Dana Marie's Country Living Blog

My watering can sprinkles light, not water! This garden art is easy to make. It's a perfect project for your spring and summer gardens. I like to bring it out in April and leave it up through the summer. Then I put it away until next year. It's a painted and distressed metal watering can with solar-powered fairy lights pulled through the spout - so much fun to watch them come on every evening. All you really have to do is get a metal watering can and string solar or battery-operated fairy lights through the spout. You may need to drill the sprinkler head hole so it's bigger for your lights to fit. Solar lights are nice, as they come on automatically each night. To dress it up, you can plant flowers in the top of the can, as well. ~ Dana Watering Can Lights Supplies a metal watering can spray paint for metal (opt.) sand paper, fine to medium grit (opt.) solar or battery-powered fairy lights drill if needed shepherd's hook stake (opt.) blooming plant (opt.) Instructions 1...

Here's a repurposing idea for you - plant flowers in an old firepit.   I have had this firepit for about 13 years now. There is nothing I love more than an outdoor fire on summer evenings. But a few years ago, my son the firefighter said, "No fires this year, Mom. It's not worth it."  Even here in Washington, summers can be very hot! So I took his advice. I don't want a spark to go up and catch a neighbor's tree on fire. Yikes!! That would be very bad. Definitely don't need that in my life. It got me thinking about what to do with my cute little fire pit. Sell it? Well no, I really do love it and I might be able to use it again someday. Then a light bulb went off in my head. Until the day I can use it again, why not make it a planter? So that's what I did, and it turned out pretty cute! Since the firepit didn't have holes in the bottom, I filled it about 1/4 of the way up with rocks to provide drainage for the plants. If you want to drill holes in ...

Do you want to know how to make the easiest herb drying rack ever? It doesn't cost a thing except for twine and it looks really nice!  First you need to find a long stick. Next wrap a bunch of twine around one end and string it out enough to reach the other end leaving enough in the middle to hang it with. Secure it to the other end of the stick, and hang it up. Now tie some twine around the stems of your herb bunches and hang each of them from the branch. Easy peasy!  I have always dried my herbs above the kitchen sink. Not only is it pretty but oh gosh, they make your kitchen smell so very nice! In the photo I have lavender, cinnamon basil, pineapple thyme, and rosemary.  I love it!! Dana ~ Easy Herb-Drying Rack Supplies a long stick or branch twine herb bunches Instructions 1 . Wrap twine around one end of the stick and secure it with a knot. String it out to the other end of the stick, leaving enough in the middle to hang it with. Wrap the twine around the other end o...

I cannot wait for canning season! If you haven't already, it's time to get your seeds in or start searching your local nurseries for plants. I have to tell you all - nothing is more satisfying than preserving your own food that you have grown yourself! Most of us who "can" are growing our own fruits and vegetables, but I want to mention that if you can't have a garden, remember your local farmers market. They should have a large amount of fresh produce ready for canning later this summer. I go to mine often, to find items that I don't have growing in my garden. Strawberry Jam, just out of a hot water bath canner If you don't know how to can, I urge you to learn how it's done. I think it is time again for us all to start growing our own food, for a couple of reasons. There may come a time in our economies in which there is a food shortage. And we surely do not know what chemicals are on our produce bought at the grocery stores. If we grow our own food, ...

I made these adorable Spring planters out of my dogs' food cans, some paint, some instant coffee and cinnamon to make them look rusted and old, Mod Podge® and some printables I found on the Internet. I placed rocks in the bottoms of the cans for drainage, dug up some pansies from my garden, then added potting soil to plant the pansies in. Now I have these sweet little planters for just pennies. Once the cans are made, you can use them for whatever you wish. I made mine Spring themed because of what time of year it is, but you can make them for all the seasons. My next project is to come up with some herb labels and plant herbs to go on my kitchen window sill.     Tin Can Planters Supplies used tin cans acrylic paint sandpaper (optional) Elmer's® glue instant coffee powder ground cinnamon vintage labels Mod Podge® pebbles potting soil Instructions 1 . First, remove the original labels from the cans and wash them thoroughly. Dog food cans are a nice size, but you can use whateve...

Last month I started an experiment. I studied-up, and found out that you can actually grow tomato plants by planting tomato slices. So I went and bought the best organic, heirloom tomatoes I could find and planted them after making a delicious bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. It's important to get heirloom tomatoes because many of the newer varieties of tomato are hybridized and their seeds won't sprout plants that yield the same fruit as the original tomato.  I planted them in pots to start with, added just enough soil to cover them, and then watered them. That's it!   Keep watering a little every day until the seedlings start poking through the soil. This might take about a month. Let them grow a couple of inches, and then thin them out by taking the strongest seedlings and transplanting them. Hopefully, fingers crossed, you'll end up with lots and lots of tomatoes!! There are videos on YouTube to study if you are interested to see how it works.  Planting Tomato Sl...