Make Your Own Tree Swing Our first house in Springfield had a huge Oak tree in our wild, rambling backyard so I made Sebastian a tree swing once he was big enough to enjoy it. We were so sad to leave it behind when we moved, especially since our second house had absolutely no trees large enough to support even a family of squirrels much less a toddler. Our new place came with a good-sized apple tree right in the middle so as soon as the weather warmed up I decided it was time for another swing. 1. Supplies needed: 1 - 2x4x8 piece of wood for the seat, 1 - 1x2x8 piece of wood for the top, rope long enough to hang from your branch and strong enough to support adult weight (just in case). I suggest at least 40 ft. The kids and I love having a swing again and it adds a lot of charm to our backyard.
Song Lyric Wall Art / D.I.Y. Project A couple weeks ago, I found a paint-by-number at an unbeatable price. I can't pass these things up even though I already owned this particular design. I thought that I could maybe use it to make a fun D.I.Y., but my new rule is that all thrifts that I purchase with the intent of restyling need to get done right away. I have way too many half finished projects in my life. With that little bit of motivation I came up with a fun D.I.Y. to display some of my favorite song lyrcis in our newlywed home. Enjoy.... Here's how I did it... I displayed our piece in our bedroom, on Jeremy's side of the bed.
Pallet Vertical Garden Today Rachel is sharing an adorable project she recently created; a vertical garden from recycled pallets! The chain link fence in our yard provides a few unsightly views of our lovely neighbors' weed-infested parking lot of a backyard. Since we are renters a new wooden fence was not an option and I didn't think I'd have the patience to wait on a dozen bushes to grow tall enough to block the view so I schemed an inexpensive way to at least draw attention away from the eye sore(s). A few trips to the hardware store and a local dumpster and I had created a new focal point that helped cozy up our little yard with bright colors and a bit of texture. 1. I added bricks under my pallet to give it enough height to be flush with the top of the fence and to keep the base from rotting.
Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorson Learn more about the science of success with Heidi Grant Halvorson’s HBR Single, based on this blog post. Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. 1. To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. 3. Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. 7. To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. 8. 9.
Heart Jeans D.I.Y. If you haven'tnoticed, I have a bit of an obsession with hearts. I even designed a pair of high waisted jeans with hearts on the knees recently. This got me thinking... it would be super fun (and easy) to add hearts to the knees of almost any pair or jeans! I'm enjoying gathering new pieces for my fall and winter wardrobe, including a few DIY pieces like these jeans. I'll share how I printed mine below... Outfit Details: Jeans c/o Levi's, Blouse c/o ModCloth, Shoes/Jeffrey Campbell, Necklace/My design for ModCloth. Here's how I hand printed the hearts on my jeans... 1. Heart Blanket DIY I love this blanket! I'm always looking for new ways to decorate our living room without spending too much. This design is bold, but still cute. 1. , paintbrush, scissors, cardboard, and cork. 2. I'm not the only one who likes our new blanket.... When I walked by several hours later, this is what I found!
Instagram Canvas Wall Art I whipped this project up for our home last week. We have moving on the brain, so all of the home decor projects I'm taking on this summer will be super easy to transport to a new space! I think summer is a great time for home decor project, don't you? 1. and a paint brush. 2. There you have it! How To Make Hair Bows: DIY (jr.) Hello! I'm excited to introduce you to a cute new weekly feature DIY jr. It's a quickie DIY that you can do in an hour or less! 1. Here's another fun idea. XOXO.
