Restored Old Solar Lights

My grandpa is moving out of his house and I was helping him get rid of some things (by taking them to my house...not really getting rid of) and I saw these solar lights kind of dismantled along the landscaping that has not been tended to for quite some time.  So I asked if I could take his solar lights and see if I can clean them up and getting 'em looking new again!  I didn't expect them to work still, mostly because they just 'looked' like they have seen their days.  I brought them home, washed them up real good and was able to put most of them back together.  I placed them along our sidewalk and vwalla...not only do they look bran new but all of them work!  What a great feeling to take something that looks broken and fix it up at no cost at all!  Now we have a beautiful lit up sidewalk to enjoy when we come home at night or sit on our patio!

Gold Rush Weekend Pictures

As I mentioned before, this past weekend was the first Gold Rush event I set up a stand.  We displayed mostly our wind spinners and a few items from our lawn and garden website www.OutdoorMama.com.  We were not sure what to expect but did have some success.  We drew a winner for a 12" Blue Eagle Head Wind Spinner and got rid of all our business cards.  I hope to see more people join the group and find OutdoorMama to be the place they can shop in the very near future!  Along with the wind spinners we had a lot of frog decor, garden statues, a bird bath, bird feeder, stepping stones and more!  

 

As you can see in the background of the pictures the type of things people were after at Gold Rush are antiques.  It's one of the biggest antique show around this area.  We love looking at all the antiques and hope that one day we will have a bigger house so we can start collecting antique furniture.

Gold Rush 2010

We are doing our first Gold Rush this year!  We got there later than the majority of the vendors to set up our things.  It's our first vendor experience so we don't quite know what to expect.  Our tent is up and our wind spinners are ready to be hung on anything and everything including our display racks, hook stands and from the pcp piping under the top of our tent.  Our lawn and garden decor pieces are hiding under a tarp and ready to be bought from the crazy Oronoco Gold Rush crowd!  Wish us luck:)  Pictures to follow...

Article: Lawn & Garden Decor Makeover

Decorating your lawn and garden space with lawn ornaments can be very enjoyable and rewarding.  However, it may leave beginners overwhelmed or veterans stuck with what they have.  In this article I’m going to share with you ideas you can use to spruce up that space again or start fresh with new lawn ornaments.  In using these tips you’ll have your lawn and garden space looking just the way you want it in no time.

Anything you put in your yard for decorating is considered a lawn ornament.  It doesn’t have to be store-bought or made by somebody else.  You can create your own lawn ornaments by simply checking out your own resources.  So if you think you have it all when it comes to lawn ornaments, the garden statues, stakes, planters, gnomes, flags, the cut-outs of people bent over in the garden, wind chimes, wind spinners, bird houses, feeders and baths, you name it and you are still not satisfied, try finding something lying around the house, garage, barn or other out-building.  For example, an old paint can, tire rim, large milk jug, an old pair of boots, dresser drawers, tractor parts and old farm tools would make perfect lawn ornaments.  They are just collecting dust anyway.  Use your imagination to create something of your own by painting your home-found treasure(s) and using flowers and plants to decorate around it.  I’ve seen lawn ornaments such as old claw-foot bath tubs, bed frames, toilet bowls, toilet seats and the like in a bed of flowers and plants or surrounded by other lawn ornaments.  These can be creations of your own with literally endless possibilities.  Make it a fun activity with your kids.  Let them pick out the special lawn ornament of their choice from your stash and decorate away. 

As stated above, lawn ornaments can be anything and there are many choices of lawn décor to choose from.  With that said sometimes people tend to go, and I’ll use this term lightly, overboard with lawn ornaments in their yard.  If this is you and you think maybe you have too many lawn ornaments, think again!  It’s perfectly normal, and mind I say very easy, to go overboard with all the cute lawn ornaments out there to choose from.  But if you’d like to change it up a bit try adding more plants and flowers in the mix.  This will even out the lawn ornaments versus nature (plants, flowers, grass and trees) ratio.  I’ve seen beautiful yards with tons of lawn ornaments that are beautifully intertwined with lots of plants and flowers.  What a rich way to decorate your lawn and garden space by mixing lawn ornaments with nature. 

