my DIY high
There's nothing quite like stepping back and saying, "Yes, I made that."
My attempt to propagate prickly pear cactus pads
I acquired these cacti cuttings while on a trip to Austin, Texas a few weekends ago. If you follow my instastories you know how much fun we had! If not, here’s a recap:
Anyway, back to why we're here-propagating cactus pads! (Cacti pads? grammar is not my thing). While on my trip I did a lot of research on how to do this. Everything I read made it seem pretty simple. Here's what I did:
1. Acquire a cutting:
I was able to find a couple of healthy looking, wild prickly pear cacti. I used a knife to cut the pads off at the natural seam of the plant.
I let the "wounds" heal for about a week. 2. Gather materials:
3. Fill pots with potting mix and a handful of perlite for drainage:
I used just a handful of perlite. I blended mine well in the bottom of the pot, then filled another layer of just potting mix on top. Again, my potting mix is fast draining and specific for cacti.
4. Plant cactus pads:
BE CAREFUL! My gloves clearly were not the best. I read that you can plant your cacti vertically, or lay it horizontally over the soil. Roots will grow from the cacti's thorns. I chose to do both. For the ones I planted vertically, I dug a hole about 1 inch deep into the soil, then carefully placed my cacti "root" (or dried wound) in the hole and filled with surrounding soil. I made sure the plant was secure before moving. They toppled easily--found out the hard way.
I planted my larger cactus pads vertically, and my smaller-less straight pads horizontally. I'll be sure to update this post with their progress! 5. Water and grow:
As you can assume...Cacti need a lot of sunlight. I have mine in a windowsill facing the west side of my house. We'll see how they turn out.
When watering-soak the soil of your new plant all the way through. Try not to let water stand directly on top of your cactus pads--particularly the horizontal ones. Supposedly you can let the soil stay moist for a week to encourage roots to grow more quickly. Once you have a good root system going, don't water it as much! I check mine every week to see how dry the soil feels and water accordingly. Cacti will rot with too much water, so it's better to underwater than over-water. 
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Before I started this project, I knew it was going to be a long one. Once the cabinets were raised, the ugly underside became MUCH more visible. The next step in our kitchen renovation was to cover that mess up.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Slap some paint on, and nail it up! Then get to caulking/spackling all the cracks.
IF YOU'RE ADDING OPEN SHELVING:
You will need to measure the distance between the bottom of your cabinet shelf, and the bottom of the cabinet edge BEFORE you cover them. Use this measurement to purchase your eye bolts for holding the shelves on! I drilled my holes after I attached all my bottoms, so you don't have to worry about doing that yet.
UP NEXT: adding open shelvingFollow the series by starting at the beginning:
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In our little home, we are fortunate enough to have 2 full baths. “My” bathroom is the master bathroom of course, and “Nathan’s” bathroom is the guest bathroom. Unfortunately, Nathan isn’t the cleanest person in the world. Granted his bathroom is pretty dang small, and it’s really the only place that is strictly his…It’s an area I’m too afraid to enter, and I tell all our guest to go through our bedroom to my bathroom because his is never organized.
Another factor in the messy bathroom: this is one of only two rooms in our entire house that I didn’t paint before we moved in. Why, you may ask? Because the previous owners painted both bathrooms with this trowel textured wall finish that wasn’t totally my jam.
In the master bath I took the time to sand down all the walls, wipe them off with TSP and paint. It took a while. I got burnt out of bathroom work, so I didn’t dive into the guest bathroom until now. And you know what I did? I used some leftover base paint from the previous owners and painted right over the texture.
I think it helped cover up some of the texture, and I know it helped as a base coat. I only had 1/2 a can of leftover grey paint!
I had some left over black iron pipes from a previous project. Add this shelf from Hobby Lobby and you have a 2-in-1 storage space and towel rack! FYI, cleaning black iron pipes is a serious pain in the rear. Don't think you can just go out and buy a pipe for a towel rack because your towel will be covered in black grease. Maybe I'll do a post later on my experience with pipe cleaning....
