Succulent Gourds

When I saw these potted succulents , they reminded me a little bit of some patterns on ancient pottery I saw at the Louvre in Paris, so I went to dig up the photos: 

I took pictures of the pottery pieces because I was attracted to the patterns painted on them.  

The artist of these potted succulents, Melanie, grows theses gourds, dries them, burns the designs on the gourds, and finishes them off with succulent arrangements. Each of them are one of a kind and a pleasing combination of pattern, color, and shape. They are beautiful.

Melanie says the gourds do take up room, but are easy to grow, and the greenery is beautiful as the plant grows.

If you are interested in these gourds, as Melanie does sell these, send me an e-mail and I will get more information for you.

San Diego Floral Association 2012 Garden Tour

Over the weekend...

I volunteered for the San Diego Floral Association's garden tour in Point Loma. The weather started out overcast then turned into a beautiful 75 degree sunny day. For the few hours I manned my station, I greeted lovely people who were just as enthused about seeing beautiful gardens as I was. For volunteering, I was allowed to visit the other six gardens that were on the tour. Her are some photos...

The cottage

Wow. Great color for a piano. I want it.

 The piano was a in very large estate and the owners not only invited guest through the gardens, but into part of their home as well.

They had a thing for Dr. Suess

This was the room where Jimmy Carter stayed in 

Can you believe all these wind chimes? 

I wonder what it sounds like when it gets really windy.

A vegetable garden that supplies a local Thai restaurant 

This view from this home was pretty amazing. You can see the harbor, and beyond that is downtown San Diego and the Coronado bridge in the haze to the right.

That was a fun tour. I'll definitely do it again next year.

Chevron trend on the Cheap!

Months ago, I picked up this full sized chevron print sheet at a thrift store for $1.95. Yes,  under two bucks for fabric, that's hard to beat. The chevron trend is everywhere now, so I thought I'd better do something with it before I'm over it. 

I have begun with the simplest idea, an envelope pillow.

Here it goes...

I started with 3 pieces of the fabric. First piece was 16 x 16, the size of the pillow. I didn't allow any extra for the seam so the the pillow would look stuffed. Next piece was 8 x 16, then 12 x 16. These two are for the back. On each of these two, I had hemmed one side that was 16 inches.

Here is the 16 x 16 face up.

Then the two back sides are laid on top, right sides down, hemmed sides overlapping.

I placed some pins to hold it in place, then sewed around the entire perimeter.

I turned it right side out and stuffed it with my pillow.

So, while scouring the thrift stores and garage sales, I scan the linens and clothing, not necessarily to use them for what they are made for, but to use them for easy projects like these envelope pillows.

Compare this blue chevron pillow (dry clean only...yeah right), which is over $50 plus shipping from Overstock.com (which I love), $1.95 plus the Ikea down insert was around $7,  makes it $8.95. I still have left over fabric, which may end up on my dining room chairs.