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Posts Tagged 'DIY'

Put it to Bed

Published May 21, 2014 Exteriors , My House : Projects 3 Comments
Tags: DIY, flowers, gardening, herb garden, landscaping, spring

My goal this spring was to FINALLY finish the flower bed in front of the house. We built this bed summer before last and I’ve slowly been adding plants to it over the last two years. So this year, I was going to fill any leftover space, call it finished and move on to the backyard. Above is a photo of our house when we moved in.

Then we built a flower bed:

Then my mums went crazy:

But as you can see from the photo above, there were still big empty spaces on either side of the rose bushes, so last month, I planted a handful of hearty perennials and a few colorful annuals. And they are growing like crazy!

So what did I plant? Well, I added lavender and sage to my herb garden, which is growing out of control right now!

And I made a point of planting colorful perennials so that they will hopefully come back next year. I stuck with a purple/yellow/pink color combination (something about red flowers makes my house-with-a-yellow-front-door look like a McDonalds) and planted Blue Salvia, which have gotten really big and add such a nice color, shape and texture contrast to the other flowers.

I also planted foxglove, but they probably won’t bloom this year. Just a reminder when you’re landscaping: if you are planting multiple types of plants, put the tallest ones in the back of your flower bed – just like putting the tall people in the back row of a photograph – and the smallest ones up front. Foxglove will get very tall, taller than my other plants, so even though it’s in the back, it’ll still be visible from the street.

In addition to all these new plants, my mums are coming back again, so I alternated the daisies and some creeping phlox between the leafy green mum growth. Probably pretty soon, I’ll have to trim the mums back, so they aren’t quite as big as last year when, after the first big rain, the flowered branches weighed so much they snapped! And of course, our knock out roses are killing it, once again!

And there you have it! I’m putting this flower bed…to bed (sorry, couldn’t resist). And now? On to the back yard!

Easter Egg-perimentation

Published April 17, 2014 Holidays Leave a Comment
Tags: crafts, DIY, easter

Thanks for humoring my insane cheesy blog post titles sometimes.

:::bows:::

Today, I’ve got a guest post up over at Bourbon and Boots, where I’m sharing how to create marbleized Easter eggs. They turned out really well, but while I was making them, I experimented with a few other ways to dye eggs. I used water, vinegar and food coloring for all of these eggs, so they would be edible later on (when I definitely plan to make deviled eggs out of them).

For all the eggs here, I used this simple formula:

– Hardboiled eggs

– 1/2 cup water

– 1 Tbsp vinegar

– 10 drops food coloring in any color or combination of colors

Aaron has been bringing home gorgeous farm-fresh eggs, thanks to one of his co-workers, so when I was hard boiling eggs, I included a few brown and light green eggs, which created really rich, beautiful hues.

I’d seen ombre Easter egg tutorials online that involved six cups, labeled A-F, all with an assigned number of food coloring drops. Just FYI: that is totally not necessary. Make one cup for each color, and put each egg in for 30 seconds longer than the last one. Here, I started with a white egg in the dye for 30 seconds, then the second egg was in dye for a minute, then I switched to light green eggs, then brown.

And finally, the marbleized eggs for Bourbon and Boots, which you can find out how to make over on their site today.

Are you dying eggs this year? Any fun ideas to share?

$50 DIY Floor Mirror

Published April 3, 2014 My House : Projects Leave a Comment
Tags: budget, DIY, interiors

Honestly? This post should be titled “How NOT to make a DIY floor mirror” because I pretty much did everything you shouldn’t do when making a DIY floor mirror. But it’s a true testament to the ease and awesomeness of this project that – no matter how much you screw up – you can’t actually screw it up.

(image via Live the Home Life)

I originally got the idea from my friend Cara’s blog, Live the Home Life. Cara is a DIY warrior and she threw this little project together so easily, that I thought, “Oh, I can totally do that! No problem!”