Please ignore the half dead plant there. My favorite pastime is to go to Lowe's and buy clearance plants. Do I usually revive them? no. But I'm getting better!
Check out my LAST POST to find out more about this rolling storage bench. Also, check out my instagram story highlights for more on this cheap DIY laundry basket.
I really want to do something different with the countertop. When we moved in I imagined doing concrete. Is that outdated now? does it even work? Would it end up being a total hot mess? Tell me your thoughts.
I also want to do something different with the mirror situation. And the light switch plate. And probably the shower curtain. Thinking a ceiling to floor would make the bathroom seem bigger, maybe. Does it ever end?? YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The worst of the worst happened to me recently. Okay, maybe not the worst of the worst...but pretty bad. I either misplaced my beloved hand-me-down circular saw or it was stolen. I realized this when I wanted to use it to build a fancy mid century modern planter. Out of pure frustration and determination, and because, well...makers gonna make, I made the planter anyway. It was a total bust.
Knobs are sometimes overlooked, but when they aren't there--you miss them! The cabinets look slightly unfinished and nothing is super easy to open. Knobs and handles can be expensive. But not if you go to my favorite shopping place. That's right, Amazon. I went with a chrome/stainless steel look. I chose knobs for cabinets, and pulls for the drawers.
That long bar? I use it as a kitchen towel holder under my sink.
Now, I have my knobs and pulls in hand. I realized...I have no idea what a normal height or setting is for a knob on a cabinet. Then I started looking everywhere I went. They all looked weird. Every last one of them. It was like when you say a word over and over and that word starts to sound weird. That's how I felt about the knobs I noticed. After reading what seemed like every article on pinterest about proper cabinet knob placement, the difference between knobs and pulls, modern measurements and traditional...I found this bad boy and said to heck with it. They're all in the same place, and they look great. Word of advice: it just really doesn't matter that much. Go with your personal preference.
Follow the series by starting at the beginning:
You might also like: It's the end of the day on the first Friday of 2018. Anyone else still have a 2017 calendar on their wall, or am I the only one?For anyone else that's been in a fog this new year, here's a free 2018 calendar to get you going. Print it at home on regular 8.5 x 11 paper.  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
 I raised my kitchen cabinets for many reasons. One of those reasons was the microwave. In a small home, you have to utilize every inch of space. I couldn't waste precious counter space with a clunky microwave. I needed an over-the-range microwave. As you can see in this before picture...unless I wanted to rest my head on the microwave as I cooked, there was no way it would fit.
 I officially bullied my way into doing a tutorial in Madison County Magazine! I so wish emojis would show up on here because I'd definitely use the smirky side grin face right now :)
 Painting. Some people love it, some people loath it. I'm somewhere in between.
Painting is the easiest way to quickly change the feel of a room, but sometimes it can be tedious, messy and a general pain in the rear. Especially painting cabinets. Did I care? nope. Did it anyway and I don't regret it at all! When we moved in, our entire house was warm colors: the floor, the walls, the counter tops. I'm talking brown. Brown and dark yellow. I couldn't resist the 2017 dusty blue/grey trend. Here are my paint colors throughout my entire house:  Welcome back!Obviously, as soon as we moved into our house I had a to-do list a mile long. I wanted to do EVERYTHING as soon as we unlocked the door for the first time. Here we are, over a year later, with a to-do list only a quarter of a mile long :)
Our first huge project was the kitchen. I knew if we put our dishes away without doing our kitchen renovation first...it would never, ever happen. So! It became my top priority and the first step was to remove the cabinets. If you haven't been following along, you should know that I have started a series on updating my kitchen. Find the original post by clicking HERE! Domestic Imperfection gave me the confidence to actually do this. Luckily, my cabinets don’t involve any corners, so it was actually really easy. I say that...It was easy because I had lots of laborers helping to remove them. Please do not try to remove or reinstall your cabinets by yourself. You’ll undoubtedly break something; either yourself or your cabinets. 
