Tag: DIY

• DIY: Mason Jar Photo Flower Vase

  Posted at 3:46 AM by Brittany, on May 19, 2014

  This year for mothers day I wanted to do something a bit different than the traditional flowers and a card. I still wanted to give my mom flowers because she loves them, but this year I decided to make her a new vase to put them in, one with my face on it.

  

  When I take a break from baking to give my metabolism time to catch up to my waistline, I peruse Pinterest for craft ideas.

  

  While browsing a while back I stumbled upon this craft, and immediately knew what I wanted to do for my mom this past mothers day. What a genius idea. Mine didn’t turn out quite as nice as the original, but I find the flaws in my vase to be…charming.

  

  Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Small/Medium sized Mason Jar
  • Painters tape
  • Paint brush (I didn’t end up liking the one I used in the photo.)
  • Glass friendly paint
  • Scissors
  • Finishing spray

  

  

  If you have a fancy paper cutter that can cut your tape into a shape, by all means please do. I do not, so I used some scissors with this zig zag design on them.

  

  Here’s what I did: I painted my jar over the course of a few days, applying multiple coats. Once I was done I peeled the painters tape off of the front, which ended up making a funky design because the paint dried to the tape making it difficult to remove. Owell.

  After I removed the tape, I took my jar outside to spray with the finishing spray, which left a foggy glaze over the spot where my photo will show. It turned out unique and made the photo look kinda cool when viewed through the glass. Continuing with the charming look.

  

  I chose a photo of my sister and I to stick inside the jar, and printed out a wallet size. I used the painters tape to tape the photo to the inside of the jar. You will want to use some kind of small cup to put inside for the water to ensure you don’t ruin your photo, I used a shot glass. I picked 4 random and fun flowers to match the pink vase.

  I loved the outcome!

  

  I think my mom liked it too. 🙂

  

  Q: What did you do with/for your mom for mothers day this year?

  

  | 59 Comments Tagged Craft, DIY, Mason Jar, Mothers Day, Pinterest

• Holiday Spirit

  Posted at 11:37 AM by Brittany, on December 21, 2012

  This is the easiest/most adorable craft you could possibly do for a Christmas gift.

  

  Salt shaker from Bed Bath and Beyond, a mini tree from Joanne’s, glitter, glue, saran wrap, and some ribbon! Simply glue the tree to the bottom of the shaker, put in whatever kind of glitter/fake snow you want, saran wrap the top so that the glitter doesn’t fall out, and wrap the top with a bow color of your choice!

  

  I just can’t get over the adorableness.

  Q: Have you made any holiday like crafts recently?? Share them with meee!! 

  

  | 39 Comments Tagged Christmas, Craft, DIY, Pinterest

• DIY: Compost Bin

  Posted at 4:37 AM by Brittany, on June 17, 2012

  Wasting food is worse than nails on a chalk board..almost. I shed a small piece of my heart each time I throw food into the garbage. I still have my entire heart because I refuse to waste, I will save even the smallest morsel of a meal to incorporate into the next. So what do I waste then? Scraps of food that I deem inedible: think watermelon rinds, lemon peels, garlic skin, wilted leafy produce. Rather than throw these away, why not compost them!

  Compost bins these days can be expensive, and take up a lot of space. There are plenty of DIY projects all over the internet, from digging holes in the ground to getting an old garbage can and filling it with left over food. I know someone who recently made a compost bin out of milk crates. It’s worked out well for left over scraps!

  DIY Compost Bin 

  You wont need much, just some milk crates (3 of them for a good rotation system), weed blocker, paper bags, and a hot glue gun. 

  

  These are the crates that were used. There are three, but I started with two to get the compost going. You won’t need the third one for a bit.

  

  Oh surprise, I used a TJ’s bag. You’ll need a sturdy paper bag to lay on the bottom of the bin. Eventually this will compost into your soil, but it will take time and lets the food break down first.

  

  You will take the weed block fabric of your choice, and hot glue it to the four side walls of the bin. Do not put a layer on the bottom, the bottom is only for the paper bag. You don’t want weeds growing into your compost, they taste like intruders.

  

  Glue glue glue. This part is dangerous, I couldn’t risk burning my clumsy sausage fingers.

  

  Voila, repeat these steps on the other two crates and you are almost ready to start spoiling food for fresh soil.

  

  Add a little bit of soil to get the bin started.

  

  The lid helps to keep the soil dark and moist, but you will need to let the bins have sun and water occasionally.

  Now for the rotation process: To make this easier to understand we will call the crates A, B, and C (eventually you will need three crates.) The top crate is A, middle crate is B, and bottom crate is C. Once crate A is 3/4 full you will swap it out with crate B. Crate B then comes to the top. Once crate B is 3/4 full, you will take whatever is left in crate A (which should be partially broken down by now) and POUR that into crate C. You will then put crate A back on top, and crate B back into the middle. This will begin your cycle. Crate C is there basically to collect the leftover waste that needs more time breaking down.

