Outdooor weekend project

We've been trying to grow grass or SOMETHING (for crying out loud) in this shady spot of our back yard for years.  Nothing doing.  So, we've taken to using that spot for random burning...brush, Christmas trees, etc.  The boys always like to say they are going to camp out down there but most times end up back in the house before morning.  Shortly after the fire goes out, and right before the mosquitoes carry them off.

This weekend we made this spot into an official fire pit, using up most of the pile of fake stone wall we disassembled from another area when we first moved here.

I salvaged the old cushions that DW had ALMOST cut up and put in the trash since we have not had a use for them in awhile.  He likes to do that, eliminate stuff.  I like to hang onto it, thinking eventually I will find the perfect use for it.  Sometimes we clash over stuff like this.  This time...I win.

So, Sunday night we built a fire in the new fire pit.  The kids jumped on the trampoline until someone was crying and then moved on to roasting marshmallows.  It was so fun, we have decided to have a fire every week!  We just sat out there till about 9pm pretending it wasn't a school night.

As it turns out, Jake likes marshmallows too.  He's excited about the weekly fire.  Please don't comment with warnings about how bad marshmallows are for labs.  This dog is like Marley, he once ate a glass that was sitting on the bumper of the car.  You heard me.

When DW saw me putting the cushions on the "benches", he just laughed.  Who's laughing now, Huh? (that's him on the right, enjoying the CUSHIONS)

I don't know how I got this next pic.  It was certainly not skill, I have no idea what I was doing and I'm sure I could never duplicate it.  But, it is AWESOME! 

Fuzzy zippered robe w/hood

As promised, a pic of one of my custom orders that I made last week.  This is the daughter robe.  I made a matching one for her mom a few months ago and used leftover fabric to make this one.  I forgot to take a pic of the other robe.  I should get them to model both for me but I will probably never remember.

Door & curtains

Friday I FINALLY got my back door painted!  Soon ("soon" being a relative term) all my doors will be shiny black!  I love a couple coats of glossy oil base paint on doors.  If we ever sell the house, the future owners will hate me, but I can handle it.  The paint store guys will not convince me that latex these days is as good as oil base.  It just looks different.

So, since I got done around lunchtime, I decided I had enough time to hang the new linen curtains I got @ the Restoration Hardware outlet over spring break.  I should have know better...spring break was only two weeks ago...I can't possibly start and complete a project in just 2 short weeks, it hasn't had time to marinate yet.  Anyway, I started opening the packages.  There are four 96" panels, mismatched because that's how I am.  Two panels were Belgian linen with variegated stripes, the other two were handkerchief linen...all four in white.  I had also bought a panel in the flax color because I liked it and it was cheap and you can never have too much linen, right?  So, I'm opening packages and getting ready to iron when I notice that one panel seems different than the others.  Come to find out, it is 84" long and all the others are 96".  Blurg.  Now I'm picturing myself cutting off and hemming the other 3 panels, but when I measure the door and window I KNOW that I want the 96"s.  I don't like my curtains to be right at the top of the window, but up near the ceiling.  Now I spend about 30 minutes on ebay and other sites looking for another panel...no luck (which is why I got them cheap at the outlet and mismatched).  But then I remember that I have 1 flax colored panel left...please, please, please let it be 96" long!  AND IT IS!  I'm saved!  I stuck it in a bucket of bleach water overnight and when I woke up...It was white!  My mother says you can't trust how linen will act when you put water on it, but I'm fearless that way...I just plopped it in there and ran the water on it full blast!  My husband says I'm naturally a rebel.  I laugh in the face of warning labels and fabric care instructions.  Dry Clean Only...whatever.

This is my life.  I'm pretty used to things not working out quite the way you planned them.  But I think I really do enjoy figuring out HOW to make it work out when the plan falls through.

 ...and here it is!  TWO completed projects in one pic!  I almost forgot to tell about the curtain rods.  I found these great rods @ Home Depot in about 5 minutes.  This never happens with me.  I usually spend about 6 weeks looking for the perfect thing at the perfect price (cheap).  They are called "vintage doorknob" by (who else?) Martha Stewart.  $29 each!