Welcome Spring!

Today was the first day that felt like real, true spring. It's felt... springlike? before, but today I was able to put on a tank top (gotta soak up as much Vitamin D as possible!) and get outside to do some jobs that had been piling up.

First, I painted my stolen rescued pallet so I could finish turning it into a garden. I really wanted a vertical planter/plant stand, like this one:

And after trying in vain to create anything similar with my pallet, I gave up, so I'm pretty sure now I'm going to have more of a raised-bed type garden, like this:

Except mine will be cuter because I painted it! And also because I'll end up dressing it up with pretty plant markers and a trellis and the whole nine yards, because that's how I roll. My plants grow big and never produce any fruit, or limp along miserably before dying a painful death, but by golly their pots look pretty!!!

(Can you tell I'm not having good luck with my seedlings?)

By the way - I love picking out paint for a small project. Big projects are scary - they involve a big investment in paint and time - but little projects are cheap and fun and if you don't like the color, well, then for under $4 you can repaint.

I chose Valspar's "New Avocado" - it can't quite decide if it wants to be yellow or green, and that's just fine, because I couldn't decide whether I wanted yellow or green, either. :) So pretty! Maggie walked by after I was done and said if she'd seen the color in the jar, she never would have picked it, but once applied, it was just perfect. :)

I also spray-painted the clay pots I bought to make new solar lights for the walkway, and while I was at it, I spray-painted the wooden bunny silhouette I bought to decorate my front door with. Oh, and I also replaced the burlap stair covers I've had on the front steps since this past fall with new burlap, this time bright turquoise.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as warm and sunny, so I can finish off the outdoor projects and enjoy my new and beautiful yard. :)

On my to-do list for the next few days:

- Bring out the summer clothes (yay!) and pack away the winter clothes. And, while I'm at it, cut down my wardrobe by at least 1/3 (I'm thinking of trading it in for credit at ThredUp - anyone else hearing lots about this new site?)

- Measure my kitchen wall so I can figure out how much tile to order for my backsplash. I got to look at a very similar product at Home Depot last week and I loved it, so now I'm super excited about this project! Also measure my linoleum because I may also have found new, awesome flooring that's designed to be installed over existing linoleum (score!) so now I can get rid of my awful ugly tan linoleum, too. And once I get those projects done, I might as well replace the ugly (and also slightly chewed on. Ahem) tan carpet in my living room. :)

- I must. absolutely must. clean out and vacuum and wash my truck. It's getting pretty bad. :(