diy Design Fanatic

Fix It Friday - How To Fix A Broken Lamp

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 PDT

I knocked over one of our bedroom lamps walking around in the dark several months ago and it looked like this:

The lamp socket broke (the plastic thing that holds in the light bulb) at it's base. Now I wouldn't know what to do, but it's great having a handy hubs.

We picked up two new lamp sockets from Lowe's. Mr. F wanted a pull chain since he has a difficult time reaching up into the narrow lamp shade to turn on the light. He put new sockets on both lamps in our bedroom so they would match.

lowes.com

Here are his instructions for fixing a broken lamp socket. First, UNPLUG the cord from the wall. Really. Then, unscrew the top half of the socket.

Gently pull the remaining socket out a bit to get some slack in the cord.

Unscrew both terminals and take off both parts off.

Here you can see the bottom part that broke.

The wires are now ready for the new socket.

Now, put the bottom half of the NEW socket on...

...and screw it in place.

Notice that the new socket has a brass screw and a silver screw? The side of the wire with the ribs on it goes to the silver screw, and the smooth side of the wire goes on the brass screw. (this is Pam...all of you go look at your lamp cords right now...I never noticed that there were ribs on one side of the lamp cords, did you?)

Closeup of the ribbed wire hooked up to the silver screw. The exposed wire is wrapped around the screw and tightened.

Then, gently pull the cord at the base to pull the socket into the new base.

Lastly, the top half simply twists back on the bottom half. Put in the bulb and shade, then

Voila!

This is Pam again...I think I can fix my own lamps now that I have the instructions on my blog. Hey, don't laugh...I changed the points in my car 27 years ago when I was stranded in downtown Los Angeles. I was able to do it because Mr. Fanatic showed me how a few days before because they had broken twice in the same week.

They never broke again after I fixed them...Maybe I will tell you the whole story someday.

Hope you have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

Pam

Fun Shopping Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Monday I met a new friend and neighbor who follows my blog and we went to a new antique mall near Charlotte. I hadn't ever been to the Depot before and it's always nice to visit new places.

The Depot is 85,000 square feet and it located in Concord, North Carolina.

As you can imagine, there is a lot to see.

Guess who this reminded me of?

The Depot is fill with so many interesting booths where antiques as well as new items are sold.

I had to pause when I saw these beauties. They are vintage glasses made by Anchor Hocking called Bubble.

I would love to add these to my collection of vintage Boopie glasses.

We had a fun time shopping and would love to go back sometime. There was also a great little diner inside the Depot called TJ's Diner that had wonderful gourmet sandwiches. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Thanks Karen for a fun day of shopping!

Pam

Raised Bed Update

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

The plants in our vegetable garden are filling in nicely...some with a little trial and tribulation!

Shown here is what we call our South Garden. Mr. Fanatic gets a kick out of me calling it that because our garden really isn't that big. Veggies in our terraced raised beds are doing pretty well, with a couple of exceptions. But, I'll get to that later.

I can't tell you how happy I am with the Romaine and Head lettuce we planted. The lettuce I planted last year was that fancy, high falutin stuff and I didn't like it.

Give me Romaine and Iceberg because I love the crunch!

Zucchini, Butternut squash and Cucumbers growing on the trellis in the second bed below the electrical meter. Broccoli and Snap Peas growing on the trellis in the 3rd bed from the top. Collards and Onions in the fourth box. I'll tell ya about the hoops later...

The Snap Peas have been producing wonderful pods for the last few weeks. We had them in stir fry last night and they were tasty.

Closeup of an itty bitty Cucumber. This is the first time I've grown them.

There are a couple of larger cucumbers growing on the vines, as well.

The Cucumber plants are growing nicely on the trellis.

I'm getting excited about the Zucchini. Little Zucchini are already starting to form. See the one just below the large flower?

Here's how the North Garden looks now.

No, we don't have a covered wagon in our raised bed. lol. We had some trouble with those little white butterflies I thought were cute...

...until they laid caterpillar eggs, which became caterpillars, that ate holes in my Broccoli leaves. After uploading this photo I realized there was one of those nasty critters on one of the leaves. Do you see him?

I went right outside after seeing the photo to get him.

Got him!

This broccoli head is getting big.

Anyway, the hoops covered with the white fabric over the Broccoli and Cabbage keep the butterflies from laying eggs on the leaves. I feel like I'm playing hide and go seek when the cover is put on. My cat Buddy loves to sleep in the bed when the cover is on. He's too cute. Regarding getting rid of the infestation of caterpillars: I also sprayed them with BT, (bacillus thuringiensis) which is an organic caterpillar killer
: ) Took care of most of them, but I still go out every day and check the leaves.

