When I was a kid, playing a prank on someone usually involved toilet paper, soap or shaving cream.  Although all three were relatively harmless, now as an adult I can appreciate the true nuisance they are.  Thankfully, I have yet to wake up one morning to find my trees decorated with swaths of toilet paper myself.  But, if I was going to be on the receiving end of a prank, a flock of plastic pink flamingo lawn ornaments in my yard would have to be my prank of choice.  Clearly, there are others who have thought so as well.

With the increasing use of plastics and the decorating trend to "go pink", a delightful piece of Americana -- pink flamingo lawn ornaments -- were first hatched by Don Featherstone, in 1957.  Featherstone was hired by Union Products, of Leominster, Massachusetts, to carve three-dimensional versions of two of their best selling products -- the duck and the flamingo.  These sculptures were to be used in their new product line of plastic lawn ornaments, expanding their products from simply two-dimensional creations to more lifelike versions.

The first thing people see when they come to your home isn't your new flat-screen TV, or the gleaming hardwood floors in your dining room, it's your landscaping. Before visitors even get out of the car, those first impressions are starting to form. Let your landscaping say something about your fun loving personality – go for the garden flamingo!