Long-lasting cut flowers
I have a love-hate relationship with cut flowers. I love how beautiful they look and smell the first couple days. Shortly thereafter, love turns to hate. That’s when the wilting and stinking phase kicks in.
Worse, my former roommates never changed the water, and they kept the poor, dying blooms around long […]
DIY carpet-sample craft: checkers game
This checkerboard is made from two free carpet samples. I’m excited that my DIY checkerboard rug idea actually worked. I was a little trepidatious about cutting carpet. I thought it would be difficult and require special tools. I was wrong on both counts. Cutting the carpets was the […]
Carpet samples = DIY Easter placemats
This stack of carpet samples has been hanging around my apartment for three years. I picked them up for free on Craigslist. My original plan was to let the girls at camp paint them to make fun prayer rugs. The problem was that cheap craft paint […]
DIY house number tiles
Happy New Year, everyone! This is a project I finished more than two years ago. I finally got around to blogging about it. I hope you like it. A Crafty Nest reader, Josie, emailed me quite a while ago asking for uses for leftover tiles. Subway tile […]
Plain bookshelf = DIY fancy china cabinet
This small unfinished pine bookshelf was shuffled from room to room. I planned to paint it, but never did. I was on the verge of kicking it to the curb. (This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a small commission. You can […]
Review: Rubbermaid Bento Boxes and Toppers + a giveaway
I tend to hoard craft supplies. Glue, duct tape, wood, carpet samples, lamp parts — you name it. I keep all of it neatly stored in labeled boxes and bins so I can access everything easily and often.
I’m also kind of anti plastic bins. Partly because they look cheap. Partly because […]
DIY reupholstered ottoman
Lately I’ve been coveting a coffee-table ottoman. You know: one of those oversized ottomans that you can kick your feet on from nearly any seat on the couch and use as a coffee table by merely adding a tray. I loved Pottery Barn’s striped Alexandria Ottoman (see […]
Chandelier makeover: the tutorial
My apologies to everyone who has been waiting since last summer’s blog post for me to share this chandelier tutorial! Life got in the way and delayed my ability to pass on this information. First there was girls camp, and then I got a new job, and […]
Why—or why not—do it yourself?
One of the comments I often see on blog posts describing particularly difficult or time-consuming DIY projects is something to the effect of “Why?”
For example, recently Raine@Bucilla asked in regard to my mini side table, “This is a cool idea, and very ingenious, but wouldn’t be easier and […]
Paint colors & tips from the pros + a giveaway
Remember last year when I mentioned that I would share my brother Troy’s painting tips? Well, now is as good a time as any to follow through — especially because Sherwin-Williams has proclaimed this National Painting Week.
All this week Sherwin-Williams is offering […]
