barcis, Italy

The memories that a person builds going to any trip are just remarkable. Some of the best memories that I shall have in my life were made in Italy. For example, for those of you who know me, you’ll know that spontaneity is basically my motto! I went to visit my “good friend” at the time in Italy after not having seen him in 4 years.. I know it was a bit crazy, but well worth the nerves and the excitement! A year later, we then got engaged a Bibione Beach, Italy.. 

So as you can see Italy will forever hold a special place in our hearts. 
And we really hope that one day you'll be able to visit Italy, or Europe for that mater, it's a wonderful place and everyone should indulge in the culture at least once in their lives :) 

XO

Blogging.. The first of many.. Hopefully =/

Blogging...

The want to be able to record my life and share it with all those wonderful people that already don't know enough about me through Facebook and Pinterest. ;)

So currently enjoying the last tid-bits of Montana Summer.. :( so depressing to know that in a few weeks I will be stuck in the horror that is winter. Not only will I lose the wonderful tan that I have managed to acquire in the past couple of months, but I'll find a dire need to update my wardrobe with tons of winter attire. My favorite part is wearing scarves.. And that is all.

Enough about depression.. For those of you who don't already know I like to think of myself as "BARBIE the HOMEMAKER".. I know it sounds lame. But not only have I rediscovered my artistic talents through Pinterest, I've also managed to learn that I love organizing my home. It's quite an obsession I have, but really who isn't obsessed with Pinterest and hoping to make their virtual homes turn into a reality.. Too bad we don't have the tons of money that would require our dream home to be built in less than a couple months < as instructed and perceived through Pinterest. HA! But don't worry folks, as I will be showcasing the little things I have done in order to get myself going to becoming a better person through art and cleanliness.. :) gotta start somewhere right?

Well enough for my first blog... don't want to get ya'll bored.. I'll check in later :)

And by the way.. Yes the hubs and the pups are doing just great.. Just for proof here's a pic of me and the hubs on a camping trip we took last weeked. :)

Swan Lake, Flathead National Forest, Montana, USA

Adios!