Fun House

This link is to an article on a cool, fun owner-built house in Thailand.   While, yes, it would be more expensive to build it in the U.S., I'm mostly jazzed by how pretty it is.  DIY and frugal doesn't have to be ugly!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

To get ready for spring, I....
… snapped this shot of the Magician knocking the excess mortar off of some of the free concrete block I picked up awhile ago.  Re-purposing is often time-consuming…. But as My Beloved told the neighbor who laughingly advised us that bomb shelters are so 1950s, we have probably $300 of concrete that we got for free.  And the manual labor is actually rather satisfying.

… finished planning the garden.  I found a 2014 calendar with big squares and wrote out dates for everything we are going to plant, e.g. “start tomatoes inside,” “plant lettuce batch #1 outside,” “Transplant leeks” etc.  Every little square is planned and plotted. (When I say square, I mean square.  We do square foot gardening, a system designed by an engineer and introduced to me by my engineer-father.  Highly recommended.  Here's a link to the book if you can't find it at your library.)

… started leeks, oregano, and thyme seeds indoors.  (The leeks should have been started in February...)

… my husband weeded the strawberry patch while I worked on stripped varnish off of an old piano bench.  More on that later….

What are you doing to get ready for spring?

DIY Plastic Tray Mirror Tutorial

The first plastic tray mirror I made turned into one of my all time favorite pieces. 

Yes, those tiny beads are pearls.  Presumably not real ones
since they were in a big box of plastic beads at an auction!

Here’s my second one, the subject of this tutorial:

This mirror keeps the party in party tray!

Curious as to how I did it?  The tutorial starts after the jump

Weekly Round-Up... Mostly Art

This Week I

… discovered when the weather was colder that the draft blockers really made a difference.  More so than I expected, actually.

 ... set up for the art exhibit in Beatrice and was interviewed by journalist  for a piece in the local paper.  I'm taking my mom, sister, and some friends down to see it on April 13, and I'm really excited!

... went to the annual art show at Mahoney State Park with Mom, Rachel, and Rachel's darling mother-in-law Mary, who is just a joy. 
 

With my sister Rachel

This artist did amazingly intricate work in wood:

I bought Mom a scent-dispenser from this potter.  You put essential oils in it and they gradually disseminate through the air, even with the cork in.  Here's their website.  They were really nice people, and they mentioned some artist co-op galleries in Omaha that I'm going to have to check out.

This artist was my favorite:

She is half a full-time husband and wife artist team from Neola, Iowa.  She had a huge range, everything from realistic woodland paintings to dancing snowmen.  Her website is here.

Stylish DIY Papier Mâché Gold Mirror Tutorial

So excited about how this one turned out!

I usually like to do stealth upcycling, wherein the viewer doesn't realize that the object or art was made (usually for free) out of trash.  I'm particularly delighted with this project because I think it actually looks like hammered gold.  And, yes, it was completely free.  Plus it weighs a good deal less than it would if it were gold!

It was not a quickie project, but it was really satisfying to make.  A tutorial follows after the jump if you would like one of your own.

Quotables

"I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work."    ~ Thomas Edison

 Now that is persistence!

DIY Buttons from a Detergent Bottle

It’s all about the tools!  With the right tools, this project is surprisingly easy.

You will need:

* A detergent bottle or other sturdy plastic

* Scissors capable of cutting said sturdy plastic

* An X-acto knife

* A handful of emery boards

* Scrap wood to put under the plastic when you are “drilling” the holes.

1. Cut up the bottle into flat pieces.  I used these scissors, which were designed for thick cardboard, plastic, and light metals like tin.  Once I got started, it wasn’t as tough going as I thought it would be.

2. Cut circles or ovals from the pieces.

 

3. Use the emery board to smooth the edges.  Test it first on a piece of scrap plastic, as it may lighten the color or leave scratches.  You’ll want to make sure you only rub it on the edge. 

 

4. Put the board under each piece and use the X-acto knife like a drill, steadily spinning it at a sedate and safe speed.  Continue until the hole is the size you want.

5. Use the emery board around the holes.  I recommend having a front and a back of the button—drill from the front to the back, then rub off the fringe around the hole on the back side of the button where it won’t show.  

You are done!  Use them as button, beads, embellishments, whatever you like.

My necklace attempt failed.  It kept wanting to twist.

So I made earrings instead.

The beads are also recycled—it’s papier-mâché.  I’ll be doing a tutorial on how to make beads like it soon.