School Buses and Wreaths

You may have noticed through a few pictures on here or by driving by our house that we've been slowly trying to make some updates to the outside, also known as the-yard-that-looks-like-no one-lives-there or the-yard-where-kids-toys-grow, because that's what it sometimes feels like. We spent the past 8 months working diligently on the inside of our house and haven't done too much to the outside. Alas! That is starting to change. 

My first few updates were just to brighten up the outside, starting with painting our exterior doors a fun yellow. Daniel kindly refers to it as School Bus Yellow or School Yard Yellow. Others, who obviously have much better taste, compliment me on the brightly colored door. It was a bold choice but that's exactly what I was aiming for - something different. But first let's talk about what it looked like when we first bought the house. Yep. Pretty bad. Do you even see a door?!

The tree is removed, leaving us with a big bald patch, and the shrubs are also gone. I'll be back with more about that later, once we finish a project we've been working on for a few weeks. But I'm digressing...back to the front door...here it is with a coat of Sherwin Williams Decisive Yellow. Name sort've fits me, don't you think?  Maybe that's what drew me to it! 

I absolutely love the color and love that it's different. Not something you can see on every other house like the red, navy, hunter green, black or the other "safe colors" as I like to call them. 

But let's talk about that wreath for a moment...

I realized that after taking down my Valentine Wreath that I didn't really have anything to put up for Spring and Easter. So off to Hobby Lobby I went. I had a few ideas in mind for options. I looked up a few on Pinterest and decided to keep it simple. 

Here is how to make one of the easiest wreaths. 

Materials: 

1. straw wreath 
2. ribbon (3 spools got me around the wreath plus more for the bow)
3. hot glue

Start with your straw wreath and I chose NOT to take the plastic wrapper off. You can see it wasn't very expensive, only $4.99. 

Glue one end of the ribbon to the wreath then tightly wrap it around and around, having the edges slightly overlap.  

When you get finished with one spool, simply glue it down and then start with another. You will repeat this until the entire wreath is covered. Foolishly I thought two spools would do and panicked followed by me frantically running around Hobby Lobby until I found the last one left. So buy three spools of wired ribbon and avoid the drama and maybe even some crazy "does she have rabies" looks from other customers. 

Once that's done, all you have to do is either make a bow or buy a bow and viola! I chose to make a bow using 4-5 different ribbons so it was nice and colorful. Any florist could also help you make a bow if that's not your forte. 

The best thing about this type of wreath is that you can make one for any occasion...
       Memorial Day/Fourth of July - red, white and blue
       Baby Shower - pinks or blues
       Football Season - pick your team's colors

Really, the sky's the limit! 

Now since then my lovely friends have given me a custom monogrammed wooden wreath which I painted a watermelon color (another bold choice I'm told). I absolutely love it and now have it hung with a suction cup wreath holder (the big, black Hi-I'm-holding-this-wreath-up holder wasn't doing it for me). 

I put a grapevine wreath behind it to add depth (and to keep it from knocking on my door every time we opened and closed it.) I need to get a bigger grapevine but I wanted to test this one out first. 

Overall I just love how much happier the bright yellow doors make the house feel. 

I loved it so much that I actually painted the back door last week. It was not part of the original plan but I had leftover paint and decided the plain white wasn't inspiring or cheerful. This door is open all the time so the dogs have access to the backyard through their doggy door. It was just sort of bleh when it was open. But now...

Cheery! I can now enter the kitchen and see a happy yellow instead of bleh. Look how much happier and colorful it is now! 

(cue Pharrell's Happy video)

You may have noticed the eyesore grey concrete floor on our side porch. I have plans to paint this over the summer once I figure out the best process and materials. Anyone else painted over a painted concrete floor with any success? I'm all ears! 

It looks like this now...

Not really attractive or the best color...but baby steps. In the meantime, I'll keep smiling when I see my happy yellow doors and cheery flowers!