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Installing a Split Face Travertine Backsplash

Installing Split Face Travertine Tile

I met Jacque and Matt from The DIY Village recently at Haven. They are such an adorable (AND TALL) couple:

Seriously, these two are TALL, I’m 5’6″ and I was wearing heels in that picture! Poor Matt was one of the few guy bloggers at Haven, but he was able to ham it up with us gals. Even if he didn’t get the memo that Jacque and I were wearing coral colors. 😉

As I’m getting ready to head out on the BIG GMC Adventure Along the World’s Longest Yard Sale, I asked these two fellow DIYers if they’d share one of their DIY adventures with you. I can seriously relate to this “simple” home improvement turning into a much bigger improvement. It happens to us DIYers all the time. So, check out how Matt started with simply swapping out their old microwave and ended up installing new drywall, removing and moving their wall cabinets, installing new stainless steel appliances, AND adding a beautiful split face travertine backsplash. Phew, I’m tired just thinking about it.

Give it up for The DIY Village People (sorry I couldn’t resist. Now you’ll have that song “Y-M-C-A” in your head all afternoon.) Read more

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Are You Woman Enough to Handle My Power Tools? – Plywood Sign Tutorial

There is a joke on our street that Pretty Handsome Guy isn’t allowed to touch my power tools. Okay, it isn’t really a joke, it’s a fact. He knows he is not allowed to use them without me around (smart guy.) 😉

Before the Woman’s Day shoot I decided at the last minute that I wanted a sign that really labelled the workshop as a “Woman’s” workshop. In an instant I had a creative spark and came up with this question, “Are You Woman Enough to Handle My Power Tools?”  Then I called my good friend Leen the Graphics Queen and asked her to make a wall decal for me. (Did you know she can create custom wall vinyl for you too?! And you don’t even have to be a close friend! But, I’m sure she’d be your friend immediately if you met her because she’s a sweetheart like that.)

Once the vinyl arrived, I set about creating a fancy and feminine sign with some scrap plywood. Here’s how to create your own custom wooden sign. Read more

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Old Paintbrush Cabinet Door Handles

Happy Wednesday! Something kind of exciting happened to me yesterday. Woman’s Day sent a photographer, an assistant and a stylist to photograph me and my garage. They worked together like a well-oiled machine and made my garage more beautiful than I could ever imagine! If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (@PrettyHandyGirl), I snapped a few photos with my cell phone. I am still in the “I’ll believe it when I see it mindset.” But, this was for a small feature on organization for the September issue. Honestly, I’m a little concerned that the editor will take one look at the photos and drop them in the garbage. After all, it is the LEAST attractive room in my house! But, the editor assured me that they really want to show an organized garage space. So, I’ll be sitting on pins and needles until the issue comes out.

Two weeks ago I got an email from someone at Woman’s Day expressing interest in my garage. She politely asked if I could make a few changes to complete my workbench. They were all changes that I had wanted to do eventually. But, that date suddenly became last week. So, I put my tail in high gear and added those finishing touches to my workshop.

This was the workbench area of our garage before: Read more

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How to Remove a Stuck, Stripped or Painted Screw

How to Remove a Stuck Stripped or Painted Screw

Isn’t it frustrating when you are trying to unscrew a screw and the head is stripped? Or some moron painted the screw and now you can’t get your screwdriver into the slots. (I might have been the painting fool mentioned.) Luckily there are two ways to solve this problem. Read more

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The DIY Talent Parade Highlights

I’m still on a high after the fabulous DIY Talent Parade. Seriously, I think the Rose Parade needs to watch out because y’all have some fabulous talent! There were so many amazing projects, it was hard to pick just a few of my favorites.

To start off the highlights, I present to you this colorful living room makeover by Yanet from 3 Sun Kissed Boys. I love how she nailed the color palette when she decided the word for the room should be cheery:

Plum Doodles wowed us with this standard vanity makeover by painting the toe kick black and adding legs and a skirt. Check out here step by step tutorial: Read more

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