When you're a hoarder and you own a tiny home (it's not actually that tiny!) you have to get creative with storage and organization. I knew I wanted a smaller home for several reasons: a) it's less to clean and b) we couldn't afford anything bigger
I wasn't super happy with the layout of our house. We live in a "cookie cutter" neighborhood with three layouts of the most adorable houses ever. One of the three layouts has an AMAZINGLY OPEN kitchen. The other two...do not. They have "galley" kitchens. Now that I'm thinking about it there are definitely more than three layouts to the houses in my neighborhood... Anyway, I found a GREAT step by step tutorial on how to raise cabinets and add a shelf. Now I LOVE my kitchen. Here's the original tutorial from Domestic Imperfection: http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2013/02/decked-out-kitchen-reveal/ Basically, I copied their entire kitchen. I so badly want the butcher block counter tops, but I just can't justify ripping out our granite tile. Or our stone backslash. It makes me very sad, but I've learned to deal with it. Photos from the home listing:
Those cabinets look like an awesome white/grey color. They were not. They were definitely baby blue and weird. A good attempt, but just...no.
MY KITCHEN NOW:
 Here's a quick tutorial on how I created our house numbers for our METAL door.Pinterest caught me with their "suggested pins" of BEAUTIFUL front doors with amazing, modern address numbers here and there. I loved anything I saw with these great modern brushed metal letters.
 Here's a throw back for you! Several years ago I found this awesome cane back couch on the side of the road (of course). It didn't fit in the cube very well...(you'll learn that I think my cube is amazing and I pack it chock full all the time). Don't worry, I only drove it like this for a few blocks.  WHAT YOU NEED:
 In my last post I said it was the easiest DIY I've ever done. This floral wreath is a close second.I've no idea what the "proper" way is to make a wreath. I actually never know the proper way to do things. I legit trial and error EVERYTHING I do. I think the only thing that could make my wreath DIY difficult is the glue gun. Some people just can't do it. They get stringy glue all over the place and burn the tips of their fingers off. Fortunately, I love my glue gun. I can't say I've never burnt the tip of my finger off though... WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
WHAT TO DO:
Thanks for watching!
 This is probably the easiest DIY I've ever done.What's better: A) Under $10 for four painted wooden utensils, or B) a DIY project in under 30 minutes? How about BOTH! What you need:
What to do: Drum roll please...
  There you have it! The easiest and quickest DIY ever. I hope you enjoy your dipped utensils. Don't forget, handwash only!
  Reclaimed woodWe've all heard stories of reclaimed wood used in new houses, right? Maybe a pretty accent wall from 100 year old oak? I LOVE when people re-use and re-purpose things, but I never stopped to consider how in the world "reclaimed" wood could look so good. Well my friends, reclaimed wood most likely went through a wood planer. I know, what the HECK is that?? It's an amazing machine that shaves the rot off of old wood.  When my friend told me about wood planing, I didn't quite understand what he meant. It's basically a magical machine that feeds the wood through and scrapes off all the ugly. Everyone should have one. It's amazing, and really simple to use. They're a little pricey, but totally beats sanding!  Literally, you feed the wood through a few times on each side and twirl the little knob to control the thickness. That's it. Video for proof: I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial! Stay tuned to see what we made with our freshly planed wood :)   Does anyone else have a ridiculously hard time getting back in the swing of things after the holidays??? It's literally been over a month since I've posted. This is the beginning of the downfall. I am so sorry. Just kidding, we're gonna make this thing work, BECAUSE! I have so many projects I want to do, and I need an excuse to do them. For example: this rolling cart that I really don't have room for in my house.  WHAT YOU NEED:
ESTIMATED TIME:1 long afternoon. THINGS I'VE LEARNED:So through this tutorial I have learned quite a bit, but two very major things.
 I SHOULD HAVE FOUND THIS IMAGE ^ BEFORE RECORDING THIS VIDEO:What you're seeing in the video:
 STEP 1: Remove all non-metal partsThis was actually a tad tricky. Removing the top piece was a cinch because it still had the original screws. The previous owners attached the wooden piece to the bottom...they used random screws that didn't match, both with flat head screws.
