diy Archives - Page 9 of 11 - Pretty Handy Girl

arts and craft, Birthday Gift, DIY, Do It Yourself, gifts, kids art, Sewing

Make a Boo-Boo Bear – A Rice Ice and Heat Pack

Hello PHG readers! I’m coming over from my blog, Prodigal Pieces, to share with you a sweet DIY that is easy to whip up and will make everyone smile (not to mention it makes a perfect last-minute gift!).

Do you remember the days as a child when you would stumble and hurt your knee or have some bump that required a little TLC? As a mom to 6 wonderful kids, I know how precious those times can be, and that’s where Boo-Boo Bear (a rice ice and heat pack) can sweeten those troubled times.

Boo-Boo Bear is sweet little friend who serves as a comforting ice pack that is the perfect temperature for those bumps and bruises that come along, AND he can also be lightly warmed in the microwave to soothe aches and pains. Want to make one for a special little person in your life? Read more

December 30, 2015/7 Comments/by Larissa Prodigal Pieces

Decor Adventures, Home & Auto Maintenance, Home Maintenance, Landscaping

How to Winterize Your Rain Barrel

Hello friends. It’s Jessica, from Decor Adventures with some easy tips to get your home ready for the cooler months ahead. I’ll show you how to winterize your rain barrel, which goes perfectly with Brittany’s recent guides on ways you can keep your home warm this winter and how to protect pipes from freezing.

Rain barrels have been growing in popularity and are now a common way to save money on water use for your landscaping. They are also great for corralling water way from certain areas of your property. If you have been looking for a rain barrel, check the local environmental non-profit organizations in your area. They often sell them at a discount.

Now that winter is approaching, those barrels must get properly put away so they can last for many years to come. We’ve been using our barrel for five years to collect water from the 1-car garage and help water the garden all summer long.

Here are a few tips on how to winterize your rain barrel:

Connection of a rain barrel to the gutters of a building can be via a few methods:

Gutter diverter – an attachment you can connect to a downspout to easily close off the water supply to the barrel and return it to a straight downspout once you aren’t using the barrel over the winter or when it gets full.
Flexible gutter – connects the downspout from the gutters on the garage to the rain barrel. These are also called flex-a-spout or vinyl elbow at the home improvement store and are very handy for diverting water in a non-straight path.

DIY Macrame Plant Hanger

If you follow home decor trends (or just love to add something different or vintage to your home), then a textile and macrame project is a perfect project to try. If you think they are a nod to the 70’s, you are right but this macrame project is fresh and fun. And it will make a great addition to your home.

Today I have a quick and easy DIY macrame plant hanger to show you that can be customized by color and size. It’s also a new way to display plants instead of just putting them on a shelf or plant stand. Here’s how to make a DIY Macrame Plant Hanger.

Materials:

50 feet of cotton or polyester clothesline
Scissors
Tape measure
Plant in a small pot or bowl
Small metal ring
Cup hook and anchor (Optional for hanging from the ceiling)

Instructions:

Open the clothesline and fold it in half three times so you have eight strands of clothesline of equal lengths. One end will have all of the ends still connected, and the other will have two looped ends and the two open ends of the clothesline.

Wood & Copper Cake Stand

Hello Pretty Handy Readers – Jaime here today from That’s My Letter to share a diy project that combines two of my favorite materials: wood and copper. I’m sharing how to make this wood and copper cake stand.

This is a fairly simple project that could be tailored to fit your style with paint or stain. I choose to leave the wood natural, only sealing it with clear polyurethane, because I love the contrast of the wood against the chocolate frosting (and most cakes around our house are made with chocolate frosting!).

The warm shiny copper is the star of the show here and can easily be found at any hardware store.

Supplies:

1×12 pine board scrap @ 10″l
1×8 pine board scrap @ 7 1 /4″l
3/4″ copper piping @ 12″
3/4″ wood dowel @ 12″
pipe cutter
jigsaw
finish nailer & 1 1/4″nails
drill & 7/8″ spade bit
measuring tape
pencil
sandpaper
clear satin spray polyurethane

Instructions:

Step 1: Use a plate or other 10″ circular object to trace a circle shape onto 1×12 scrap.

Step 2: Trace both a large circle shape onto the 1×12 and a smaller circle shape onto the 1×8. Then cut out circles using a jigsaw and sand edges well. Spray with clear satin polyurethane before assembly.

Step 3: On the smaller circle draw another even smaller circle (about 4″ in diameter). Make 3 equidistant holes with 7/8″ spade bit drilling only partially down into wood.

Step 4: Cut copper using pipe cutter into 4″ lengths. Cut wood dowel to 4″ lengths and shove inside copper pipe.

Step 5: Place copper & wood sections into pre-drilled holes in smaller wood circle. You can use some glue here. I chose to secure with a finish nail from the bottom as well. Now center the larger wood circle on top and trace the copper pipes with a pencil. Pre-drill holes into the underside of the top larger wood circle and attach the top (use glue if desired).

My copper pipes are very snug in the holes but I did use a little glue to be sure the wood doesn’t come off.

Maybe your next party needs a simple cake stand? Good luck with all your diy projects.

~learn more about Jaime~

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February 18, 2015/2 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

accessories, bedroom, Birthday Gift, Build It, decor, DIY, gifts, graphic letters and numbers, hanging shelves, Home Decor, Kids Room, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Uncategorized

DIY Personalized Wall Shelf

Happy Wednesday Pretty Handy Readers! Today’s project is a DIY personalized wall shelf and I’ll show you how to make it. I’m Jaime from That’s My Letter, a fellow DIY blogger who builds, paints and sews. I made this wall shelf as a gift for Bryce’s birthday, it makes a great statement AND it’s useful too!

Just a bit of painting and assembly to make this awesome, personalized wall shelf. And of course you can adjust the paint colors to fit your scheme. Bryce happens to have navy painted walls in his bedroom so I know this wall shelf will really pop once hung in his space.

The stained wood shelf adds just a touch of warmth and coordinates well with the hardwood floors. For a deeper shelf, use a wider board. I used a 1×3 but you could use a 1×4 or larger.

Materials:
(Amazon affiliate links included)

1/2″ or 3/4″ plywood cut to desired size (approx. 2′ x 4′)
scrap piece of 1/2″ plywood approx. 4″ x 36″
1×3 pine board cut to width of plywood
9″ MDF Pre-cut letters
Single robe hooks
French cleat kit
paint, roller & brush
stain & foam brush
sandpaper
tape measure
pencil
wood glue
2″ wood screws
3/4″ wood screws
drill & bits
nailer & finish nails

Instructions:

Before beginning, layout your letters onto plywood and cut the plywood to size based on the length of the name.

Step 1: Apply stain to the 1×3 shelf piece on all sides using a foam brush. Wipe off the excess. Set the shelf aside and let it dry.

Step 2: Paint your letters. Paint your plywood back (not shown).

Step 3: Distress the edges of the letters using sandpaper. Read more

August 20, 2014/10 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

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