Tired of your sponge or soap taking up valuable sink space in your kitchen? Turn thrifted or dollar store glassware into a functional DIY pedestal kitchen sponge holder that doubles as beautiful decor.

DIY Pedestal Kitchen Sponge Holder pin image

DIY Pedestal Kitchen Sponge Holder

It’s Amanda from Domestically Creative and I’m back with a new way to organize or declutter your kitchen sink space! If you are anything like me, you don’t like a lot of clutter sitting around your kitchen sink. Things like dish soap, hand soap, sponges, and dishcloths sitting around my kitchen sink drive me insane!

Unfortunately, you have to have them out to be easily accessible. I decided to make a pedestal sponge holder as a functional place to keep the sponge, dishcloth, and even hand soap (if you want). This holder also serves as a beautiful decor item too. It’s easy to make your own sponge holder from dollar store or thrift store items, let me show you how.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Step 1: Prep the surfaces for paint

Clean both pieces really well with soap and water, and let them dry completely. If either piece came from a thrift store, it may be extra dirty. Consider using a mild degreaser or Murphy’s Oil Soap first. Then clean well with regular soap and water. Don’t leave any sticky or greasy spots behind because the paint will not stick in the next step.

diy pedestal sponge holder pieces before painting

Step 2: Spray paint both pieces

Give each piece two to three coats of white spray paint. Using a high gloss paint gives the glass pieces a Milk Glass look. 

Tips for Even Spray Painting:

  • Paint outdoors on a calm, mild day, or use a painting tent to protect the wet pieces from debris and bugs.
  • Keep the nozzle 12-15” away from the surface you are painting.
  • Spray in short, even, horizontal lines across the surface, working top to bottom. The burst of spray should start and end just slightly off the sides of the object being painted.
  • Avoid drips by doing multiple light coats, allowing the paint to dry between coats.

painted pedestal pieces

Step 3 – Attach pieces together

Before doing this step, it is very important that both pieces are completely dry and the paint is cured.

overview before attaching pedestal pieces together with construction adhesive

Use construction adhesive to attach the base to the top. To do this, place the plate or tray face down on a flat even surface. Using the caulk gun, add a small amount of construction adhesive to the top of the candle holder. Place the candleholder adhesive side down onto the bottom of the plate or tray.

attach the pieces together with construction adhesive

Hold a small amount of pressure on the candle holder for about a minute. Let the adhesive dry for about 24 hours before using your new DIY pedestal sponge holder.

Finished pedestal sponge holder

Use your new pedestal stand to keep your sponge and dishcloth in the kitchen and clear up some of that sink space!

Clean and decluttered kitchen sink

You could make one of these pedestal stands for a bathroom or to hold jewelry on your dresser top! It doesn’t just have to hold sponges, the possibilities are endless. I plan to make one for our guest bath to hold a few mason jars we have cotton balls and Q-tips in. It could also serve as a place to keep soap.

Finished sponge and soap holder for the kitchen

What would you use one of these DIY Pedestal Kitchen Sponge Holder stands for in your home?

Don’t forget to pin this to save for later!

DIY Pedestal Kitchen Sponge Holder pin image

I’m Amanda, and I am the creator and voice behind the food and DIY blog, Domestically Creative. What started as a place to share updates with friends and family after we moved from Illinois to Tennessee and then to Texas, turned into a passion for finding creative and frugal ways to feed us and decorate our homes.

I have always had the “make it myself” attitude and I’m not afraid to bust out the power tools or get creative when it comes to decorating our home on a budget. You can usually find me scouring the local thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales looking for my next makeover (like this litter box cabinet), or dreaming up ways to make our new house feel more like home. My most recent project was giving my home office a much needed facelift. Some of the plans included creating a fun inspirational accent wall and adding pegboard to store my craft hoards.

I currently call Missouri home, where I live with my husband, dog, and 2 cats in a pretty dull, late 90’s split level. My husband and I both love to travel the U.S and recently purchased a small travel trailer to tag along in our journeys. In our free time together we can usually be found working together on a home project, exploring a new place, or just lounging with our pup, Delilah.

I’d love for you to connect with me on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

See all of Amanda’s tutorials HERE.

