DIY Cooking at Home

It's not a new concept to use old maps as art, but I've recently seen a few unique ideas for how to personalize them to make great conversation pieces. Here are a few ideas for adding DIY wall art and other accents to your abode: Cut hearts out of favorite vacation spots or other significant locations to remind you of all the places you know and love. Martha Stewart suggests stitching thread along a map to use as a visual trip down memory lane. Make several of these for a gallery wall that also displays memorabilia. Martha strikes again by showing us how to decoupage maps onto cork tiles to use as coasters . You could also use maps to decoupage letters for a typographical ode to a favorite spot. These are from Urban Outfitters , but you could easily make your own. Little White Dog on Etsy also has some that are more 3D. DIY Newlyweds has a tutorial for how to use a map of your honeymoon destination to mat a favorite photo. Or just use one large map as an impressive wall hang

Guys, I'm so excited to help Country Living magazine promote the Country Living Fair by giving away a pair of tickets to the show, held September 18-20, 2015, in Columbus, Ohio. This year's Fair is bound to be another spectacular success with appearances by: Cooking Channel’s “The Fabulous Beekman Boys” Cari Cucksey, star of HGTV’s Cash & Cari Joanne Palmisano, contributing DIY NETWORK designer, stylist Plus, live music, hundreds of vendors, and yummy food trucks...you won't want to miss it! To enter, leave me a comment with your email address and the reason why you want to attend the Country Living Fair this year. I'll notify the winners by Friday, September 11, 2015. To whet your appetite, here are some pics I've taken from previous years: Ok, leave me a comment...and good luck!

Hey, good morning! I was in the mood to do a little crafting over the weekend and have always wanted to try string art. It looks pretty simple, and--although a little tedious pounding in the nails--it was ! Here's some of the creative inspiration I used to get started, and at the bottom, you'll see how mine turned out. via Dear McKenzie via eBay via via Infarrantly Creative via Dwelling in Happiness via South Broad and Crew via Kept via Brit & Co. via via Harpster Home And finally...I made my own! The "smoke" coming out of the chimney is actually 4 hearts--for the 4 members of our family. For instructions on how to make string art, click over to my String Art Tutorial on About.com! You May Also Like: Bicycle Pallet Art Outdoor Wall Art Merry and Bright Christmas Pallet Art

Ready to get organized for the school year? I'm convinced one thing every home needs is a memo board. Here are tons of DIY ideas for how to make a memo board: 18 Clever Ways to Make a Memo Board Now, here's one I made. You know those French memo boards that utilize ribbons and tufted fabric to hold cards and pictures? Well, I had an old TV tray in our basement and had the brainstorm to make it into a magnetic version of a French memo board. But instead of ribbons and upholstery tacks or buttons, I faked the look with spray paint, painter's tape and magnets made to match . Magnetic French Memo Board Nap Rating = 2 naps Tools and Materials Metal tray Fine-grit sand paper Painter's tape Newspaper High-gloss spray paint in 2 colors of your choice Saw-toothed picture hanger Super glue Steps Lightly sand off any rust or blemishes on the tray. Thoroughly clean and dry the tray. Lay the tray on some newspaper, and spray the entire top of the tray with the color you want th

It's National $5 Chair Makeover Month! What, hadn't you heard? Ok, I may have made that up. But it feels like it in our house! I painted a $5 desk chair for our daughter last weekend, and then I turned my attention to this $5 mid-century metal beauty. Isn't the seat pretty? I thought about keeping it that way. And then I thought the tape might scratch my butt. So I changed it. If you haven't tried to make over furniture before, I'm telling you, there's no better time than National $5 Chair Makeover Month. (Again, that might be a made-up thing.) Seriously, though, chairs are the easiest pieces of furniture to make over, in my opinion. For this one, I unscrewed the seat from the frame and removed the old cushion and its vinyl cover with the help of a utility knife. I was left with just a rusty chair frame and a plywood seat. Then, I sanded the frame with a sanding sponge to remove the rust and wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove dirt and dust

I really try to offer healthy food options to our kids and most of the time, I think I'm pretty good about squeezing those fruits and veggies in. Lately, though, I've fallen victim to the convenience foods for snacking--not that there's anything wrong with some of them--but I'm trying to get back on the healthy bandwagon. Which is why I wrote this post . I'm obsessed with all the ways to make granola bites! The first variety we tried had chocolate chips in them, which are certainly appreciated around here. But I wanted a new flavor, so I tried out these apple pie granola bites and I'm in heaven! I love that I know what's in them, and they have the qualities of a granola bar, so they'd be great for lunch boxes. Apple Pie Granola Bites 1 c. dried apples (chewy, not crunchy--Sun Maid makes them), chopped 1/2 c. pitted dates, chopped 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats 2 T. unsweetened applesauce 2 T. honey 1/4 tsp. cinnamon Use a food processor or mini chopper

Hello! Hope you had a great weekend, guys! You know how expensive window treatments are, right, guys? I, myself, like a house with a lot of light, but the tradeoff is having to figure out how to cover all of those windows on a budget. As an answer to this problem, I love me a roller shade. They are cheap and ok...a little cheap-looking, too, unless you know how to dress 'em up. Take a look at these nifty ideas: Painted with Chevron Stripes by Projectophile Painted with Kitchen Stripes by Better Homes & Gardens Shades with Duct Taped Greek Key Pattern by Homes Stories from A to Z Contact Paper Applique by How About Orange Wallpaper-Covered Window Shade by Martha Stewart