Southern Scraps

I'm so excited to share that I finally made over my front porch, or really I should say I decorated it for the first time. I've been in this house almost six years, and never really decorated the front porch. It gets some attention at Halloween and Christmas , but other than that it's been pretty bare. Here's a little peak: (Stick with me, lots of pictures, but totally worth it.)

OMBRÉ : having colors or tones that shade into each other —used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark   I haven't yet jumped on the ombre bandwagon, mostly because I can't decide what color I want to use or how I could use this in my decor, but it does intrique me. Here are some things others have done that feature ombre techniques that might be useful in my home.     Dish towel/ flour sacks by Always in Wonder     Ombre utensils via everything etsy Wouldn't those be fun to have in the kitchen? They could be coordinated with those towels. Ombre side table by First Lady of the House   Ombre chevron rug by Haute to Sew Ombre rosette wreath by Flamingo Toes  

I've been working on a front porch makeover and as part of that, I've made over some of my old flower pots. I took inspiration from East Coast Creative's color blocked planters featured in my Must Do Monday planter round up and made my own. I started with an old plastic planter with a removable bottom tray. It was certainly in need of some TLC. This photo was taken after I washed it off. With a little spray paint, I soon had this: I chose my colors for my planter using a striped pillow I had just purchased for my porch makeover as inspiration.  To start,  I taped off the top rim. I'm not a good painter so I had to do this. I still had some overspray but since I was using black in the middle I didn't worry too much about it. If I were using a color that wouldn't cover, I would have taped further down.  I painted the top rim with Krylon Fusion for plastics in Sunbeam (gloss). I painted the inside of the rim as well since this might show. O...

Mint is a very trendy color this season. While I don't have any mint skinny jeans , I do have a few other pieces in mint and decided I should make myself an accessory to go with them- mint earrings. I've had these beads in my stash for awhile and can't even tell you where I got them. To make your own mint earrings, you will need six beads, two each of three assorted shapes and shades, earring wires, head pins, and eye pins. Thread two of your beads on a head pin and make a wrapped loop. Thread your other bead on an eye pin and make a simple loop. Attach these two units and attach your ear wires. Simple! Sharing here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Creative Bloggers Party and Hop * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the Scene Monday * Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Inspire Me Monday * Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Pink Hippo Party * M...

Pillows can add a lot to decor with little effort, but they can also be expensive. I've got lots of ideas marked to sew (that's another post) but recently came across some very quick and easy ways to make pillows using placemats, napkins, and dishtowels. These are awesome, and I'll be trying them out soon. placemat to pillow by A Pumpkin and A Princess  placemat to pillow by Southern Lovely  dish towels to pillows by In My Own Style napkins to pillows by  Tatertots and Jello

I saw this cute idea at the Silhouette blog, but I have the SD and cannot cut 12 inch files, so I made a box for a flower gift the old fashioned way. I'll show you how. These make great teacher's, thinking of you friend, or mother's day gifts. I know Mother's Day is passed and for most of you, you are done with teacher gifts, but they really work for any occasion. Here is one I made for a friend just to cheer her up. (She later told me she put an air plant in her box so she could take it to work and keep the box - awesome idea since the box won't hold up to watering a regular plant.)

I've been concentrating on improving my photography and editing skills over the past few months. These two links I'm sharing today may be old news to many of you, but they were "fabulous" finds for me. I've seen rule of third overlays and actions before, but did not know I could easily view a rule of thirds grid in my own version of photoshop elements ( I have v6) without having to add anything until I stumbled across this tutorial at Everyday Elements . (There is a link to an explanation on rule of thirds there too.) I also learned how to create a watermark brush for my photos HERE at Everyday Elements. Hope these are helpful to you! Have a great weekend.