Bunk Bed Ladder Turned Outdoor Planter

 

One of the greatest things about having adult children is that they tend to use your garage as a storage facility.  Well, my husband wouldn't consider that one of the greatest things, he loves his children dearly but grimaces every time they move out of an apartment or dorm room.  He knows our garage will be filled again with extra bed frames, tables and boxes of unknown goodies.  I, on the other hand, welcome all the new (or should I say old and second hand) treasures.  Now, just to be fair, I always ask the kiddos if I can saw, sand or rip apart their belongings before I start my transformations.  They usually say yes, after all their father and I purchased most of what returns to the garage.  So, when I asked my almost college grad daughter if I could have the ladder to her former loft bed, after looking at me like I was crazy, she said yes!

My Beautiful City

I love San Diego. Some days I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming when I'm
walking downtown.  I thought I would share some pictures I took one afternoon when my daughter and I took a few minutes to walk along the harbor.

Tuesday Treasury List ~ Fairwell to Cairo.....For Now

With Tuesday, comes another Tuesday Treasury List at Hartley Rowe. I found some amazing pictures and maps of Cairo, my son's latest destination. It was his home for four months, and may be again someday soon. Click on the links below to meet the amazing Etsy artists who created these beautiful pictures or to meet the curators of the vintage maps and prints. I love Etsy!

'Farewell to Cairo.....for now.' by hartleyrowe

My son is headed home from Cairo. He may be returning there to start his career.... or off to another global destination. Stay tuned to see what Treasury List my children's travels inspire me to create next!

Memorial Day, A Time for Remembrance and Thanks

  

The picture above is of a portrait of my uncle who served in World War II.  He gave the ultimate sacrifice in July 1945.  He was serving in the Pacific Campaign ~ and was so very close to being able to come home to be  reunited with his darling bride and young son.  

Pictures From My Garden

                  

Three day weekends bring us the extra time to do special projects around the house.  This three day weekend did just that ~ a full day in the garden.  While I love having the extra day, I try very hard not to forget why we're having such a wonderful weekend.  I'll have a post to honor our brave service members of the military who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and those still serving, on Memorial Day.

For today's post, I thought I would post  a few pictures that I took on this glorious day here in sunny San Diego...from my very own backyard.  I thought I would have some fun and show some more of the wonderful tools Picasa 3 has to offer.  Take a look at the before and after photos below.  I've also added the Picasa 3 tool that was used to edit each one.  If you have any questions about the program or want to read more, you can check out my earlier post, Picasa 3, Meet San Francisco.

                 

                     

 For the picture above, I chose the "Vignette" tool. 

                                       

   

The tool above was the "Focal Zoom"

The tool used for this picture is "Holga-ish".  I love the vintage feel it gives to the setting.

                    

   The tool used for the jasmine picture above is "Boost". I like      how it clarifies the petals and leaves.

This fun tool is called "Pencil Sketch"!

  

I used two tools for the picture above.  First I added text with the "text" tool. 

Then I applied the "Boost" feature.  My husband and I thought this little succulent looked like

an alien calling out for help :)

                      

For the beautiful rose above, I added the "Focal Black & White" 

tool as well as the "Glow" feature.

I love it!

         

        The tool above is the "Polaroid" tool.  You can even choose your background color!

For the roses here, I used the "Lomo-ish" tool.  It's another

vintage inspired feature.

                      

The lighting was very poor for the picture of the perfect peach above.  I used the "1960's" tool first, 

followed by the "Cross Process" feature.  I think it sharpened the picture and brought it into

focus.  Now the perfect peach looks ripe enough for tonight's dessert :)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our garden.  They were made even better by the addition of all the great Picasa 3 tools.  If you've read many of my posts you know I'm a Google nut.  Picasa 3 is just one of the reasons why I love Google so much!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

~ Alison

Tuesday's Treasury List - A Farewell to Madrid

I found these beautiful Madrid creations while "window shopping" at Etsy.com. I thought I would create this treasury list in celebration of our daughter's homecoming from studying abroad. She loved Madrid!

'A Farewell to Madrid' by hartleyrowe

My daughter is heading home on Thursday. She's saying goodbye to Madrid, Spain, her home for the past four months. She made great friends and had great adventures as she studied abroad. I'm so happy she had this experience....

Treasury tool by StylishHome.