BLOOMIN' MARVELOUS SERIES at the INSPIRATION CAFE!

We are so excited to kick off our new series today...

The theme is Gardens - anything to do with gardens! Anything!

Natalie is sharing her Summer Garden inspired necklace. 

Such fun colors and an easy to follow, simple tutorial.

Just click on the Bloomin' Marvelous button to take you to Inspiration Cafe and enjoy our first post of the series.

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters. If you would like to guest please let us know, we would love to have you. If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.

GUESTS...TWO KINDS

I'm lucky enough to have another blogger as a guest in my home today!  Karen from Somewhat Quirky Design drove halfway across the country to teach me how to paint furniture.  How sweet is that?!  We are having a blast and accomplishing a lot!  
So while she is visiting me today in person...I'm guest posting on her blog.  I'm sharing a little succulent planter I did.  I know I'm a little behind on the succulent band wagon...but better late than never, right?
Head on over to Somewhat Quirky Design and I'll share the tips I've learned about putting together a cute succulent pot that will be happy out on your deck or patio all summer long.

I'M MEETING ANOTHER BLOGGER THIS WEEK!

I'm more than a little excited here at Silo Hill Farm today because I'm about to learn something new AND I'm going to get to meet another blogger!
I've been collecting furniture to paint for years.  Many years.  Lots of furniture.  However, I have been more than intimidated by the whole process...milk paint, chalk paint, wax...oh it just seems overwhelming to me.  I have secretly stalked furniture bloggers for the last year or so.  Slowly I started asking them questions and learning a little at a time.  
Then one day I got this message..."Get ready Danni, because I'm coming to Silo Hill Farm to teach you to paint furniture on the 20th!"  This message came from Karen, who blogs at Somewhat Quirky Design.  

She will be at my house tomorrow and I'm ready.  (Well except for the fact that I'll be housecleaning all day today!) 
If you don't know Karen and her blog, she is our first contributor for our Furniture Fashionistas series at the Inspiration Cafe and her post is up today.  Please go check it out and make her feel welcome!
In the meantime.....my box of paint has arrived, (I purchased it all from one place...Booth 761) and I'm cleaning house today and looking forward to meeting Karen!  I sure hope she wears those awesome sunglasses!
You can meet Karen and check out her post by clicking on the cafe image on the picture below.

 

PEBBLE CANDLESCAPE: ONE FOR THE GUYS

I think gifts for guys are some of the hardest gifts to find or make.  (At least I always have a hard time with it.)  Usually when I go to a cookout, I just take a bottle of wine and a side dish.  Most guys are pretty proud of their grilling skills, so I wanted to make something to give the chef of the day.

This project was inspired by Linda at "With a Blast" when she made a really pretty one that you can see HERE.  I was going for something a little more masculine.  
My supplies were simple...

plastic container with a lid

aquarium pebbles

smooth stones

box of matches

candles

raffia

double stick tape

Not shown:   scrap of burlap, brown paper bag and a stamp

This was so fast and easy.  I put the pebbles in the bottom of the container along with a few larger smooth stones and pushed the candles down in.

I used a piece of brown paper grocery bag and wrapped it around my match box and secured it with double-stick tape.

I thought it looked too plain and the white ends drove me nuts.  I colored the white ends with a brown marker.  I took a scrap of burlap and stamped it with the letter "B" for the guys initial and secured it with double-stick tape.  Much better.

Now all I needed to do was tie some raffia around it.  My friend Judy taught me that raffia behaves better if it's wet, so I soaked it in a bowl of water for a few minutes and then just smoothed it out and tied it around the container with a simple knot.

Put the matches in, pop the lid on and done.  So simple and so fast.  Perfect for a deck or patio and if fire is a concern, you can add water to the pebbles.  Also perfect for a quick Father's Day gift.  I guess you could turn this into a beach themed candle by adding a few shells as well, but I didn't.  
I did make a similar floating candlescape for a hostess gift earlier this spring....

You can read about that one HERE.  It was also fun and easy to make.

So there you go Linda....I've knocked off one of your projects...TWICE!  Thanks for the inspiration girl!

IT'S A STEAL LINK PARTY....TIME TO LINK UP!

For the last 5 weeks the ladies of the Inspiration Cafe have been knocking each other off left, right and center!

Now it's your turn, if you have "knocked off" or been inspired by another blogger we would love to have you come and join us at the cafe for our "It's a Steal" party.

This party is open through till Saturday and we'll be sharing our favorites Sunday!

Please make sure any projects inspired by another blogger includes full credit to the original post.

Click on the Cafe door to check it out!

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters. If you would like to guest post, please let us know, we would love to have you.  If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.

JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS....

Two things............
#1 - 

I'm really excited about this and you can read all about it HERE. 

#2 - 

 We're all inspired by someone or something.  We've had a great time with our "It's A Steal" series at the Inspiration Cafe.  Now we'd love to see some of your inspired projects and knock-offs.

FLEUR-DE-LIS TILE

I'm still working up my nerve to paint my bedroom furniture black and white.  In the meantime, I made a tile to hang on my wall.  

I've always loved the fleur-de-lis image and when I found a sticker on clearance last fall, I snapped it up.  I also snapped up another ugly tile at Big Lots.   I even remembered to snap a picture before I painted it.  Hideous, really.

 The last one I picked up was pretty cheap...marked down to $3.00.  This one was even less...

Trust me....they're all ugly back there in the clearance section, but I spray painted it with white primer and had a clean slate.  I gathered a few items from my craft room.....

...including this great black and white washi tape that I found at Michaels.  I almost never buy any craft supplies, but I almost never go in Michaels either.  I was drawn to this 12 yd. roll by my 40% off coupon.

I stuck the decal on my tile and added the washi tape around the edges.  I used a ruler and an exacto knife to miter the corners.

If you look carefully at my corners, you can see that I was way too lazy to line up the pattern.  My friend Tara at Suburble, who inspired this part of the project, did a much nicer job with hers and you can see her project HERE.  Thank you for the inspiration Tara!
Anyway, I used some black silk ribbon tied on to the back as a hangar.  I kind of thought I was done, but it really did need a little sparkle.  Just a few of my favorite stick-on gems.  (Less is more, right?)

All in all this project took me about 15 minutes and I have just the spot for it in my soon to be black and white bedroom.

 I know I can't put off the furniture painting forever, but at least I can have a little fun while I'm stalling!
 

INSPIRATION SERIES: IT'S A STEAL - MEL STEALS MORE THAN WARMTH FROM THE BEATING HEARTH!

Our new series, "It's a Steal" is in full swing right now.

It's a fun series where we "steal" or "knock off" a 

fellow blogger's idea and show you what we come up with! 

At the Inspiration Cafe, we are stealing ideas from each other...

so much fun!!!

It's Mel's turn this week and she has stolen an idea from Heather over at The Beating Hearth

Click on the Cafe door to check it out!

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters. If you would like to guest post, please let us know, we would love to have you.  If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.