Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts

DIY Curtain Rods and Finials

The folks at Apartment Therapy and Better Homes and Garden remind us that there are lots of unique materials to use for hanging window treatments.

Better Homes and Garden via Apartment Therapy
Can you guess what these curtain rods are made from? Click on the links for great tutorials for inexpensive DIY tutorials for these curtain rods.
In My Own Style - See answer #1
My Life as G - See answer #2
Apartment Therapy - See answer #3
Christy's Thrifty Decorating - See answer #4
House of Hepworths - See answer #5
The Creative Mama - See answer #6
Answers:
1. PVC pipe
2. Bamboo
3. Unpainted steel conduit
4. Cardboard dowel
5. Painted steel conduit
6. Painted or stained wooded dowels

Okay, now for the finials! 


Rubber furniture feet from Squidoo
Tennis balls from In My Own Style
Old door knobs and cabinet pulls from In My Own Style
Drawer pulls from Home Works

Electrical tape and slip on finials from House of Hepworths

Corks and screw-in finials from In My Own Style

Drawer knobs from Design Sponge
Wood beads from Polish the Stars
Twisted hammered copper wire from Twists on Wire etsy shop
Antique glass salt and pepper shakers from the Art of the Home
Glass marbles?!  Photo from media absurdity
Once you realize you can glue stuff to the cap for a finial I guess the options are endless!



DIY Garden Art

In addition to using upcycled drainage tiles and cinder blocks in the garden, here are some more DIY projects for creating your garden paradise.

Sand cast concrete stone project from Squidoo Garden Crafts


Mosaic bench from The Garden Forum
Uses reverse technique with tiles on contact paper

Cement molds from The Garden Forum
This one really sets the bar high!
Leaf casting and loads of inspiration from Garden Therapy

Woven grasses project from Squidoo Garden Crafts

Branch trellis project from Squidoo Garden Crafts
Breathtaking pebble mosaic from Tatoo Donkey

From  The Garden Forum
Faux hanging log using hypertufa


Pebble Mosaic Tutorial from This Old House

More Resources for Inspiration from your ♥ local library or bookstore ♥

 

Cement blocks in the garden

Somebody help me!  Here's another craigslist posting that I want so badly!  Free cinder blocks.  

If only I had a truck to pick them up here is what I would do....
Raised beds and paths  from Personality is Preferred
Raised stone garden bed from Wild Ginger Farm

Simple raised bed from Container Gardening Ideas

No dig garden from Permaculture Power
Notice how they even use the spaces in the perimeter blocks

Garden wall from Home Improvement
Decorative planters from Remodelista
From Elephant's Eye garden
Is it a bench or a garden? Read more to find out!

Bench from Organic Farm*
*attributed to Better Homes and Garden
but I cannot find the original link

Strawberry pyramid from the Green Thumb Alliance

More raised beds form the Green Thumb Alliance.
See how you can add mini hoop houses?!
My Life as an Ex-Foodie* shows how fencing is easily added to raised bed
*original attribution for photo not provided




Upcyled Clay Drainage Pipe Tile

January is such a fun time for armchair gardening here in the Northern Hemisphere.

A craigslist posting for some clay tiles has been thinking about these projects I might try while I wait for spring to arrive. Garden fountains, flower pots, planters, stoves, and more!

From this....
To these....

Welcome to My World - upcycled tile drains

One of many Squidoo garden craft projects
Sauna rocket from Permies
Clay tile planters from My Personal Jungle
Clay drainage tile fountain from Fountains Unique
And while we're in the business of sealing and painting terracotta how about this?....
Clay pot birdbath tutorial from Patricia's Pots

Advent (and beyond) Projects 2011

Let's see if we can craft our way with a craft a day with things that both boys and girls can enjoy!

Here are enough craft projects to get us making and decorating for Christmas and then keeping ourselves cheerful after the holiday let down and we're far away from family again.

