DIY Archives - Page 20 of 52 - Pretty Handy Girl

arts and craft, Crafts, DIY, gifts, recipe, Tutorial, Video

Easy Peppermint Star Ornaments

Last year I made these Easy Peppermint Star Ornaments. They were a lot of fun to watch as they melted and fuzed into a snowflake ornament. My son asked if we could make them again this year. Because the kids are officially out of school now, I thought this would be the perfect holiday activity today.

Won’t you join us as we make these Easy Peppermint Star Ornaments?

(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.)

Materials:

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 300˚F.

Unwrap the candies. You’ll need 13 candies per star. Lay the peppermints onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Arrange them into a snowflake design:

Place the baking sheet into the pre-heated oven. Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove the tray and immediately use a large needle to create a hole in the top of one of the outer points of the snowflake.

Allow the peppermints to cool and thread a green ribbon through the hole and tie.

Wrap up the Peppermint Star Ornaments in treat bags and give them to your friends and neighbors!

Or hang them on your tree ;-).

Here’s the quick video wrap up for how to make Easy Peppermint Star Ornaments:

Be sure to plan on making more than you need. The melting process can create some not so desirable snowflakes, but they still taste good ;-).

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December 23, 2016/1 Comment/by Brittany Bailey

Build It, DIY, Door Hardware, gifts

Switches & Locks Playboard

Switches and Locks Playboard | Pretty Handy Girl

Hello readers, it’s Jaime from That’s My Letter here and we are nearly to the end of 2016! I have a super easy and fast last minute gift idea for kids – a switches and locks playboard that uses up all those spare hardware bits lying around your workshop!

I scoured my workshop pulling together all the spare pieces of hardware I had stashed away to use on this playboard. Anything that moves, turns, twists, flips, or latches will be great for this project. I always save random pieces of hardware from renovations or from previous projects and today they are coming in handy.

This playboard makes a great gift for toddlers and young kids to keep them busy with all the different hooks and latches. Just be careful to steer clear of anything that could pinch or snap little fingers.

I added the pine board frame to finish off the plywood and make this board a nice, completed, functional board perfect for my almost 3-year-old nephew.

Supplies:

3/4″ plywood scrap piece about 19″ x 19″
Paint
1″ x 2″ x 8′ pine board
Misc. switches, locks and hardware pieces
Nail gun
Wood glue
1 ¼” finish nails
French cleat

Instructions:

Step 1: Paint the plywood and let dry. Gather all your miscellaneous switches, knobs, locks, pulls, chains, magnets, etc.

Switches and Locks Playboard | Pretty Handy Girl

Step 2: Attach all the hardware pieces to the plywood.

Switches and Locks Playboard | Pretty Handy Girl

Step 3: Frame out the plywood using 1×2 boards attached with wood glue and 1 1/4″ finish nails. Add a french cleat to the center top back and hang on the wall:

Now you’re ready to add a giant bow and give to that special little someone! Take a look through your workshop and I guarantee you’ll find a few miscellaneous hardware bits that would be perfect for a switches and locks playboard. Happy Holidays!

~Read more of Jaime’s tutorials ~

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December 21, 2016/2 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

arts and craft, Decorating, DIY

Rustic Bark Vases

Hi everyone! This is Lindi, visiting again from Love Create Celebrate. We are in the thick of winter here, which means I spend my evening curled up under a blanket reading or dreaming up new DIYs. That’s where the idea for these simple Rustic Bark Vases came from. I love DIY decor that I can use all year long. Wouldn’t these be great with some fresh string flowers in them? I can’t wait to show you how easy they are to make!

The hardest part of this tutorial is getting the bark. If you are collecting it off of fallen trees or tree branches, you can soak the bark in shallow, luke warm water to make it pliable, and then flatten it between cardboard sheets. Alternatively, you can buy sheets online through sites such as Ebay and Etsy. Soak those sheets for a little while if they are too stiff to bend too.

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.)

Instructions:

Be gentle when handling the bark at first. You don’t want it to split. I would recommend a tin can being the smallest size vase you use to wrap the bark around – if you try to wrap it around something smaller, the bark may split. You can cut the bark with a good pair of scissors if needed. I wanted mine taller than the tin cans, but you can cut it to any height. The best way to attach your bark to your tin cans or glass vases with this a two-part epoxy. This stuff is like magic! It sets in five minutes and holds forever.

The tutorial is SO easy and since I’m a visual learner, I made a quick DIY video to show you how to do it yourself:

Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel on YouTube!

What do you think of these vase?

Once you collect or buy the bark sheets, you will immediately think of a million DIY uses for them! I hope you like the tutorial.

