Top Projects of 2013

15.  Cement Candle Holders

14.  Old Bench Makeover

13.  Recycling and Reusing Containers

12.  Braided Leather Bracelet

11. White Sweater Pumpkins

10.  Brady’s Bandana Quilt

9. Wool Posies and Vase

8. Handmade Headboard

7.  Wool Wrapped Trees

6.  How to Make Wool Felt

5. Child’s Teepee

4.  Driftwood and Seashell Wreath

3.  Butterfly Eggs

2.  Free Washcloths

1.  Cement Garden Balls

Thanks so much for following and commenting on my blog!  I would be nothing without my followers!  Here’s to all sorts of new projects in 2014!

I made a headboard for $4.70!!

Yup, true story!  $4.70!  I got all my supplies at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, that’s a mere 10 cents a foot for the wood.  And did I mention I built it myself???  No, I am not proud, why do you ask?

I wanted it to look a tad shabby, not perfect.  And I love how it turned out!  I used a homemade chalk paint, using a mixture of two paint colors, both Valspar free samples from Lowes. I mixed 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of powdered grout, and then added it to 1 cup of paint.

I found the bed frame and the mattresses on FreeCycle and guess what-- it was free! I never thought I would get a used mattress from someone I didn’t know but let me tell you, when this owner told me she had shampooed the mattress and it had dried outside in the sun for two days, I decided it was a safe bet. The owner told me she got new bedroom furniture and she had decided to buy a new mattress set with the new furniture.  I did check it out really well, and covered it with a zip mattress protector.  Even the bed frame was in perfect shape.

It took me all afternoon to design the layout and cut the pieces and put it all together. 

I don’t usually do such big projects so I had to pull out the sawhorses.

I thought about leaving it like this but decided I wanted it all the same color.  Although I do like the white posts and top. I sealed it with Kilz as I was not sure what the spots on the wood were.  I didn’t want the stains to bleed through when I was done with it!

After the chalk paint, I used a sealing wax and it has a soft luster to it!

I am very very proud of this project and also how much money I spent on it!  Gotta love a great DIY project!

I will be linking to these great parties!

Epic Fail…Mosaic Bird Bath

I make things that don’t go well all the time.  Usually they are little projects, but this one is really a good one.  And I have been working on it for months!

This is a bird bath, all concrete, weighing approximately 4000 pounds. I bought it for $10 at an auction.

It was a standard garden variety (pun intended) concrete bird bath with chippy white paint and some old mosaic squares falling off the bowl.

I scraped off all those mosaic tiles and all the loose paint, then used two colors spray paint and randomly painted the inside of the bowl.

I added some flat marbles to the center and then just started doing circles around the center area in a pattern of sorts.  I was determined I would only use marbles I had on hand but ended up buying one package of shades of blue marbles.

And the bonus is that I used up a big Ziploc bag full of marbles.

I used E6000 to attach the marbles. 

E6000 is a really strong glue that will hold almost anything…

Here’s the nearly finished product…

I thought about grouting the bowl, but decided to try my hand at a resin to keep it waterproof and to help it survive the winter freezes.

It was going to be wonderful…but when the resin was poured on, it hardened almost immediately.  So, I was left with this…

I guess I should have skipped the resin…bummer!

The resin is no longer clear because the bubbles and ridges let water underneath…Anyone have any ideas on how to make this better?  I am thinking a chisel and hours of work or offering it free on Craigslist!

I may be linking to these great parties!

A giveaway, a workbench and a clean(er) garage

I won a $50 Home Depot gift card (and some awesome outdoor cleaning supplies) from Stacy at Not JUST a Housewife and I knew what I wanted to buy with it before it came in the mail!

Home Depot had this wood workbench for $69!  I saw Karen here at Sew Many Ways talked about this bench so I went to the Home Depot looking for it, checked it out and it was perfect!  First I had to make room for it…

So, on this beautiful day, I started to clean out my garage.  I swept up this pile of stuff…yep, that’s a frog mummy and that’s entirely fake money.  Lots of flat marbles and a vintage tootsie roll.  That was just the highlights…

So anyway, I digress…I dry walled one who side of the garage (with the help of a friend who got me started), replaced the insulation, added some insulation and painted it all up.  Eventually I want to dry wall the entire garage so I can work in there year round.

I gave away tons of stuff, sold some stuff and cleared off all sorts of shelves.

I found this wooden crate on wheels that my son had some play guns and toys stored in and cleaned it out and put all my wood scraps in the crate.  It rolls and is larger than the Rubbermaid tote the wood scraps were falling out of!

I reinforced the bottom of the crate and oiled the wheels and stacked the wood inside.

May not be pretty but it did the trick!!

Here’s the finished project with the new wall behind it and everything stored neatly.

And here is the workbench, I hauled it home from the store in the back of my Toyota Corolla…it’s seven feet long.  It comes out of the box and unfolds and is ready to use!  I painted the horizontal surfaces (with paint left over from the walls) to protect them.

The blue light in the pic above is just a plug-in swag I found 80% off at Hobby Lobby.  It was $11!  Works perfectly…I screwed a cup hook into the shelf above the work bench. I also have a stylish drop light for more lighting if needed…bet you want one too, huh?  So anyway, it may not be gorgeous, but it is a great work space for me with lots of room to create!  And hey, did I mention it was only $19 for me???  Oh, plus tax of course!

Some of my first projects on my new bench…

More about these later…

I will be linking to some of these great parties!