DIY Cooking at Home

I recently transformed a wooden toolbox into a planter for our deck. The toolbox wasn't getting much use, other than housing some dead spiders that our daughters found endlessly both gross and fascinating. Meanwhile, I've been needing more bling for our back deck. Enter The Graphics Fairy , and I was inspired to transform this graphic into a label that establishes the date we bought our house, this labor of love that we live in. Here's the before and after shot: And here's how I did it: Toolbox Planter Nap Rating = 3 naps Materials & Supplies Proud note: I had ALL of these supplies--each and every thing--on hand already, so this project cost me nothing except a few dollars for plants. If you're a DIYer, you may get this lucky, too! Wooden toolbox or crate Paint Sandpaper Stain Paintbrush or foam brush Newspaper Power drill Burlap Staple gun Pencil Permanent marker or paint pen (I highly recommend this one because it's permanent and doesn't blee...

Old atlas? Check. Shoe box? Check. Cute storage idea? Yep. Check it out on Design Sponge .

Have you ever thought you'd hit on a great idea, only to see it done somewhere else even better? Bummer. I guess it's true what they say: there are no original ideas. In this case, I wanted to decorate our daughter's third birthday cake with flowers, and since I'm as unskilled with a pastry bag as, well, our three-year-old, I decided to make them out of marshmallows instead of buttercream. I was so sure I'd just hit on an idea that would be pinned all over the place, when I saw the April/May 2012 issue of Taste of Home . Sigh. Well, I don't care IF Taste of Home's are cuter, I'm showing you mine anyway (pictured above...as if I needed to point out which were mine). I just frosted the cake, then cut jumbo marshmallows with wet scissors into four "petals." I then dipped each "petal" in colored sugar so that the sticky part of the marshmallow got coated, and the edges remained outlined in white. Cool trick, huh? Yeah, I thou...

Boy do I wish I had remembered to take pictures of our deck before we started working on it. It was so hilarious. Huge...and utterly empty except for our rusted grill sans grill cover and our nice, but completely unadorned patio set. Now, well, things have improved, but we are still lacking plants and atmosphere. We had the whole thing re-stained, which helped things enormously, and we bought a conversation set. My husband got a new stainless grill. I added a cotton rug that was in our guest room, some pillows I bought last year, and these potted succulents. Except for the umbrella I hope to get, the big ticket items are out of the way now. The rest is just icing... the fun part. Outdoor spaces feel like a luxury to me. They're what you have when you have everything else finished inside... which we don't. They're what you have when you've got lots of leisure time... which we don't. They're what you have when you are the kind of people who "entert...

Brown Paper Packages brings us a unique way to create some patriotic bunting with this simple tutorial. It just so happens that I have some leftover burlap from my framed key project . I hope it's enough to make at least one length of this for above our front door! For more patriotic projects and party ideas, visit my Pinterest board .

Remember my post about decoupaged terra-cotta coasters ? I thought it was a great idea, of course, so I had to try it for myself. And I love the way they turned out! I usually follow the directions provided by the bloggers who have gone before me, but I must admit, this time the process seemed so intuitive that I just went for it based on the picture alone. As always, the craft ideas I share with you are inexpensive, quick and simple... this one is no exception. Decoupaged Terra-Cotta Coasters Nap Rating = 2 naps Materials & Supplies Terra-cotta saucers Decorative paper Decoupage medium (I used Mod Podge in a gloss-finish) Scissors Pencil Paintbrush Spray paint in color of your choice Steps Spray paint the saucers with 2 thin coats and let dry completely Using a pencil, trace the bottom of the coaster onto the back of a decorative sheet of paper Cut out the circle, just inside the pencil line Using a paintbrush, coat the bottom of the inside of the saucer with decoupage med...

It's strawberry season! The kids and I went picking again this year, but instead of experimenting with a bunch of new strawberry recipes like I did last year , I decided just to freeze the lot of 'em. Well, except for a big bowl I saved to eat fresh. If you've never eaten a fresh strawberry, I'd highly recommend it! Here's another thing I'd highly recommend trying: homemade lemonade! It's ridiculously easy, and the kids can help. Buy a big bag of lemons, and show the kids how to roll them back and forth on the counter with their palms to release the juices before you halve and squeeze them. This will keep them occupied while you make the simple syrup. You can certainly drink this straight up, but our youngest daughter had the brilliant suggestion of adding strawberry juice to make it pink. It just so happened we had some leftover strawberries in the fridge from a picnic. They were slightly mushy, not much good for anything anymore. Except this...

