~~DIY Diva~~

Have books finally met their match with the Apple iPad, or is it just another fad like the Amazon Kindle? Readers may find some poetry in these volumes regardless of whether they are willing to give up their favorite paperback companions: potted plants put into scooped-out sections of beautiful old hardback books.

Gardenkultur (via Inhabitat) makes a simple recycling project out of even the most complex novels, but carving into the heart of a book, sealing off the resulting space and putting seeds of little trees or other plant life into the curved void. Of course, this would work just as well as a do-it-yourself gardening project for those green-thumbed enough to provide proper moisture barriers for their own plants.

But if a picture is said to be worth one thousand, at how many words do we value a wee plant? For some of us, though, it may be hard to see what looks like the defacement or destruction of a book taking place, but perhaps it is better that some of the vast volumes of the world are at least transformed into an intentional green habitat than simply being left to grow mold on their own in a closet.

Hopefully these books were beyond repair and those ripe only for reuse. If you try to make them yourself to fill with light-leaved little trees, fluffy ferns or small and steadfast cacti, just make sure the seeds will not outgrow their new literary stronghold when the plants grow up. Only time will tell whether these will be bestsellers that take root and grow into a trend – perhaps for the true bibliophiles they will fall short, fail and wither like so many green genres and eco-friendly designs of the recent past.

Source dornob. com

Well, they are sort of new:).  We actually installed them in November, but I never wrote about them until now.  I can safely say after 4 months of use that we all love them!  While we considered making the shelves out of wood, we were worried about the sharp corners and hard wood causing injury.  Also wood shelves drilled into studs would easily turn into a fireman’s ladder in the mind of a 2 year old, and that wouldn’t be good.  Vinyl gutters helped to achieve our goal of creating bookshelves and a reading corner without introducing elements of danger (The gutters are secure enough to hold books, but would bend under the weight of Charm and prevent climbing.  Also the ends are capped so there aren’t any sharp edges.)

As for cost, wood would have been cheaper without a doubt.  The straight lengths of gutter were only $5 for a 10 foot length.  Since each shelf was 36” per side x 2 sides x 4 shelves, we needed three 10 foot sections of gutter.  That was the cheap part.  Each end cap was $3 and we needed 8, and each corner piece was $6 and we needed 4.  Our total was $60 using a 10% off coupon.  We didn’t need to paint though! Bill just used a hacksaw at home to make our cuts and we screwed them into the studs and at the end of each shelf.  They are safe and secure (and cute and practical!).

And in case you’re interested, we first taped the proposed location of the shelves on the wall so we could get a feel for the length and spacing of the shelves.  We ended up spacing the shelves 14 inches apart from the top of one shelf to the top of the next shelf.

Source sunshineontheinsideblogspot

How to Make a Modern Gutter Garden

Before we start the DIY process of making the hanging gutter garden, I should clarify that I made this gutter garden with a few materials from home depot, an architectural products company right in my backyard. Most of these materials can be purchased at your local hardware store.

Materials Tools 1 – 8′ PVC white rain gutter cut into 3 32″ sections Cordless Drill with drill bit set 6 – PVC white gutter end caps Hand saw or hack saw 2 – 1/8″diameter steel cables cut to desired length T-square or straight edge 6 – Feeney Cross Clamps (see image below) Tape measure 6 – 1/8″ diameter Feeney steel rods Permanent marker 2 – Galvanized eye hooks Level Potting soil and Plants Eye protection

Let’s get started already…

1. Determine the center of your gutters and draw a reference line (otherwise your gutter won’t hang right).
2. Mark and drill the holes for the steel cable rods. Find a drill bit the same diameter as the cable to minimize the wiggle room.
3. Space drill holes a few sizes larger to make sure you get good drainage (plant roots hate sitting in water for long periods of time).

Once you have all your gutter holes drilled, you’re ready to hang this bad boy. Be patient…we’ll be planting very soon.

1. Locate a spot that gets at least 4 hours of sun. I placed mine on the cross beams of a pergola I built a couple of years ago.
2. Drill pilot holes (a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the screw diameter) to make screwing in the eye hook a lot easier. Make sure the holes are the same distance as the steel cable so they hang straight down.
3. Slide the gutters through the holes and secure them with the cross clamps at your desired heights.  You’ll notice I placed mesh tape (normally used for drywall joints), left over from another project, over the drainage holes to keep the soil from seeping. However, I think the holes are small enough, this step is not necessary. I did it out of habit.
4. Secure the gutter with the cross clamps and half circle steel rods (Note: I bent the steel rods around my Nalgene bottle. It just happened to be the perfect diameter of the gutters).

