Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

DIY Clay Oil Diffuser

Here is something I have never done. Playing with clay. I have always wanted to take a pottery class but there are not any near me and from what I hear, they can be a bit pricy. 

But I still wanted to mess around and make something with clay so I purchased some “air drying clay”. I got the idea of the clay oil defusers on line. I thought they were cute and simple. The clay was inexpensive  and I used natural leaves for stamping a design. 



I squeezed and pressed over and over until I had the size and shape I wanted. Using a cookie cutter, I cut out a round shape. I used a straw to make two holes and set them out to dry for 24 hours. 


I like the way they turned out. I debated on painting the print or not but I ended up using some green acrylic paint to enhance the natural print.  I painted one with coffee. It turned out to be my favorite. I plan to hang it in my car. 

I also made a little ring plate using the same technique.


To use the clay defusers, just add a couple drops of your favorite essential oil and hang it from your rearview mirror, office or closet. The clay absorbs the oil and creates a nice aroma. Reapply the oil every few weeks . 



Shop HERE 




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 which means I make a small percentage on the sales 

but it in no way affects the price a buyer may pay





Handmade Hair Pins

I’m at it again. Playing with sticks. Whittling and carving. 

I have been intruiged with hair pins lately. Until a few months ago, I had no idea how women held their hair up with a hair pin. I mean, how is it possible that a single stick will hold a whole head of hair in a twisted updo? Well, obviously, easy. I was amazed when I gave it a try. I have been in favor of this type of hair pin ever since. 

Since Covid took half of my hair, I have had to be careful at how I put my hair up. I do not want to use anything that can be damaging. I stopped using stretchy bands and now only use hair pins or claw clips to keep from damaging the little bit of hair I have left. In case you missed it, you can read about my Covid hair loss HERE
After 3 months and losing 50% of my hair, It finally stopped falling out. Now it is in the regrowth phase. I use special shampoo and oil to help with the process. 

I got this fancy idea to make my own hair pins so I had my husband gather me a few sticks during his morning walk. He didn’t ask, He just knows when I gather little pieces of nature, I have a craft idea. 


I picked through them and found some that would be perfect. So the carving and sanding began.


Being a minimalist, I like to keep things simple. I do not like a lot color and I love things that come natural. Nature is full of things we can use in everyday life. I think I could seriously live in a tee pee, and eat berries for a living. Haha. 

After I carved the sticks to the size and shape I needed, I continued peeling away the bark to reveal the raw wood. Then I sanded them smooth and gave them a thin spray of clear coat. 


I gave one a burnt design with my wood burner. One has a silver painted tip and one I left alone because I thought it was just so darn cute with the “Y” shape at the top. Each one comes out different and has its own unique shape and color. 

  

I had to try them out and love how fun they are. (Girls, these can be used in self defense also) . They are approximately 6 inches long and made of Wonder wood (Wonder what kind it is). Haha. Seriously though, I think they are from an oak or maple tree. 

I plan to make some more and maybe even try to sell them. I’m just not sure this old fashion technique will ever be popular again. But who knows, there could be someone out there that would love to have a piece of nature to wear in their hair. 

What do you think?
Do you wear your hair up with hair pins?












Propagation Station

Can you believe it’s already the September? Where does time go? I love Fall, but then comes Winter. I am not a fan of the cold but I guess it’s not that bad. It gives me a reason to bring out the cuddly blankets and cute boots. The days will seem shorter, meaning it will be almost dark when I go to work and when I come home from work. I guess I’ll be doing my exercises more indoors now. 

Now for my latest project…..
This Summer, I have enjoyed collecting a few plants. Now that I have a office cube, I have my own space with a whole window wall. I do not have a sunny window at home so I never really bought plants but now I do since I have a place to put them. I only have a few but they are thriving.  I want to start rooting some of them and start some new plants to repot in the spring. 

After searching around, I saw that there are such things as a propagation station. Decorative clusters of small jars of water to place a piece of plant in so you can get it to root. Once rooted, you plant them in soil. I always just used a baby food jar or small vase. Those were boring and did not look good sitting around. 

So, I came up with a cute idea of using macrame to create this hanging propagation station. I have seen these on line but could no find out how to make them so I used my own imagination and come up with this simple design. 


I am still new at macrame but I would love to learn more. This little propagation station was super simple and only used two types of knots to create a cute wall hanging piece. If you are interested in one of these, it will cost you 15.00 each plus free shipping as long as it’s in the USA. This basically just pays for the supplies, packaging and me a cup of coffee. Just let me know by sending me an email or leave your email in comments and I’ll contact you.



