From the mannequin collection in the basement came this lovely gal.
I was thinking of painting her blue with red roses. (You know the song, "Red Roses for a Blue Lady") but maybe she'd make a nice mosaic project for the winter (still blue with red roses.)
On the other hand, there is beauty in the simplicity of the white form. Ideas?
The faces on top of the door have been kicking around the garage since I found them on sale many years ago and the ornament above the door is one that had been in the basement for a long time.
I found some Spanish Moss at Valley Nursery. Jean, we were talking about the garage door and are going to try those lightweight "space blankets" that provide a lot of insulation. They're flexible so we could velcro them to the door and still use it if we wanted to. What do you think?
The clumps could be divided to make more but for right now I threw them up on existing nails.
This wire cupcake server was on the way back to Goodwill, where I bought it for the insects that someone had wired to it. When one of the tillandsia/jade trees (see below) got broken, I decided to use this for the now homeless tillandsias.
Speaking of tillandsias, my teaching partner, Julie, got me this cool tillandsia ball for my birthday. It's hanging from a branch of the big brugmansia. Do I have a cool co worker, AKA my work wife, or what?
The brugmansias are still blooming.
Grevellia 'Ned Kelley' is starting another flush of bloom.
In case you were wondering about those legs from last Monday, They're now filled with Senecio rowleyanus AKA String of Pearls plant and joined by a bust also from the basement mannequin collection.
Happy new week!
Your greenhouse looks so much fun Peter! And keep the mannequin as it is (although blue won't go amiss either) :))
ReplyDeleteI'm having fun. The mannequin will probably stay as is - path of least resistance and all.
DeleteWow! I love the way all the little details are fitting together to make such a unique, personal space.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rebecca.
DeleteNot many people could straight-facedly write "from my basement mannequin collection..." :-) I love it!
ReplyDeleteOh the joys of being a pack rat...um, I mean collector.
DeleteYou are just having way too much fun out there! Keep it up. I like the idea of painting the mannequin (she looks cold). Blue works for me, she could be my baby's mum.
ReplyDeleteAh, how sweet, more of the Blues Family. Must be related to the Blues Brothers, right?
DeleteThe mannequin must be dressed up: I see a "chicken wire" bikini filled with "chicks and hens" varieties.
ReplyDeleteWill there ever be a basement tour or you are just teasing us?
I love the chicken wire and chicks and hens bikini idea! A basement or attic tour might be a bit scary or boring as much of what you'd see would be boxes with labels on them under layers of dust (the scary part.) Maybe someday I'll get it tidied up enough to do a tour if you'd like.
DeleteIndeed, where else could I go to read "From the mannequin collection in the basement"...it has the sounds of a horror film in the making but with you involved I'm sure it's more of a fun house. I agree with Alison, you're having too much fun and we don't want you to stop!
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, I was at an antique auction and they had a whole bunch of mannequins that had been used in the show "Northern Exposure" in some sort of nightmare scene. They were painted with blood and were pretty scary looking so nobody would bid on them so I got the whole truckload for five bucks. We got some interesting looks driving home at dusk with a pick up truck full of bloody bodies. After doing mosaic on a couple of them I decided it was so much fun that I'd get more when I saw them at the Bon Marche's once-every-few-years display stuff sale. I am having fun puttering out there.
DeletePace yourself Peter, it's not even winter yet! Some good suggestions on the mannequin -- I say leave it unpainted, but dress it up (not everything can be painted!)
ReplyDeletePaint always springs to mind first because it's cheap, fast, and easy. (The lady in question might not like these traits being attributed to her.) Dressing her up in some way will probably happen.
Delete... and speaking of "a horror film in the making" (Danger's remark) isn't that mannequin wearing concrete boots of the mafioso offers you can't refuse type? No horse heads in the basement are there?
ReplyDeleteShe is wearing concrete boots! Funny, I just saw a cool concrete horse head at a nursery yesterday and was trying to think of how to work it into something.
DeleteWith each post I am even more amazed at what comes out of your basement. Those cool things have been hidden too long. That senecio skirt...hula "de-nile"?
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to pull some of these things out and use them! Thanks for the morning giggle!
