DIY Archives - Page 18 of 21

From Mudhole to Rocky Masterpiece

June 25, 2013 2 Comments

While I was away in New York, hubby got to work on one of his top outdoor projects. Along one side of our house we have a mud pit. There are several trees along the fence line and over the years, less and less grass – and all the rain drains that direction. So, when it’s wet that side is virtually useless, which is too bad because that is the side with the air conditioner, and the door to the garage. So, hubby did this:

Here it is before he started to work.

Ya, it’s also where we store all of our junk…

We have toyed with the idea of filling in the area with some kind of gravel and maybe some stepping stones. So, step one was clearing out and somewhat leveling the area.

Then hubby outlined the area with some landscape edging, to hold in the rocks. We chose this edging for the ease of installation, and because it was one of the most pliable. Just laying down along your area and driving some stakes in the edge.

We wanted to make sure the rocks wouldn’t creep under the fence or into the yard. Hubby also decided to take care of a problem area on the other side of that gate – and a new place for the trash cans.

Then came the rocks – a whole truckload.

There’s that ornery puppy that I mentioned yesterday…and a cute little helper spreading rocks. 🙂

Here’s the before and after again of the two spots.

I am still thinking of placing some stepping stones amongst the pebbles to make a path. Walking on these barefoot is not super comfortable. But, I love the result – no mud, and now the trash cans are tucked away rather than being up front by the driveway. Great job Honey!!

Linking up with Traci at Beneath My Heart here

and here

DIY

Outdoor Update

June 24, 2013 2 Comments

As I was walking around watering flowers and trees this morning, I realized that I had never updated you on my “landscaping” progress.

I showed you the before pics here so today I’ll show you some pretty after pics, and some of where we are now.

I’m trying my hand at plants in pots again this year – I have never had much success with that cuz I am lazy – that’s all.

Here is the front flower bed today. We were blessed with a lot of rain while I was on my trip to New York.

The other thing that happened while I was in New York was not so happy. I was joyfully anticipating the pots on my back porch to be overflowing with beautiful color, just like the one in the front but instead I found this.

Yes, all four planters looked just like this…the culprit…our puppy…

he decided they looked like a good snack. Ugh!! I guess I will try again next year!!

Oh well, moving on. I also transplanted a climbing rose bush which completely overtook a flower bed that is in front of our master bedroom window. This is what it looked like in full glory before I moved it – see a little unruly, and crowding out the other regular rose bushes in that bed (please ignore all the grass growing in there).

Here it is after I ~~chopped~~ pruned it down to size and moved it to a sad little flower bed on the side of our house around the corner from the front of our house. You can see this one from the street and gets good morning sun. I also planted some daylillys in this bed. I have wanted some of these for a long time.

Next, if you follow me on instagram, you know we scored some really good sized burch trees @$50 each!! Here’s a little fun collage of them going in. {my hard-working man decided to strike a pose, while I sipped on my sweet tea in the shade ;)}

And the after.

and my hard-workin man after 😉 – oh and our puppy

My hubby was awesome and knocked out another yard project that was pretty high on his list while I was in New York. I’m saving that for another post though since this one is already pretty long :). Tune in tomorrow for that one – it involves, mud and rocks.

Blessings!!

Linking up today with Kim at Sand and Sisal for her Fun in The Sun Linky Party
and with Kathy here

DIY

DIY Chevron Backdrop

March 19, 2013 7 Comments

Okay, so like a week ago I shared with you my burlap wreath. And, my frustration over how well it blended in with the brick. I was so bummed and had hit a brick wall {ha!}. Then, as I walking in the back yard, I spotted this.

This was our attempt at building a “door” for our small shed to keep the dog out. It never stayed together the way we intended, the dog ran away :(, and we took it down. I asked my husband not to throw it out last summer because “I might use it”… and here it has sat since then. {have I mentioned our back yard needs lots of work?}

So, I started in tearing it apart.

And then cutting it up. I decided I didn’t really want it that long, so I thought I would cut the pickets in half. But, then I didn’t want only one end to have the points, so I decided to cut those off too. And then I put it back together using the same 1×2’s to anchor the pieces together.

Remember this wood wasn’t perfect to begin with and it had been sitting outside for months through all the elements. Perfectly imperfect!!

I had grand plans for this piece. I love the look of chevron and you remember I shared this picture with you.

source: MadeByGirl

So….I read several tutorials on how to make chevron stripes and finally thought I had it figured out….sorta.

For the background color, I used the white paint that I used to paint my built-ins, and doors for a cohesive look that I might be able to use year around. Remember, I’m not worried about it being perfect so I just slapped the paint on there, not bothering with the holes, or getting complete coverage.

Then for the chevron design. I’m so not one for measuring more than necessary so I decided to use the planks for the vertical lines and use a yard stick for the horizontal lines. Honestly I wasn’t sure how wide I wanted the stripes to be. I’ve told you before I’m a VERY visual person. So I decided to just use the width of the yardstick to make horizontal lines across the whole piece. I would decide after which ones to use.

