Outdoor Makeover Challenge: The big reveal!

It's finally time!! Kristi from making it in the mountains and myself are so excited for the big reveal of our Outdoor Makeover Challenge! June absolutely flew by as my husband and I hurried to squeeze all of these outdoor projects into our busy schedule, but at the same time, today just couldn't get here fast enough because I was so excited to share everything with you and to see what Kristi has had up her sleeves all this time!
When I first told you about the Outdoor Makeover Challenge, I listed the things I really wanted to incorporate into the our patio space...

• A new outdoor dining set
• A window box under the kitchen window
• An outdoor bar cart
• Colorful accessories

Well, although we didn't quite finish everything we wanted to, I'm happy to say that we did complete everything on our must-have list! So let's see what we ended up with!!

Easy painted bird feeder

Hello everyone! As you know, I'm participating in an Outdoor Makeover Challenge with Kristi from making it in the mountains, and our BIG REVEAL is this Thursday! My husband and I have been working hard to finish up some of the smaller details, like the project I have to show you today!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge: DIY Outdoor Pillows

Hello there! Welcome to week three of the Outdoor Makeover Challenge! I am participating in a budget friendly patio update with my friend Kristi at making it in the mountains. We're bringing you some great outdoor projects and inspiration just in time for summer!

My husband and I have been hard at work on several projects for our patio. I can't wait for you to see the final reveal next week!
Today, I am going to show you the outdoor pillows I made! This is my very first sewing project so bear with me! I got a sewing machine for Christmas that I've been dying to learn how to use, and I'm so excited that I finally got to create something with it! For those of you who already know how to sew, please pretend, for my sake, that this is a really exciting tutorial ;) 

Backyard update: How to kill ivy ground cover

As you know, Pete and I have been working hard on our outdoor space every chance we get! We've had a super busy start to the summer with lots of big events going on, but we've been trying to get as much done as possible outside! As you know, I'm participating in an Outdoor Makeover Challenge with making it in the mountains to fix up our patio space. We also have tons of other outdoor projects we want to do, so I thought I'd share some of our progress so far!

The first thing we did when the whether got warm was clean up our garden beds. There are gardens all the way around the outside of our house so there was lots of weeding and mulching to be done. Most of the gardens have bushes in them, so it wasn't too bad, but the one off our patio was pretty empty, so after weeding, we filled it with some pansies to add some color and hostas to take up space. The butterfly bush was already there as well as the bush on the end. We're not sure what it is, but we learned this year that it should be cut all the way back in the fall! This thing grows like crazy!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge- DIY Window Box

Welcome back to week two of the Outdoor Makeover Challenge! If you missed last week's post, I am participating in a budget friendly makeover challenge along with my fabulous blogging friend Kristi at making it in the mountains. Follow along as both of us work on projects to make our outdoor space better!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge: 3 blogs, 3 outdoor spaces, 1 month

Hello everyone! I have some exciting news today! I am participating in an outdoor makeover challenge! Kristi @ making it in the mountains, Nicci @ Living the Domesticated Life, and myself are doing some budget friendly makeovers of our outdoor spaces! Every Thursday throughout the month of June, we will each post an update of our space with our final reveals being on June 26th!

My husband and I looked at a lot of homes when we were searching for the perfect place. What sold us on this one in particular was primarily the backyard! We're both a little outdoorsy and would much rather relax outside than sitting around indoors. We often pull a big blanket outside and lay in the grass together on sunny afternoons, and we eat dinner outside every chance we get. 
We've had a busy start to the year, but we've been dying to work on our outdoor space so that we can thoroughly enjoy the space that convinced us to buy our home!! We would like to create a relaxing space for us to enjoy that is also great for entertaining! We would love to be able to start hosting BBQ's with friends and family, but currently it would be a bring-your-own-lawn-chair event! Now that we've gotten the busiest month of our summer out of the way, we're excited to get started on some outdoor projects!! 
We've got tons of plans for our backyard, but the space we'll be working on for the Outdoor Makeover Challenge is our patio!

Here's some of our ideas and inspiration.
First, we definitely need some furniture! We would like to get some sort of dining set. If we have enough room, we might add a lounge seating area in the future.

Better Homes & Gardens

I would love to put a window box under the window. Inside the house, the window is right above the kitchen sink, so it would be great to have some pretty flowers to look at from inside too!

Just Grand

We would love to buy or create an outdoor bar cart for serving food and beverages during cookouts!

The Creativity Exchange

We need to find decorative accessories and planters to add color and texture to the space.

The Gingerista

We have so many ideas!!! I can't wait to get started! Check back next Thursday to see what we've been working on!!
Be sure to check out each of our blogs every Thursday and follow us in some way so you don't miss any outdoor updates!! We can't wait to show you our finished spaces!!!
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Fabulous Freebie: Spice Labels

Today I just want to share an amazing freebie I found! Pete and I got a spice rack as one of our wedding gifts, and I've been on the hunt for cute labels for it ever since! I attempted to make my own chalkboard style labels, but my graphic design skills just aren't up to par yet (it was NOT a pretty sight)!!! I found tons of options I could pay for... but really, who wants to pay when you can find something free?!

Then I stumbled across World Label! They have tons of free labels that are perfect for any organizing need!!! If you haven't checked them out before, go ahead! You'll be exploring for hours :)
When we spruced up our kitchen, we used a lot of chalkboard style decor, so I searched for chalkboard spice labels and found these chalkboard kitchen, spice jar, and pantry labels created by Emily McDowell. I like them because they're so unique! Emily hand lettered each word! She has an Etsy shop where she sells more hand lettered creations.
So here's what I did....

World Label sells label sheets to fit their prints, but I chose to use some full sheet labels from Avery because I'm impatient and didn't want to wait for a shipment :) I picked them up at Staples and started right away!

I used a Fiskar circle punch to cut out each label. (If you don't have one of these you need one! It comes in handy! I used it to make thank you tags for our wedding favors and use it to make gift tags all the time!)

Then I wiped down each spice jar with a damp paper towel and let it dry. Be careful not to touch the jars because the natural oils on your hands prevent the labels from sticking well.  I applied the labels and admired how much fancier our spice rack looks!!

There's nothing better than a free fix!! I can't wait to print out the rest of the labels in this set to organize the rest of our kitchen!