I’ve always wanted one of these antique garden benches. This year at the Christie Antique show, I kept looking for one in my price range. There were lots of beautiful ones, but nothing cheap enough, cute enough, or in the right colour. I did find some other great things there, but the more benches we looked at, the more my girl friend Allana and I thought we could make one for less. We were contemplating colours and designs, and snapping up pictures to copy. On the way home from the antique show, we spotted a little dealer, just outside of town, and stopped in for one last look. We struck gold. There was a little un-finished bench, and I got it for, I think $35. Allana and I figured we couldn’t buy the wood for that, and I went for it. All that was needed was a coat of paint, in any colour I wanted. It wasn’t old, just a repro. Great I thought, then there’s no guilt around leaving it out in the rain in the garden!

Here it is, before I painted it.

I started out with a couple of coats of white exterior stain. And I was tempted to leave it like this.

But, I always have to guild the lily. So, I’d seen on HGTV shows in the past, that to create a slightly rustic look, you can run a candle along the edges of your piece before you apply your top coat. The wax keeps the top coat from sticking well, and makes it easy to sand off on the edges to create a rustic look. I tried it, and it worked really well.

I put the finished, pink bench along the side of the deck. It has a cute little enamel ware teapot, that I got that day at the Antique fair, and it’s holding a simple pink geranium. It sits along side the muskoka chair, acting as a side table, or extra seating.

Looking down from the new bench, you can see my White Garden, between the pergola and the house. It’s my favourite garden, and although I think it looks better in early summer, it’s got some beautiful things blooming right now too.

The perennial sweet peas are flowering, although they look a little pink. There are a few pink and purple imposters in the white garden, a few that will be moved in the fall, but the sweet peas will stay, they’re almost white. The yellow extension cord is a temporary fix for my new fountain. I can’t resist showing you a picture of it, in a new little garden. It makes a wonderful noise, and pretty view from the deck, seeing it in front of the forest behind.

Back to the white garden, with a view from the house. You can see my flagstone path I created, and the intersecting one is pea gravel. I love the grey and pink colours it adds. Of course the table has a huge water toy set up on it, life with little children! But I know how quickly it passes, so I don’t mind having their toys scattered about these days.

The pergola is of course my very favourite part of the backyard. My amazing brother-in-law, Shaun built it for me, and we had the interlock done. I added the path ways and plants. Although we have a small, pie-shaped backyard, with our neighbours very near, I love the forest behind and the gardens we’ve been about to create. Here’s the view from our upstairs bedroom window. You can see the paths, and the courtyard effect the fence, house and deck create.

The main path leads to the back garden gate.

This little bell like clematis is doing well beside the fence, at the end of the other path.

And the cone flowers are beautiful.

My creamy coloured marigolds are so pretty beside a sweet little birdbath.

It’s amazing how many white flowers there are when you start looking. My mom and I, who started a white garden at the same time as I did, have a great time hunting and exchanging plants and ideas. Have a peek at her white garden here. And although it’s hard to be restrained and only use white, I absolutely love the effect it creates. This was just a little patch of yard, that was seldom used since it sloped down to the fence, and seemed kind of separate from the rest of the yard. Here was the only before picture I could find.

Just some grass and a tree. Now it’s one of my favourite places.

I hope you’re enjoying your garden this summer too.

This post is linked up at Whipperberry, and Tatertots and Jello.

Yesterday I shared some of the great activities, and decor at my little friend Allie’s Farm Themed Birthday Party. Today I want to share with you some of the delicious food we enjoyed.

It was a warm day, but we enjoyed the shade of their large silver maple tree, and some nice cool drinks. There was a great drinks and nibbles area set up for us all to enjoy before lunch.

I love the detail of the mini hay bale, used under the apple juice. Another great idea, “chicken feed” snacks and cow tails!

We enjoyed a great bbq lunch with homemade salads for lunch.

I love the veggie patch! See the toy animals lined up for a taste?

I also thought this way of presenting the cutlery was a great idea, hooked up to the fence in these cute buckets.

After lunch it was time for dessert! Heather, Allie’s mom, created an amazing farm themed dessert table. She started with this sweet backdrop. She made it out of red project cardboard, and added the details with white duct tape! I love the details of her name, the bunting and the hay -shredded paper! It made the perfect background for all the desserts.

There were so many delicious treats!

There were some healthy choices, including apples from the orchard, fresh cherries, and other berries with yogurt dip.

I love the hay bale cookies -rice crispy squares, and the tractor wheels -Oreos!

There were also fun marshmallows -in the party colours.