Now you’re ready to fill it with potting soil and plant them with your choice of shallow rooted plants.  I found watering to be easier with a narrow spout watering can. Hoses will blast your soil all over the place and rain-style spouts will water your plants and not the soil (note: water your soil NOT your plants).

Plant Picks for Gutter Gardens

Shallow rooted edibles and annual flowers should grow easily in a gutter garden, making this project perfect for small space gardens, like balconies, or just to add visual interest to an otherwise boring patio. Scroll down to see how the plants filled in a month after planting.

Here’s a list of edibles to experiment with in your new gutter garden:

• Arugula, spinach, swiss chard, kale and all kinds of lettuces
• Annual herbs – cilantro, parsley, chives
• Strawberries – buy bare roots to save money and make planting easier
• Root Veggies – beets, radishes and maybe shallow carrot varieties like Tonda di parigi
• Annual Flowers – marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies and violas

Things Needed:

• Water balloons (or very small regular balloons)
• Fabric Stiffener
• Embroidery floss in various pastel colors
• Scissors
• Pin
• String

1.Begin by blowing up the balloons. Only blow them up part way, until they are the size of an egg. Tie them shut.

2. Cut ahead of time 1 to 2 foot lengths of embroidery floss. It is much easier to have them cut ahead of time because your hands will be getting very messy.

3. Pour some fabric stiffener into a little cup or dish. Then, soak a length of floss in the cup. Pull out the floss through your fingers, removing the excess fabric stiffener.

4. Now, wind the floss all around the egg. Continue will the other pieces of floss until the egg is as covered as you want. Different shades look great together, or you can do the egg one solid color. Different shades of one color look good too (like light pink and dark pink).

5. Tie a string around the knot of the balloon and hang them to dry overnight.

6. The next day, pop the balloon with a pin. It will crinkle up and shrink inside, pulling with it any excess fabric stiffener that was on the sides of the balloon. Then, carefully remove the balloon through one of the openings in the floss.

7. Now your egg is done. They can be displayed in a basket, or you can tie a thread to them for hanging.

I bet you didnt know there were so many things you could do with old creamer bottles, did you?

 I drink a lot of coffee and I have to have the creamer in it. Which is a lot of plastic that needs recycled. Here is a great way to do just that. Just remove the wrap and fill with whatever needs stored. From sugar to goldfish this works great. Spout is perfect for pouring and the lids easily screw off! I have also used them to organize my husbands tools and parts in his disaster he calls a workshop. My kids have decorated them and used them for storing little toys that easily get lost. I also have decorated mine and used them to organize my craft supplies.  Genius!

Here are someother things you can do with them as well!

DECORATIVE SAND BOTTLES

HOMEMADE VASES

HOMEMADE BOWLING GAMES

I SPY BOTTLES

OCEANS IN A BOTTLE- VARIATIONS OF THIS INCLUDE COLORED WATER AND GLITTER AND ALSO WATER, OIL AND FOOD COLORING!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST ALL SORTS OF CRAFT PROJECTS!

Click The Image Above For More Great Do It Yourself Ideas!

Here is a great way to give those plain plastic drawers a style that is uniquely you!

Materials:

Mod Podge or Spray Adhesive

X-Acto Knife

Measuring Tape

Sponge Brush

Scrapbook Paper or Cloth

Directions:

Measure the insides of the drawer, sides, front and back if it is in a visible place.

Then cut the paper or cloth to match for each piece, sides, front, and back.

Take your spray on adhesive or Mod Podge and coat the inside area that you are going to do first. (I suggest doing this one at a time, front first, then the sides and back)

If you are starting at the front as suggested then don’t spray or coat the part where the handle of the drawer is as you will want to make a slit in the cloth or paper with the X-Acto knife and push it forward so as to go with the contour of the drawer. Once slit is made apply adhesive or Mod Podge and stick material to it. (Be careful if you are using paper!) If your drawer is like the one above then you can skip this part as the plastic inside goes straight across.

Use your sponge brush to smooth out the material.

Repeat for the rest of the drawer.

I found to give it a more clean look that when I used cloth it was best to add the measurements of the front and sides (I don’t do the back) and cut a single piece of cloth. I typically ad about 1/2 inch so that I have a little extra room when placing the cloth. Also you can do as in the picture above and line the top with the cloth or paper as well.

Voila…a set of drawers that matches your personal style!

Click The Image Above For More Great Do It Yourself Ideas!

Simplest project ever!

Take your hot glue gun and simply write a meaningful word, draw a picture, or even a design then allow it to dry and spray paint the entire jar with the color of your choice! So simple and so many possibilities!