kids cloth napkins

Hello Pretty Handy Girl readers, contributor Jaime back again to share an earth-friendly, fun and very useful tutorial as we begin to think about back to school! Today we are talking about creating DIY Kids Cloth Napkins.

Let’s make personalized cloth napkins for kids, I promise they will be the talk of the lunch table at school this year!kids cloth napkins1

I was sending my kids to school nearly every day with a large paper towel to place on the lunch table, gosh knows I don’t want my kids eating directly off the school lunch table!  Then it occurred to me that using all those paper towels was extremely wasteful.

The solution: make them personalized cloth napkins which can be washed and reused AND makes for most stylish lunch spot at the table! Read more

Mason Jar Foaming Soap Dispenser

My sweet little sister, Caitlin, sent me vintage blue Ball Mason jars for my birthday. I had resisted buying them because I might have a bit of a jar hoarding problem. (If you’re in my home, don’t open the cabinet in the laundry room. You might be horrified or shocked by all the jars I’ve rescued from the recycling.)

When I opened the package of six brand new blue jars, I knew I had to keep them and find some ways to display these beauties. Caitlin suggested I should turn one into a soap pump. I agreed, but decided to make it a foaming soap dispenser. Any one else addicted to bubbly foamy soap like I am? Raise your hand and be proud. We can start a foaming soap addicts group (right after the recycled jar addicts group meeting.)

Here’s my tutorial for turning a blue mason jar into a foaming soap dispenser.

materials_for_diy_soap_pump Read more

Metal tags for herb garden

Do you remember seeing those adorable metal tags that were part of my last post on  how to build a window box to be used as a herb garden.  The final decorative touches to the box included metal tags labeling the herbs in the planter. They were so easy to make, I figured you’d like the tutorial on how to make metal tags for your herb garden.

herb kitchen garden final Read more

Learn how to make this White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign and hang it with pride in your home.

White-Washed Patriotic Sign

White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial

The other day I was at the fabric store but after not finding that perfect fabric for one of my projects,  I went to the other section of the store to take a break from it all.  While there I saw a little sign that read:

This Is A Place We Gladly Call Home…
and for that we are truly thankful

Those words totally spoke to me!  I didn’t buy the little sign but I came home thinking about how to create my own version.  The sign was more expensive than the materials to make my own sign ten times bigger!

Patriotic sign final2

My sign came out beautiful, especially with the large American flag on the background. I’m happy to show you how to create your own White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign! Let’s make this sign.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Optional: Gold Sharpie marker

Instructions:

Cut off the tops to get rid of the “dog ears.” Mark the area for the blue square on the flag.

fence cut

Add star stickers inside the square. Paint over the star stickers with blue paint. 

adding star stickers to sign

Paint the red stripes next.  After the paint dries, remove the star stickers.  Give your boards a light sanding.

sanding flag sign

You can leave your patriotic sign like this or if you want to give it the white-washed look, continue.

White acrylic paint and water is mixed at a 50-50 ratio to create a white-wash. Apply three coats of the white-wash.  Wait for the paint to dry between coats.

wash out white on sign

Print out your quote on the computer:

This Is A Place We Gladly Call Home…
and for that we are truly thankful

Transfer the lettering onto the boards using graphite paper.

transfering letters onto wood

Using a brown Sharpie, trace the letters and fill them in.

tracing letters on wood

Do you want them a bit fancier?   Use a gold Sharpie to create shadows.

tracing shadows on letters

After the letters are filled in, it will look like this:

sign after finishing letters

Give the letters an extra two coats of the white-wash to make them blend better.

letters wash out

Lightly rub stain on the entire sign.

Staining sign

We’re finished making the White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign. Now it’s time to assemble and hang the sign.

Assembling the Sign:

To hold the boards together, attach cup hooks and screw eyes between the boards.  (I chose to paint mine silver since I only had gold.)

cup hooks and screw eyes

No need to pre-drill, the boards are fairly soft so the hooks and screw eyes will go in easily.

hooks in place2

Attach two extra screw eyes to the top to hang it onto the wall.

how to hang sign

This was a very easy way to put the sign together, hang it, and… it doesn’t take much space when it is time to store it away!

Patriotic sign final3

I hung some more patriotic decorations and our dining room is ready for a celebration!

Patriotic sign final1

What do you think of this White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial?

Patriotic sign final4

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Photobucket

  ~ See all Cristina’s Projects ~

kitchen window herb garden final-title-Lg

Hello again, it’s Cristina from Remodelando la Casa.   I’m happy to share a tutorial to build this kitchen herb planter with you today. It’s one of those projects that you can decorate and customize to your own needs.

kitchen window herb garden final12

Having fresh herbs was something I really wanted to have in my kitchen and NO, I was not going to plant them outside only to forget watering them like it happened last year. They died sooner than expected and I think the lack of water plus my not so good “green thumb” were the main factors for that to happen :-(.

Having an indoor herb planter seemed like the perfect solution. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a long planter to fit in our 5 inch deep kitchen window ledge.  So, I decided to build a custom planter to fit. Read more