Mr. Fanatic made the cage for the tomatoes last week because last year some critter ate every single tomato off one of our tomato plants that was planted on this side of the yard.

That's not happening this year!

Can anyone explain this to me???

The big plant on the left and the little one on the right are both Summer Squash and were both planted from seed at the same time. Looks like a commercial for Miracle Grow, but that's not the case. Both plants were treated exactly the same. Can't figure this one out.

The first row of Potatoes I planted are dying and falling over.

This is a GOOD thing.

That means the potatoes are almost ready to dig up. Don't tell anyone, but I've already stolen a few and they were tasty. Yukon Gold potatoes are our favorite.

Here's the view of our North Garden from our deck. Herbs are growing to the left of the raised beds.

It's pretty amazing that only a few months ago our raised beds looked like this:

My how time flies.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my Vegetable Garden.

Pam
joining:
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Wax Paper Transfer

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

I have a fun and fairly easy project to share with you today.

My inspiration comes from a photo I saw on Pinterest from Pollyanna Reinvents .

I have a taller, but similar flower bucket that definitely needed a makeover.

Awhile back I pinned this graphic on Pinterest, which led me to a post by the Graphics Fairy.

Many transfer methods require a laser printer, which I don't have. Thankfully, one of the transfer methods required an inkjet printer and wax paper. I had both of these items, so I decided to give it a try.

I cut a sheet of wax paper 1/2" smaller (both directions) than a piece of cardstock. Then I taped the wax paper even with the top of the cardstock and printed out the bee/wreath design I found over at the Graphics Fairy.

After painting my flower pot and printing the image on the wax paper, the image was tranferred to the metal bucket. First the wax paper was removed from the cardstock, then set on the bucket. Once it was in the right place, I used my fingernail to rub over the image.

After drying for a few hours, a clear glaze was sprayed over the front of the bucket.

Here's the before:

...and here's the after:

My next door neighbor Tracy brought me some lovely hydrangeas from her yard and they look fantastic in my newly made over flower bucket.

The wax paper method was super simple and didn't take much time. The Graphics Fairy said that she had seen the wax paper method on Painted and Natural Wood and Painted Metal. Has anyone else used this method of transfer and on anything other than wood and metal?

Pam

spray paint used: Valspar Churchill Vanilla.

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Take It Outside

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:11:00 PDT

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a good week.

I've been spending more time outside lately, especially now that my veggie garden is in full swing. It's so relaxing to meander outside and see the progress of the garden.

Our basement patio is a great place to get out of the sun and enjoy the backyard view.

It's a great place to have a cool drink in the afternoon.

The patio doesn't always look like this. These are photos taken last year where I brought a few things from inside the house to cozy it up a bit.

Here's what the space looks like normally. My veggie garden is just beyond the Cleyera at the end of the patio.

I brought out a view vintage books, a pitcher that was my grandmother's, a vintage Boopie glass and some flowers on a napkin covered tray.

The crocheted tablecloth was made by my grandmother.

Hope you are able take a break today outside and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors.

Pam

joining:
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Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Sat, 12 May 2012 05:00:00 PDT

Happy weekend everyone. Hope the weather where you are is as gorgeous as it is here in the Carolinas.

Uh, more weather like this please!

Hopefully we will finally get to the project that's been on my list for awhile.

Thought I'd leave you with some prettiness from our trip to Savannah last week. All but the last photo was taken at The Paris Market.

The flowers are for all you moms out there ~ to wish you a

Happy Mother's Day.

LOVE the grain sack bulletin board...

Chandeliers in gold metal orbs...

Thought I'd throw this one in...Do you see him?

If you missed my new Home Tour featured at Debbiedoo's, you can find it HERE.

Have a great weekend!

Pam

Home Tour at Debbiedoo's

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:25:00 PDT

Just wanted to let everyone know my (new) Home Tour is being featured at Debbiedoo's today. Most of you know her and if you don't, you should. She's a sweetie!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Pam

Petite Fleur Tablescape

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Happy Tablescape Thursday everyone! Couldn't skip this chance to share a couple of pretties I picked up on our anniversary trip to Savannah last week. I spotted the large glass cloche at Paris Market, but wasn't sure until a smaller cloche at another store was almost twice as much.

I've been on the lookout for another cloche ever since I gave away the only one I had to my daughter for her bedroom.

