DIY by Val Frania
The Most Unexpected Flower Arranging Item I grew zinnias and asters and brought them inside with my hydrangias. I planted a bunch of other stuff out in my garden. One of the things that I regrow is lettuce and celery from store bought. The lettuce will regrow once, typically, and the celery will keep growning even when you cut … Read more
Weeds 4 Sale – Dirt Cheap! DH replaced the steps leading to our basement, so I took the old boards and painted a sign for the garden – my "step garden" behind my garage. I'll show you the before and afters of that later, but for now, here is how I did my sign (super easy): 1. Grab a … Read more
Are you an older, younger or an in-betweener? On my way to work I was thinking about a comment made on my guest post about making your home Alzheimer's ready. For some reason this has overshadowed my thinking lately and I have to address it. The comment was that we should always hire a professional in home updates. I … Read more
I thought I was going to do a candle holder Hobby Lobby hack… I've been admiring a few pieces of decor in a friend's house and finally asked if I could do some hacks on her home decor. Check out a picture of my friend's candle holder – I thought it was from Hobby Lobby but when I asked … Read more
We downsized recently and have 4 boxes of old picture frames filled with my kid's pictures. I don't have much wall space in this new house, so I needed to figure out what to do with all the frames. Boxes and boxes of frames… Not only am I a Mom of Many; I am also a photographer. 15 8×10 frames … Read more
I told you about the cast off treasures I got from a friend in my first From Trash to Treasure post here. Here are brass pieces that NO ONE wants. After painting the brass finishes with my dark walnut satin Rust-Oleum spraypaint, I decided to mix and match the parts to make new pieces. Brass decor isn't very popular … Read more
I have picture frames up the wazoo! Seriously, I must have more than three or four dozen wood frames packed in boxes… In the garage, In the basement, In my craft closet, In my blanket chest… Nope. There aren’t any blankets in it. Just picture frames. Some day I will paint that blanket chest with chalk paint and actually … Read more
Chalkboard DIY – Crazy Easy Here is the promised cabinet door chalkboard easy DIY from my fall porch. Seriously, this took me less than 5 minutes. Not everything you see is a difficult to achieve as it seems. Sometimes it's crazy easy. This is one of those. Here it is on my porch: I started … Read more
My daughter Jillian and I recently did a newborn baby girl photo shoot for my new granddaughter, Madison Grace. Have you priced photo shoots lately? I have and it's not pretty. There is no reason you can't do your own and do it well. The background in the above picture was the Jones' living room … Read more
It's a way of life. Or, maybe it's an obsession. I suppose it depends on who's describing it. Upcycling trash isn't as bad as it sounds. We throw away so much trash. We can't upcycle it all, but why not some? Good for the environment (I'm not a tree hugger, just responsible.) Good for the pocketbook (It's rewarding to save … Read more