Considering the
prices of garden lights these days, I've been looking for a low-cost alternative. Lucky me, I found a DIY for temporary garden lights you can make from only LEDs, lithium coin cells, mason jars, and a little bit of tape. The lights will be temporary, until the battery runs out, but you can always refresh your battery supply just for about 30 cents each.
Supplies:
To learn the steps, .
- Connect an LED directly across the terminals of the lithium coin cell, so the long lead goes to the positive (+) side of the battery.
- Wrap it once with tape so the LED stays touching the battery cell.
- Half-twist the LED 90 degrees from the battery cell so that it can bend that way and the two leads of the LED don't touch each other.
- Tape the light to the inside of your mason jar lid.
- Screw the lid on.
Craftster member Minouette recently posted photos of the free
Ikea chair she took from dumpster worthy to crave worthy. She writes, "I found this chair. It had a sad little sign saying FREE.
I recently stumbled across this clever
DIY that adds
faux bois to a board reserved for treasured photos. It's a quick and simple project with lovely results.
What You'll Need
- Cardboard (any size)
- Faux bois contact paper (about 2 feet depending on the size of your frame)
- Picture frame
- Scissors or Xacto knife
To find out how to make this faux bois photo board, .
Here's how to do it,
according to Paper and Stitch.
- Cut cardboard to desired size. Then remove one corner of the contact paper backing and start at a corresponding corner of the cardboard.
While this project was identified by Martha: The Martha Stewart Show as a
DIY for baby blocks, I think they'd make a cool addition to a very grown up bookshelf or fireplace mantel. You can coordinate the images and paper you select for the greatest decorative impact.
What You'll Need
- 3 1/4-inch square wood block
- Sandpaper
- Scissors
- Acrylic paint
- Mod Podge
- Paintbrush
- Decorative paper
- Emery board
- Letters, numbers, and embellishments
- Sponge
To find out how to make it,
according to Martha, .
- Sand the wooden block with sandpaper to prepare it for painting.
- Paint the block with the color you've selected. Allow to dry.
- Cut 6 pieces of decorative paper to 3 1/4 inch.
- Glue the paper to each side of the block using all-purpose Mod Podge.
Miss Cherry Pie recently
posted photos of her hanging wedding flowers. She's still perfecting the idea, but I think they look great already. She writes that she "spent some time this weekend with my shepherd’s hooks and cache of jars working out how to attach one to the other.
If you don't feel like spending your
endless Summer chasing flies around with a swatter, a fly trap may be more like it. I recently came across
a DIY for making an organic fly trap, and since this season goes hand-in-hand with the little pests, I decided to summarize it for you. You should have most, if not all, of the supplies already in your home.
Supplies:
- A two-liter soda bottle (used)
- Sharp knife
- A wire hanger
- Match, lighter, or stove gas flame
- Electric tape
- Bait (like a small piece of meat or dog poo mixed with water!)
To hear the steps, .
- Remove the bottle cap.
- Cut through the bottle a third of the way down.
- Place the bait in the base of the bottle (the bottom two-thirds).
- Invert the top third of the bottle, and slide it into the base.
- Tape the two pieces of the bottle together.
- Bend some wire into a U shape (for hanging), with ends angled inwards.
- Heat up the ends of the wire, and bore two holes into either side of the bottle by pressing with the hot wire.
- Make sure the wire is securely hooked into the bottle.
- Now, hang your fly trap and relish in fly-less, chemical-free bliss!
Source
Right now, there's not enough food in my house to make anything but mac 'n' cheese, but there is enough to make a DIY salt scrub (so maybe I can spend my pedicure money on groceries). Salt scrub tends to exfoliate more than sugar, so it's better for rough areas like feet, and mint is refreshing and soothing. The rose gives it a great scent and pretty color.
If you read Casa regularly, you've probably noticed that people are making vases out of almost anything these days (
pipes,
plastic bottles,
honeycomb,
light bulbs). Quite frankly, a makeshift vase (coffee can, glass bottle) is not the hardest DIY. But, when I came across a DIY
from ReadyMade for a vase made from floral foam that was cheap, easy, and most importantly, water retaining, I was pretty impressed.
Why the sad face, North. You're all out of pumpkin I see. Even though my pooch didn't get to sample the organic canned pumpkin that time around, I've got a special Summer treat that I'm gonna whip up this weekend.Frozen pumpkin cubes.
Using a triptych photo frame can make a photo collection more substantial, or unite three images with a common theme such as subject, composition, or color. And, if you have three wall-mounted frames without stands, turning them into a triptych will allow them to stand up on their own. A photo triptych makes a great gift and a fun weekend project.