The other little pretty I found were these cute little birdie salt and pepper shakers in the little metal basket. Found them at Villa Savannah on Broughton Street across the from Paris Market.

Now for the table setting: The salad plates which are my "good" (formal) china are Limoge, Artois green; the white dinner plates are Gorham Breckinridge. The iced tea glasses are vintage "Boopie"(Berwick) by Anchor Hocking. Flatware is by Wallace, but not sure of the pattern.

The cakestand and little white pitcher are from HomeGoods.

The crocheted doily is a vintage treasure that my grandmother made many years ago.

Pam

joining:

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Install A Drip Irrigation System To Make Your Life Easier

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Isn't it beautiful?

You must be thinking "she's lost it now"! LOL.

I'm totally serious, though!

I'm so excited about this hose bib in my yard because now I don't have to drag a hose across the lawn to water my veggies in our North garden.

First thing Mr. Fanatic did was dig a trench from where water pipe was going to go...

...to the existing valves for the irrigation system for the front yard. The valves are to the right of the tall holly bush.

Mr. F. also tied into this line and hooked up a drip irrigation system so that the veggies in the raised beds and around the beds could be automatically watered on the existing timer. This is especially helpful when we go out of town. The black hose gets buried when it's all finished.

Lowe's carries a drip irrigation kit which is pretty easy to install if you have an existing water line near where your drip system will go. We bought all of our parts separately since we needed more than what the kit had in it, but the parts were mostly the same.

The white pipe (water line) comes out of the ground and attaches to the black hose. Mr. F. ran the black hose down the middle walkway, then tied in the hose to the raised bed on the other side of the walkway.

I'm so glad he does this work for us because it would take me ~~hours~~ days to figure it all out.

The black hose is run along the side of the bed and was covered up with mulch when we were all through.

Smaller lines are T'd into the larger black hose and then the drip line is attached to that.

The brown hose has holes for the water to drip out every 12 inches. We use this type of drip for plants that are in rows. At the end of the run, the hose is just folded over and zip tied.

Looks like my boy kitties are spying on each other. They are always out in the garden with us and curious what we're up to.

The orange tool punctures a hole in the black hose so that a T can be inserted.

Some of the plants have their own individual drip head that can be adjusted for more or less water flow, depending on the water need of the plant.

Mr. F. also hooked up the plants in containers! I can't wait until he hooks up a system like this on our deck : )

I couldn't resist planting some things outside of the raised beds, so Mr. F. ran some drip heads to these plants, as well.

Beautiful!

A big thank you to Mr. F. for hooking me up with my drip irrigation system for our raised bed garden.

Don't you just love things that make your life easier?

Hope you enjoy your Wednesday!

Pam

A Special Weekend In Savannah

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:30:00 PDT

I hope you're not saying "oh no, not another post on Savannah!".

If you've been to Savannah you know there are so many things to do and see, and of course, so many wonderful places to eat and I have to tell you about the great place we stayed on our last visit.


Historic home near Forsyth Park

It has taken me so long to get back into the swing of things after our trip and I haven't been around to see all of ya'll very much lately, so I apologize for that. Mr. Fanatic and I spent several days in Savannah to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary last week. We had a great time and finally stayed at the Hamilton Turner Inn.

Here we are last March on the steps of the Inn. I am so excited we were able to get a reservation for our anniversary.

Our room was a garden level room just to the left of the steps of the front door. We loved having our own entrance. Lafayette Square is just across the street and it is filled with moss covered oak trees and has a beautiful fountain in the middle of the square.

Here is our room...we arrived in the early evening and our beds were already turned down with a note from the owners with a little box of chocolates and some cookies. The robes were laid out on the end of the bed and were very comfy.

Here's what you see when you enter the inn...

The large parlor has a view of Lafayette Square.

Every afternoon guests are treated to some sweets and a cool beverage and in the evening wine and hors d'oeurves are served in the parlor. It was very nice to meet other guests who were staying at the inn.

The mantel and mirror in the parlor were absolutely gorgeous!

The Hamilton Turner Inn is a bed and breakfast and the morning meals did not disappoint. The Eggs Benedict were very tasty.

Do you think Mr. Fanatic is wishing I would just put my camera down and eat?

We had to take a carriage ride since it was our anniversary.

We usually walk everywhere when we visit Savannah, but it was nice to kick back for awhile and learn about some of Savannah's history from our very informative driver.

Here are some beautiful buildings we rode past on our carriage ride.

I had never seen a Jewish house of worship that looked like this. (notice the star of David)

Cobblestone streets are picturesque, but very bumpy.

