Bubblicious

I saw these mini glass hanging bubbles last year in Garden Design Magazine.   It was love at first sight, but I didn't like the price tag. I tucked them away in my memory wish list and thought, well "someday" I'll find those glass bubbles at a price I'm willing to pay? 

I think they are bubblicious!

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While poking around in one of my favorite floral supply stores last week I found the glass bubbles for a great price, about a third of what I found them on line for.

I went a little cuckoo crazy and bought a collection.  I bought six bigger ones and five smaller ones. 

I thought they would look great with my 70's inspired

macrame rope hanging planter.

I added some sand, tillandsias, shells, faux pearls, and moss to the bubbles.  I hung them at different heights with thin twine.  I harvested (stole) the tillandsias from my outdoor entry mirror.  

I made another macrame rope hanger and fit two larger round glass bowls in the ropes,

double decker style. 

 I added candles, sand, and shells to the larger glass bowls.

Repeating the same round shape in different sizes gave the collection a cohesive look. 

Hanging the bubbles at different heights created a "bubble curtain." 

I added some of my succulent cuttings to two of the bubbles. 

We'll see how they do?  See the top two bubbles.  This succulent is called "Fish Hooks."

I moved my original macrame rope planter to the corner of the patio.

It's really beautiful at night.  My pictures don't do it justice.  I made this area of the yard the candy bar for my husband's 50th birthday party.  I never buy candy, but it was his birthday so I bought all his favorites and set them out in glass jars under the bubbles. 

Sorry about the bad night pictures.

I tried real candles in my test run inside the glass bubbles, but wow they got hot!  I thought they might explode or burn someone who inadvertently touched the glass? 

I traded the candles out for battery operated lights instead. 

Exploding glass is bad.

I made some curtains for the party with drop cloths from Big Lots, gromets, and more rustic rope. 

Here's the view from the kitchen.

I'm loving the bubbles with my macrame rope creations.  The possibilities are endless with fun things to add to the bubbles.  Fall leaves for Autumn, spiders for Halloween, snowflakes for Christmas, etc.  For now I'm loving the green. 

Have you found any inspiring items from your wish list lately?

Thanks for checking it out.

Guest Posting on Remodelaholic

Hi friends, I can't believe this opportunity has been bestowed on my little blog. 



I have been asked to guest post on one of my favorite blogs
Remodelaholic

Welcome

Cassity liked my post about my Louis Chandelier and asked if I would consider guest posting about my outdoor room?

No one has ever asked me to guest post before.

I am very appreciative for the opportunity!

Please visit Remodelaholic and check out how my husband and I created our favorite room.

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Thanks for the support!

Spring In January?

We had a lot of rain in December for San Diego and now we have a lot of beautiful sunshine.

It felt like summer at the beach this week.

My daffodils started poking up through the ground right after I took Christmas down.

This is the earliest I can remember them blooming?

Their sunny happy faces make me smile.

I hope they make you smile too.

Happy Day!

Columns, Urns, and Capitals

I use urns, columns, and capitals everywhere inside and out of my home and garden. I put anything from shells, to succulents, to Christmas Trees in urns. I developed an admiration for them on my travels to Italy. My dad was stationed there while in the Navy. I was already out of the house by the time my parents moved there, but I was lucky enough to spend two extended vacations with them. I fell in love with the architecture, the gardens, the food, the art, and the country side. My design tastes are still influenced by those vacation experiences 20 years ago.

I use urns to display my sea shells and elevate them on columns. Even though I don't live at the beach. I'm a beach girl at heart and go about 2-3 times a week to play volleyball. I love my shells and incorporate them in all of my decor.

I plant succulents in urns, another love of mine.

I use urns as Christmas Tree stands. I made these about ten years ago, so I don't have any pictures of the process, but it's very easy. I have helped several friends make them. You can buy them already made these days, but ten years ago I had to make my own.

You can use any container for this project. It doesn't have to be an urn. I started with a light weight urn. Cut a piece of PVC pipe just long enough to fit below the interior edge of the urn rim. Fill the urn with about 1/3 full with fast drying cement like Quikrete. Add water to the cement and mix it in the urn. It will dry in about 24 hours. Make sure your pipe is straight or you'll end up with a crooked tree. You might need to anchor it in place with some tape until the cement is set. Don't fill the cement all the way to the top or your urn or it will be to heavy to move.

