How a monster face became a classic garden sculpture: my latest (crazy) DIY project

If you clicked on to this post title you are:

A. a gardener with a strange fixation for anything-Halloween
B. a person who often loses control of her wildly creative impulses
C. someone who thought, "what the hell is this post about?"
D. all of the above

Well, whatever your answer I'm glad you're here.

And I promise, you will leave here knowing how I transformed a monster face to go perfectly with my Fall front door.

(Sigh, doesn't that last sentence sound so wonderfully weird  Halloweenish?)

Well friends, it's not every day that I decide to try to make one of those classic, concrete garden statues but
if you read my last post, you know that I'm guest-posting over at Hello Lovely Studio this coming week, and since Michele and her readers love the style of classic European homes, I had to think of a post they would like.

Since my own front door was without a single Fall decoration, and since I really wanted to impress Michele with a warm, welcoming entry, I came up with this idea for a guest post:

 "3 ways to add French charm to your Fall front door."

Sound good?

For my guest post --I'll be showing you my front door with:  

1. my DIY vintage French sign
2. my gilded Old World pumpkins
3. a DIY classic garden statue

Meanwhile, welcome to 'classic garden statue' day.

Here we go...so the big question I always have after I get one of my 'great' ideas is, "Can it be done?"

Which seems sort of important. (dark humor)

Can I really make one of those aged, moss-tinged beauties that I envision when I think of the gardens of old European homes?

Well friends.

Today I'm sharing the results of my DIY garden sculpture ... and yes, it worked.

(minus the "moss-tinged" part)

I actually tested out and confirmed that you can indeed put fast-drying mortar mix on to Styrofoam and get it to stick.
Translation: you can do this too!

But first things first.

To get my confidence going, I had to Google (what did we do before Google?)  until I found someone who did a variation of what I wanted to do and saw the word "mud pies" to describe the consistency of the concrete, and I was off running to Home Depot to buy the product I was already familiar with.

Next I had to find a Styrofoam 'sculpture' that I wanted for my two matching urns, and since it's so close to Halloween I decided to add a fun touch to my front door by using a head. Yes, I imagined a Old World head coming out of my pretty flower-filled urn.

How's that for a perfect little nod to Halloween?

But here's the problem I faced. All the Styrofoam heads that are commonly sold in stores actually tilt to one side. I know. These are actually details I spend time thinking about, but back to my dilemma: a tilting head would not look right as a garden sculpture. 

So I got on Google again, found the perfect male Styrofoam heads, calculated how much money it would cost to expedite shipping, and decided THAT option was dead.

Unfortunately I was back to square one. With the tilted heads.

So I headed back to my original store and walked up and down the aisles looking totally perplexed
(if you're a DIYer you know this look)
and BAM! I had apparently roamed down the Halloween aisle and found myself staring at the most beautiful monster Styrofoam head ever and ...here's the crucial part:

1. It was NOT tilted.
2. It was MALE and
3. It was DIRT-CHEAP! 

I bought this additional Styrofoam block for the head to complete my "classic head form" and used a thin dowel to connect both.

Ahhh... so perfect.

Ok, if you're going to do this make sure you wear gloves. I also kept the mortar-water mixture on the runny side while blending, then I could squeeze out the excess water if needed.

Basically you work in layers. Keep squinting with the water bottle until the consistency blends with the previous layer.

But I'll be honest, at his point I had the worst-sinking feeling when I took this picture. 

I was actually thinking, "OMG... is this going to work?!"

And about now I'm thinking, "Michele's readers are gonna think I am SO nuts!"  

(My readers already know that ha)

But heck, once I got started I was actually curious to see how it would turn out. I got a light coat on the first one before I started slathering the second head with the mortar mix. The second head ended up being slightly more defined. 

I realized that first coat needs to be a really light one --almost transparent--before you add more layers.

I used that water bottle to keep squinting it--it helps it cure a little more slowly although it was cool and damp outside and I wasn't too worried about it cracking. Here it is still wet.

The next morning. Ta daaaa!

Since I finished my heads I have stumbled on some ways to "age" new garden statues so they look even more authentic. If I had time I would try it.

Meanwhile, here's a peek at these garden head statues in my urns. 

And here's a glimpse with my version of 'Old World' pumpkins too.

Don't forget to check back with Hello Lovely Studio to see my entire front door reveal including the vintage French sign, I'm so happy with how it turned out.

thank you so much for your visit, 
xo
Leslie
  
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DIY ....Easy Pumpkin Centerpiece

Well it finally happened! I always say I'm a turtle livin' in a hare world.

But I've been walking around happily in denial about the passing of summer, without any urge to eat or drink anything pumpkin, no hint of autumn pillows on my couch yet, and not one thought of buying a single pumpkin .......and all-of-a sudden-BAM! It just hit me.

Fall. It's really here guys..and here's my proof: this is my very first pumpkin of the season.

Ta daaaa!!

So what do you do with your first pumpkin anyway?

This is what I did.

I cobbled together a few things:

One vintage copper colander (gotta love those thrift stores)

a couple small ramekins 

Mums and Carnations

green florist foam

and Spanish Moss

And decided to make a very casual little centerpiece, maybe for a breakfast or lunch table.