We drove down to the Forsyth Park area since it was a mile and a half walk and toured the neighborhood.

I was hoping this gorgeous piece of history was a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, it is owned by SCAD(Savannah College of Art and Design) and not open to the public to stay at. It's across from Forsyth Park.

Forsyth Park

This would have been a perfect photo of the fountain, except for the tent that was being erected for an event the following weekend.

Yet another gorgeous historic home owned by SCAD. Gotta love Victorian architecture...this home seems to be a blend of Tudor, Queen Anne and Craftsman.

Wouldn't you just love to sit in this garden?

We ate at several wonderful restaurants (and I gained 4 pounds because I ate all the carbs I wanted and we didn't walk everywhere during our visit).

Goose Feathers Cafe wins my vote for having the best affordable, good food in Savannah.

goosefeatherscafe.com

Our bill for lunch was about $20 and that included 1 dessert. (I had to go back and get my own it was so good) The day before I had just paid $15 for an average tasting burger and fries at another little cafe in Savannah.

If you ever get a chance to go to Goose Feathers Cafe you HAVE to try their bread pudding.

Seriously, it is REALLY good!

Wish there was a Goose Feathers near me...on second thought, maybe it's a good thing there isn't.

Hoping to get back into the swing of things. I have so many projects on mind.

I've finally called a painter to come and give me an estimate on painting several rooms in our house. Things are going to look different around here and hopefully soon. Of course, one thing leads to another and I guess I should make a list.

Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

Pam

You can find out more about the Hamilton Turner Inn HERE

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Lemon Cypress

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:16:00 PDT

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a fun Cinco de Mayo.

We're back from our trip to Savannah and will share the Inn where we stayed later on next week.

Wanted to share with you a wonderful plant called Lemon Cypress. And yes, it does smell lemony!

Awhile back I fell in love with Lemon Cypress at a local greenhouse, but couldn't bring myself to buy them because these small 18" tall plants were $19.99.

Ouch!

While at Lowe's I came across a display of these beauties and had to bring 3 of them home with me. I paid only $14.99 each and they are 27" tall. Gotta love that!

Two of them look great on either side of my newly painted planter on our deck.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Pam

Going To Savannah

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:30:00 PDT

I'm so excited!!!

Our (26th) wedding anniversary is coming up soon and we will be staying at the Hamilton Turner Inn, a historic bed and breakfast in Savannah, Georgia. I know we were just in Savannah last month, but it is our favorite weekend getaway.

We wanted to stay at the Hamilton Turner Inn last year for our 25th last year, but Mr. Fanatic was driving our daughter out to California on our anniversary and the inn was booked up when we were able to go to Savannah the following month.

May 2011 was a busy month with our oldest moving to SoCal and our youngest daughter graduating from High School (and all the festivities that went along with it).

Here are a few photos of the Hamilton Turner Inn in Savannah...

Hamilton-TurnerInn.com

Isn't it a gorgeous place?

Hamilton-TurnerInn.com

I am totally going to play the tourist and carry my camera everywhere.

Do you blame me?

Pam

Shop The House Tablescape

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

* disclaimer: This post is not for those of you who are seasoned tablescapers, but for those who feel they can't set a pretty table for some reason or another. You seasoned tablescapers can still look at the photos, though!

No excuses ladies (and gentlemen)!

You can make a beautiful tablescape using what you have.

All you need to do is: shop your house.

I don't want to hear " I don't have enough sets of dishes".
I'm going to let you in on a secret... neither do I!

There's more than one way to set a table and the most beautiful ones are a mix of different textures and layers. It's the same as decorating a room. Don't make everything match.

I have the usual white tablecloth with the gold textured topper. Then I added a white napkin with some lace detail. OK, these were already on the table from last week, along with the textured round chargers.

I brought a beautiful pot of geraniums in from the deck. They've really grown a lot in the past few weeks!

Dishes are Mikasa Italian countryside(my every day dishes), paired with some inexpensive salad plates purchased several years ago. Glasses are from Target. The candle holders are actually lucite glasses I found at HomeGoods awhile back.

See... simple.
I don't want to hear " I'm a busy mom and don't have time to set a pretty table".
Secret number two: have them do it.

How?

Set a couple of different place settings and take pictures of each one.
Then print them out and put them up on your bulletin board. When it's time to set the table, get the photos out and let your kids choose the photo of how they want to set the table. They can look at the photo for reference.
I did this when my girls were small. I think they were 4 or 5 when we started doing it.

Now go shop your house and set a pretty table!

