Now that I’m bringing dinner to the table for 5 people, I have a new found appreciation for large serving trays. The kind of trays where you can bring a stack of plates, cutlery, 3 sippy cups, and 2 glasses of wine to the table at the same time. Oddly, they are not easy to find…
Self-Watering Herb Planters
Two things that I’m certain of: I drink wine and I forget to water my windowsill herbs, I’m sure the two are not related. This little project brings both those certainties together – recycling of those empty bottles into self watering planters that actually look good! MATERIALS – Wine bottles (or any sort of bottle really) –…
Reclaimed Lumber Table
Reclaimed lumber is the best. The beauty of the wood carries the piece, meaning that you don’t really need to do much to make it a masterpiece. Case in point, this credenza. All it took was one piece of reclaimed lumber and a few pipes from the plumbing department. It helps if you can have Melissa…
DIY Country Kitchen Accents
Country-style never really goes out of fashion. Currently it’s having a resurgence with a more rustic bent. Here are a few easy projects to bring some of that rustic elegance into your kitchen. BUTCHER PAPER MEMO BOARD Materials: – Roll of butcher paper – Wood dowel length of paper roll and small enough to fit…
Sewing and Craft Armoire
I had an hour a couple of weeks ago to make some headbands for a sewing segment I was filming. It was nap time so I new I had to work fast! By the time I got the sewing machine out of the basement, my notions box out of the closet, the fabric out of the…
Table Pedestals
Finding dramatic pieces for the center of the table or a sideboard is never easy, not only are pieces hard to find, but they end up costing a fortune! Here’s one solution using a table leg and a salad bowl that I did for our Home & Family table that I adore. MATERIALS – Table…
Book Lamp
I love a good lamp and one that’s distinctive and won’t set you back a pretty penny is hard to find. So why not take advantage of your corner used book store (or your boxes of books in the basement) and make this one-of-a-kind reading lamp….get it…reading lamp…made of books…sorry. There are so many ways…
Modern Day Patches
We have lots of clothing holes around our house – mostly focused around the kid’s knees and my elbows. Thankfully, patches have made a huge comeback so I get to pretend I’m being hip, while really just saving money by not having to buy new clothes for everyone! First we’ll deal with the…
Pallet Wall Monogram
A great piece for the front of a lake house or a cool way to customize a kid’s room, my pallet wall monogram is easy (and cheap!) to make. MATERIALS Discarded wood pallet Pre-cut letters Spray paint Wood stain Glue gun Screw gun Saw Frame (Optional) STEPS Take your good ol’ standard wood…
Pallet Pumpkins
As everyone knows, reclaimed wood is all the rage…(and expensive)…so why not grab some off of one of those discarded pallets that are sitting behind your local grocery store and make these autumn pumpkins. MATERIALS 1 pallet 4″ stick or twig Hot glue 1 piece of floral wire jigsaw screw gun STEPS …
Dinner Plate Stepping Stones
I love to find a good repurposing project for all those thrift store finds! I always see so many beautiful plates at those stores, but it always seems the good ones only have 1 or 2 pieces. Here’s a project to take those onesies and turn them into mini-works of art for your garden. MATERIALS…
Wallpapering a Dresser
Today on Home & Family I used the leftover wallpaper from last week’s wallpapering project to give new life to an old dresser. I adore this project and see so many ways you can use it: striped wallpaper on a bright dresser for a boys room, “leather” wall paper on a desk, a…
Book-Safe
I hoped you liked today’s episode of Home & Family, here are some more details on the Book-Safe I made on the show: Hiding in plain sight has always been the operating procedure for book-safes. The thing of mystery novels and romantic black and white movies, they are actually incredibly useful and can work surprisingly…
The 30 Minute Circles Coffee Table
Beautiful materials are beautiful materials, no matter what form they come in. So why not take one form and make it into another? That’s what I do this week on Home Made Simple. The challenge was to create a statement coffee table that would stand up to wear and tear… and do it on a…
Up-cycled Dish Bird Feeders
Turn second hand bowls, plates and cups into great outdoor bird feeders! MATERIALS Bowl or cup Plate 8″ Threaded screw eye with nut 2 Washers Tile drill bit Aluminum tubing STEPS Using the tile drill bit, drill a hole into the bottom of your bowl or cup and the plate. The only…
Making Cakestands from Vintage Finds
Hope you caught me making these on Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family! They are one of the easiest, most creative and fun projects I’ve done on the show. You get to exercise your second hand shopping skills, your color combinations, and just have fun! Best of all, it costs almost nothing, so if you don’t…
Sports Jersey Pillows
Trying to figure out what kind of indestructible pillows you can get for the kids’ rooms, while also trying to figure out what to do with last year’s sports jerseys they’re so proud of? Kill two birds with one stone! I made these sports jersey pillows for this Saturday’s episode of Home Made Simple on…
New Life for Old School Embroidery Hoops
Call me weird, but I’ve always had a thing for embroidery hoops. They really are beautiful. Soft, light colored wood, bent into a graceful circle, held in place with a tiny piece of immaculate hardware – what’s not to love! So, when asked to design some accessories for the premiere episode of the new season…