Diy Dog Treat Tin

Take that old popcorn or cookie tin you may have received for Christmas and upcycle it into a fancy new DIY dog treat container in no time! Not only will your pup love you for it, but your wallet will be happy too!
Upcycled Dog Treat container from and old popcorn tin

How to Upcycle a Popcorn Tin into a Dog Treat Container

Hey Pretty Handy Girl readers! It’s Amanda from Domestically Creative and today I’m sharing how easy it is to create a unique and customizable dog treat container by upcycling a used cookie or popcorn tin! I have a 10 year old lab who is very spoiled to put it mildly, and she may have a few packages of treats taking up space in our hall closet. We also keep our coats in that closet, and since it’s Winter here we’ve been reaching for our coats more often. Well, every time we go for our coats, Miss Delilah thinks that we are getting her a treat. See the issue?

Instead of continuing to trip over the dog when we grab our coats, I decided to create a new place to keep her treats. It just so happens we had this little popcorn tin lying around after the holidays, and it fits her treats perfectly. Let me show you how I upcycled it into a new dog treat container.

popcorn tin before painting

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Step 1: Prep the surface

Clean the tin inside and out really well and let it dry completely. If there is a food label anywhere on your tin, make sure you clean it off completely. Soak it in warm soapy water for a few hours, then come back and scrape off any glue and paper. If there is some hard to clean off residue from the sticky label, Goo Gone or lemon oil works great at getting it off. Just be sure to really clean the oil residue off before moving on to the next step.

Step 2: Spray Paint base color

Spray both the tin and the lid in the base color of your choice. In this tutorial that base color is black as this will be the color of the design in the final project.

Tips for Even Spray Painting:

  • Spray paint outdoors on a calm day (not too hot or cold) or use a painting tent to protect from any bugs or debris blowing onto the wet paint.
  • Make sure to keep the nozzle about 12-15” away from the surface you’ll be painting.
  • Spray in short, even, and quick horizontal lines across the surface, starting at the top and working your way down. The burst of spray should start and end just slightly off the sides of the object you are painting.
  • Don’t try to get total coverage on the first pass, that is how drips occur.
  • Let the paint dry completely in between coats and before handling or moving.

Black base coat over popcorn tin

Step 3: Add the design

After the base color has dried and cured completely, add a vinyl label of your choice. You can do this by cutting out removable vinyl on a Silhouette or Circuit machine, or you can buy Alphabet stickers and use those. Either method will work, but it’s important to use removable vinyl or stickers. Do not use permanent vinyl unless you plan to skip the next steps.

Place the stickers or vinyl design onto the dog treat container and smooth out any bubbles to make sure the label completely adheres to the tin. Any edges that aren’t down all the way could let paint seep underneath in the next step.

Apply vinyl to tin before painting top color

Step 4: Spray paint top color

Give the dog treat container a coat of white spray paint, following the tips above in step 2. It will probably take 2-3 coats to get good coverage. Let the paint dry completely before moving to the next step.

Step 5: Remove the vinyl design or stickers

Gently peel the vinyl or stickers from the dog treat container. I’ve found that using tweezers to grab an edge can be helpful to get the process started. 

Peel away the vinyl to reveal the design!

Fill up your brand new dog treat container with your pup’s favorite treats and pop the lid back on to keep them fresh! Now you’ve got a stylish new container that costs next to nothing to create.

Diy Dog Treat Tin

Delilah has quickly learned the sound of me removing the lid to her dog treat container and is by my side in an instant. She can even be awakened from a deep sleep by the sound! Funny that she can’t hear me yelling her name when she’s decided to take herself on a walk around the neighborhood.

Love this idea for using an old popcorn tin from the holidays as a customizable DIY dog treat container!

I’m Amanda, and I am the creator and voice behind the food and DIY blog, Domestically Creative. What started as a place to share updates with friends and family after we moved from Illinois to Tennessee and then to Texas, turned into a passion for finding creative and frugal ways to feed us and decorate our homes.

I have always had the “make it myself” attitude and I’m not afraid to bust out the power tools or get creative when it comes to decorating our home on a budget. You can usually find me scouring the local thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales looking for my next makeover (like this litter box cabinet), or dreaming up ways to make our new house feel more like home. My most recent project was giving my home office a much needed facelift. Some of the plans included creating a fun inspirational accent wall and adding pegboard to store my craft hoards.

I currently call Missouri home, where I live with my husband, dog, and 2 cats in a pretty dull, late 90’s split level. My husband and I both love to travel the U.S and recently purchased a small travel trailer to tag along in our journeys. In our free time together we can usually be found working together on a home project, exploring a new place, or just lounging with our pup, Delilah.