Pam

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More Flowers For The Deck

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:46:00 PDT

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

We were able to get a much needed project finished, which I will tell you about another time. Sunday, was much different as we spent the afternoon taking a very long nap after church and lunch.

Mr. Fanatic definitely needed it after all his hard work.

Hopefully good weather has arrived at your home...we are back to cooler weather and rain, but we definitely needed it. But, last week I was able to freshen up another planter on our deck.

The planter looked pretty tired and needed sprucing up.

I went out and found a new coco liner, which had to be cut down.

After cutting the liner to fit, it was filled with new potting soil.

The container was filled with geraniums, creeping Jenny and ivy.

So much better.

I added two plants with silvery foliage to fill in the sides.

Seems this year I am really loving geraniums.

If you would like to see my other Spring flowers for our deck, you can see them HERE,

and my front porch flowers are HERE.

I've also planted veggies in several raised bed containers and you can find them HERE.

What plants and flowers are you growing this year???

Pam

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Love Your Furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:12:00 PDT

Many years ago when we purchased furniture for our Master Bedroom and Dining Room, Guardsman Furniture Care products were recommended by the stores where we purchased our furniture.

I've used Guardsman wood polish cream quite often since then and my wood furniture still looks great!

So, when Guardsmen contacted me to to help them spread the word and help them launch the “Stop Cleaning, Start Caring” campaign, I agreed wholeheartedly. They also wanted me to tell you about their sweepstakes...but, more on that later...

Guardsman sent me out a few products to try and to review for you. These are my opinions and they did not influence me in any way and I was not paid by them, other than the products they sent me.

The products I really wanted to try were the Filler Sticks and Touch-Up Markers.

Here are a couple of reasons why:

I remember seeing these scratches on the top of our Dining Room Buffet after hearing two of our cats chasing each other around the house, and yes, on the good furniture.

Following the directions on the back of the package, I used the darkest filler stick and rubbed it into the scratches.

Then, I used a microfiber cloth to remove the extra material. Next, I used the dark marker on the smaller mark to the left of the scratches.

It blended in perfectly. I then used the marker on the newly filled in scratches.

Much better!

The other product wanted to try was the Fabric Protector.

I had the PERFECT thing to try it on. Remember our Front Porch Makeover? The iron bench is the favorite evening napping spot for my cat Buddy, so the cushion definitely needed protecting.

After a few light coats of Guardsman Fabric Protector and....

...water is repelled.

Now my new cushion is protected against spills and stains....Wish it repelled cat fur!

Now for the sweepstakes...

To celebrate Guardsman's Stop Cleaning and Start Caring (for your furniture) promotion, Guardsman is offering everyone the chance to win a personal design session at home, complete with $1,500 room re-accessorizing and shopping experience with TV Design Star Tracy Hutson (Extreme Home Makeover).

How cool would that be?

To win, log onto Guardsman.com and share a story about your favorite piece of furniture and make a promise to care for it the same way you care for other things you love.

That's it. Good luck!

Pam

The Evolving Tablescape

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:58:00 PDT

You might think this is the same tablescape that was posted last week...

It is, with a little change.

The table posted last week was set several days before Easter. Of course, nobody sat at it...one of the reasons why I don't usually keep the table fully set.

Here's a reminder of what the Easter week table looked like:

After Easter I went to HomeGoods and came home with these beautiful blue and white dishes. When I first laid eyes on them I knew they were coming home with me.

Lucky I still had a gift card given to me by my youngest daughter for Christmas.

HomeGoods had dinner plates, bowls and mugs in this lovely pattern. I would have loved to buy them all, but I'm not sure I would ever use them . Who uses all matching dishes these days anyway?

I only have a few full sets of dishes...I use white china for the dinner plate and just buy salad plates for contrast and variety. It's so much cheaper that way...These salad plates were only $3.99 each.

This past week we were going to have a frost so my geraniums had to be brought inside.

I just never get tired of looking at those geraniums. They seem to be glowing with the light coming in.

I would encourage you to set a pretty table today using what you have and maybe a few new things, as well. Let me know if you have any luck getting people to sit at your lovely table!

Pam

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Raised Beds

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:26:00 PDT

Yes, it's really true! I've been telling you about our raised bed garden for months and I'm FINALLY going to reveal the four bee-u-tee ful raised beds Mr. Fanatic made for me several months ago.

I hope you have a comfy place to sit because I have A LOT to show you!

Here's a quick glimpse of what's currently growing...Romaine lettuce.

Isn't it gorgeous?