...lots of holes mean a good job lining it 

(hint: I sort of rushed this part)

I put my foam around the ramekin and soaked it. You could use a small bowl too for the height. I added a second ramekin for this purpose.

The rest is easy.

When you're all finished fill the spaces with Spanish Moss and it's ready for your table

See? It's very simple but I'm loving the warmth of the copper.

And once I saw it finished I instantly craved a table with some plaid fabric, wicker, mason jars, wooden bowls and Carol's home-made numerical napkins which remain one of my favorite gifts ever.

.

But I'll have to show you my table next time since I'm heading into picture overload here.

Happy Friday friends,

xo

Leslie

this is what I’ve been doing…

Last night I was laying in bed thinking about the blog title I should use for this post.

First I thought about My Fall Home Tour. Only I wonder if I’m too late for that post since I’m already hearing Christmas music in the stores

(Can you believe that? And it’s not even Thanksgiving yet! Please tell me.Whatever happened to enjoying each season?)

OK side rant finished.

I also thought this was a nice title: A few of my Favorite Changes.

Because I do have lots of updated house projects to show you and I really like how things are looking around here.

 

But somehow nothing captures these last crazy, whirlwind weeks. Maybe Nesting on Steroids? Hmm… too strange? Well the truth is, I still can’t believe it’s already been more than a month since we decided to move and do you know what?

I’ve still got my sleeves rolled up and I’m still checking off projects from my list. Yep.

 

(I found this toile fabric in the back of my cupboard and sewed these pillows. Kirsten- -a BFF  and our realtor-- told me I needed color on my couch)

De-cluttering, organizing, painting, fixing, sewing, hot gluing…It’s true that some of these projects are required for selling our home, but honestly, some of the styling and extra touches are simply because it’s me. It’s how I express myself… I guess I just like to make pretty rooms.

Magnolia leaves and oranges ( inside my old window box)

replacing the apples, berries and candles..

The funny thing is, even though I’m incredibly busy I’m not harried. Instead, I seem to be having a lot of contented moments while being immersed in my projects. The best part of this kind of busy work is that it allows me time for reflection.

 

 

via

I’m totally aware that this strange, transitional time happens to be my Life right now.

So I’m actually trying to relish it all. Even this in-between period with all its unknowns.

Now each day in my home feels special; I’m conscious of the warm, comfy feeling I have inside these walls because I know I’m leaving them soon.

“Letting go” of something does that. It transforms us from within. It’s like wiping our smudgy glasses and putting them back on; suddenly ordinary things in our life appear larger and colored with meaning as if our vision has been affected. But it’s really our hearts that have been changed.

I feel this way with my parents. All of a sudden, a mundane trip to Home Depot or a cup of coffee over my kitchen island feels like a tender, picture-worthy moment. So I’m taking more IPhone photos lately because it’s the simple things I don’t want to forget. Do you know what I mean?

When we look back on our time with our friends and family, have you noticed that it’s the tiny moments that stand out in our minds? A certain facial expression. Something that was uttered during a random conversation. A shared moment of laughter. The way someone said your name.

Whatever is happening in your life, I hope you try to be fully present in it because there’s a whole lot of special moments in both the good and the bad times--that offer us the chance to grow into something different. A slower, wiser version of who we are now.

“I’m just happy to be here.”  I saw this on a bumper sticker and it’s my new mantra. Bumper sticker wisdom. Isn’t it great?

My big regret lately is that I’ve been away from the computer for long stretches of time and it’s  hard to keep up with my blogging. And I miss it. I miss all of you.

So.

How do you catch up with an old friend? Let’s see. If we were sitting over a steaming cup of coffee I could simply tell you what I’ve been doing but since we’re in front of a screen, how about I just show you what’s been keeping me busy?

Patrick’s old room updated.  Here’s the pillow I sewed after I fell in love with this fabric.

 

Yesterday I made this magnolia wreath to hang on the window since I don’t have curtains in here. I had no idea what I was doing….

but fresh Magnolia leaves + hot glue gun + old burlap wreath =

this

I love Magnolia leaves don’t you?

Here’s Michael’s old room-Before photo

After photo

I actually had those celadon green curtains folded in my linen drawer from another decorating phase of mine. I finally know what it means to “shop your home” for new stuff. It’s amazing what I’m finding.

For the other side of Michael’s room, I needed a lamp to go next to a chair

so I turned this old, yucky thing from this into this:

courtesy of a can of spray paint and a new shade

I gave these three walls a fresh new coat of touch up paint in the upstairs attic room.

 

I made this moss green letter “H”….

to get ready for Christmas…

( I promise to show you how I made this)

I stained this stool and plank wood a dark walnut to finish styling my Master bathroom. (I’ll show more photos later)

 

I planted my Paperwhites. Two entire packs of them in this metal container …

because I like this look.

The only problem is.. I hate tossing out old plants and since I still had a little ivy plant in my container  I decided to make a quick topiary with a clothes hanger.

 

 

 

my clothes hanger topiary…

 

Oh my goodness. I have SO much more to share but I’ve already put too many pictures in this post. I’ll be writing more now that I’m winding down on these house projects…Only a few more things and we’re ready to list it.

Right now I’m loving number seven on this list.

Which one is grabbing your attention?

xoxo

Leslie

 

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