Now, If you would want to make your own, here is what I used:

4mm macrame yarn.
1.5 wooden ring.
2 small glass bottles.
1 wooden bead (optional).

With two strands of yarn, cast on two larks head knots
Now you will have four strands of yarn hanging down.
With the four strands, make 10 square knots.
Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it. (This will tie your bottle on).
Make 14 square knots.
Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it.
Make 12 square knots.
Add bead (optional).
Tie a knot at the end and trim off the yarn to make your tassel.
Last, tie on your little glass bottles. 

You can make it as long or short as you want by just subtracting or adding more knots and ties. 
Enjoy.



Gourd Art

We have friends from the beach campground that we met years ago. We usually will see them one or two times each year when we go. I heard he had lots of gourds that were ready to harvest. I have always wanted a gourd bird house so I asked him for a couple. 

We did not see these friends the last time we were at the beach but he informed me that he had brought me three gourds and the were with some other friends of his. He told me which site they were at and I went and got the gourds. I did not know what to expect when I first saw them. They were rough and messy looking. They were just plain ole ugly.


When I got home from the beach, I immediately took them out to the patio. I kept looking at them for a few days and thought “this is going to be more work than I thought”. Then I finally tackled it and with a little sand paper and washing, they started looking more like something to work with. My sister took one to paint leaving me with two. 

A couple more weeks went by before I decided to work on a design for the bird house. I wanted something natural looking and did not want to use paint or stain. I ended up stenciling a boho floral pattern and burned it into the gourd with my little wood burner. It was not an easy task and my wood burner was not that great. It was ok though. I do not think any birds will complain about it. 


Next, I had Nick cut me a hole for the entrance. He could not find his hole driller bit so he had to make do with a drill. Again, I do not think the birds will care. I actually like the imperfect look. He also drilled some small holes in the bottom for drainage and a couple at the top to thread a piece of leather through for hanging. I finished it off by rubbing it down with some coconut oil. I can not wait to get it hung next Spring. I hope I have some renters. 

With the other gourd, I had Nick cut it so I could make a bowl. I left it natural as well. I think it will make a great out door planter or decorative bowl for a patio table. 


Cleaning the gourds out was easy. The inside was not as nasty as I thought it would be. There was a white webbed substance that felt like soft toilet paper. I didn't worry about getting it all out in the birdhouse gourd as the birds will actually use it for nesting. The seeds just fell out. 


If you would like some gourd seeds, just let me know by leaving your email in comments 
and I will get back to you.
You will get 25-30 for $5.00 while supply last. 
This just covers shipping and handling. 

Snow Day and Poof

I am currently snowed in from our first snow of the season. We got 4 inches of snow. Ok Northerners, before you laugh. Yes, it was only 4 inches of snow but there is 2 inches of ice underneath it and another layer of ice on top from the 5 hours of sleet and freezing rain we had after the snow. 
When we say “snowed in”, it means we do not want to attempt the hazardous roads. People around here are not used to driving in ice or snow, so we aint that good at it. But, we can actually drive or walk to the grocery store half a mile away if we needed to. 

I have been wanting to crochet a poof ( foot stool). The other day I went to my local craft store and right in the center of the isle were bins full with the type of yarn I needed to create such a project. It was on sale at half price so I grabbed four skeins of blanket weight yarn. I wasn’t sure how many I actually needed. Yellow was the only color I could find with four of the same color. 

I followed THIS PATTERN
I only needed two skeins so I will be returning the other two. 


I worked on this poof a couple nights while watching some of my favorite shows. Today since I wanted to stay in from the winter storm, I cozied up in my recliner and finished crocheting my poof. 


This was also great way to get rid of some old raggedy blankets I had stashed away. They were some old ugly crocheted blankets from Nicks grandmother. They did not hold much value to him but I felt bad to throw them away. They worked great to stuff my poof. This saved me from the expense of polly fill stuffing and I was able to do some decluttering. 


I like the way if turned out though I have no idea where to use it. I just wanted the challenge of making one. I suppose I could use it in the camper or just let it take up some space in my room. It is sorta cute sitting in the corner of the bedroom. 

I also found the bottom of my laundry basket and dyed my hair.

What is the weather like where you are? Are you experiencing cold or warm temperatures? 