This urn doubles as an umbrella stand in the summer. I plant seasonal flowers around the center pipe to hide the cement.

Roscoe gives it the sniff of approval.

Here is my Thanksgiving Tree in one of my urn tree stands.

This urn is used as a side table when not being used for a tree stand. I fill it with sea shells and add a piece of glass to the top.

I use columns to add height to my garden. This column is light weight and can be easily moved. I bought 4 of them on clearance several years ago at Target. I miss Target's garden center, they had the best end of season sales.

I use them inside too. Your garden should reflect your interior. I frequently change objects from the outside to inside and inside to outside. This column is supporting a giant clam shell with succulents.



I move them around and use them for Halloween and other holidays.

I plant dwarf citrus trees in urns.


I put seasonal flowers in urns and elevate them on columns. These are flowering fruit branches I had out in the Spring. I purchased the urn at Marshals and the column from Big Lots.

More succulents

I make flower arrangements in urns. This is an arrangement I made for my Mom's birthday dinner this past August.

On a side note about the arrangement, the pears, sun flowers, and blue daisy's were bought at Costco. The succulents, hydrangeas, and trailing vinca came form my yard. After using the succulent cuttings for this arrangement I just stuck them in the ground and they re-rooted to make a new plant. We ate the pears.



I make lamps out of urns. This is an urn I purchased at Ross. I painted it white and bought a light kit and a lamp shade. I filled the top of the urn with shells and it sits on my master bedroom dresser.


I use them for my holiday decor. This is the sea shell urn with Christmas mixed in. Check out my Halloween blog and my Terrarium blog for more urn displays.


More pumpkins

This is a painting I did in a niche over my fireplace.

My subject...an urn.

Capitals are great for adding height to any object. I put them under candlesticks, terrariums, any object I want to elevate. Here is one under a lamp that used to be my Grandmothers.

Under a finial.

Adds height under an arrangement.


You will see many different uses for these in my previous blogs.

Thanks for checking it out.

Going Up - Vertical Gardening

It has been months since I have blogged. Computer problems made the process too painfully slow and a crazy, busy schedule robbed me of the luxury of free time to blog. The schedule is still chaotic, but the computer issues have been resolved.


I haven't had time for much gardening lately either, but I have always been intrigued with vertical gardening and plan to add one to my yard at some point in the future.

Vertical gardens have been popular in Europe for quite some time. They have been gaining popularity in the states for about a year now. They were featured this past summer at the Del Mar Fair. I took the girls and my nephews and in between stuffing their faces with fair food and going on rides that would make me throw up, I took a quick peek at the exhibits.




These are some of the pictures. Check out the picture on the left. It's an apple tree that has been espaliered on the wall. Edible art!

I love the herbs and veggies growing in the picture below. Perfect for a small kitchen garden with nowhere to go but up.

Most of these gardens are created with a plastic cell frame filled with soil and anchored to a wall or by using a product called Woolly Pockets. Last year I watched a show featuring one of my favorite garden designers use the Woolly Pockets in a Los Angeles garden. These are very cool but cost around $50 a piece. The installation of the Woolly Pockets can be pricey especially when you need multiple units. I have also seen these used on Martha Stewart's Show. For more pictures and info. go to http://www.woollypocket.com/

The nice thing about Woolly Pockets is they can be installed on interior walls because the back of the unit is waterproof. Here is a diagram of what a Woolly Pocket looks like below. The picture of the nine units mounted would cost $450. Don't you wish you were the one who invented these? I don't have time right now, but I'm pretty sure I can make my own for a whole lot less. I'll put it on my to do list.

Nine unit installation diagram

Indoor installation of multiple Woolly Pockets. Great indoor air filter and beautiful!




Here is a homemade version at the fair. I think they are made out of burlap?




Some other cool pictures of vertical gardens. This is a building in Europe.







Woolly Pockets filled with succulents and grasses in L.A. Virtually maintenance free!






A living breathing office

A beautiful store front