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The Great Outdoors: Let's Get This Party Started!

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had the most amazing holiday weekend and were able to take a moment to relax and enjoy time with friends and family.  Hopefully plenty of awesome food was eaten, safe traveling was done, toes were dipped in water, fireworks were watched and memories were made.

We were busy doing all of those things, in fact, it's already been a month of summer vacation for the boys and I decided the kids and I needed a little break from the house, so we took a two day vacation up north and returned home to play with friends and family for the rest of the weekend.  That meant no work or chores, something I rarely say no to and it felt AMAZING!

But, it's always fun to get back into the swing of things as well.  Did you know that our June monthly challenge has come to an end?  Did you get all of the outdoor projects done that you had on your list?  I didn't either.... We are this close to being done with our backyard list for this summer, but just a couple more little details before I can pull out the final "after" pictures.


We did have a moment to do another really super simple three minute update in-between all of our playing this weekend.  

For a long time, we had a spiral wall candelabra hanging above our stairs in the entrance of our home, but we had taken it down as I am looking to replace it with something more dramatic and more appropriately scaled for the space.  It was similar to this, but about half of the size and the cost, and I found it years and years ago {can't even remember where any longer}.  We had taken it down and put it in our donate/sell pile and when inspiration hit and I knew I could put it to good use outdoors.  It is made of a coated iron with simple glass tea light holders, so it seems as though it should hold up well outdoors.  I was originally going to pop our white sunburst mirror out back, however, it landed on the front porch instead.

When it came to hanging the candelabra outdoors, it was a matter of my hubby holding it up, and me saying, "Higher.... lower.... left a little... nevermind, right.... shake your booty... OK, it's perfect!"




Once we got it where we wanted it, he screwed it in.  He assures me if I ever change my mind, that he has the ability to patch those holes.

The candelabra comes with simple glass votive holders, I thought it would be fun to toss a few mini succulent plants found at Home Depot inside a few of them.


And use candles in the rest....


Of course, just like if this was hanging on a wall inside of our home, the candles will never be left unattended, and they sit far enough away from the house/siding that I am not worried about the itty bitty flames doing any sort of damage.  They just add some nice moooood lighting for those romantic outdoor dinner parties.  Or while wine sipping at the nearby fire pit...


The succulents add a sweet little touch for the rest of the time when the candles are not lit.  I have a tenancy of killing anything green, but these seem to do well for me.  And if not, I am sure I can find some other harmless flowers to pop in their place down the line...




Other than a couple of the plants, everything else was again, something I already had on hand and decided needed a new task.

Things are really coming together, and although not 100%, we sure have accomplished a lot this month!

Front Porch Revamp

Outdoor Storage Bench Refresh

Outdoor Storage Cart

Polka Dot Planters

Painted Front Door

Condiment Jars

DIY Outdoor Table

But enough about my outdoor projects.  This day is about YOU!

The last couple of months you have blown me away with your Home Office, Kitchen, Bathroom and Cleaning organizing and tips, so I challenge you to do it again!






So LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!  Whether you power washed your siding, installed a patio, built an outdoor table or even updated an outdoor planter and played with spray paint, I want to see it!  And of course I know how busy everyone is so this party is open for a good long month, which will hopefully give you time to finish up your outdoor projects {uh, Jen?!} or even whip up a few more based on the additional inspiration you found within the link ups!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated, shared your ideas, tips and tricks this month!



Every month we are tackling different projects and spaces around the home, to get organized one space and one project at a time.  You can check out the introduction to The Great Outdoors month here.