One of my favourite ideas were these “pie fries”. Heather made french fry like strips of pastry dough, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and packaged in these cute mini paper bags, and served them with blueberry and cherry pie filling as dip!

Of course Heather made her famous sugar cookies, that she makes for all her fabulous parties. I love the barnyard animals, they’re so cute.

And, what’s a party with cake pops these days!

They were enjoyed by all.

Heather also made two birthday cakes, a sweet looking piggy, and a cow!

What a feast we had, it was so much fun.

Happy Birthday Allie, hope you had as much as we did. With you in it, life certainly is a party!

This post is linked up at Whipperberry, and Tatertots and Jello.

Farmer ALLIE had a farm, e, i, e, i, o! And on that farm she had a party….and what a party it was! One of my dearest little friends celebrated her second birthday on the weekend, and her parents created a farm in the backyard for her and all her playmates.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the cutest “farm gate”, and a sweet little straw welcoming wreath created for the occasion.

There was a basket of bandanas at the entrance so we could all look the part!

There was tons of preschool fun to be had. One of the first activities was helping Rosie the Hen find her eggs, kinder eggs that had been hidden around the garden.

There was a pony stable, for riding.

There was a duck pond to play in.

There was also a fruit stand, with scented fruit balls to play with.

There was a cow yard, to bounce in.

There was a great farm themed water table for a little water play -Ethan was enjoying it!

My favourite was the “petting zoo”, created with stuffed toys and garden fencing! I love the mini hay bale detail too!

And for extra fun, a sheep pen too!

There was also a wonderful craft area on the deck.

How cute are these containers holding the craft supplies!

There were a variety of fun farm themed crafts to choose from.

The activities created great decor, and a farm yard atmosphere. There was also a sweet clothesline of photos of the birthday girl, over the past 2 years. They were clipped by these cute chicken clips.

It was a wonderful afternoon of playing, eating, and celebrating together. Tomorrow I’ll share the AMAZING dessert table with you!

This post is linked up at Skip to my Lou.

I was raised by campers, but then I married a non-camper. He’s made up for it by taking me on vacations where you stay in a nice hotel -so I can’t complain. But, this summer, we’ve actually been camping! This is already our third time out, and we’re considering actually investing in a tent next (thanks to the family and friends that have helped us out with loaners up until now). Last week my husband had to work, but 3 other moms, and all 8 of our kids headed out for a couple nights of tenting at Coburg Beach, a great beach about an hour away.  Here’s just a few of our crew, waiting to head back to the beach.

One of the other moms, my friend Kendra, had this great camping box, and I thought you all might like this idea too.

It’s a tackle box, and kitted out with everything you need in your camping kitchen!

Inside are all the treasures. One of the coolest little things, is old film canisters, turned into spice holders. The salt and pepper are also film canisters, with special lids.

She also had some sugar and cinnamon.

There was camping cutlery, as well as a mini wisk, and some serving pieces, and a measuring spoon and 1/4 cup.

There was also some dish soap, restaurant sugars, and moist towelets, a mini sewing kit, bullion cubes, twist ties, candles, matches and bag clips.

What a great idea. Any restaurant take-out items, like mustard, relish and ketchup, or peanut butter, jam, or honey small packages would also be good. Or maybe some tea bags, or a film canister of instant coffee, and coffee whitener. And for the spice lover, how about a mini bottle of Tabasco sauce and some red chilli flakes! Anything non-perishable and small that your family likes could be added!

Thanks for the great idea Kendra (and Greg!). Life is a party, even when you’re camping if you pack a little sugar and spice!

Some of my oldest and dearest friends live in Haliburton, which is a good couple of hours away from us here in Toronto, so we don’t get to see them too often. This weekend while we were up there we spent a few days with them, and had a great time together. One day after spending the afternoon swimming, boating and drinking, like you do in Haliburton, my friend Leanne made us a beautiful veggie crepe bar, all while juggling a three month old baby and all of us. It was delicious -didn’t even miss the meat, although it would be a great meal for a mixed dinner party too, since it was build your own.

She made a big stack of yummy crepes.

And then there were toppings galore.

There were sauteed mushrooms.

There was veggie chicken.

There was steamed broccoli, and asparagus, there was hummus and nut spread, and some carrots and cucumbers.

There were some lovely combinations. My fav was the veggie chicken asparagus, hummus and mushrooms.

And then it was time for a little sweet -blueberries, raspberries and Haliburton maple syrup. Yum!

What a wonderful night of great food, and great company. Worth the drive to Haliburton -thanks Leanne, Dan, Sadie and Duncan!