Featured on Studio 5 "Vertical Pallet Garden"

 Studio 5 today

I've seen several pins and even a cool facebook picture where people have created pallet gardens.

What appeals to me most about this project is, the way to grow a few select herbs, veggies and succulents without having to dig up my yard. I also love the artistic nature, texture and color the vertical pallet garden adds to your patio setting.

This project is relatively easy..... Find a pallet that needs a good home. I found mine at a construction site. Be choosy, meaning look for one that that has the right thickness. I wanted mine to be fairly narrow so it wouldn't take a lot of plants to fill it up and look full.

The next step is to determine how many plant shelves you want. These are the pallet boards you're going to leave in tact. I removed every two boards, on both sides, to ensure the planting shelves I kept were deep enough for the roots of the plants I chose to grow.

Now the pallet boards that you remove will need to be cut to fit underneath the remaining boards. After cutting the boards use your drill to make holes so the water can drain from the plants, and then attach with a nail gun. You could also attach them with nails, screws or wood glue. If you use nails or screws be sure to drill a pilot hole so the pallet wood doesn't split.

(Bottom of the plant shelf)

Last but not least, to make my pallet a little sturdier and not so tipsy, I added two slats of wood for feet nailed to the bottom of the Vertical Pallet Garden.

Now you're ready to fill up your planter boxes. I headed to my local greenhouse/nursery called "Clinton Nursery". I explained what my project was and the dimensions I needed to fill. I was very impressed with the wonderful customer service I received! I was given great advice on what plants would work, as well as great ideas I'd never thought of. My herb garden quickly took shape and because Clinton Nursery's selection was so great, I also added succulents, and cilantro, and jalapenos for a salsa garden.  Clinton Nursery has also offered to give all customers who mentioned Studio 5 a discount at check out. Be sure to stop by and see what they have to offer for your own Vertical Pallet Garden.

 Here is their address and #

1071 N 2000 W Clinton UT 801-825-3018

Once my plants were situated in the planter boxes, I decided to add a faux chalkboard look to label what I'd planted. To accomplish this I went to Home Depot and bought a 2x4 sheet of chalkboard.

This is such a time saver! I had a worker cut the chalkboard to the dimensions of the front of each pallet garden box. To attach the chalk board, I drilled 2 small holes into the top left and right corners of each chalkboard piece. Then I used small hooks that screw right into the pallet wood to hang the chalk board piece. 

Finally to give it a faux chalkboard look without using chalk, (that could run or smudge if wet,) I used my vinyl cutter, and cut the labels out of white vinyl. I love this look! Whats great about using vinyl is that it's long lasting, but removable if you decide to plant something else.

This fun, easy and useful garden project took me one afternoon, and I'm in love. Go ahead and make your own beautiful vertical pallet garden to enjoy. 

If your looking for another great spring patio or porch project, check out my Porch Trellis Chair tutorial here

Valentine Topiary with an aged, weathered Terra Cotta Pot

I was on the look out for some Valentine decor when I spotted this Topiary from IKEA.

Right away my wheels started turning. I knew I could probably bend the round wire shape into a heart with just the right touch. The Topiary was listed for $8.99, I grabbed it and I thought what do I have to lose.

To turn the Topiary into a heart took 2 people. One person grabbing onto the top center part of the wire with pliers, and the other person squeezing the sides of the Topiary in,  while the person with the pliers pulls down. Once you have the heart shape, you can tweak it by continuing to bend the wires to make it just perfect. This was simple and quick, but whenever I think of Ivy plants or Topiaries, I imaging those vintage, aged, weathered, chippy Terra Cotta Pots.

The kind you might find sitting on a window seal or potting shed in some dreamy European City.

To get this look I headed to Pinterest and started researching different Pins.  There are plenty of Pinterest Hacks, but 4 stood out to me as some what easy to pull off.

The first is a watered down/ dry brush technique I found here. On a side note let me mention how much I love Mrs. Craftberry Bush's Blog. I adore her!! Here is a picture of what hers looked like

After following her instructions this is how mine turned out.

The next Pin I followed used a textured Spray paint technique found here.

After spraying the entire pot with the spray paint you sand off bits of the spray paint to give it a distressed look. 

Once this step was complete I took black and green craft paint, watered them down with a little bit of water and dry brushed them along the base of the pot. Once the craft paint was dry, I dry brushed a touch of white paint around the entire pot to make it all blend together perfectly. Here is how this pinners pot looked...

and here is mine.

The next pin I followed was back to one of my favorite bloggers: Mrs Craftberry Bush this was her take again on an antique Terra Cotta pot transformation. Using plaster of paris ( I found mine at Walmart), you mix it according to the package directions and then tint it with a few drops of crafts paint. Next you appy it all over the Terra Cotta pots. 

It's been a while since I've worked with plaster of paris, but mine set up so quickly that by the time my pot was covered, it looked a little more like your child's first Jr. High art project in ceramics or pottery (a mysterious blob).

 I thought this was going to be a total fail, until I took a rough sanding sponge and started knocking the plaster of paris off the pot while it was still drying. This actually turned out to give the Terra Cotta pots a great unique texture. After the plaster of paris had dried completely, I blended the same craft paints as before (black and green) and stippled them randomly onto the pot. Then finished it off by lightly sanding with the sanding sponge to make it all blend. 

