How We Created a Butterfly Garden

There may not be a creature on earth that is more admired by children and perhaps adults, than the butterfly. Why not put out a welcome mat for these amazing creatures? One of the most wonderful features that butterflies have is that they are easy to attract into your own back yard. Our backyard oasis was designed to attract butterflies by providing them with only four things; 1) Plants that the baby caterpillars can feed on 2) Host plants that serve for laying eggs, 3) Flowers that provide nectar and 4) shelter from wind and predators.

Plants that provide Nectar

Your own observations will tell you what kind of flowers will attract butterflies where you live. Start by setting aside a sunny part of your garden to grow wildflowers.  Among the wildflowers try planting a Butterfly Bush (buddleia).  It's fragrant flowers spikes bloom from July until the first frost--and most butterflies can't resist them.

In planting perennials, consider Phlox, Yarrow, Black Eyed Susans, Coreopsis, and Shasta daisies. We have had great success in attracting the Tiger swallowtails and Monarchs.

I had to snap several photos in order to finally capture the beautiful wings of this lovely Eastern Tiger Swallow Tail Butterfly.  

Plants that caterpillars can feed from

One good way to ensure a continuing supply of butterflies is to put in plants that will feed caterpillars and their larvae.  Consider Bermuda grass, clover, dock, hollyhock, lupine, nettle, St. Augustine grass, and turtle head for this purpose.

Shelter for Butterflies

Butterfly houses, similar to bird houses, provide shelter to the fragile creatures during storms as well as food.  They may be brightly painted, just as their inhabitants are.  

Planting a butterfly garden will not only attract these beautiful insects to your yard, but it will also preserve them.  Many species of butterfly are endangered and creating a habitat where they can thrive will help them to survive.

Because many butterfly species are threatened, please don't try to "preserve" their beauty by killing them & mounting them in boxes.  Admire them in their natural habitat.

I must admit, these are beautiful, and they are so large in size.  This is the Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, isn't he a beauty?

What attracts these amazing creatures here in our garden the most are the wildflowers like the buddleia, also known as the butterfly bush.  We have plenty of those around the property and they attract the hummingbirds too. Many zinnias planted in a garden along with purple cone flowers are appreciated by all these amazing creatures and the flowers bring in beautiful colors into your garden.

To find out what plants attract butterflies in your area, visit your local gardening store.

I hope that you have enjoyed our little butterfly adventure, these are only a few of the many photos taken in our butterfly garden and I hope that you enjoy.

Note: No butterflies were harmed.

Outdoor Pallet Table

Pallets are very popular right now for creating practically anything you like, from wall covers, furniture and accessories. They work well for a rustic look in furniture or incorporated in a particular design. Pallets may be purchased or if you are as lucky as we were, you may even get them free.  We have had this pallet forever and it has seen it's fair share of paint drips, crayon scribble, dirt and everything else.  It started as a back drop for some of my blog photos, but over time, it just got plain ugly because of lack of care. We have used pallets in the past; when we created our mudroom space, we used half of a pallet to give our seat height by placing under the bench and we also made pallet night stands on here.

I decided it was time to fix our pallet and create something useful with it.  I asked Mr. M to give me the sander and instead he sanded the pallet completely.  It was super smooth and all the marks were pretty much gone. He added legs to it with some extra wood that was in the garage.

The legs are of a different kind of wood, so it was not going to stain the same, that's when I decided to paint it white and to stain the top.

After the paint and stain, I waxed it to give it a nice polish. 

For this project we used:

1 pallet
4 x 4 for legs (left over in garage
electric sander
white paint
wood stain
paint brush
sponge
nails or screws
drill or hammer
wood furniture wax

Got to love free things right?!  For more ideas on using pallets visit my pallet furniture board on Pinterest and follow to get the latest ideas.

We love our table and are enjoying it. View more photos of this table on this link.  Thank you for stopping by and checking out our pallet table.  If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

Happy Independence Day!

DIY: Hand Painted Pillows

Summer is here and today I want to show you what I made this past week for my pallet chairs, while cooling off inside to beat the heat; we created hand painted pillows.  I wanted to change out the old pillows for new ones, and you know me, "save money". So, I made my own.  I'm not an expert nor a craft guru. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Items needed to make these pillows are:

• Craft paint
• Fabric Medium
• Paint brush
• Frog tape
• Scissors
• Small bowl
• Fabric (4) 20 x 20 squares
• Sewing machine or hand sew
• Thread/ needle for hand sewing if no machine is available
• or use fabric glue--heat bond for no sew project
• Card board about 18 x 18 to fit in the pillow case
• Pillow stuffing

I had ivory fabric stored in my craft closet, but you can use any fabric that you like.  I cut four squares 20 x 20 inches each.

Take two squares and sew three sides closed leaving one side open.  Do the same for the other two squares.

Turn pillow case inside out so that the seam in on the inside.

Place a cardboard 18 x 18 inside the opening, this will help prevent paint from seeping through the fabric.


You may tape down your pillow case to hold it firmly in place with painter's tape while you paint. (optional)  I did not have painter's tape so I used packing tape-- (painters' tape is better).

Use the painter's tape to form your design.  I made a chevron design.

Take your favorite color of craft paint and one bottle of fabric medium which is available in craft stores or online and mix according to the direction on the fabric medium bottle.

Mix the paint in the small bowl and begin to paint your design on the pillow case. You can even have your little one's help.


Once it is all painted, let it dry.  After it is dry, remove the tape and stuff your pillows, then sew them closed or heat glue them closed.

You should then have your decorative pillow(s) to enjoy!  I love how ours turned out and I'm happy with the results.  Now I'm thinking about making more for our sofa.

Note: You may want to protect your fabric from moisture, spills and other things, if they are for outdoor use. There are products available for sealing your outdoor fabrics, which you may find in your local hardware stores, these are basically called fabric sealers. ( I do not vouch for this particular product, since I have not used it before, but I will give it a try.)

Give your outdoor furniture a new look with this little project. I had a great time making these and my son loves the painting process. Your kids will enjoy it too this summer. Happy Crafting!