June 03, 2013

DIY Outdoor Patio Table

June 03, 2013/ Michelle Scheibe

How was your weekend? Nate and I were busy kids. That’s what the old dude at the hardware store called us anyways. I’m going with it.

We put the finishing touches on our outdoor patio table that Nate built last weekend. We enlisted the help of Nate’s parents to help us carry it from the garage. Our patio now has a table and my car can go back in the garage. Double win.

This patio has been neglected for the 4 years that we have lived in the house. We were holding off until we figured out how we wanted to use the space. We are also cheap. We aren’t done with the patio yet but we now have a good start. We’ll probably finish the rest in another four years. We don’t want to rush things.

Nate and I both liked this table. Unfortunately $2000 wasn’t exactly in our outdoor budget range. Or our indoor budget range for that matter. We were having a hard time shelling out hundreds of dollars (let alone thousands) for furniture that would end up eventually being covered in bird poo and insect guts.

Nate thought he could build a similar table. I said go for it. $150 and a few hours later, we had ourselves an outdoor table.

I found the outdoor chairs for $8/chair at a local antique store. $220 isn’t exactly pocket change but we’re happy with it beings that we have a heavy/sturdy outdoor table with seating for eight.

Ike hasn’t been down to check out the table but he appeared to approve from his perch in the living room.

We’ll be back on Wednesday with a tutorial on how to make the table. In the mean time, I have to continue to make the neighbors question why I’m setting a table for a fake dinner party outside. We were actually going to use this setup yesterday until the gnats carried me back into the house. You think I’m joking. They are that bad. Guess they dig the new outdoor table too.

May 31, 2013

May Monthly Recap + Other Important Business

May 31, 2013/ Michelle Scheibe

I don’t know about you but I am pumped that tomorrow is the first day of June. I’m a big fan of Summer. Now if only the weather would catch on. That is my first order of business.

Second order of business. Ike is cute. His current bandana is extra large. We keep calling it his cape. We’ve also renamed him Super Ike. His super powers include fly catching and getting into the dishwasher. His kryptonite is thunder.

Third order of business. The fine folks over at The Home Depot would like me to encourage you to sign up for the Garden Club. I joined over a month ago. I totally cashed in the $5 off $50 coupon. They don’t send out a ton of e-mails and the ones I have received have been helpful. What’s in it for you? Well, there is:

$5 off their your $50 lawn & garden purchase, just for signing up
Over $300 in annual email savings
Project ideas, how-to videos
Expert advice from the team at The Home Depot, customized to your region of the country

The other extra bonus. If The Home Depot hits their sign-up goal of 500 email addresses, they will choose one participating blogger at random to receive (2) $1,000 gift cards - one for the blogger to keep and one to giveaway! So, let’s help them reach their goal and hopefully help each of us win $1000.

Sign up for the Garden Club email list here using the code GCSweeps!

Let’s end this meeting with a recap of the month of May. Did you miss a post? Are you new? Get caught up here!

Updates on Blog Projects

Vertical Garden Part 1

Chevron Stenciled Wall

CB2 Giveaway

Vertical Garden Part 2

Vertical Garden Part 3

Vlogging Tips

Vertical Garden Part 4

Weekend Road Trip

Tile Shop Shopping

Apartment Therapy Feature

Antique Folding Chairs

Sunset Photogrpahy Tips

InLinkz.com

January February March April

Big week-end plans? Is Super Ike your new favorite super hero? Who's signing up for the Garden Club?

May 30, 2013

Sunset Photography Tips

May 30, 2013/ Michelle Scheibe

As we were finishing up editing our Siesta Key vacation photos, I realized that I should share some sunset photography tips.

Watching the sunset is one of our favorite things to do on vacation. (We’re party animals.) Watching the sun set is a very peaceful activity. We should do it more at home.

My tips for sunset photos are to be quiet and be the least amount of annoying as possible. Nate’s tips are a little more complicated because he’s a camera hog. I mean, he’s in charge of the DSLR and he doesn’t trust others to take precious sunset photos. I did ask him to explain to me what he was doing while taking the photos. I think I learned something.

Equipment (*affiliate links):

DSLR (We have a Nikon D5000)
Optional:
- Graduated Neutral Density Filter (Cokin Graduated Neutral Filter)
- Tripod (Manfrotto)
- Remote (Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control)

Tip #1: Set your camera on aperture priority.

You should have a low ISO (~100, or higher if you do not have a tripod) and an F-stop of ~8 (for expanded depth of field). A tripod and remote will reduce camera shake, which would result in blurry photos. If you don’t have a remote, you can set your self time for 2 seconds.

Tip #2: Plan ahead and arrive early.

The sun sets quickly. Scope out places during the day that will lend themselves to great sunset photos. Look for interesting places where you will be able to see the sun track all the way down and where there will also be opportunities for shots that include foreground objects (ex. sail boats, trees, rocks, mountains) and silhouettes.

Arrive about a half hour before sunset. This will give you time to set up your camera and allow you to be able to capture the entire sunset. Take lots of photos. The higher quantity of photos, the higher probability that you’ll get some great shots.

Always have your camera on you at sunset. It’s hard to tell if it will be a good one or not. We left our camera behind on our last night in Florida and missed capturing the best sunset of the week. Womp, womp.

Tip #3: Consider the Weather

Clear days can produce some awesome color but clouds increase the types of patterns and lights in the sky.

Tip #4: Composition is key.

The horizon should not be in the middle of the photo. Shoot for the upper 1/3 or lower 1/3.

This is also where your filter will come in handy. The filter darkens the sky to even out the exposure (otherwise the sky will be bright and the ground will be dark).

Remember those foreground objects we mentioned in Tip #1. Use them to add visual interest to your photo. Sunsets are pretty on their own but photograph best with a focal point.