Then I brought out the tape and starting making the angles. Simply choose how many “rectangles” wide you want the stripe to be and how many “planks” long you want the stripe to be and you have your angle. Okay – seriously – I was majorly winging it. 🙂 The taping part can get a little tricky – don’t get in too big of a hurry. I’m soooo impatient so yes this was hard for me, but luckily it was a small piece. The big spaces are where you will paint, and the small spaces will stay the original color. Make sure you press down the edges of the tape to prevent the paint from seeping under.

I decided to use the wall color that I used in my living room, again to achieve a cohesive look. Again, not worried about perfection, {but not wanting the paint to bleed under the tape} I painted on a fairly light coat. By the time I got to the end of the board I was almost giddy!! I couldn’t wait to pull the tape…

so I didn’t!!! Look at the finished product!!

It is exactly how I envisioned!!

I was left with quite a few pencil lines on the white paint.

Nothing that a damp rag won’t remove, especially if you make your lines as light as possible.

Now, it is fairly heavy so I plan on mounting a nice picture hanger wire to the back. My hubby had installed a screw into the brick years ago for me to hang things on. Then I will use a command hook on the board to be able to hang things {like my wreath} on the front of the board. Perfect imperfection!! LOVE!!

This will give you an idea of what it will look like.

I hope to get my mantel spruced up sometime this week, so I can share with you the complete look. But, let’s get real folks – it’s spring break ;)!!

Blessings to you and yours!!

Linking up

at Beneath My Heart

and here at

Time to Shine Party

and at It’s Overflowing

and here

DIY

Burlap Wreath {Spring Craftiness}

March 5, 2013 3 Comments

Well, it’s March and I finally took down my Valentine’s decor this weekend :). I have several projects that I have pinned that I wanted to craft for the spring. I’m pretty sure these were there last year and I never got to them, so I was determined to at least get to one or two. One of my favs are those cute burlap wreaths I have seen out in blog-land thanks to pinterest. (I’m a pinterest addict – at least I can admit it.) So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought my supplies. Thankfully the ribbon was on sale 50% off. As I’ve said before, I try not to buy many things at HL at full price because if you wait a week it will be on sale!

Then I checked out several of my pins to see how they went about making this cute. There are two or three methods that I found and I tried a couple but this one was by far my favorite and pretty easy really. Follow the link to Top This Top That and check out her tutorial.

burlap wreath tutorial from top this top that

source: Top This Top That

All that is involved is weaving the burlap ribbon in and out of the metal frame. Easy peasy – yes!! The best thing is it doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is simple to fluff and adjust as you work with it and even when it’s done.

I wanted to add a little color and something for spring/Easter. I found this fabulous CORAL ribbon at HL. (I had to take a picture with my orange scissors because the color just wasn’t coming through otherwise.)

I found some cute polka-dot ribbon too. I also bought a wooden cross and some paint to match the ribbon, not exactly sure what I was going to do with all of it. I started by trying to make a bow with the ribbon….I stink at making bows with ribbon that isn’t wired so I scratched that idea. That’s when I came up with this.

I decided I wanted the coral ribbon to shine because it’s awesome, so I painted the cross with the blue paint and then began layering the ribbon on the cross, simply hot-gluing it to the back. {As a side note – I finally bought myself a big-girl glue gun! 🙂 I have been using one of those mini low temp jobbies for years, and I was tired of the glue drying before I got things in place. Sooo loving my new one!!} I added a bow to the front just for cuteness.

I knew I didn’t want this accessory to be permanent on my wreath because I knew I would want to use it at other times, so I simply made a big pile of glue on the back of the cross and stuck a pipe cleaner in the center. I then used the pipe cleaner to attach the cross to the wreath.

how to attach an object to a burlap wreath

The plan was to hang this above my mantle as part of my spring decor. After hanging it up there I realized that it blended in with the brick. A. Lot.

So, I am thinking of ways to make it stand out. A mirror? A board behind it like this?

source: MadeByGirl

Really love the chevron on this. What do you think? Ideas?

Jump on over here to see what I came up with :)!!

Blessings and happy spring!!

Linking up at Tatertots & Jello

and It’s Overflowing

and Countdown to Spring at Its So Very Cheri

and to Carmel’s Hop To It Challenge at Our Fifth House.

DIY

More Lightening Up {Hallway Progress}

February 18, 2013 1 Comment

So, several months ago I got a crazy idea to paint the doors in my hallway. Honestly I was bored one day and I already had the paint, so why not.

However, sometimes I’m not in the mood to do paint projects like this one because they are quite time consuming. And, I got interrupted by a more pressing project, the entryway. But then, Christmas hit and again I didn’t feel like finishing the doors. But then, the ultimate motivator, we were having company (other than family – cuz they know how the project thing goes for me). So, I was determined to finish the doors, or at least get them to a point that looked somewhat finished. And, here ya go!!

I’m telling you the amount of light the white paint provides still amazes me. I love it!! It seems so much more seamless when I look down the hall now. The stained wood just seemed to break up things. so. much.

As you might be able to see, I still need to paint the linen cabinets, and the baseboards. What you can’t see is the last door at the other end of the hall that isn’t done ;), and the fact that you can’t see it is exactly the reason why it didn’t get done!!

Linking up with Carmel at Our Fifth House today. If you are visiting from that linky party check out some of my other painting projects here, here, and here.

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