Here is Mrs. Craftberry Bush's antiqued pot

Here is my take on the plaster of paris technique

The final idea I used was actually mine. After I used the plaster of paris technique, I wondered if using drywall spackling paste would work too. My first step was to take a butter knife and slather on the dry wall paste in random spots all over the Terra Cotta pot. Then while it's still wet, take a dry paint brush and stipple the dry wall compound to give it a unique texture.  I let it dry for a little while, but before it had firmly set up I took a dry paper towel and smooshed the stipple mark down in certain places to give it even more texture. Once it was dry I took the same craft paints as above (green and black) and stippled them in a random fashion all over the pot. Finally I finished it off with a light sanding to blend it all together. Here is the finished project.

Here is a peek at the different aging techniques for the Terra Cotta pots with the cute Heart Topiary.

I love all the different looks and textures. My favorite technique would be the dry wall spackling paste one. Thanks to Studio 5 for Hosting "West Creek Design" in another fun segment. 

EMMIE RUTA DUVET COVER CURTAINS

We recently repainted our entire house in Sherwin Williams "Agreeable Grey". It has changed the feel of the whole house, making it feel light airy and clean.

I was almost ( well let's be honest...almost) afraid to make the nail holes in the wall to hang things back up.

I did however want to change up my curtains after the painting was done. This became a little bit of a challenge, because I had a small budget, and needed a total of 6 curtain panels. I have loved gingham curtain panels for a long time. It's a very classic pattern that goes well with the design style of my home. Here are a few of my favorite gingham curtain pins on Pinterest.

Although Pinterest is a great source for inspiration, I still could not find anything that was in reach of my budget. I would cringe whenever I found a curtain panel I liked, because, I seem to only have a taste for things way out of my budget.  This is when I switched gears and knew I had to get creative. On a recent trip to IKEA I saw the most darling duvet cover in a grey and white gingham pattern. It's called the Emmie Ruta Duvet Cover.

I immediately thought this would be an easy solution for my curtain panels. After some quick measurements, I decided that 3- Queen/Full duvet covers could potentially turn into 6 curtain panels, that would be the right length. Each duvet cover cost $39.99, which means that my curtains would cost $20.00 a panel....SCORE! An even bigger SCORE was that the reverse print is a grey and white stripe. It's like getting 2 curtains for the price of one. Double bonus for someone like me who loves to change things around often.

When I got home I laid one of the duvet covers out. Then I marked the middle and cut it in half length wise. I made the cut on the reverse side of the duvet, where it is grey and white striped, because I knew that I wanted the stripes to run horizontal not vertical.

Then turning the duvet cover inside out. I sewed the cut and the opening of the duvet cover closed, except for a small section to allow me to turn it right side out. I finished sewing the small section of the cut by sewing close to the seam. It's not perfect or professional by any means, but because the seam is so small it's not really noticeable.

The hardest part of the whole process was ironing each panel. After my arm fell off from ironing, I used curtain clips I bought from Lowe's to hang them on the curtain rod.  I LOVE the way they look, and can't believe how relatively easy this project was from start to finish.

Reclaimed Wooden Snowflake, Featured on "Studio 5"

I was asked to tackle the Reclaimed Wooden Snowflake by Studio 5 for a West Creek Design segment.

Immediately I was smitten! I heart anything that involves reclaimed wood. I started hunting around my garage for scrap wood and bought the rest of the wood I needed from Lowe's. My go to for any type of wood decor project is the cedar fence slats from Lowe's. They're priced at $1.16 a piece for a 6ft board. You'll need 7 for this project. You can't beat that deal. (Unless It's  free)

I loved the post on My Altered State's blog. She has been building these reclaimed snowflakes for quite a while and had very easy instructions, that I followed to build mine.

I figured out the dimensions for the size of the wooden snowflake. I knew I wanted it 3ft in diameter. So started making my cuts. 

You need....

-3 long boards (36" long)
-3 short boards (24" long)
-3 lg V's (6- 45 degree cuts)
-3 sm V's (6- 45 degree cuts)
-6 triangles

After everything is cut, I layed it out to make sure the pattern would work.

My favorite way to add texture and depth to a wood project is with paint. For this project I started with a dark walnut stain and covered the wood. I let it dry overnight. 

Next I went back and forth over the board with a block of paraffin wax. Then I covered the board with white paint. After it was dry, I placed a piece of duct tape over the white paint. Then I took my blow dryer and heated the duct tape. After you've heated up the duct tape, press it down and smooth it out with your hands. Now peel it away and you will get an amazing chippy reclaimed look.

Next, I marked the center of each of the boards. The center Mark is where the boards will intersect, keeping everything symmetrical.

I started out one board at a time, attaching the embellishments on each end. You can attach the embellishments the V's) with glue (you can't go wrong with gorilla glue). I love the look of screws, but be sure to drill pilot holes or the wood will split on you. You can also use a nail gun. I love the ease and speed of the nail gun. It's very secure and doesn't split the wood.

After each of the the boards have their embellishments, start with the long boards and make an X shape. Attach with glue, screws or your nail gun.  Now take the final long board and attach it down the middle of the X. Be sure to line up the marks on the middle of the boards. 

Next start with the smaller boards and do the same thing.  Now you have a beautiful reclaimed wood snowflake!