Over a year ago, I bought a full-length, beveled mirror from Target – one of the frameless ones that you mount on the back of your door. They’re super inexpensive, about $15. But thinking I’d eventually get around to doing this project, it sat in the box collecting dust. Fast forward a year, and I finally got my butt in gear.

What You’ll Need:

Three boards – I used 1″ x 10″ 6-foot long boards, but I’d recommend 1″x8″

Frameless door mirror

Miter saw

Staple gun and staples

Gorilla Glue

Wood Filler (for emergencies)

1 quart wood stain

LiquidNails

Reading Cara’s instructions, I knew I needed three boards – two for the long sides, and one that I would cut in half and use for the top and bottom – a miter saw, a quart of stain, some staples and Liquid Nails. My mom had a miter saw and staple gun, so I went to Home Depot for the rest. Cara used 8″ boards to make her mirror, but I thought I’d beef mine up a little bit and use 10″ wide boards instead.

Mistake #1: Don’t assume your mom has a miter saw, because sometimes, moms’ miter saws break and they don’t have them anymore.

So that was my first mistake, but since I’d already bought all the stuff, we decided to try with a skill saw instead. The longer boards on each side needed to be 48″ long with 45 degree cuts on either end. The shorter top and bottom boards would be 12″ long with 45 degree cuts on either end. Ideally, the four pieces would fit together perfectly, which meant those 45 degree cuts had to be perfect.

We used a ruler to draw a 45 degree cut, cut it with the skill saw, then used the first piece as a stencil for the other pieces. If you aren’t power tool savvy, the difference between a miter saw and a skill saw is this: miter saws sit on a table and make near-perfect cuts. Skill saws are handheld and do not.

So let’s just consider this Mistake #2: don’t use a skill saw when you really need a miter saw.

Because once all the cuts were made, we weren’t even close to having four pieces that fit together. Distraught by this failure, and unable to stand not having a power tool when she needed it, my mom went off to buy a miter saw the next day. We made the cuts again, trimming off a little from the boards, which meant the four pieces would fit together a little more snuggly, and less of the mirror would show in the middle. But we were only losing about a 1/4 of an inch on all sides, so this was a minor problem.

However, this didn’t fix everything.

Mistake #3: Miter saws don’t cut anything as wide as a 10″ board.

Yup, my genius idea to “beef up” my mirror backfired in my face. Miter saws can only cut wood that’s about 6-8″ wide. And here I had four 10″ boards. By this point, I wasn’t going to look back. So we did the best we could making the cuts and laid out the four boards to see how close we’d gotten.

Um, not that close. Cara used a staple gun to staple the four pieces together, then filled in with a tiny bit of Gorilla Glue. So I did the same.

For extra support, I added brackets to the back. And then I put a little extra Gorilla Glue in the cracks.

MISTAKE #4: DO NOT PUT EXTRA GORILLA GLUE IN THE CRACKS.

Some of the glue leaked through the crack to the front of the mirror and I spent 20 minutes trying to clean and sand the spots away. Even then, there were huge gaps in the cracks on the front of the mirror.

So I ran to Sherwin Williams for some Wood Filler. This stuff is magic. It’s just putty that you swipe into the crack, then use a wet rag to wipe off the excess. Unlike caulk, it’s paintable and stainable.

Once that was dry, it was time to stain. I used Minwax Wood finish in Dark Walnut, for a really dark, rich finish.

Unfortch, I must not have gotten all the Gorilla Glue off, so there was some discoloration on those spots, but nothing too obvious.

Once the stain was dry, we laid the wood down on some newspaper and traced around the inside edge with LiquidNails, then gently laid the mirror down in place. I put some magazine holders full of magazines on top of it over night, and the next morning:

I had a beautiful floor mirror that cost about $50. Despite the many mistakes I’d managed to make during the project, the mirror turned out beautifully. Which goes to show: it really can’t be screwed up.

