More than just cleaning...

I've always said I do more than just cleaning, but every now and again I like to take a moment and SHOW you the possibilities...

This is a photo of the outside of my apartment from about a month ago when I started planting flowers in the beds down the side of the house...

This is a photo when I had that bed planted and was trying to decide what to do with the barren mess closer to the left side of the photo.

This is what it looks like now. There are some close-ups of the blooms below. 

The whole area will be blooming with pink and red roses before the summer is over, 

and they will continue to come back every year!

A few hours of work
Two trips to the home improvement store
30 bricks (Sale price .58 each)
12 bags of rock (Sale price $2 each)
  1 roll of weed block ($9)
  4 new rose bushes ($14 each)
  2 transplanted rose bushes that aren't taking off yet (free)

I did the work and my landlord split the costs with me.
Overall I'm pretty happy with it! I love pulling into my driveway and seeing blooming flowers!

These are the flowers my youngest gave me for Mother's Day, planted around a small ornamental tree that my son is growing from a cutting off of a tree in my mom's yard!

The roses in the front are called Double Knockout Roses. Almost impossible to kill, easy to care for, and absolutely gorgeous!

Here is the newly planted Double Knockout Rose Bush just a week after planting.

The blooms are beautiful!

The red foliage on these plants is new growth. These bushes can grow to three feet 

wide and high if now pruned back periodically.

Have an idea for your yard but no time to execute it? How about a yard and some time, but no ideas?

No problem... you can Hire A Housewife for that too!

Hanging a Picture Collage

 Have you ever looked at the home decorating magazines and wondered,  

"How in the heck did they make that look so beautiful?"

 

 I can answer that... professional designers, professional lighting and Photoshop!

Still, some things from those magazines can be accomplished if you have a plan of action. 

Today, I'm sharing my photo collage secrets....

It isn't easy... but it is worth it!

First of all, it is not a good idea to just start putting nails in your wall. It might seem like you can just pick a favorite picture to be the focal point and start placing other pictures around it. 

I promise you will end up with a lot of holes in your wall and a mess of pictures.

 What you need is a plan...

MATERIALS LIST:

Paper

Tape

Pencil

Tape measure

Level

Measure all of the frames that you want to hang and make a piece of paper that matches the measurements for each frame.

Take the paper and tape to the wall and hang the papers as if they were the frames.

Here is the first try I made at a client's house last week (pictures used with permission)...

 

 

 It wasn't quite right, so I moved a few of the papers around until I found a good balance...

 I used my cell phone to take several pictures as I rearranged things and flipped through them until I found the best one. 

Next, you pick a paper rectangle and put in your first nail. 

Nail? Yes. Nail. What about those nifty Velcro strips they make these days?

In this case, they would have been a disaster.

 Apparently, standing on the stairs while arranging pieces of paper on the wall, confuses your sense of balance and direction a bit.

Those papers were actually hung at an angle...

Thankfully, once I put a nail in the wall and hung the first picture, gravity straightened things out for me... and the rest came together quite nicely.

I was so happy with the finished product that I took this picture before I cleaned all the tools and papers off of the steps!

*TIP: Take a look at the bottom, right-hand corner of the five bottom photos. Using a ruler and level,

 I measured 14" up from the hand rail and drew a line in pencil all the way up the wall. 

Making the angle of the bottom of the collage match the angle of the staircase really 

enhances the overall look of the finished product.

"And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” 2 Samuel 7:28-29 ESV

Special thanks to the client who let me use these pictures for my blog post!