DeleteI think you're going to be able to charge admission to that greenhouse soon. You need to come up with a cool name for it - Peter's Greenhouse Novelties? (too mundane), House of Blue Ladies? (might result in a raid), House of the Maniac Manniquins? (better for Halloween perhaps)
ReplyDeleteThere's always "That building that used to be a garage in the back yard" but that doesn't really trip off the tongue.
DeleteThere used to be a mannequin company in a big house by the road to our place. There were body parts coming out of the windows, the chimney, etc. I miss it. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with the "haunted house' on the other side of the road. Your lovely gal has a sort of "Silver Surfer" presence about her.
ReplyDeleteOh my that mannequin company in the big house sounds like fun!
DeleteI love what you are doing with your greenhouse. You are having so much fun. You have a mannekin collection in your basement? Goodness, what else do you keep down there? Maybe you should do a post on your basement to keep us entertained now that winter is coming on.
ReplyDeleteA basement post would be entertaining so maybe I'll work on that for winter!
DeleteI think you'll be able to make space blankets work for insulating the door, then hang something to disguise the space blankets unless you are going for a star wars kind of environment? I'm thinking backdrop -- give them nekkid people some kind of background so they look intentional.
ReplyDeleteThere are curtains (or at least fabric waiting to become curtains - can't sew but can iron stitch witchery to make them) that can cover the space blankets.
DeleteThe mannequin at least needs a scarf for winter. That glass door is amazing! LOVE IT! I agree with Chloris that a tour of all the goodies in your basement would be a fun winter post. I love the cupcake holder full of plants. :o)
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I have a lot of scarves sitting around but I'll see what I can find. Thanks, I made the door panel years ago and it sat upstairs unused until now. I'd better get going on tidying up the basement enough to make a tour possible.
DeleteYou made that door panel???? That is incredible! I thought you'd paid a fortune for it at an antique shop. Wow!
DeleteIt's just not a greenhouse without a disco ball, is it?
ReplyDeleteI like the lady just plain as she is, with the big blog for feet. And the Senecio hula skirt. How about green argyle knee socks? They go great with hula skirts. The blue-haired lady needs sunglasses, too--it being so sunny in Seattle in the winter.
Better and better!
block for feet, not blog. Now I want a greenhouse so I have an excuse to get a disco ball.
DeleteBut Hoov, your climate (not the lack of water part) is what my greenhouse is emulating. Maybe you should just hang disco balls willy nilly around your garden. I do have some argyle socks that might function as knee socks on the Senecio skirt legs. Hmmm.
DeleteWhat a delightfully fun greenhouse you're creating! Love the planted mannequin.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam. I'm having fun!
DeleteLove the String-of-Pearls planter and the Tillandsia arrangements! I'm so glad you're sharing updates of your greenhouse. I'm so jealous! I watched an HGTV show the other day where the house was built around an atrium room in the center. The room had a skylight (I think), and the owners had filled the room with plants and lovely "outdoor" decorations. That would be so awesome in a cold climate. The only problem here would be potential build-ups of snow, but maybe a slanted roof or some other arrangement could deal with it. Anyway, your greenhouse looks marvelous! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWow, a house built around an atrium sounds awesome! Thanks, I'm having fun playing out there!
DeleteSo when are we going to Fling in your neck of the woods so we can all have fun in your greenhouse/funhouse too? (Hope the throat is better!)
ReplyDeleteThe throat is jim dandy! Alison and I are still talking about the possibility of a fling up this way someday. Maybe after Toronto, Denver, England, and Virginia... You can come visit any time.
DeleteOhhh I love your tillandsias and brugmansias! they look great and healthy!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa! We'll see what tonight brings as we'll be having the first freezing temperatures of the season.
DeleteWell, aren't you having fun!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed!
DeleteI love your greenhouse it looks great. We use our garage for similar plants it does fine. But not as well decorated as yours! How did it do through the freeze? The plants do defoliate over the winter but never freeze. Even last two nights at 20. The space blankets are an interesting idea. We use a big roll of bubblewrap in our greenhouses to add extra insulation but nothing in the garage.
ReplyDeleteI may have posted this already, but: Love your stuff! We just bought mannequin legs to create succulent planters and I would LOVE any DIY tips you have! thanks!
ReplyDelete