Mary Welling-Bonney's Blog

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

Why not make it easier on yourself. I like to add a gift bag filled with wrapped items I picked up at the dollar store. They have a lot of items that keep kids busy for hours. We recently went on a five hour drive with a four year old. You can bet I was armed with my goodie bag.

One of my favorites are dry erase markers. They wipe off of almost everything so there is little chance of your car being destroyed. I also bring empty brown lunch bags and we make puppets and create a puppet show. If your dollar store doesn't have dry erase writing boards, pick up some vinyl placemats. The kids can write all over them in the car and while waiting for meals. Then when you need a placemat you have one. You can use tissue for an eraser.

Most kids spend a great deal of time at daycare during the normal week and our four year old is no exception. We took him to a cabin in the great outdoors. We offered him all sorts of attractions in the area. The only thing he wanted was time. He wanted one on one time. I was so glad I brought everything from beads to playdough.

His favorite things he talked about the whole way home were the simple things we did together in the cabin.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

If you have looked it the stores for trellises, you will notice while there are some very nice ones, overall they tend to look alike.

Crafters as a rule are not looking for mainstream ideas. We are not excited about having the same thing in our yard as everyone of our neighbors. We tend to look for the ideas that add character, texture, possibly color and most definitely interest.

I needed a trellis recently and had done the bamboo and either didn't like what was offered in the store or couldn't get over the shell shock on the price of the ones I did like. So as a die hard crafter I had no choice but to come up with my own.

It didn't need to be larger. In fact a smaller trellis would work best. The vines were not large yet but where being stepped on so time was of the essense.

I had recently done an article on using an old wooden window frame as a picture frame. I love the look of the old window frame and decided to use it in the garden.

I had a few left over stakes. The stakes were screwed into the bottom area on each side of the window frame and it was pushed into the ground. That's it. It doesn't get a whole lot easier.

I like it so much I may move it around the garden when I don't need it for the vines until I find a spot that could use a divider just that size.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

I am going to be building one these in the next few weeks and plan to include photos and all of the project directions for you. Look around your yard and see if you have a tree that would be perfect for this project.

I will be sharing directions for a hexagonal bench that is about six feet in diameter when finished. It will accomodate a tree about two feet in diameter and allow for a small garden area between the seat and the tree.

Years ago my husband made a small planter around this tree using landscape timbers stacked 2 high that was about 4' X 4'. The problem came when the tree grew. One side of his square got pushed out of position by the growing tree and the roots made it difficult to grow much in this shallow space.

Because of the problems, we have an opportunity for growth too. Our bench will not only be larger, we will be making it deeper to allow for a better garden space.

This is a relatively inexpensive project for the impact it gives to a yard. We are using the existing timber and have purchased the remainder. If you are starting with no materials it should still keep the costs under $70.00 at most home stores.

We have been doing a lot of woodworking in the last year and have plans for several projects this year that I will be sharing with you.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

I was given an old glider last year that was ugly but very comfortable. Everyone wanted that seat even though it was no attractive. I knew I could easily improve the looks of it but before it got that far it broke. My first reaction, like most people, was to throw it out. But then I got thinking.

What if we could replace the original pieces with PVC pipe. It is easy to work with and inexpensive. If we could disassemble the glider from top to bottom drawing a picture of the crucial areas in order to be able to reassemble it I think we could make a new glider that is stronger. If we can make one, we can make more than one so no one has to fight over the glider.

As long as you pay close attention to the hardware and how it is positioned it shouldn't be a problem.

The only time it is not realistic is when the part that broke is a part not readily available in the stores and was made specifically for that item. An example would be a piece of hardware that broke and can't be found in the store. All is not lost though. If the piece isn't too old you may find the hardware available through the manufacturer or redesign the piece for the hardware you do have access too.

Even if you are going with a different color scheme, a little spray paint can take care of it for you.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

It was a very expensive store. They had one thing that caught my eye. It was a rabbit scultpture made to look like a traditional foil wrapped chocolate bunny. It was cute. Not cute enough to pay the exhorbitant amount they were asking. But it got me thinking.

Every year about this time the dollar and discount stores are filled with figurines of rabbits and chicks. Couldn't I take a figure and cover it with foil to make my own display at a fraction of the cost.

I have colored clear wrap and thought I could also cover the foil with a colored wrap to give it a different look. That got the gears turning even more and after a little while I started wondering if there is colored foil available. I did an internet search and found colored foil but it looks like you would need to purchase a large quantity.

The display is going to be on the table a week or two and then boxed up. Unless you have something really special happening, the aluminum foil or clear wrap covered foil bunny should work just right.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

This time of year I can't wait to get out in the garden again. I watch between the mounds of snow yet to melt for the first buds to poke through. When I see the first green sprout- that's it! I want to be out in the garden. I have several months in my zone before I can plant but I can start thinking about redesigning the yard and making yard and garden decor.

It's time to start planning so we know if we need a trellis and which kind will suit our space. Maybe we have really been admiring the obelisks they are retailing now. How about starting Spring with a new garden flag. From stepping stones to grapevines, we have a lot to do.

Keep watching our articles to find these garden ideas and more.

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney

In the last three years I have never allowed a month to go by without my articles being written. It has really disturbed me that I was unable to write. I have been really sick since November and really struggled more and more to keep up. I am doing much better now and hope to get right back into the swing of things.

I have lots of ideas to write and with visions of spring in my head, I know there will be plenty more ideas developing.

To all of you who continued to look for the regular articles, thank you for your loyalty.

To those of you who discovered the articles in my absense-hold onto your hat. We have loads of new projects to do together throughout the coming years.

As always feel free to e-mail me with your questions and ideas. I love to hear from readers.

I hope the new year found you all in good health and inspired creativity.