Along with adding flowers and plants to your beautiful yard or garden full of lawn ornaments, adding the right colors will do wonders.  If you have a colorful display of lawn ornaments try adding more green plants or small trees to the area.  You can also incorporate one or two different color flowers.  This will settle the color-tone down a bit and give it an even blend of lawn ornaments verses nature.  And vice versa, if you have a garden full of cherubs or angels, try including a colorful display of flowers and plants using garden planters.  Beautiful yellow and red tulips or lilacs would bring those cherubs and angels to life. 

Go ahead and take your kids on a scavenger hunt around the house; you never know what kinds of jumble you’ll find that will make great lawn ornaments.  Your lawn and garden will be looking at its prime when you establish a good lawn ornaments verses nature assortment and determine the right colors to use.  So if your garden and lawn ornaments are screaming for a makeover give it what it needs to create the story or theme you are looking to produce. 

  

Give Your Tree a Makeover

Trees are very unique in and of themselves.  There are not two trees in the world that are the same.  Each tree has its own personality just like we humans do.  With personality comes character and what a more unique and fun way to express ourselves through lawn decor and using trees to do that?  Some great choices of lawn decor include garden planters, tree decor, wind chimes and wind spinners.  Garden planters can add color and versatility, while wind spinners, wind chimes and tree decor can provide a more pleasant and entertaining environment. 

Wind spinners are one great piece of lawn decor that can add uniqueness to your tree or outdoor space.  By hanging wind spinners in your tree or near your tree you can enjoy the wonderful twirling just the slightest breeze can produce.  There are different variations of wind spinners that include solar light wind spinners, dog breed wind spinners, themed wind spinners and many other great shapes, sizes and colors of wind spinners.  You will be sure to find a wind spinner that will match your lawn decor theme.  Another great way to decorate a tree is with wind chimes.  If you are looking to create a pleasant surrounding area in your lawn or garden, wind chimes will surely be able to do that.  Wind chimes are also a great piece of lawn decor that come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and sounds.  So find a great selection of wind chimes to choose from and select the one(s) that match your personality or vibe you are trying to create.  You can’t go wrong with wind chimes.  Make sure to place wind spinners and wind chimes on a secure branch that will not easily break.

Although wind spinners and wind chimes can not be hung easily onto the trunk of a tree there is no reason to ignore this potential part of the tree.  The trunk may also be decorated using cute tree decor that you can nail right to the tree.  These unique tree decor may come in pieces, for example, the face of a monkey on one side of the tree and the tail directly on the other side of the tree.  These are cute and fun ways to strike up a conversation or entertain kids or even neighbors passing by.  Garden planters can be used to decorate the base around the tree.  You may do this by doing some light landscaping around the tree first with some mulch or rock and then adding garden planters in different spots.  Garden planters are a great way to add color to any area.  Flowers and plants are the most popularly used in garden planters and can make a dull space come alive.  By using garden planters you can move them from one place to another.  Just like wind chimes and wind spinners, there are many different kinds, shapes, sizes and colors of garden planters so look for the right one that takes to your liking. 

Whatever pieces of lawn decor you decide to go with, your tree will definitely come alive again and not be such an eye-sore.  Wind spinners are a beautiful piece of art that anybody will enjoy and allows you to be able to dial in on the theme of your lawn decor very easily.  Wind chimes can provide a sort of peaceful environment anybody will appreciate and like wind spinners can easily be matched to your lawn decor.  Tree decor bring laughter and entertainment into the yard.  And garden planters bring color and assortment into a space.  Whether you implement wind spinners and/or wind chimes and/or garden planters and/or tree decor you will enjoy all!