The raised bed project has been a long time in the making. Last year Mr. Fanatic made me four terraced beds on the South side of our house. After a successful year of gardening in them, we started planning an expansion of gardening space. Here what was planned...

Here is a before photo of the North side of the yard looking into our backyard.. Our lot has very little sun because of all the woods we have. We have two strips of on the lot where we get the 6+ hours of sun needed to grow most veggies.

On the North side of the yard (left side of the photo), there were 3 very large Leyland Cypress trees that we had to take out. The center tree had caught something and was dying and we figured we'd have all three trees removed to make room for our new North Garden. I had a difficult time with taking them down since it afforded us so much privacy, but it was only a matter of time before the other trees caught whatever the middle tree had.

This is another before photo. You can see one of the Leyland Cypress trees on the far left of the photo. The 9 little plants in front of the pot are the potato plants we grew last year.

Here's how the North side of the yard looked after the Leylands were taken out. The 4 large shrubs are on our neighbor's property. Pretty dismal looking at this point, but I had a vision.

In January, Mr. Fanatic built 4 raised beds out of 2 x 8's. Each bed is 4 feet by 10 feet.

Many people make them out of cedar, but that wood is so expensive and this wood should last several years. We finished the outside with a sealing stain, but the inside was finished with a non-toxic stain made from whey.

The most difficult part of this project was terracing the slope...which meant digging out the dirt. I did this by myself, by hand, with a shovel.

Wire "cloth" was attached to the bottom of the boxes so that critters wouldn't tunnel under the boxes and get our veggies.

At this point, we were filling the boxes with dirt. Mr. Fanatic filled them with several trailer's full of dirt.

Here all the raised beds are filled with dirt and mulch we had just put down the hardwood mulch around the beds. The little dark rows on the right front bed mark where I planted carrot seeds.

Here's the North side of our yard looking into the backyard. Disregard the grass line. I hadn't dug the trench yet! Still working on it, but it's almost done as I write this! :)

I planted two shrubs which will grow quickly and keep the garden from view from the front yard.

Looking toward the front yard.

Here's a photo of the raised beds from our deck.

This photo was taken about 3 weeks ago; everything has grown since then.

Potatoes are growing tall. The tall ones were planted several weeks ahead of the others.

The sugar snap peas are now well past the second rung on the trellis. The purple cabbage haven't grown much.

As potatoes grow taller, more dirt has to be added to cover the base of the plant so the potatoes growing under the dirt don't see sunlight, otherwise they will turn green.

This is where my herb garden will be. The 3 plants are basil.

I planted oregano seeds to the left of the gold pot and mint on the right in the pot. Evidently, mint will take over if you let it. I read somewhere on the internet that planting it in a sunken pot will keep it from spreading too much. I've also planted parsley to the right of the pot since this photo was taken.

Five strawberry plants have found a temporary home in one of the terra cotta pots. I'm hoping Mr. Fanatic will have some time soon to build a vertical container for them.

For those who don't remember the raised beds Mr. Fanatic built last year on the South side of the house... here they are.

Mr. Fanatic installed a drip irrigation system for these beds. He's also planning to install one in the North garden raised beds, as well.

There you have it...hope you enjoyed your tour of our expanded raised bed vegetable garden. This is where you'll find me most days when the weather is good.

I just love to watch the plants grow!

If you would like to see how Mr. F. made the terraced raised beds last year, you can see the post HERE.

Are you planting any veggies this year?

Pam

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Spring Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! We had beautiful Spring weather here in the Carolinas! It was gorgeous. A few things on our Honey-Do list were checked off and of course, some time was spent out in the garden.

Thought I'd show you where my potted geraniums will spend the rest of the Spring and Summer. Last time I posted, I showed you how beautiful they looked when I brought them inside because there was going to be a frost. They looked so pretty in our Breakfast Room window, but that window only gets a few hours of morning sun which isn't enough for these beauties.

Of course, last weekend I had to spruce up the pots before planting the geraniums in them...

Here's how the pots and the iron planter holder looked before I got a hold of a few cans of Valspar's New Avocado spray paint:

The iron planter was painted black and the pots were painted green...seems to be a trend at my house this Spring....

I put coffee filters in the bottom with rocks on top so that the dirt wouldn't drain out the bottoms. The coffee filter wasn't my brilliant idea... I saw it on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a whirl.

Here's how the geraniums in their newly painted pots and planter look now:

Here's the before and after side by side:

The little duck/goose, whatever he is, got a fresh coat of paint, as well. Will have to show you that another time!

Went to Lowe's today and picked up some saucers for underneath my pots and am thinking of painting those to match. Guess there's no time like the present...

tbc...