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

I have a little Christmas tree in my work cubicle and needed some ornaments for it. My cubicle theme is mostly boho so I wanted something that would fit in with that style. That’s when I seen this pattern for tiny boho macramé ornaments. I had to give it try. 



I love how they turned out and they fit my theme perfectly. They are now hanging on my little tree along with the little gnome ornaments I purchased from Walmart. 



I have not done any crochet lately. In fact, I even closed my Etsy store. Because I was tired of making things and they never sold or if they did sell it was mostly people asking for another color other than what I already had made. I was just getting tired of meeting demands. When it becomes work, It’s not fun anymore. I also have not sold enough this year to cover the fees. So I gave it up. 

The other night I decided to pick up the crochet hook and create a couple little gnome ornaments for my tree at home. I made two. 


They were very easy to make and you can find the pattern HERE

It’s fun to crochet small things. Theses ornaments were fun to make and only took about 30 minutes to complete each one. They do not really go with my colors but they still look oddly good on the tree.

Do you use a theme at Christmas?
My theme at home is buffalo plaids and touches of red throughout. 

Bucket Light

When you go camping, you see a lot of cool things people do to be resourceful. It’s fun to see camping hacks that cost little to nothing to make. You also see neat survival techniques and ways to save space. I get fascinated.

I have seen several different ways to light up your camping space but one that I just had to make was a bucket light. It was easy to make and this one only costed me a dollar for the light and a dollar for the batteries at the dollar tree.


You can get three to five gallon buckets from a hardware store for a few dollars but I knew where I could find a smaller bucket for free. When I used to work at Belks, they would have buckets of hand sanitizer wipes placed at the registers for employees. They would throw them away once they become empty. I got my hands on one before it hit the trash can. 

Optionally, you can add a picture or saying on the side. I asked my Sister to make me a vinyl decal to put on mine. She did a good job and I love it. We took it with us to the beach and hung it in the center of our picnic shelter. It was a great light. Since It has a battery operated light in it, I could use it inside if the power went out or carry it down to the ocean at night for some romantic lighting. A five gallon bucket light would make a nice lighted seat during a night of fishing.


 


To get the different colors I just placed colored solo cups over the little battery light on the inside. Most people purchase better lighting with larger lights that have a remote control for on and off and color changing. I didn’t want to get all that fancy. I just wanted a little light and it’s perfect. 




Trash to Treasure

They always say “One mans junk is another mans treasure”. I can prove it and it’s not the first time. 

We set out to take our normal afternoon walk. The next street over was a house that had just sold and they were gradually throwing trash to the side of the road on Sunday evenings. The trash truck would pick up on Mondays. This day as we walked past, I saw an old vintage step stool waiting for the big truck to come along and scoop it up. I pointed it out to Nick and said “I like that old stool. I could fix that up”. He just sort of shrugged his shoulders and had a look on his face that suggested I didn’t need any junk at that house. We kept walking and I didn't think much more about it. 

Before we turned down our road to finish our 2 mile walk, he said “Do you really want that stool? If you do, we can walk back over there and get it.”
Of course I said yes and we headed that way. I was hoping it was still there and it was. 

 


As I was carrying it back home, I was telling Nick all the ideas I had for it. I figured if I look at it a while and decide I didn’t want it, I would just throw it back to the curb or see if my neighbor wanted it for her little antique booth. 

I decided to keep it and use it as a plant stand on my patio. It looked in pretty bad shape and I was losing any hope that it would look good enough to ever bring into the house. I took my chances anyway and we headed to the hardware store. I needed some sand paper, paint and new leg tips. I also went to the dollar store and picked up a cheap thin rug to use for a step cover. 


2 hours and 10 dollars later, It did not look like the same stool. My idea worked. 

 

The rust was only surface rust and I was amazed at how well it painted. It took less than a can of spray paint and only one coat. 
I still plan to use it as a plant stand on my patio but I have it inside for now while I admire how cool it is.  








DIY Turmeric Shots

If you know me, you know I suffer from an inner ear condition called Tinnitus. It all started in 2016 and came on pretty sudden and still hasn’t stopped. Tinnitus is a constant ringing of the ears that can be caused by different things, but in my case, tinnitus was an early indicator of Meniere's disease. I have never been diagnosed with Meniere’s but have every known symptom.

What is Meniere’s Disease? Read about it HERE

There is no cure for Meniere’s. It is hard to find a doctor that will give the diagnosis because they can not see it and unless they have had it themselves, they can’t comprehend the symptoms that are an everyday struggle for me. I look fine. I do not look sick and carry on my days (though hard sometimes) as usual. It is an invisible disease. The biggest fear is never knowing when I will have a vertigo attack. The loss of hearing comes and goes.

