Outside Looking In...

Several of you have asked that I write a post highlighting what my house looks like on the exterior. I have described it several times as the big green monster and I think that left a lot to the imagination. This past weekend the weather was amazing for good old Astoria. Cole and I decided to get our booty's outside to mow and plant some of the hundreds of bulbs I purchased. So sunshine and all here is a look at our house currently...

 When Cole and I first visited the house I did not like it. The price was very right but I had no vision for the big green thing. Since we have moved in the place, it has started to really grow on me. I think with some curb appeal upgrades this baby wont look too bad. Below is a house that has given some vision  for our place. I realize that our house looks nothing like the one below but I want to replicate the shingles in the gables and the stone around the bottom of the house. I also really like the color.


 

As for the entrance way we have talked with several contractors (I guess we kinda lucked out cause Cole's dad and my Mark are both contractors) who  have given us the idea to extend a patio about seven feet the length of the front left of the house and zig zag wider framed in shingled stairs. The ones that are up now are pretty much a death trap. Death traps are not a good thing to have when you have kids or so we have been told. I also want to add some exterior moulding to the windows to make them look more manly, they need a little beefing up. (PS I hate the telephone pole in my front yard but I guess it is frowned upon to axe those down.) I also love the look of this door with the address painted on the front. The color is awesome and I want to replicate everything about it. If you love this door and want to feast your eyes on more click here.

 Here is a good picture to show you what we're working with yardwise. Yes those are blackberry bushes. The neighbor told us that the yard was let go for a while especially when it was on the market. There is a lot to be done. Cole and I are still trying to come to a common vision for the yard, then we will probably spend several years attaining the vision.   So Cole and I took some baby steps on Saturday and we removed our first hideous plant that probably was a weed gone crazy. The plant about to meet its fate is the one one the right... Bye bye ugly

 Here I go digging away trying to put the plant out of its misery. I had a vision to dig it out and all the grass all the way to the street to make a lovely flower bed. Cole told me I was being too ambitious and that we didn't have that much time . He also doesn't want the neighbors to think we are the type that start projects and never finish them. Not to mention it would effect all of their mail boxes.

 Cole took the last couple swipes at the bush ad viola it was gone.

Since I didn't get the flower bed I had set out to get that day I pouted and and made a strong argument that all my bulbs would have been bought in vain if we didn't get some into the ground. So we stripped out a little section and I got to plant one bag on a very sun exposed side of the house.

 The bag I got to plant. Whoop Whoop... Can't wait to watch them grow and then pick them.

After a big day of Easter egg hunting (Ummm how come no one ever clued me into the psychoticness of parents and Easter egg hunts in public. If I knew what I was getting myself into I would of prepped for the crazy parents in the 0-2 year old section with trash bags in one hand full of eggs and immobile infants in the other. Lucy got two eggs this year cause we played nice, next year watch out Seaside we're gonna be prepared.) and planting we underwent a series of first in Lucy's life..... Enjoy a quick recap of her adventures...

Lucy's First Easter Egg Hunt.... Her two awesome eggs...

Swings.... She loved them... We have the all-time greatest park by the house. Can't wait to use and abuse this place.

 Slide with Daddy...

 Also her second Easter but it was the first time I got to dress her up like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. Her dress definitely pushed the boundaries on too fluffy. I loved it. Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. Any firsts for any of you? Or maybe you have some good ideas on how we should add street appeal to our home. I would love to hear from you.

DIY Easter Wreath

As many of you know or have read Cole and I purchased our first home back in November. The house is perfect for us. It's got lots of room for us to grow into, an amazing view with (when the sun is willing) a sunrise and sunset, and to top it off a yard. A fenced yard at that and this is all Lola and Hurley could ask for. The home itself however is a diamond in the rough. It was a foreclosure that had been beaten up by previous owners. The outside is also not terribly favorable on the eyes. I like to refer to it as the Big Green Monster. When the previous owner built the home I think he ran out of money. Which forced him to paint the house with a clearance color. It's green, not grass green or lime green but a funky in between color. Cole and I want to repaint it this summer so we are saving up. I think we have a great vision which includes a stunning color and some shingles in the arbors along with some rock work around the garage. Anyways back to the wreath. Since we can't afford to paint the house now I am taking simple steps to beautify the home. Today I made my first wreath. It was a mess to make but I am pretty proud of myself.

First I got all of my materials together:

Duct Tape (I had white)

Faux craft grass/moss (messy messy) $2.29 each

Glue gun $2.00 at Joanns in the dollar section

Decorative eggs 40% off $2.99

Pipe Insulation $4

About $11.oo give or take a few plus you have all the extra insulation for more wreaths..score!

 Oh ya... I also used a burlap strip from a coffee bag I got at a local store for $.99. I bought three and don't know what to do with them. If you have any ideas I WANT to know. I also had a white piece of ribbon for the hanger. (P.S. if you look closely I bought glow in the dark glue?! I wonder if my wreath will be a glowing ball of Easter love at night, I'll let you know.)

It's a super easy wreath to make but its really messy and since I am a reckless slob I decided to do this project in the house where it was warm. I paid for this. The fake grass shreds into like a trillion pieces and dusts off in your face. With this said I would probably still do it again in the house cause I would be too lazy to go all the way to the basement. I took about a piece and a half of the insulation and duct taped it together. Then I went CRAZY with my glue gun. I shredded that grass and glued it like a mad women. All in all it took two bags of grass.

And there you have it. All glued up waiting for some decorations. This picture makes it look a bit moss heavy on the right. Hmmm

I added the eggs with the glue gun and I cut a strip of burlap and hung the baby from the door. Mom, aren't you proud. I guess you could say we are ready for the Easter Bunny...