Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Turn Tuna Cans Into A Lovely DIY Mood Lighting Piece

Turn Tuna Cans Into A Lovely DIY Mood Lighting Piece

Beautiful Ears Crochet Patterns

Seven Items You Should Never Throw Away

Cardboard tubes create TIDY DRAWERS
Just because an item has done its duty doesn't mean it's trash. These new uses will save you big money.

Make a super-simple drawer organizer for fashion accessories or office supplies using the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel rolls. Trim each roll so that it's slightly shorter than the height of the drawer. Apply a dot of hot glue to the sides of the rolls to secure a few together in a group. Dot the bottom of each roll with hot glue and press down onto a piece of posterboard trimmed to fit inside the drawer. Once in place, fill each compartment with anything—necklaces, hair clips, thumbtacks or rubber

Plastic jugs make GREAT SCOOPS

Turn empty gallon and half-gallon drink containers into handy mini-shovels—perfect for pet food, gardening or even digging snow away from car tires. Start with a clean, dry container positioned upright with the cap on. Use scissors to poke two holes: one about 2" below the handle, another on the opposite side an inch or two lower. Cut from hole to hole around the container to create an angled opening, then discard the bottom of the jug and trim away any jagged edges

Cooking oil STOPS SQUEAKS

Don't let those last drops of oil go to waste! Instead, dab what's at the bottom of the bottle onto a cotton swab and apply to a creaky door hinge to keep it quiet. Be sure to wipe away any excess to avoid drips.

Paper bags help DRY CLOTHES

Save those brown paper shopping bags (even the ripped ones) for a rainy day—literally. Tear the bag into sections, then loosely scrunch and stuff the pieces into wet shoes or the sleeves of drenched coats. The thick paper absorbs moisture, helping fibers dry faster and maintain their shape. And unlike newspaper, paper bags won't transfer ink to fabric when wet.

Cracked tiles support HEALTHY PLANTS

When potted plants sit in saturated soil for too long, they can begin to rot and mold. Elevate the roots and improve drainage by adding a layer of broken tile, stepping stones or pavement to the bottom of the planter. For best results, arrange 1" to 3" pieces so they overlap slightly, making sure the drainage hole isn't covered completely. Next, spread soil over the pieces, top with the plant and fill with remaining dirt.

Bread tags are CORD CLIPS

Never quite sure which wire belongs to what device in that mess of cables behind your desk or TV cabinet? Label a plastic bread tag using a fine-point permanent marker, then secure the tag to its cord. Position it toward the tops of wires for easy reading. If charger cord tangles are your problem, group a few of these thin wires together every foot or so with bread tags.

Four years long amazing sculpture

15 Creativity Ideas For Home

Creativity Ideas For Home

15 Creativity Ideas For Home

Creativity Ideas For Home

DIY OCTOPUS ART

DIY OCTOPUS ART

I've always loved it. The graphic is so amazing that it always seemed to me like there must be a way to turn it into art!

When Erin and I started this nautical playroom design we decided to give it a try!

Erin is much handier than me so she figured out how to put the art together once we got out to the install. Here are her instructions!

The shower curtain was 72x72" so I wanted to leave 2" on every side to have room to wrap it over the wood. I went to home and got 2 2"x1"x70" for the top and the bottom of the frame then I got 4 2"x1"x68" for the sides of the frame and the middle supports. Home Depot cut the wood to the desired length for free!

For the frame assembly I laid all the wood out with the 1" side facing up, and screwed each end of the side pieces and the middle pieces into the top and bottom of the frame.

I then ironed the shower curtain and laid it over the top of the frame.

I nailed in the top first and then stretched it to where I wanted it on the bottom and nailed in the bottom. Then nailed in the sides last.

I nailed about every 6-8". The nailing gave it a more industrial look instead of a staple gun which could get sloppy. It was super easy with 2 people, it took us about an hour to make it and hang it!

After they made the piece Erin and just hung it up on the wall with a few nails.

Up cycled Pallet Coffee Table

My upcycled pallet coffee table

I had wanted to change out our old coffee table for something with more storage for books, magazines, and our laptops. After perusing the local thrift stores and not finding anything that would work, I figured I might have to DIY a table –

Swoon worthy, right?!

I told my ever-thrifty sidekick (aka: Priscilla) that I was in need of a few pallets. A week or so later, three, free, dumpster-bound, now-salvaged pallets showed up at my door (that girl Priscilla has some mad skills!)

I read a handful of “how-to’s” – but not being one to follow directions, I just used the pictures as a guide.

Because I wanted two levels (allowing for 8 shelves: four shelves on one side for me, four shelves on the other side for Mr. MacGyver – my husband) I used two pallets for the table and one for spare parts.

I flipped one pallet over (the base) and set another pallet on top of it (the top). Of course, being pallets and not perfect – I had to fill in the missing spaces with the spare boards from the third pallet.

Once I had the whole table figured out, I pulled out my handy-dandy hand sander and began sanding (80 grit to 100 grit to 150 grit to 220 grit)…Lots and lots and lots of sanding.

After all the pieces were smooth, I primed everything (top, bottom, sides, inside and out) with Zinsser Water-based Primer. After all was dry, I went over all the knotty areas with primer again to seal them in (FYI: over time, the primer has not stopped the knots from bleeding through the paint which bothers me so I may at some point research how to fix this problem).

A day later, I lightly sanded and wiped down all the pieces and painted two coats of white paint (not sure which white, brand, or finish…sorry).

When all the pieces were dry, I assembled the table and nailed it all together matching the original nail lines on the pallets. Once assembled, I used my hand sander again to distress the edges and then wiped the whole thing with watered down brown acrylic paint (my own version of antiquing) and quickly wiped off the excess. I wanted a rustic and worn look but not too dirty or dingy.

Before attaching the casters, I had to fasten two extra boards on the bottom to reinforce the area where the casters would go (pallet wood can be very brittle and weak - third picture below, note the hairline crack on the bottom pallet).

When it was all assembled, antiqued, and dry, I applied a light coat of Deft (non-yellowing satin brushing lacquer) to the top and as far inside the shelf cubbies as possible. It’s not the most eco-friendly product but I needed something that wouldn’t yellow over time and would hold up to the use and abuse of a daily-used coffee table (read: propped up feet, many-a-meals eaten here, TV remotes tossed around, mail collection piled up, etc. etc.).

Here a few more gratuitous shots of our beauty…