I'm uncertain where I saw this idea out there in the big wide internets, but it's not like there are really new ideas anyway. I think it turned out quite cute. Hot glued sheet moss and assorted lumps of moss from my back yard on to a straw wreath form. It looks a little sad when dry, but a quick misting with a squirt bottle and it's beautiful. It is wet enough here that it should grow right to the form.
Our ancient wicker couch decomposed to a pile of sticks this winter, so we picked up a few chairs and an umbrella for our patio. I built a table inspired by these plans from Knock off Wood, using only 3 2x4s.
I spaced out the boards on top about a quarter inch since it is an outdoor table, and eliminated the breadboard ends. The 4x4 legs were replaced with a v-shape made from 2x4s and 2x2s (ripped down on my table saw). The apron pieces were eliminated too; the v-shaped legs attached directly to the top of the table and the support square underneath.
The top was stained and sealed with lots of polyurethane. The legs were painted with my favorite blue from my living room walls then polyurethane. The turquoise looks perfect with the blue umbrella.
We now have the perfect place to sit and enjoy the back yard, for the next two weeks until it gets too hot to go outside :)
Confession: we have an entire spare bedroom in this house that is a disaster. I am showing you these horrible pictures to help shame me into fixing this problem. In our last house the extra room was larger, and we had a locking storage/garage area. Lots of things have been dumped in that room, and many of those things we really don't need.
I was delighted to replace my hideous and uncomfortable couch last fall, but Marc said I couldn't light it on fire so it had just been demoted to the spare room. While living on the beach in Florida we really needed the king-sized guest bed, but people aren't beating down the door to visit us in Alabama so the 12 year old mattress that was run over by a truck (true story!) was just taking up valuable real estate.
The couch was listed on Craigslist one afternoon and was gone by dinner time. The mattress was more difficult, but where I lack a truck to haul it away I make up for in creativity. The box springs were stripped down and the wood cut, so it could be rolled up for transport in the Cruiser. The mattress was stripped down to the wire frame, then cut apart quite awesomely with the my Dremel so we could roll it up in a dangerous parody of a cinnamon roll. All pieces of a king mattress set were disposed of our regular trash can, or recycled.
Left over from all this shredding and cutting were two sheets of eggcrate foam. Using this Instructable, I sewed Monkey a great big beanbag (easy) and shredded two huge sheets of foam to fill it (hard). Did you know you can buy pre-chopped foam? If undertaking this project, I would recommend that; I have very sad blisters from hours of scissor use. The resulting beanbag is amazingly comfy though. Monkey seems thrilled with his big blue "volcano," and our 3rd bedroom is that much closer to being tolerable.
Monkey's knee went through yet another pair of pants, so I sewed him a pair of cargos. This time constructed from poplin found in an actual fabric store, instead of recycled from mystery clothing. I lined the hip pockets with a bright striped fabric that matched the blue perfectly. This seemed like such a great idea I started using it everywhere: all the pockets, pocket flaps, decorative hammer loop thing. I believe the the phrase used when finished was "holy crap." They seem rather bright; maybe it was too much.
He wore them to school (with a vest that I failed to write about earlier) on what probably was the very last cold day this year. Excellent timing. 
Finally Monkey and I got around to taking down our valentine decorations from the wreath on the front door, upgrading to something more spring-y.
Gallery Glass paint also made the window pretty and more private.
Our back door got some love too, and we installed a screen door. How does a house in the South not have screen doors? 
