Random Pics and Easy Halloween Decor

Here are just some random pictures I've been meaning to post.

This year our garden produced a lot of peppers, tomatoes, some zuchini, and even a couple of pumpkins...but our favorite thing was the watermelons! Neither of us had ever grown watermelons before and it was so fun to watch them go from a small pod to something so large. We will definitely be growing watermelon from now on!



We also recently celebrated Courtney's birthday. We had a fun time getting together as a family and, as always, eating lots of good food!



Finally, here's just a quick idea for a Halloween decoration. I bought these orange candles from Ikea for .99 each. I used some black letter-stickers that I had to spell out "BOO" and the pedestals the candles are sitting on are actually just cups turned upside down with a black ribbon around the top. I then got some leaves from the dollar store and spray-painted them black to put around the base of the cups. For spending $4 I don't think it turned out too bad.

Back Porch Reveal--This is for you, mom!

The last "room" in our house to be redone was our screened-in porch. It sat, unloved, for several years after we moved in and, while we kept thinking about fixing it up, we never actually got around to it. Several things deterred us--the general dilapidation, the dirtiness, and the bugs. However, we finally got the motivation to finish it and are so happy with the results.

{FYI: The reason this post is dedicated to my mother is because she has LOVED our porch and begged us to finish it every since she first saw it. She's been looking forward to having it redone more than we have I think but it was her excitement that gave us the motivation to finish it.}

Here are some before pictures of the porch. The floor was green and I don't think anything had been repainted since the house was first built in 1941. All the paint was chipping, the ivy was growing through the screens, the ceiling fan was rusted and only had one working light, and everything was just dirty!






We started the process by cutting down all the ivy and scrubbing EVERYTHING. We took an entire day {and a half a box of brillo pads} just to clean and we couldn't believe how much better everything looked afterwards.

Then we started painting!

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the left side of the board has been painted and the right side hasn't. There was a stark contrast in how dirty the old paint had become compared to our new coat of white paint.


David even painted the ceiling...in the dark...without any lights...because we had taken the fan down. I love my husband!


Instead of buying a rug for outside we used painter's tape to make a border on the floor. We painted two coats of white, put down the painters tape, and then painted over that to seal the tape. Once we painted the floor, we took the tape off and have a border!


It was all a little bit of a messy process.


David even learned how to install a new ceiling fan!


And the best part is...it has a remote. So cool!


When everything was installed, cleaned, and painted....and painted again....switched the paint color and painted again....one more time.....THEN I got to decorate.



I got the idea for this wreath from my sister-in-law. I just bought a cheap straw wreath form and glue-gunned kidney beans on it in a circular pattern. It didn't take as long as I thought it would {two sessions of general conference} and the result turned out really fun!








Now all we need is for mom to come visit so she can see it in person!