STEP 2: Sandblast the rust off!As you can see in the picture below, the wheels were extremely rusty. The cart still functioned, and the wheels aren't the most important piece to be painted...so sandblasting isn't a necessity if you don't want to go through the trouble. However, you will need to sand down all parts of the cart for good spray paint bondage.  I should have a whole tutorial about how to buy a sandblaster. Actually, I should have read a whole tutorial about how to buy a sandblaster before buying mine. I don't regret buying this particular blaster from Harbor Freight, because I plan to use it for more "delicate" projects in the future. It worked fine for me for removing the rusty bits off the wheels. I feel certain if I had bit the bullet and purchased a nicer, more expensive blaster, I would have been able to blast this cart with no need for painting after.   STEP 3: wipe off all the sanding particles I used lysol wipes. Quick and easy. STEP 4: spray the primer!Thin layers, people. Thin layers. Drips are not okay! Let dry completely before step 5.
STEP 5: spray final color!Again, go for thin layers. I went on and sprayed the wheels. I'll let you know how that turns out on down the line....
STEP 6: attach the cutting board and re-attach other shelvingMake sure your screws are short enough that they won't go through your cutting board!
STEP 7: all done!  This is my FIRST EVER VIDEO TUTORIAL! Woohoo! Way to step up my game, right??? Please excuse the shakey cam and the cut off beard. It's a learning process and a work in progress. WHAT YOU NEED:
Well, what'd you think? I'm thinking it isn't too shabby for an impromptu first attempt at a video tutorial! Here's how I jimmy-rigged it:  If you want the play-by-play: I started by placing my hat on my wreath form to know how far your beard should go. I put it on like a hat, but I suppose you could just glue it flat to the wreath if your from is too big? Try it and let me know. Next: get to gluing those scraps down! Personally, I love hot glue. Some people are really awful at it. Don't be awful, and don't burn yourself. It's a delicate art.  After I got about halfway done with the beard, I decided to go ahead and glue my hat down. I glued the insides shut.   My little santa was looking weird without a mustache. I fiddled and found the longest scrap I had to reach across and connect. Then I decided he needed some eyeware....  Seriously though, everyone has a pair of these laying around the house somewhere, right? Or am I just a hoarder?  Punch out those 3D glasses and rip off those ear pieces!  Add a little hot glue....  and hold them in place!  In hindsight, I wish I had thought to use fishing line to hang the glasses in the middle of his face...in a pench, this will do.  I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!   For a little frame of reference--I'm a hoarder. I used to work a few doors down from an interior decorator that constantly tossed fabric sample books! Much to the amusement of my co-workers, I loaded them up in the Cube. Every time I saw them. I have LOTS of fabric sample books... Here's a handful of projects I've made with trashed fabric sample books:The best use my fabric samples have ever had: |
 Kittens: day 1 There are 4 of them--black one right above the orange looks like a shadow! | OFF TOPIC: here's the story of my surprise kittens. |
BACK ON TOPIC: Here's how to sew a simple pillow.
For the full tutorial click here!
Stay tuned for more FABRIC SAMPLE tutorials!
FREE DOWNLOAD
Thought I'd share these Thanksgiving placecards we're using this year! Download the file below. Edit the PDF to add your names, or print off blank cards and write in! Cut into 4 and fold.
Happy Thanksgiving!
HOW TO FIX UP A WOODEN LOVESEAT
WITH LEATHER CUSHIONS
Are you getting sick of that picture yet?? Don't worry, I'm almost done with it. Here is the story of my wonderful wooden loveseat:
As promised: here's a tutorial on how to cut a desk in half to make two end tables with drawers.
 | I've never done a blog before, so bear with me. Ten bucks says I'll post this, and then three months later I'll realize I haven't posted anything in a while. Anyway, people have been asking for pics of my DIY ventures so I'll give it a shot. Sorry if it sucks! This is me, pretty soon after I was gifted this saw. I borrowed it so much from my father-in-law that he just gave it to me :) I've basically used it every day since then... |
Hi, I'm Rachel.
I pick up other people's garbage and take it home.
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