Wicker File Cabinet Re-purposed to a Paint Cart

Here is a quick example of how you can re-purpose those garage sale finds inexpensively and easily. No muss. No fuss. Just a can of spray paint, black glaze and a sponge paint brush turned this wicker file cabinet into something useful. Wicker isn’t very popular any more and you will find wicker everything out in garage sales for just a dollar or two. I bought this one at a garage sale for $2 this summer. STEP #1 Spray with Rustoleum Painters Touch spray paint. Pick a color, any color. STEP #2 Dab, wipe or brush on glaze – all over, including the metal bars. I used Wise Owl black glaze using a sponge brush. You can use a regular sponge, brush or even a paper towel. Just use what you have on hand. No need to be particular, just have at it! I took about 30 seconds to brush … Read more

DIY Pot Rack – Pendant Lights or Industrial Wood?

Caution: This is a really looonnng post – first the background story of a win/loss/win, 2 sets of before and afters and a detailed description of the final DIY project! It all started with a giveaway… I Won a Pendant Light! Back in January C.D. Loken at CD’s Country Living had a giveaway and I won: “In honor of CD’s Country Living’s blogging anniversary, Parrot Uncle generously agreed to send one lucky winner this LARGE (18.11 x 9.06) Retro-Industrial Light with Pot cover shade ($45 value)!” Best Laid Plans Today I can finally tell you about it. It was a long time in coming… Parrot Uncle asked me if I’d like to have a second pendant light for my kitchen to go along with the one I won in CD’s giveaway. After a few back and forth emails, we settled on the pair of lights that were just like C.D.s … Read more

Hoarder's Renovated Home {Love My DIY Home}

Before and After House Flip – A Look at the Hoarding Disorder

A House Flip You Never Know What is on the Inside Looking at a home from the outside can be very deceiving – just like the outside of a person often doesn’t reveal what is inside of their heart. The flaws will remain anonymous. Join me for a look at a hoarder disorder as seen through the eyes of their family. Definition of Hoarding from Mayo Clinic: “Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs.   Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets in unsanitary conditions because … Read more

Eliza Ellis Printables

Free Printables by Eliza Ellis

I found some really nicely desiged free printables on the Eliza Ellis blog and want to share them with you. Take a moment to visit her site. She has printables for: CALENDARS & DIARY PLANNERS TO DO LISTS NOTES CONTACTS GOALS RECIPES MENU PLANS KITCHEN LISTS KIDS CHORES HOME LISTS FINANCES BACK TO SCHOOL KNITTING & CROCHET SEWING I’m all for using what others have created if it fits our needs. Save time by benefiting from the efforts of others. Happy New Year and thanks for visiting.   Permission to reprint granted by Eliza Ellis 11.18.14.

Pantry Organization DIY

Updated DIY Pantry Reveal

To have an organized pantry makes things so much easier… It wasn’t a terrible mess, but it certainly desperately needed to be organized and pretty. Pretty doesn’t hurt. Seriously. Isn’t it nice to have something that you visit every day look inviting? Here is a “before” picture, Not bad. Functional. It was OK. But OK isn’t good enough for me. This is my Hobbit Hole. I want more than just “OK.” So now you have it. My messy pantry. I did have a door on it, so I could close it off and not think about it. Do you do that? Well, I’m done with it. I’m tired of messy and “unpretty.” I started by taking the door off – I’ve always hated the bifold door. It took up too much of the opening. I plan to get a regular door, though my mom says I will hate that even … Read more

DIY Designer Desktop

Greetings, my peeps! (Adam, my dear SIL, I said that just for you!)   Confession time. My desktop was a mess. Seriously – there were folders and PDFs and files strewn all over my desktop and whenever I've cleaned it up it's lasted, oh maybe, 2 days?   I was cruising around on Pinterest (big surprise, right?) and saw this really cool desktop from Moritz Fine Designs. Heather offers a bunch of downloads in different sizes. Heather, I pinned your designs on my Pinterest board – thanks for the idea!   After checking out her designs, I said to myself, "Self, you could do that." So I did.     I measured my desktop at 14.5" X 9".   I opened a new file on Photoshop with those dimensions and placed a scrapbooking background paper on the board. Using the rectangle tool, I added boxes and colored them using the … Read more

Chef Tess Taco Soup - Meals in a Jar

Survival in a Crisis: DIY Prepared Pantry – Meals in a Jar

We need balance. Food Prep. Emergency Kits. Crisis Planning. BOBs. I've spent a LOT of time reading about prepared pantries, pantry design, emergency planning, etc. Though I see the value in "prepping," I'm maintaining my determination to remain balanced. So, what is a prepared pantry? How much is too much? I'm thinkin' many folks go overboard and spend money and time on prepping at the expense of other responsibities. Yet, I realize by looking around me, myself included, most have done nothing in the area of preparedness. I want to change that and develop the mind set that I can't rely on the grocery store around the corner to always have what I need. I want to be prepared.   source   So, let's strike a balance. I want to challenge you to take a look at the supplies you have in your home, which I'm betting is very sparse, … Read more

Canning jars for food storage

Survival in a Crisis: DIY Pantry Preparedness – Puttin’ Up for the Winter

Today I have a treat for you. I have a guest writer, Heather, from The Welcoming House Blog here today to tell you about how she has prepared her pantry. She is prepared for a food crisis, are you? I'm not, but I plan to be, very soon. Good morning to you! As a blogger who covers Food Storage every single week on Food Storage Saturdays, I can tell you that over and over I hear the same three questions or comments in regards to food storage. When Val asked me to guest post for her, I was thrilled simply because this is a subject I love to write on. I love to show people how common sense it is to start and use a food storage system, and how to do it easily and frugally. Food storage, as it is now called, used to be called "saving for a … Read more

Survival in a Crisis: DIY Pantry Preparedness – Pantry Design

Let’s talk kitchen pantry. My laptop is in the shop, so please bear with me as I suffer through this next couple of weeks without my MAC. Oh boy, it sure is a pain to use someone else’s computer, especially if it throws you back into Windows. I do appreciate my husband lending me his laptop, but oh my, it’s hard to use someone else’s computer, so hard to use a different keyboard, a different operating system and to be without my programs! No InDesign. No Photoshop! OK, I’ll stop complaining and get down to business. Just don’t judge me for my crummy photos – no Photoshop, remember? These days I’m talking about being prepared for a crisis and am focusing on having a good food supply. I have a blogger friend writing a guest post on how to prepare your pantry – how to stock it to be prepared for a food shortage. Until I have that post up and … Read more

DIY Family Cookbook

A DIY Family Cookbook “Mom, what was that recipe for that stuff Grandpa Woodward brought home from the shop?” “Doesn’t Aunt Penny make that Broccoli Cauliflower salad? Do you know how to make it, Mom?” “My chili doesn’t taste like yours, what type of beans do you use?” I had three teen boys our last two years of homeschooling and the last year we spent a lot of time in the kitchen. We put together a family cookbook and updated it several times. Here are a few shots of our 2010 cookbook. We have gifted it to our kids for Christmas many times over the years as each of them moved out into their own homes. Here is the cover and a few shots of some of the pages. I ordered this book from Picaboo. They had a deal at the time – buy one and get two free. If … Read more

Love My DIY Home