To start with we need to have on hand, lots of glass jars with lids, plastic produce containers, tissue paper, sugar, sugar cubes, contact paper, tissue paper, lots of candles, wax, clothesline, fabric, felt...
  1. Put up our felt advent calendar -- just like the one I had as a kid that my grandma made.
  2. Sugar snowflakes from Here We Are Together
  3. Tissue paper window stars from Here We Are Together
  4. Twig lanterns from Here We Are Together or Layered felt flower hair pins using designs inspired by the Super Simple Magnets craft book and cool flower patterns from Danielle's Place
  5. Corn starch modeling clay for rubber stamped ornaments from Here We Are Together or recycled magazine bowls from Eye Spy DIY
  6. Coiled baskets or coasters from Disney Family Fun or a Magazine wreath from Childhood 101 [Here is the one I made]
  7. Wax painting from Here We Are Together
  8. Felt Christmas Trees from Felt-o-Rama or All Sorts
  9. Make a video read-along book for faraway cousins [dh, ds, and dd completed! I wish the out-takes weren't deleted before I got to see them.]
  10. Lighted Christmas castle or igloo from Here We Are Together
  11. Floating candles from Here We Are Together
  12. Moonbeams in a jar from Adventures at Home
  13. Ice Magic from Adventures at Home
  14. Decoupage marble magnets from Bumbleberries Boutique
  15. Japanese Inspired Upholstered Ornaments from Crafty Pod
  16. Fleece hats from Martha Stewart
  17. Bowling Boys from Disney Family Fun
  18. Hand-made dolls from Martha Stewart
  19. Monogram Corkboards from Martha Stewart
  20. Felt slippers or Felt moccasin slippers from Martha Stewart
  21. Star garland from From Blah to Tada
  22. Scrappy Tree from Beneath the Rowan Tree
  23. Take a break
  24. Take a break
  25. Well, you know. It's Christmas.
  26. Figure out how to address the Post-holiday blues and plan to make more stuff:
  27. Melted spoon rose pins from Can't Stop Making Things
  28. Melted fabric rose napkin rings from Creative Jewish Mom
  29. Fairy light wreath from Esprit Cabane
  30. Button wreath from Pyjama School
  31. Snowflake prints from Pyjama School or sequin snowflakes from The Moffat Girls
  32. Wax Pinecones
  33. Hot wax rocks from Wisecraft via Dano Gold
  34. Toilet paper Owls from Creative Jewish Mom or Toilet paper villages from Even Cleveland
  35. Newspaper bunting from H is for Homemade
  36. Sea glass pendants from The Magic Onions
  37. Make something from felt from Practical Enrichment
  38. Sew pin cusions like cupcakes, farms on jars, tomatoes, or please enter your pin
  39. Waldorf felt playscape or felt playscape from One Crafty Place
  40. Story stones from Beneath the Rowan Tree
  41. Matchbox dollhouse from One Crafty Place
  42. Gelato playdough from LMNOP
  43. Felt Chrysanthemum pillow from H is for Handmade
  44. Paper Roses from Folding Trees
  45. Magazine jewelry from Craft Stylish
  46. Folded paper Circus Cake from Bigfoot and Pickle face
  47. Many things from the Must Have List at the Handmade Experiment
  48. Felt broch from ecouterre
  49. Ribbon bracelet from Martha Stewart
  50. Fabric flower and button broches from Craft Stylish
  51. Fleece flower pillows from Come Together Kids

Roadside trash into treasure?

I'm a little giddy today.  I finished a project!!

Watching HGTV will make anyone think they can take a found piece of junk and turn it into the most beautiful piece in the room.

My attempts are usually less than successful. My one piece of trash turned treasure still looks like junk in a cluttered mismatched junky room.

But today I at least turned roadside trash into treasure something useful.

I saw a pretty periwinkle dresser, sans drawers, sitting by the road in my neighborhood.  I thought it had already been taken.

But then one day in a pouring rain, after a few days of pouring rain I saw that it was still there and *had* to have it.

My dear darling wonderful supportive ♥ husband ♥ hauled it home.

Warped from the rain, peeling paint, and no drawers, it came home.

I removed the entire back and parts of the sides that were warped.

I sanded the paint. I probably should have tested for lead but didn't.  At least I was outside.

Surprisingly, as I sanded the paint a sweet rose fragrance emerged.

I imagined this dresser must have belonged to a very lovely neighbor lady.






I puttied. (shh! Don't tell anyone but I spackled. I would have needed gallons of wood putty and spackle was much easier to work with.)

Then the blizzard came. Temperatures dropped. The garage floor got wet.

Time for the project to come indoors, lest I have more warped boards.

I sanded again. Indoors.

Did I mention the "workshop" is also the laundry room.

Did I also mention that the hand sander is supposed to catch the dust but doesn't do a really good job?


So this was my "girl" solution. 

I pretended like I was the dentist drilling the teeth AND the dental assistant with the sucker thingy catching all the tooth bits.

One hand on the sander (or the camera) and one hand on the vacuum hose.




Problem 1: The "dust catcher" doesn't stay on the sander.

I usually have to have one hand on the sander and one holding the dust catcher. 

It attaches in much the same way the vacuum hose does....or doesn't.





Problem 2:  The vacuum hose attachment kept falling off as well.

This method of "notch" attachment just doesn't seem to work. Whose idea is this?!








Solution:  Clearly the solution for both problems is duct tape. 

Or duck tape as it was first called. 

And sometimes still called if you use that duck brand stuff.





Done: With my trusty sander, vacuum hose, and paint brush, I got the job finished!!!

I know what you're thinking.

It looks the same as before only may a little less roughed up.

What can I say?  I had periwinkle "oops" paint on hand. And I don't make drawers.

Since there are no drawers I'm just planning to use it as open shelf storage.

Like I said, it went from trash to something that functions. Who said anything about being stylish?

Now, if I was an HGTV designer this would look great.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...