SO, I am always trying to adjust my diet and find out what causes it to trigger. Since one symptom is inflammation in the ear, I had to reduce my salt intake. This has helped a little and seems to make my remissions last longer. A spice called Turmeric is great for reducing inflammation in the body. Turmeric is good for you. I have started taking 1/2 teaspoon a day to see if that will also help reduce some inflammation in my ears. 

Before I go out and purchase as bottle of the Turmeric supplements, I wanted to make my own. First I tried it as a small drink but I could barely take the taste. It was nasty! SO I got to thinking and made a dose I can swallow with water like a pill. I used all the ingredients I used in the drink besides the liquid. 



This included: 
- A few teaspoons of Turmeric, 
- 1/4 teaspoon of fresh grated Ginger,
- dash of ground pepper. 
- Then I added couple drops of honey to create a doughy paste. 
I took the dough and divided it into small pellets. 
Each pellet has about 1/2 teaspoon to Turmeric. 
I take one every morning. 
Note: Turmeric will stain your clothes and counter tops and these little pills may be hard to swallow for some, so take caution. 

Turmeric is also great for those that suffer arthritis. Turmeric is often added to foods and drinks as an extra health benefit. You do not have to have a health problem at all and still take Turmeric. 

Do you suffer from Meniere’s Disease or Tinnitus?
If so, what are your vertigo triggers?
What helps?
I am always looking for answers. 



Whittle a Little

I remember back when I was about twelve years old, my daddy gave me a pocket knife. Ever since then, I have always liked pocket knives. I remember it had about a 2 inch blade, a pearl handle and his company name down the side. There was a little beaded chain at the end so you could hang it from your key ring. I played with that little knife a lot. I used to find sticks and sit and whittle them into arrows. I would also find gigantic acorns and hollow out the inside and make beads. Through the years, daddy would give me a pocket knife. I wish I still had them.

I have a few pocket knives that Nick actually found on the road during his walks. My favorite is a little pink one. 


Speaking of walking, I told Nick during our walk the other day that I was looking for a stick so I could attempt to carve a crochet hook.
Nick thought I was crazy and said, “we can’t afford a hospital visit to get a finger sewn back on”. He wasn’t even aware that I liked to whittle. I reminded him that if I have the idea in my head, I was gonna make it happen. So I picked up a few sticks from the base of a maple tree and carried them home. 


I went outside on a beautiful sunny day and began to whittle a little. After a couple wasted sticks and an hour of chiseling and carving, I had created my very own hand crafted crochet hook. My fingers were sore and blistered. I felt pretty proud of myself. I gave it couple more days for my fingers to rest then made another one. The 2nd one was a little bigger and easier to carve. 


I had to try it out so I crocheted a little mug rug for a test run. 


It worked good but was a little rough gliding through the stitches. It needs to be smoothed out a little more and some adjustments need to be made so it will be more comfortable with my grip.


I may just leave them as they are and put them away. I accomplished what I wanted to do and that satisfies me. 

What do you think? 
Have you ever carved or whittled anything? 

Paper Eggs

Today I want to share with you a great little Easter craft you can make with your kids or if your like me, your simply so bored that you are trying to find things to do to keep you busy. Either way, this is a fun and easy.

What you will need is: 
-Printed paper.
-Glue (I used a glue stick).
-Scissors.
-String or yarn.

You can use any kind of paper such as used cards, magazines and book pages or scrap book paper. I did not have any of these things so I went online and found some floral colors and printed them on regular copy paper. 


I cut out one egg shape to use as a pattern and used it to cut out several other pieces. You will need 4 shapes for one egg. Try to get them all the same so they match up. Mine were a little off because I do not draw or cut accurate, but they were close enough not to notice. 


Fold each piece in half to make a crease. 


Now, glue four pieces together sides to sides. Somewhere along the way, make sure you glue a string between the pieces so you can hang them. The length of the string is up to you. 


Now get creative and find something to hang your fabulous eggs on. I took some branches from a dogwood and placed in a vase. You can use branches with blooms, paint them or leave them naked like mine.


This craft will keep you and the kiddos busy for about and hour. It’s on you to figure out how to keep them busy the rest of the day. 
Stay safe and take advantage of this time with family.