I’d love for you to connect with me on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

See all of Amanda’s tutorials HERE.

Want to give something the look of zinc metal without spending money on zinc metal? You can create the look with spray paint and this technique.

How to Create a Faux Zinc Texture (with Spray Paint)

A while ago I was thrifting with a few friends and stumbled across an ugly cabinet at our local Goodwill. The metal chest had extra wide and deep storage, but the worst colors imaginable! The hot pink and mint green were disguising the true potential of the chest. Like a color-blind dog, I was able to see beyond its garish appearance. In my mind, I pictured a vintage metal cabinet with a faux zinc side and chalkboard drawer fronts.

I scooped it up and brought it home. Then the poor chest sat in our garage for months and months until I had a chance to work a little spray paint magic and turned it into….this thing of beauty:

Yes, that is the same chest of drawers! You could do the same transformation. Let’s learn How to Create a Faux Zinc Texture!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Clean off your furniture piece really well. Remove any dirt or debris (I actually had to use a little Goo Gone to get rid of some sticky residue. But, lemon essential oil will also work for this task.)

Spray paint your object with automotive primer. (I prefer the automotive primer because it sticks to metal and can withstand a lot of abuse.)

Let the primer dry.

Adding a Faux Zinc Texture:

This is the most exciting part of the tutorial. I created this technique by trial and error and I’m excited by how well this method works for creating a faux zinc texture.

Getting a faux zinc texture is really easy. Just have some gloves on and use a crumpled up piece of craft paper. (A loose crumple works best.)

Spray paint your object with a thick coat of the hammered silver spray paint, (but not so thick that it runs). Let the paint get tacky by waiting a few seconds.

Then use the crumpled piece of craft paper to blot into the wet paint.

Work in small 1 foot sections and pounce the paper a few times. (Too much pouncing and you’ll lose the large textured pattern.)

Let the paint dry thoroughly. Then enjoy your beautiful faux zinc paint job!

Chalkboard Painted Metal Drawers:

For my cabinet, I chose to paint the drawer fronts with chalkboard paint for a nice contrast.

Remove the drawers from the chest. Tape over the drawer glides and slides. Mask off the drawer sides and insides by covering the drawers with tape and craft paper, leaving only the drawer fronts exposed.

Spray paint the drawers with chalkboard paint. (Use three fine coats of paint instead of one or two heavy coats.) Set them aside to dry.

Insert the chalkboard drawers back into the cabinet frame.

Add chalkboard art to your drawer fronts.

The thrifted cabinet has a wonderful texture now and the black and zinc colors work with any color scheme.

The chalkboard drawer fronts allow the flexibility for me to store and label other items inside.

I’m so thrilled with the results! I hope you try to transform your own object, now that you know how to Create a Faux Zinc Texture.

If you use this tutorial, I’d love to hear about it. Better yet, will you send me a picture?

Share this with a friend! Pin this image:

How-to-faux-paint-a-fake-pumpkinHow to Fake a Fake Pumpkin

Have you seen those neon orange fake pumpkins and nearly vomited because you wouldn’t dream of decorating with them. I mean—get real—everyone would know they were fake. Ah ha, but have you seen the price tags? $1 – $6? For that price you might just be willing to take a leap of faith with me, wouldn’t you? Awesome, because I’m going to show you how to faux paint a fake pumpkin so you can decorate with them year after year and fool your friends.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

materials

Instructions:

Start by painting all the pumpkins with Chalk Paint (use gray, white, green and blue paint.) Allow the pumpkins to dry.

paint-pumpkins-french-linen

 

Painting Realistic White Pumpkins:

It helps to look up some pictures of real pumpkins to refer to.

pure-white-country-grey

Using the stencil brush, paint a mixture of grey and white on one of the pumpkins.

paint-white-mixture

Before the paint dries, dab some of it off with the sea sponge. (Keep your sea sponge dry, not wet during the process.)

sponge-off-white

Dip the stencil brush into the white paint and add paint on the outer most bumps on the pumpkins. This is adding highlights.

highlights_on-white-pumpkin

Dab the highlights gently with the sea sponge to blend.

sponge-off-white-2

Use the fan brush dipped in a small amount of green paint inside the pumpkin ridges. Dab the ridges with the sea sponge to blend.