Pam

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Serendipitous Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Don't you just love unexpected loveliness? You know, the kind that takes you by surprise because it just happens when you weren't even trying.

...

The weather forecast on Wednesday evening called for a frost in our area.

GRRRRRRRR

I complained.

Why?

Because that meant that I had to bring in or cover all of my newly planted flowers and newly sprouted herbs and veggies. It was a going to be a chore to cover about 30 feet of hostas, tomato plants, basil, strawberries(with already fruit on them) and a bunch of squash.

Instead of covering my geraniums, newly planted in pots, they were brought inside and put in the Breakfast Room window.

Wow... so simple and so beautiful...and unexpected.

A reward for all my work.

I've had quite a few things on this tray table, but none as lovely as these three pots with the red geraniums.

Yes, it's the little things in life...well you know the rest.

I hope you will experience some unexpected beauty today.

Have a great weekend!

Pam

Spring Table

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

There are so many places to get room design ideas these days. HGTV, Pinterest, Blogs, Houzz, etc. I enjoy seeing the designs of the professionals, but seeing the home interiors of other bloggers who aren't professionals really is inspiring. There are so many amazingly talented non professionals out there!

Has nothing to do with my Spring Table, just something that I'm reminded of every day while visiting all of you.

Now for the tablescape...

Hope you're not tired of seeing my Breakfast Room. I started keeping this table set while we had our house up for sale a few years ago. Mostly I keep the table set without dishes because everyone will sit at it more often, but I set it fully the week before Easter. Of course, no one sat at the table all set, which is why I don't keep it set with dishes.

Do you set your table with a tablecloth?

Linens and tablecloths really dress up and soften the table. A table with a tablecloth just looks more finished to me and helps preserve the finish of a wood table for the times when you do want to show it off.

A tablecloth doesn't have to be expensive. The topper on the table is a piece of fabric leftover from another project. A simple white tablecloth is very practical and can be bleached if it gets a stain on it.

The placemats are actually white napkins. My Breakfast table is small, so rectangular placemats will only fit turned vertically and there weren't any white placemats in my repertoire, so I improvised with some white napkins I already had.

The white napkin placemats have a pretty detail on one corner.

The green napkins are a new addition found at HomeGoods.

Green stemware would look great on this table to top off all this green. Definitely will put that on my list to look for at the Goodwill.

The spring green vase was also a recent HomeGoods find.

Pam

Thanks for stopping by!

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Easter And The Best Carrot Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:00:00 PDT

I wanted to share a couple of photos of where we spent Easter day and two awesome Easter desserts.

Our daughter's boyfriend and his parents invited us to have Easter at their home. They live on 44 acres out in the country. We always love going out there because it's so relaxing. This is the view from their patio behind their house.

Guests were greeted by this adorable, long eared bunny on the dining room table.

It was the perfect Easter centerpiece for a couple of the desserts.

This pretty strawberry cake was made by our friend who invited us over for Easter dinner. Needless to say, this cake tasted as good as it looked. I just love the pink strawberry frosting.

Mr. Fanatic spent many hours on Saturday making a carrot cake. The recipe is from Southern Living. I couldn't wait to try it.

The cake doesn't cut very well because after it's baked, you pour a buttermilk drizzle over each layer, which makes it very moist and gooey (but oh, so good!). Mr Fanatic made a recipe and a half because he only had 10" cake pans, instead of 8" and wanted to make it three layers. I should have weighed the cake because it was VERY heavy and had to pick it up with two hands.

This was my piece...and yes, I ate this whole big piece of carrot cake and a piece of the strawberry cake. They were both delicious!

After dinner we all sat out outside on the patio. It was a gorgeous day for just hanging out. This is our youngest daughter and her boyfriend.

They took the paddle boat out for a ride in the pond. The pond has quite a few fish swimming around in it and a few duck. A few weeks ago, they were fishing in the pond and my daughter was happy that she caught her first fish.

The covered dock was a recent addition and is a wonderful place to sit and talk with friends.

Hope you enjoyed your Easter and that you're weather was nice!

If you'd like the recipe for the carrot cake, you can find it HERE.

You will not be disappointed!

Pam

Porch Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

Hope you had a fantastic Easter! We had wonderful weather and a very relaxing day.

On Friday and Saturday I worked on transforming our Front Porch. It was in bad shape and desperately needed some help.

Your front porch or entry is the first place that great your guests and should look warm and welcoming...

OK, Don't judge...