DIY Wallflower Bud Vases

We are finally getting some Spring like weather here in North Carolina. The afternoons are now warm despite the chilly mornings. Getting myself to go out and walk in the mornings have been brutal for me. I’d rather do my walks in the afternoon when its warmer. Now I can as the days are beginning to stay daylight longer.

When I go outside now, I enjoy seeing all the new growth on the trees and the flowers blooming. I am already seeing bees looking for pollen and birds fighting for a mate. I love Spring time.

Speaking of flowers, I found a perfect idea for little bud vases. 


We are always buying air fresheners for our Wallflower plugins by Bath & Body works. I had a few of the empty glass fragrance bottles hanging around in the cabinet so I could remember the fragrances I liked best.
While cleaning out the old bottles the other day, I decided to turn a few of them into tiny bud vases. I am all about recycling things when I have a chance.


With a pair of needle nose pliers, I gently removed the plugged openings and gave them a good wash and rinse. Then I put in some fresh water and a cut flower. So far the flowers have stayed bloomed all week. These vases will give me something to put my little flowers in that I pick along my afternoon walks. Yes, I’m that person. 


These vases would be perfect used for a fine dinner or wedding reception. You can use them for place markers on the tables for guest.
They are also pretty simply sitting on a window seal. 


I plan to use mine in a decorative tray as I decorate for Spring.

What are some other ways you can use bud vases? 

Repurposed Home Keys

Do you have a drawer of keys? Or do you have key rings laying around full of keys that no longer belong anywhere? Well, I do.

Why is it that we keep keys? When we move away or our locks are changed, people tend to keep the keys. I even have old car keys from when I was a teenager. They are no longer any good. 
Or are they?

Nick and I got a little crafty last week when my daughter said she was looking for a small key hanger for her new little 400 sq ft studio apartment. She loves to throw her keys up on a hook when she comes in. She has always shared an apartment with her Kappa Delta sister but has now decided to try things on her own. Her apartment is adorable and we can’t wait to see how she decorates it. 

We looked around for some ideas to make her a key hanger. Hooks can be expensive, so we found a cool way to make some hooks using old keys. Nick carefully bent the keys into hooks. With a little cutting, sanding and painting, we created her the perfect key hanger. This key hanger will also have some sentimental value as each key is from a family home. 


There is a key from both her grandparents homes.
One key is from the first house she grew up in and our first home.
And one key is from our current home she continued to grow up in until she moved out on her own.
The wooden part of the key hanger is a piece of the molding from our house. 


Nick did the sanding and I did the painting and writing. 
We decided to give it a distressed look by sanding down and scuffing some areas. 


We had fun making this together and all it costed us was a dollar paint brush and a Sharpie. 
Now let’s hope the area where she wants to put it will be big enough in that tiny little uptown apartment. 


Do you have old keys laying around? I think one of these days people will no longer need keys as everything is touch or speech activated. 
Even cars nowadays are cranking up by themselves. 


Crochet Earrings

March is finally here. This is the month we get to turn our clocks up an hour, the flowers start to bloom and days stay daylight longer. Soon it will be Spring. It is also when we will head down to the coast and get our camper ready for Summer. 

I have done a lot of crocheting this Winter. I have made several hats and blankets for my Etsy shop. Now it’s time to slow down as Winter wear is not a big seller in the warmer months. I haven’t been able to do much crocheting the past few days anyway.

Sunday while we were out walking, I took a nice ungraceful fall. We were about a quarter mile from the house when I tripped on an uneven crack in the sidewalk. The fall was quick and hard resulting in both palms cut and scraped along with two bruised knees. I was sore the next two days but by day three I was back out walking again. I heal pretty fast.

Once I was feeling better and my scraped palms are healing, I decided to pick up the crochet needle again and use up some of my small stashes of yarn. 
I had an idea. Once I get an idea in my head of something to make, I have to get to it. My idea was to crochet some fun earrings. 


These earrings will be perfect for the office or a day on the beach. My boho vibes are showing with the big mandalas and long tassels. 


I have these for sale in my shop while they last. I have already sold a few pair and hope to sell more. I will make more depending on the demand. They were fun to make and pretty easy. If you crochet, I have the pattern below. I may have to whip myself up a pair, in fact, I know I will soon. 

Earring Pattern
H hook
Make a magic circle.
8 sc in the circle. sl to the beginning sc (8)
2 sc in each sc around. sl to the beginning sc (16)
Tie off.
Add tassels using embroidered thread.


**Feel free to visit my Etsy shop and take a look around.**