What a Workout!

Sunday started the HGP over at OC and MHH and let me tell you I put in some work. This week we were to get our porches in order. I live in an apartment so my balcony was my porch.

• I swept all the leaves and dust off the outdoor carpet as well as knocked down all the spider webs
• Wiped down the railing and dividing wall which seperates my balcony from my neighbor's. We just got them over the last two years and they are great. They're made of that hard resin like you see in people's yards as fences. Very easy to clean.
• Then I wiped down the patio table and chairs. Boy were they dirty. I have trees right outside my balcony... you can almost touch the branches. So everything- pollen, dirt, leaves, pineneedles fall on my balcony.
• Next I cleaned the patio doors/windows. Surprisingly they weren't that dirty. I also wiped the screen. Now that was filthy. I couldn't believe how much dirt came out of that screen. Now I can see through it. (LOL)

The only thing I didn't do was throw out those flower pots. By the time I finished cleaning, I was too tired to tackle them. I have two and they are filled with old potting soil. They are extremely heavy and I was not in the mood for taking them down three flights of steps. I think I will get my boyfriend to take those out for me this week.

After I was done I just sat out there and enjoyed my new, cleaned balcony until the sun started going down (or rather until the bugs ran me back inside). While out on the balcony, I decided to work on a few fall crafts. I made this acrylic post-it holder which will go on my office desk once I decorate it a little for the season. Isn't it cute. I found the paper and the ribbon at the dollar store (my favorite place).

This arrangement I saw in Michael's and decided to copy it. So I went to the dollar store and bought the grass, twigs, brown ribbon and a tall glass cylinder candle holder. My plan was to hot glue the branches around the glass, fill the glass with some stones, add the grass then tie the branches with decorative ribbon. Well the next day I was in Walmart and they had the base part already made up. Plus it was much nicer than mines would have been as it also had eucolyptus stems mixed in too. So I bought it and added the grass to the center of that and finished it with brown ribbon. I think it will sit next to the tv armoire in the livingroom. Now what to do with the branches I bought at the dollar store? I have a burgundy tall metal vase that I can place the branches in. That will likely go in my bedroom or maybe in the bathroom.

I'm back to work today and I've bought in my supplies to work on the broom swag for my front door. I've been thinking about my door and I want to cover it with moss green (or some type of green-fall related) paper. The door is an ugly color. I hate it. During my lunch break I will go into a empty room and work on it. If I finish it today I'll come back and post a picture. I've decided to keep my digital camera with me at all times so that I won't miss important photo ops.