Cost Breakdown:

1″ x 10″ x 6 ft boards: 3 at $9 each = $18

Liquid Nails: $2.50

1 Quart of Minwax Stain: $8

Wood Filler: $8

Frameless beveled mirror: $15

Gorilla Glue – already owned

Staple gun, staples and saws – already owned by Mom

Total cost: $51.50

Guest Blogging at Bourbon and Boots

Published March 24, 2014 Around Town , My House : Projects 1 Comment
Tags: crafts, DIY, flowers, gardening

In Friday’s post about my new home office makeover, you might have noticed the lovely basket displaying my fern plant (or not, whatever). Well, I’m showing you how to make your own “basket” flower pot over at Bourbon and Boots! It’s a super simple and inexpensive project, and an easy way to decorate one of the bazillion terra cotta pots that most people having lying around the house.

10 Favorite: Easter Eggs

Published March 26, 2013 Holidays Leave a Comment
Tags: crafts, DIY, easter, easter eggs, Holidays

Total honesty: I have never dyed an egg in my life.

Ok, actual total honesty: There might’ve been one Easter when I was a kid when I dyed an egg. I have a vague memory of it.

But these days? With my schedule? And no kids? Yeah, Easter eggs just don’t happen. Every year, I pin my favorites and every year, Easter comes and goes, I throw together a side dish, arrive at Grandmother’s house, eat till I’m comatose and eggs go undyed once again. But I won’t be discouraged! One year, I WILL do something totally awesome to eggs (besides this, which is maybe the most awesome thing you can do to an egg). And until then, I will continue to amass creative egg ideas.

Here are my current favorites:

gold marbled easter eggs | pantone easter eggs | marbleized easter eggs | crystal egg geodes | graphic pattern eggs

sequin easter eggs | ombre easter eggs | rock easter eggs | french fruit eggs | gold leaf easter eggs

Do you dye eggs? Got any great ideas for Easter decor that are quick and easy?

2012 : Top Posts and Fave Instagram Photos

Published January 8, 2013 Round Ups , Week In Photos Leave a Comment
Tags: cupcakes, diet recipe, DIY, fashion recap, Instagram, landscaping, red carpet

2012TopPosts

Manscaping, Phase 2 : A Guest Post from Aaron

The post heard ’round the world! For some reason, this post struck a chord with Pinterest users everywhere and turned Aaron into an internet star. Or, in his words, “Move over, Keyboard Cat! I’m an internet sensation!” When we finished up our front yard landscaping project, we chose to use recycled, biodegradable newspaper in place of that black weed blocker fabric. That little eco-friendly detail made this my most popular post by a long shot.

Manscaping, Phase 1 : A Guest Post from Aaron

So I guess it makes perfect sense that the first half of that project was my second most popular post of the year. I’m trying to not be a total brat about the fact that my two most popular posts of the year WERE WRITTEN BY AARON.

Fashion Recap : Oscars 2012 or “How Billy Got His Groove Back”

If I know anything, it’s this: you guys love a fashion recap. This year was no different, with the Golden Globes and the Emmys showing strong numbers. But the award for most views goes to the Oscars Fashion Recap. I’d like to thank the Academy and Billy Crystal’s jowls. {view past fashion recaps here}

The Big Door-y Reveal

Back in January, Aaron and I spent a weekend replacing seven (!) interior doors in the hallway and master bedroom. This was what our hallway looked like before the new doors, and just looking at this photo makes me sad. Excuse me while I go stand in my bright, happy hallway for a moment. (P.S. Replacing doors is hard. Which is why we still have seven left to replace. In the future, we’ll set our pace to one door per year or so.)

Light Strawberry Cupcakes

Another post whose Pinterest popularity caused it to skyrocket into a top post position. Did you know that diet soda and a cake mix make the most delicious diet cupcakes of all time? No? Well then, today is your lucky day…

Follow me: @rohallma

And thank you so much for reading, commenting, liking on Facebook, lurking, whatever it is you do. It makes the time and effort I put into this blog worthwhile. Cheers to 2013!