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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Project and Cool Tape Trick

This project under the apricot tree has taken up all of our weekend and the past few days.  Since nothing but weeds will grow in the shade of the gargantua apricot tree, we decided it was time to turn the eye-sore into a place of beauty.  We had to dig down 8 inches to make room for the gravel and sand.


After laying down weed barrier, we brought in gravel.  This handsome guy is my son-ion-law, Andy the Younger. (Yeah, it can be confusing to have 2 Andys in the family)  We invited our family to the parade on the 24th then recruited them to help!  We couldn't have done it without them! 


After tamping down the sand, we're ready for the jig-saw puzzle with the flag stones.


Here's Andy the Elder taking a 30 second break from the hot, grueling work.


A little bit of moss between the stones and we're ready to use this patio extension.  We'll need an umbrella though, not for the shade, but to protect us from falling apricots!


Now for the cool tape trick.  My good friend, Joan, (she's the one who invited me to China) brought over some beautiful sunflowers for my birthday.  She used a trick to make it easier to arrange the flowers.   


She made a grid on top of the vase with scotch tape.  Isn't that cool?  It holds the flowers in place and you don't need a smaller vase or more flowers to make a beautiful bouquet. I decided to make an arrangement using the tape and some gladiolas from my yard.  I'd suggest putting your water in the vase first. 


Ta-da! 


Have a lovely day!

25 comments:

Kerin said...

Wow! The project turned out fabulous! It will be nice to be able to just spray off the dropped apricots too :)
Love the tape trick! Love the sunflowers too !!
By the way.... we were totally going to the 'field is ready to harvest'. Glad you noticed :)
Have a great day. Hope you do something fun!!

Brenda said...

Your flower arrangement is beautiful! I am SO going to use that tape trick next time!!!
And the flagstone under your tree is awesome!!! Nice WORK!!

Julie Harward said...

That looks so nice...what an improvement, it'll be so fun to have it to enjoy. Good ideas with the pretty flowers too :D

Valerie said...

What a great idea for arranging flowers. Your gladiolas are beautiful!
The apricot tree makeover turned out fantastic.

Kristina P. said...

The stones look awesome! You guys did a great job.

And I found out about the tape trick at a friend's wedding last year, where she did Gerber daisies.

Kelly said...

I am totally going to use that tape trick! Your patio looks lovely. Hope you enjoy it for the remainder of summer.

Jenny said...

Your new patio area looks wonderful.
I am going to remember the tape trick. Thanks for not keeping it a secret and passing it along.

Luann said...

I LOVE your newly expanded patio.

And I'm totally going to use the tape trick. :)

Darla said...

Wow, the new patio looks great! Love all the flowers, I have enjoyed your glads on my morning walks. Necessity IS the mother of invention! The many uses of scotch tape, it is becoming the housewives equalivant of duck tape :-).

D

CB said...

That trick with the tape is super cool - That would work SO good!!
The sunflowers are beautiful!

Your new patio extension turned out freaking AWESOME :D It is really beautiful and will be so useful too! Way to go!

gigi said...

I love, love your new patio under the tree! Way cool but I CAN TELL IT WAS A LOT OF WORK.

That is an awesome scotch tape trick, I for sure will be using that one.

Unknown said...

love what you did in your backyard! i will remember the tape trick next time i get a bunch of flowers from costco, cause i don't grow any pretty ones. maybe i could arrange the weeds in my yard. hey that's a great idea! thanks for the tip!

Tracy said...

Amazing!! It looks simply amazing!! LOVE it!!

When a project is all done, it's always worth the work!!

Kazzy said...

I love the pavers. Nice work!

Teachinfourth said...

You have added to much character to your yard with that new patio area…it looks awesome.

animal print gal said...

I love your new patio, I would love one like it!

THE BADGERS said...

The patio looks awesome! And that SIL sure is handsome.

Camille said...

wooHOO! They turned out great! And I need those gladiolas!!

Joanie said...

The patio looks great. I bet you and Andy are happy that is finished.
Glad you like the flowers!!

Doran & Jody said...

OOh Ooh! I love the patio AND the tape trick!

Can I invite your family down for a BBQ? I have a project that needs doing too!

Marilyn said...

Andy the Younger. Hilarious! (your patio and flowers look wonderful too!)

Melissa Miller said...

It looks very pretty! :)

Yvonne said...

Great idea.

Love the patio makeover.

Valerie said...

Are both Andy's available for work in my yard? Your patio extention is beautiful!! Love it!!
And that is a great idea for flowers!! Brilliant! :)

Whatever Dee-Dee wants said...

The patio looks great!
I love that tape trick.