  This compost bin is strictly veg friendly. No meats or animal products will find their way into the bin. With meat you have to worry about other breakdown methods. If you want a meat friendly bin, this is the wrong blog for you.

  Q: Do you waste a lot of food? Ever thought about saving scraps like this? Someday this will be soil to fuel my garden! 

  

  | 68 Comments Tagged Compost, Compost Bin, DIY, Food, Gardening, Trader Joes, Waste

• The First Harvest

  Posted at 9:28 AM by Brittany, on May 14, 2012

  It’s about time I gave you all an update on my wine box garden. So far I am beyond pleased with how things have turned out. It’s been just about two months, and I’ve already harvested some of the goods! Here are some before and after photos.

  Onions

  

  Beets 

  

  Carrots

  

  Swiss Chard

  

  The Swiss chard has amazed me the most! The wine boxes have seen better days, and probably wont be used again after this growing season. They have continued to do their job, and for that I love them! The remaining wine boxes (I told you I was hoarding them) will be used for shelving/decoration.

  The chard was getting so large in some spots that it was shading the little leaves below. Time to harvest.

  

  These will grow MUCH larger, but having a few right now was great. They were washed, cut, and mixed in with some lentils.

  

  It is so rewarding eating produce from your own garden, and this is just the beginning. I will literally pee myself when I eat my beets. I will probably cry too. It will be a messy moment.

  The beets and carrots have been thinned so hopefully they will grow into giant beet balls and carrot tubes. Everyone is invited over for a carrot,onion,beet,chard,garlic fest at my dinner table in another month or two.

  Q: Have you harvested anything from your garden yet? If you don’t have a garden have you tried any new produce lately?

  

  | 48 Comments Tagged DIY, Harvest, Produce, Wine Box Garden

• DIY: Wine Box Garden

  Posted at 8:10 AM by Brittany, on March 23, 2012

  The mini garden I have been wanting to start has been completed. It was super easy, and a lot of fun. To start things off you will need the following:

  • Wine boxes
  • Soil
  • Plant starters/Seeds
  • Frost/Critter blanket
  • Wooden steaks (if your boxes are flimsy)
  • Something to prop the boxes on once complete
  • Power tools
  • Love and patience

  If you have sturdy wine boxes, you will not need to reinforce the box like I did.

  

  See that bucket in the background..the clout laundry detergent bucket? That was my front row seat to watching my friend do all the work. As I mentioned, these boxes were collected from Trader Joe’s. I had eight boxes total. Hoarding starts at a young age my friends. This is what the boxes looked like originally.

  

  Now you see why I have eight, these boxes are gorgeous. Despite the boxes good looks, the sides were not very sturdy. Insert a woodworking friend to fix the problem.

  

  Those 4 wooden pegs were nailed in to keep the sides from splitting. Now the box is ready to go. Next step-Drill holes in the bottom for drainage.

  

  I am the mastermind behind these six holes. I can be hired with the promise of cookies as my pay.

  Now the fun part-Time to get dirty! Pour your soil(s) in to the boxes and plant your goods! We used two different “dirts,” one as a base soil, and one with a fertilizer to nourish the plants. From top to bottom: Walla Walla onions, beets, swiss chard, and carrots!

  

  If you live somewhere that has the potential of getting frost still, like we do in Washington, a frost blanket is suggested. This also acts as an insulation while protecting your goods from creatures, slugs, passing neighbors, and slugs. Did I say slugs? I hate slugs…

  

  Lastly make sure the boxes can drain.

  

  We set the box ends onto left over wood for elevation. I ended up moving the wood under the box near the center more to evenly distribute the weight of the soil within the box.

  There you have it, making a wine box garden is THAT easy. You just need to find some sturdy wine boxes and the rest is simple. I do suggest using some form of a label to indicate which vegetables are in which box. You can spend money on something like this:

  

  Or you can be cheap like me and use parts that came inside the boxes, saw them into pieces and use a sharpie to write on the pieces of wood (see upper right corners of completed boxes.) OR you could make something like the poop stick by using a kitchen knife, and a hot glue gun to attach a label to the knife. Perhaps this will be another DIY post for the future.

  Growing a mini garden, or growing a small potted plant in your house is both fun and rewarding. Watching your plants grow is like watching your child complete grade school..I think. I don’t have children, except for my cats..but they don’t attend school. Either way it’s extremely satisfying doing this yourself!

  Q: Are you planting anything this season? If so..tell me what!

  

  | 49 Comments Tagged DIY, Gardening, Trader Joes, Veggies, Wine Box Garden

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