white-gourd-pumpkin

Have you ever seen a truly unblemished pumpkin? I think not. It’s time to add some spots or marks on the pumpkin to truly fool your friends. Dip the end of the paint brush into brown paint and dot it onto the pumpkin. Blot the spot with a sea sponge and maybe even transfer a few new spots with the sponge.

add-blemishes

Paint grey around the base of the stem and into the grooves with the round paint brush.

add-dark-depth-around-stem

Paint brown and green paint onto the pumpkin stem. Blend slightly with the sea sponge.

paint-sponge-stem

Can you spot my fake white pumpkin? Well, of course you can because I just showed you how to paint it. But, it will definitely fool your friends!

grouping_left_pumpkins

Painting Realistic Blue Pumpkins:

Painting blue pumpkins uses the same technique as painting the white pumpkins, only using a few different colors.

Use the stencil brush to paint blue onto another pumpkin. Dab the blue paint while it’s still wet with the sea sponge.

add-duck-egg-blue-sponge

Use the fan brush dipped in gray and brown craft paint to fill in the ridges.

darken-crevices

Dab the paint with the dry sea sponge to blend.

sponge-crevices

Add some highlights with a mixture of grey and white. This serves two purposes. 1) It adds dimension. 2) It tones down the excess blue on the pumpkin.

add-highlights

Paint the stem the same way you learned above.

To truly fool people, set up your fake pumpkins with some real pumpkins and real gourds. Sooo, can you spot the fakes?

guess-the-fakes

How many did you get right? The metallic gourd is simply spray-painted with copper spray paint. But, I did try my hand at faking a green and yellow gourd using the same technique as the pumpkins, but adding green to the top and yellow to the bottom.

the_fakes

Okay, I’ll give you a second shot. Guess the fakes:

vertical-fall-vignette

How did you do this time? Ha, you can now apply for a job as an art forgery detective ;-).

truth_fake_gourds
Now seriously, how many people will be viewing your pumpkins that close? Umm, next to no one. Normally they’ll view them from afar.

full-living-room-shot

Get your paints and palette out and go fake some fakes! It will be our little secret.

fall-vignette-grouping

PHGFancySignDid you like this painting post? Ahhh, then I know you’ll like this Ballard Pear painting tutorial:

Or if you’re feeling like taking on a larger scale project…how about Faux painted bricks!

Or perhaps you’d like to perform some faux zinc painting magic:

You can do it! I know you can.

shoe stretcher materials

How to Stretch Tight ShoesHow to Stretch Tight Shoes

Have you ever bought a pair of shoes because they were super cute, but they were a tad too tight. If you’re like me, you probably bought them and thought, “They’ll stretch out if I wear them enough.” Then a year or two later you put them on and remember why you don’t wear those shoes. They are just too tight. Frankly life is too short to wear uncomfortable shoes!  I’m sure you are thinking, “Are you telling me to get rid of my uncomfortable shoes?” On the contrary, most too tight shoes can be stretched. Today I’ll show you how to Stretch those Tight Shoes and start wearing them comfortably!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

shoe stretcher materials

Instructions:

I created this short video for you to see how easy it is to stretch your own shoes. Let me know if you have any questions after watching the video.

Step 1: Determine Tight Areas

Determine where the tight areas on your shoe are. If your shoe stretchers have plugs, you can add them to the stretchers for maximum stretching in those areas.

Step 2: Use Stretcher

To loosen leather shoes, you may want to use a Shoe Stretching spray. Spray inside the shoe. Turn the knob on the stretcher to adjust the heel stretcher. Insert the shoe stretchers into your shoe. Tighten the heel knob. Then turn the metal rod until the stretchers are as wide as they can get in your shoes.

Step 3: Set in Warm Area and Wait

Set the shoes in the sun or leave them in a warm area for 24 – 48 hours. It’s a good idea to check your shoes after 24 hours. After 24 hours my shoes were still a little big snug. I left the stretches in for another 24 hours and set them in the sun because the heat helps stretch leather.

Step 4: Try Them On Again

Time to try your shoes on. If they are still too tight. Spray the stretching spray and turn the shoe stretchers to stretch more. Wait another 24 hours.

silver clogs on table

I’m so happy I can wear these clogs comfortably! And now I can stretch any future cute shoes I buy (within reason.)

Do you have a pair of tight shoes you want to try this on? Get to it, those shoes want to be worn.