We're gearing up for our big July 4th bash. The deck has been restained, we bought some new patio furniture, and now I have to work on getting some color out there with pillows and flowers. Here are the easiest party ideas from Pinterest . 52 Mantels Lemonade Makin' Mama Family Fun Keeping It Simple Racks and Mooby Inspiring by Heart Better Homes & Gardens Sweet Something Designs For more of my Pinterest picks, visit my July 4th Party & Decorating Ideas board . Have a great day!

Love the look of vintage crates? You can make your own like these from Uncommon Designs . They'd be great for organizing an entryway shelf or a bookcase, and I like the idea of staining them the shade you like best. I think I may try this, maybe with the addition of a French label graphic. Thrifty Decor Chick made one of these, too. Hers is bigger, though, making it a great size for the deck, in my opinion...maybe for pool toys or extra pillows. Plus it's on casters... How would you use a crate like one of these?

My husband has a generous spirit and is an extravagant gift-giver. Case in point, I'm currently typing this on my Mother's Day gift, a new iPad, which I love because it allows me to blog from anywhere (not to mention watch Sex in the City anytime I want). Anyway, I've seen a lot of Father's Day gift ideas on Pinterest and my blogroll lately... many of them are very clever, but let's be honest, wouldn't your husband be happier if you paired one of these cutesy ideas with the new golf club he's been wanting? Just sayin'... Be that as it may, I've still compiled a few of my favorite ideas for Father's Day. I wouldn't suggest relying on one of these to carry the day, but they're great for the kids to give. You know your husband best... what does he really want? Kristine McKay REVOLUTION46R46 on Etsy Brassy Apple Shelterness --this is actually a paper weight but I think it would be great as a stepping stone in the yard Crooked ...

I love to change our mantel around. I always have issues with it, though; it doesn't come easy to me. Part of my problem is that it's still dark brown and I'm dying to paint it white. My other issue is that I just don't have enough STUFF, although that feels very spoiled and ungrateful to even say when really we have everything we need in life. Truth be told, if I had closets full of knickknacks I'd feel claustrophobic and have a big-time need to hold a garage sale. So it's really better this way. I just swipe things from other rooms to make the space feel new to me. So anyway here's what I did. I bought an old window for 15 bucks (more on that later), and it just fit. The empty blue frame is from my spring mantel, the sisal wrapped jars are from our vacation last year, the fan is from a flea market, the grass is one of two I had on our dining room table for Easter, the bike art used to be in our foyer, and the starfish are just to make it look su...

Have I mentioned we want to update our youngest daughter's room? She recently graduated from a crib to a toddler bed, so we wanted to give her something to celebrate the milestone. Plus she's turning three next week! A couple of years ago (at our old house) we did the same for our oldest daughter , and she still talks about that room. There's been a blank wall staring at me for a couple of years now (yes I said years!), but I didn't know what I wanted to put there. I was recently struck with inspiration, though, when our youngest started singing You Are My Sunshine incessantly. Seriously, it's the cutest thing ever. Since she loves that song, and I also love singing it to her, I decided to frame some lyrics. I won't give you a tutorial on how I did this, because I have a feeling I did it in a roundabout, clunky, old-fashioned way. (Basically, I used Microsoft Publisher to create the word art, then had Kinko's print it out for me on 11 x 17 paper.) I ...

Happy Monday everyone! Did you have a good weekend? We spent a lot of time in the yard yesterday in preparation for our big Fourth of July party. We recently had our deck restained, so I'm working on getting it party-ready, too. I'm on the lookout for outdoor furniture and little projects to make it feel cozy...like this one! I love this idea from Sunshine and Some Tea . The idea was recreated by The North End Loft using French labels, which are also cute. I think this craft is a winner, don't you? They'd make a great host or hostess gift for summertime parties, too.