Beauty Tips & Tricks | Beauty Secrets | Household Beauty Tips 18 Practical Beauty Tips For Every Girl Monday, September 24, 2012 Emerald Pellot Some girls , while others don’t, but every girl likes to feel comfortable in her own skin. Beauty tips aren’t just for glamazons. Back to Gallery View All Pants Don't Fit? Winter is coming and if you're like 99% of the population you may be inclined to put on a few extra pounds. Get Glossy This is always super annoying. Wet Nails? Coating your nails in cooking spray will help them dry crazy quick. Ice Ice Baby If you don't have cooking spray, sliding your nails into a bowl of ice water will leave your nails COMPLETELY dry and any of those messy mistakes on your skin will have fallen off! Worse Than A Headache If you're breaking out an aspirin mask will help shrink and heal your zits in a few minutes. Zit Attack Toothpaste can be a great spot treatment for acne, just steer clear of the gel ones. Tame The Frizz Oil Slick This is pretty invaluable. Exfoli-Tape If your lips are super flaky, scotch tape is your friend.
"P" is for Personalize Everything gets personalized. Trugs: I've been doing a lot of personalizing these days. It's fun, easy, fast and makes for great gifts. more trugs: addresses: The technique I use is very simple. Here's how: 1. Using a ballpoint pen trace outline of letters: The pressure of the pen creates a slight indent in the wood. 2. The indent actually creates a tiny dam to hold the paint. I use this technique on every wood piece I paint. The look is clean and neat but still has that handpainted feel. Detail shot on this Banksville sign proves that: Wood and paint go hand in hand. Up next, personalizing with fabric and thread! I'm linking up to:
50 Creative Ways to Repurpose, Reuse and Upcycle Old Things If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of old stuff just lying around your house. It’s not doing anything but taking up space, but you’re either too busy (or lazy), sentimental or just have more important things to deal with. Well if you’re looking for a little inspiration or a new DIY project, here are 50 creative ways to repurpose, reues and upcycle old things. There’s a pretty broad range in this list but hopefully a handful jump out and spark an idea for you and your home! 1. Reuse Toilet Paper Rolls to Organize Cables and Chords 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. If you enjoyed this post, the Sifter highly recommends:
DIY tutorial: sand art terrariums » kellybutton after researching and finding out there were different kind of terrariums i could make i read about the sand terrariums. they look best with a cactus inside to create a sort of desert-y feel! i loved the look of it and made me think of making sand art as a little kid. i was inspired! i had SO much fun with this project. it’s super easy to do.. you just need some supplies that most likely aren’t laying around the house. i found everything i needed at michael’s (minus the plants!) i bought my adorable plants as redenta’s garden in lakewood. they’ve got a beautiful selection and the prices aren’t bad! they also had the most amazing terrarium cases. i can’t wait to make more! after many minutes of deliberation i decided on a baby cactus (i wanted one that was very young so i can watch it grow! i had originally planned on sticking the little deer inside it but after trying it they just didn’t belong in a desert theme haha. maybe for the next one!
Gracie's Graffiti Jeans--A Tutorial I am loving all the printed jeans I’ve seen lately…and I really wanted to make some for Grace. So this week when I was out and about I bought a really inexpensive pair of jeans and a bleach pen and went to work. There are several ideas that I wanted to try that involve bleach but I started with graffiti. Actually the idea was originally to make one of the leg panels look like the subway art that is everywhere but then I decided—it is everywhere—it doesn’t need to be on Gracie’s pants as well. SO I went with a more graffiti style panel instead. The first thing I did was trace the shape of one of the legs onto some brown paper that I had. Next I started drawing out Grace’s name and two of her favorite things (hearts and polka dots) all over it. (Sorry I didn’t do it in a super clever way…I’m just old fashioned like that…a pencil and winging it…which means if I can do it you can do it to.) After I had everything all drawn out I took my bleach pen and traced over the lines. #1. #2. #3. #4.
DIY Animal Bookend I have been dying to make a plastic animal bookend. The kids love books so we are always in need of bookends around here. I first saw this idea from Cassie over at Hi Sugarplum, and have since seen it done several different ways on Pinterest. (If you have done this yourself or have seen a favorite version online feel free to link it below!) Here’s my cute little hippo before. And after a little spray paint and a piece of scrap wood: I used a high-gloss paint and unfortunately the paint bubbled up. The funny thing is, my kids will still play with it like it’s a toy. Hmm.