If you love simple Christmas decor, you’ll love making these mini pallet ornaments!

For more Rustic DIY inspiration visit Love Create Celebrate.

~ view more projects by Lindi ~

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November 23, 2016/1 Comment/by Love Create Celebrate

copper, DIY, Do It Yourself

Copper Air Plant Display

Hi everyone! This is Lindi, visiting again from Love Create Celebrate. Is it fall where you are? I live in Northern Canada and autumn has definitely come to my neck of the woods! The leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and the apple pies are baking. Fall is my favorite season! I know that we all decorate for fall with pumpkins and leaves, but I love incorporating copper into my fall decor. This little Air Plant Display looks great in any season, but really shines during autumn!

We recently had to replace our old dishwasher (long sad story…), that had old soft copper tubing. My husband knows me so well that he saved this without even asking me. He was sure I would want to DIY something with it, and he was 100% correct (for once! haha). My mind was swimming with ideas. Since I’m mildly obsessed with these no-soil, low maintenance air plants, I thought I would combine the two!

(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.)

Materials:

Instructions:

This project couldn’t be easier! Just grab your copper tubing and cut it to the sizes you want using the pipe cutter.

Then mold your baking clay into a base for your plants. You can press the edges on a flat surface and use a knife to cut the edges straight.

Set the copper pipe into the clay base. Then bake it together (as per the instructions on the clay package).

Since I’m a visual learner, I made a quick DIY video to show you how to do it yourself:

Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel on YouTube!

Do you like copper as much as I do? What do you think of this project? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you love the look of copper, be sure to check out the Copper Fall Wreath I made last year!

For more DIY decor inspiration visit Love Create Celebrate.

~ view more projects by Lindi ~

September 28, 2016/4 Comments/by Love Create Celebrate

Build It, Decor Adventures, DIY, Tutorial

How to Make an Air Conditioner Screen from Pallets

Hi friends. It’s Jessica from Decor Adventures and I’m here to show you an easy project that will improve the look of your yard. If you are like me and are lucky enough to have central air conditioning in our home, but unlucky enough to have a large air conditioning unit taking up some of our backyard patio space, this project is perfect for you. We decided to create an air conditioning screen that would conceal the unit and help make our back patio into a better looking space for relaxation.

Making a screen to hide your air conditioner unit is easy. We elected to do this with pallet wood which (although it’s not the best quality wood) is free and easy to work with. Here’s how to make an air conditioner screen from pallets.

Materials:

Pallets
Reciprocating saw
Eye protection
Work gloves
Pry bar
Braid nails
Nail gun
Level
Measuring tape
Miter saw
Hinges and screws
Drill and drill bits
Exterior paint/primer
Paint brush
Water
Plastic drop cloth

Instructions:

First find pallets to use for this project. We looked on Craigslist and found some listed for free. If you don’t see any, you can ask at places like automotive repair stores, home improvement stores, manufacturing warehouses, etc. Make sure to ask if you can take some and how many.

For this project we used about 2 pallets. Pallets aren’t the best quality wood, prying them apart can break the wood. We opted to cut them apart with a reciprocating saw. Cut apart each pallet until you get flat pieces of wood like this. We didn’t use the inside “frames” of the pallets for this, just the flat parts.

Measure your air conditioner to determine the height and width of your screen. Add a few inches to the height and width. This screen has 2 sides hinged together but you could easily make a third or even fourth side if needed.

Next, use a miter saw to cut four pieces of wood to size for each side of the screen, two for the vertical sides and two for the horizontal rows for each side. This will form the frame for each side. The bottom board is a few inches off the ground to give the screen feet to stand on.

Measure and cut more pallet boards to create the slats of your screen. Nail the pallet slats onto the frame, making sure the boards are level. Repeat the process to make a second side.

Take the two sides and lay them on a flat surface next to each other, with the back sides facing up. Locate two hinges. (I used small hinges we already had on hand, but there are a variety of sizes available at the home improvement stores.)

Mark where the hinges will go with a pencil and pre-drill holes for the screws. With your drill or screwdriver, attach all four screws for each hinge. (I used three hinges for this screen.)

To conceal the air conditioning unit more, I elected to paint the wood gray to help it blend in more. Mix 1 part exterior primer/paint to 2 parts water and brush it on the screen. Blending the paint with water gives it a more washed look and lets some of the wood show through.

Let the paint dry and then prop it up around your air conditioner. This makes a nice looking piece of furniture instead of a utility that takes up part of your yard or patio. You can even get creative and hang plants from it.

When you set up the screen around your air conditioning unit, make sure to allow at least 8-10 inches from the unit for the best air flow and efficiency of your unit.