Dreamy Bohemian Garden Spaces II

Dreamy.

Exotic.
Magical.
Ethereal. 

...Something that glimmers and shines, colored glass, little pops of unexpected paint colors, mixes of different tones of metals and patinas, mixing shiny with worn, and of course, organic natural textures and colors of grass and stone...

Take a look at these dreamy Bohemian garden spaces and I think you'll agree - they're out of this world...

Wouldn't you love to live here? 

Create a mosaic with stained glass or beach glass scraps. Smooth the edges of the glass with a glass grinder, or put the pieces in a rock tumbler to create your own homemade faux beach glass. Use the pieces in a mosaic, like this one done in stone and concrete. 

Gems, stones and crystals for bees & butterflies to land and drink via gardening choice

Handmade windchime garden bell from earthwindstoneware.com

Heart shaped bird bath via

Suncatcher from Willowtreeloft on Etsy

Paint or mosaic some garden stones. (here's how) Image via Julie Satamura via Dunn Gardens

You can make your own awesome colored glass garden window with glass gems and stained glass scraps. Use a strong adhesive that dries clear, such as E6000 to adhere the glass & gems to an old window.

Bell tree on copper with wire, beads, and bells from Lakeside

Rock garden spiral

Wire cloud with stained glass droplets

Unique garden design

Which is your favorite? 

Have a great week!

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

Article, images, and designs copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018

all rights reserved

Good Morning Songbirds

Early this morning I had my coffee outside with the songbirds. It seemed that the mosquitoes finally decided to make an appearance so I lit my candles to keep them away. It seems that this year I have the most amazing birds in my trees - I've had tons of woodpeckers every day, and just yesterday had a hummingbird fly within inches from my face while I sat outside, writing at my laptop. It's the most amazing feeling when that happens! 

For the past few days I've been listening to the funniest bird who sat in a tree in my backyard and said "Gary!" all day. I'm serious. It's been hysterically funny. It would call "Gary!" and then say "AHHH!" and sound like a nagging old woman. This went on for two days straight. Then I heard it again, but it started to alternate from "Gary!" to "Eric!" and I was just fascinated. After that it would sing a massive string of chirps and shrills and was the most unusual thing I had ever heard. So of course I googled it! It turned out I had been listening to a Gray Catbird. I found a few videos on YouTube of the exact bird call, and found that many other people were hearing the same unusual, funny calls. The Gray Catbird happens to be a mimic, like a mockingbird, who mimics the calls of other birds -  so the long string of songs he sings after his funny name outbursts are mimics of the songs of other birds. He really is beautiful to listen to. I hope he stays for the summer. 

I planted these last week. They are so pretty! Bright lemon yellow Nemesia, a real find. They really set off my darker purple blooms. 

I still have lots to plant, even after filling about 6 flowerpots...these are still waiting. But I haven't done any direct planting in the ground yet. That will be this week. 

I hope you have a great week 

Love, Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!

article and images ©Laura Beth Love 2016

Decorating With Bougainvillea Flowers

There was a time when I hated bougainvillea to an extent that I didn't even want to look at it but lately my likes and dislikes have changed drastically. And now my love for bougainvillea is growing by leaps and bounds. Now whenever I see bougainvillea around I feel drawn toward the beauty of it. The striking bright colours of its bloom never fail to attract my attention. 

Let me share an incident with you all, as you all have been so loyal that I can now share my secrets with you :)
On my way to drop my son to his school I spotted a very beautiful flame red bougainvillea in full bloom alongside the railway track. And would you believe I have been eyeing this beauty for past few months but didn't have the courage to pluck such lovely blooms. Moreover, every time I planned to pluck the flowers my mind reminded me of one of the quotes that my mother sends us every morning sometimes to boost our morale and sometimes to instill good values in us.

The quote goes like this:

What is the difference between

'I like you' and 'I love you'. 

Beautifully answered by Buddha:

"When you like a flower, you pluck it but when you love a flower, you water it daily"

One who understands this understands life!! 

Now tell me who on the earth will go against such a beautiful quote and pluck the flower.

But pardon me, I have done this not because I like bougainvillea but because I love it. The place where it was growing is not good, lots of filth around and heavy vehicles parked there crush and smash most of its branches. So one day I mustered courage and cut some branches to grow it in my balcony garden. 

Now that's a better idea, isn't it? I not only got beautiful bougainvillea flowers to style my coffee table but also an older branch to grow one more bougainvillea plant. 

Styling coffee table with flowers isn't a big deal. You need to be little innovative and can turn any mundane object into a vase, place some coffee table books and some more tiny plants or succulents in some unusual planter like conch/shell and your coffee table styling is done. 

Check out some unusual vase ideas here.

Complement the colour of flowers by tossing a cushion in same shade for a pulled together or cohesive look. 

You can't learn home decorating by reading books or taking classes instead trial and error method is what works best here. Slowly you will learn the tricks of the trade. 

Keep rotating stuff to freshen up the look and feel of the place. 

Hope you enjoyed the blog. Signing off now with a quick message that 3D readers are making most of the opportunity I had given them in my previous post and buying Candeberg LED tealights with a special discount offer (exclusively for 3D readers). Offer is valid till 29th Feb. Hurry up and click here to know more about it. 

Coming up next is a DIY project of the month. Stay tuned!!