My front porch was definitely not very welcoming...The evergreen shrub in the large white planter had seen better days. Looks like it hadn't been watered in months!

Have you ever been there?

The seating area wasn't any better; the bench cushion was faded, and the bronze paint was showing some wear. This is a photo of when the seating area looked good. It was too embarrassing to show you how it looked a few days ago.

Here's how the front door pretty much looked like for a couple of years. It was definitely time for a little change!

Spray paint is the first thing I go to when something needs changing up.

Here are the first two ~~victims~~ items to undergo a transformation with some help from a little spray paint.

Here's how the front door looks now:

The large white container is now filled with Impatiens, Creeping Jenny and Day lilies. I couldn't resist buying the yellow Gerbera Daisies. Two gray pots were found at a recent stop at HomeGoods.

A large fern sits in the tall ceramic pot which was painted black. Rustoleum's Fern Green gloss paint was used to cover a small terra cotta pot that was previously red.

Now, for the seating area...

The new floral cushion was found at HomeGoods and the pillow is covered with some fabric that was purchased awhile back. I first painted the little table black, but then decided to paint it fern green and the bench black. So much better!

Much more welcoming, don't you think?

Pam

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The New Valspar Spray Paint Can

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:33:00 PDT

I was just out sprucing up some things for our porch with some spray paint from Valspar. As you've heard me say before, spray painting something you already have is a great way to get a new look for a little bit of money...zero money if you have some paint left over from another project.

While I love the new design of the capless cap, (you merely twist the cap instead of taking it off), the button was really difficult for me to push with my index finger.

I would love to know if any of you have used the new design and if you had the same problem. I've already contacted Valspar relaying my experience, but I would love to know what everyone else thinks~

Pam

PS~ here's what I'm working on:

photo taken in 2010

How To Customize A Summer Top

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:30:00 PDT

I found this great little summer top at Marshall's a month or so ago for $12.99 and couldn't pass it up even though the hole for the neck was a little tight and it was a little high under the arm.

Having some sewing skills, I knew I could fix it, but you know how things go...

After wearing this top several times, I finally stopped procrastinating and fixed the top.

It was super simple and it was finished before an episode of Income Property on HGTV was over.

I just cut the existing strap off, leaving a 1/2". Then sewed a satin ribbon to it.

Here's the before:

Here's how it looks after:

So much better and a lot more comfortable!

Will all fellow procrastinators please raise your hand???

Pam

Garden Obsession

noreply@blogger.com (Pam - @diy Design Fanatic) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:00:00 PDT

Some like shoes, some like handbags....Kim at Southern Savvy Style loves pillows and Debbie of Debbiedoos loves Roosters. Can you guess what I love?

Plants and flowers of course!

Last Thursday I went to Lowe's to see if they had any broccoli plants. I had planted a bunch of broccoli seeds and they sprouted, but something chewed on most of them. That was my excuse, anyway... (This was my 2nd trip to a Lowe's in two days)

The Lowe's I stopped at had several rows of veggies and herbs. Look at all of them!

Had to look at all the other aisles while I was there. The ferns were so pretty... 4 of them already came home with me the day before.

There were so many gorgeous flowers everywhere, but I held back and only purchased a 6 pack of broccoli.

Until I saw these! I couldn't resist buying five of strawberry plants.

Hmmm, I wonder where I could put a few of these...

Guess I didn't get enough of the green stuff ~had to stop by my local greenhouse on the way home (5 miles out of the way).

I could walk around this place for hours looking at everything. Sigh...

King's Greenhouse always has some spectacular items. Maidenhair fern is so beautiful ... (already have some growing in my garden next to our basement patio.

Couldn't take my eyes off these mini Cypress trees. They are even more beautiful in person. Couldn't bring myself to get one because they were a little pricey for me at $19.99 and were only 18" tall.

: )

I think I was drooling at this point...

The purple cabbage caught my eye and I couldn't resist because they were so beautiful. I don't even like to eat purple cabbage, but thought they would look pretty in the garden.

Between my two stops, here's a little of what came home with me...Two tomato plants, broccoli, strawberries...

...and of course, purple cabbage. Isn't it gorgeous?

Saturday Mr. Fanatic and I went to Home Depot because they were having a special Spring Black Friday sale and we came home with a big flat cart full of plants and flowers...think I should stay away from the garden section and nurseries for awhile.

The weather has been so nice that I've been spending much of the time outside in the garden. It's probably a good thing it's going to rain for a few days later on in the week because there's a few things that need catching up on in the house!

How about you? Do you have something you love and can't resist buying?

Pam

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