A DIY Blog Empowering You to Complete Your Own Project
Congratulations to Melissa Betts who was chosen at random as the winner of the Silhouette Portrait! Melissa, email me as soon as possible to claim your Silhouette! For everyone else who wasn’t chosen, I’m sorry ;-(. You can still get a good deal on either a Silhouette Portrait or a Silhouette Cameo from today through [...]
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Spring is almost here and pretty soon there will be countless flowers awakening from the cold winter slumber. When that happens you can pick some blooms and turn them into easy gift ideas, like a framed quote or a paper-wrapped vase? The resulting paper from this craft almost resembles high end (and expensive) handmade pressed [...]
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Are y’all sick of all my ugly construction type tutorials yet? After all the framing and drywall dust I’ve been breathing, I just wanted to put down my hammer and flex my creativity a little. The perfect project presented itself in the form of these two lamps I picked up at the Habitat ReStore for [...]
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Lately I’ve been dealing with two boys who are in elementary school, but I’d swear they are in high school by their scowls and attitudes. The grumpy scowl seems to be contagious around here, so I decided to put out a gentle reminder:
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Kitchen progress is definitely moving along (hooray!!!) We now have recessed lighting in our ceiling and it really helps even out the lighting in the kitchen. Plus getting rid of the semi-flush light fixtures makes the ceiling feel taller. We debated about installing new construction recessed lighting: or remodel type recessed lights: We could have installed [...]
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I’ve been asked many times how we’re surviving without a kitchen. I have to admit, there were a few weeks of adjustment for us, but now things are humming along relatively easily. We have a makeshift kitchen and a dishwashing set up that works for us. But, living without a kitchen is a bit like [...]
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I can honestly say that this is the first week that I’ve felt the progress on our kitchen (besides just feeling it in my sore muscles.) And, it FEELS GOOD! No more road bumps like termites or asbestos. I’m sure from this picture you are thinking, “What progress? When the heck is she going to [...]
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Hey Pretty Handy Girl readers, I’m stepping up to the podium today to prove to you that I can do more than just wrap presents around here. I also have a handy side (don’t let Brittany fool you) that occasionally comes out.
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There we were, Harvey the electrician and I were happily making progress on the kitchen renovation. Harvey was just finishing up on the last row of outlets when his hand disappeared into the wall. “Ummm, Ms. Bailey, I think there’s something wrong with this stud.” I looked over to see him pulling wood shavings out [...]
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Have you heard the horror stories about filing for a permit and the subsequent inspections? Did you hear the tale about the inspector that made the electrician pull everything out and start over? Have you been warned not to file a permit because you might “open a can of worms”? What exactly is a rough-in? [...]
[Continue reading...]Happy Valentine’s Days to two lucky readers! Yes, we have our winners! Before the announcement, we wanted to thank all of our AMAZING sponsors for their donations and generosity! This giveaway could not have happened without them. And since love is in the air today, let’s show them all some facebook love by liking their [...]
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Valentine’s Day is in one day, right? So, what am I up to? I’m getting ready to celebrate the return of spring and St. Patrick’s Day of course. In North Carolina, the trees are starting to bud and a few have flowers. I’m super excited for the arrival of spring. In addition to the flowers, [...]
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As a parent of two elementary school students, I always ask my kids’ teachers if they need anything for their room. Usually the answer is markers, wipes, or snacks. But, my kindergartner’s teacher knows about my secret identity after having taught my older son for a year. So, she didn’t hesitate to ask me if [...]
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Are you loving that cool little kitchen inspiration board I made? If you haven’t seen already, there’s a new app called the Inspiration Board. Jamielyn from iHeart Naptime is the creative genius behind it.
[Continue reading...]Happy early Valentine’s Day to everyone! A group of us have teamed up with some amazing sponsors and put together an exciting “Home Sweet Home Giveaway” for our readers. (If you didn’t win the other mega giveaway I hosted back in October, I wanted to give you another shot at winning some awesomeness!) Myself and [...]
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That’s what I was thinking today. Ever have one of those days, where you feel like life sucker punched you in the gut. And then when you started to stand up it pulled the rug right out from underneath you? Well, sometimes that’s how my past few months have felt. But, in the grand scheme [...]
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Last year when I showed you how to clean out your dryer hose to prevent dryer fires, I didn’t realize that I still had a fire hazard living in our laundry room. Since then, I stumbled across a video that scared the bejeezus out of me. Matt from Great Lakes Home Performance created this video [...]
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Hello! How is your week?! I’m sorry I missed y’all on Wednesday. I spent the day at the permit office interviewing the director and filing for a building and mechanical permit for our kitchen. I learned oodles and will have a post for you as soon as I can. In the meantime, I have a [...]
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Do I need to pull a permit for this? What happens if I don’t pull a permit? What can I expect? What surprise could come up? What happens if you fail the inspection? These are just a few of the broad questions I have for Mr. Barry Mooneyham, Director of Wake County Planning, Development and [...]
[Continue reading...]Oh yeah Baby! Are you ready to fight for your right to create? Get ready because Creating with the Stars is coming! East Coast Creative has picked up the most popular contest in blogland and has polished it with a new name and brought in new stars (me included). Now all they need is new [...]
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HE (High Efficiency) washers possess the technology to use a lot less water than the old top load washers. Plus, they cut down on dryer times with an amazing spin cycle that leaves clothes damp not sopping wet. We love our HE washer, but I have several friends who hate theirs. Why? The biggest complaint [...]
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Oh my goodness, I hope you had a great time travelling back in time yesterday and laughing at our childhood portraits! Did you guess who I was? There were so many of you who were soooooo close to guessing all the DIY bloggers correctly, but finally one person…one blogger…one true DIY fan rose to claim [...]
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The contest is over, but feel free to view the results! Let’s take a ride in that DeLorean parked outside and go back in time. Back to a time before there was Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Before chevrons, mercury glass and ombré were hot. And most importantly, before there were blogs! We’re going back to [...]
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Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Miriam from Hometalk and Heather from At the Picket Fence. We discussed budget kitchen updates that you can make to your kitchen right now for very little money! If you missed the hangout, no worries, you can watch the recorded show here: Or watch it on [...]
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Can I just tell you that I have a bone to pick with Mother Nature lately. She seems to sense when I’m just finishing up a DIY project that really needs to be photographed. Case in point, last week I wanted to photograph my “You Rule Valentines“, but we had 4 days of gloomy weather! [...]
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On friday, I shared my tutorial for making You Rule Candy-Free Valentines. I also created a tutorial for making those cute tags. If you have a Silhouette or other craft cutter, I have a few tricks for making the cut out tags. In particular, I want to show you how to attach the centers (technically called [...]
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Happy Friday! Do you have snow? I know the south eastern states got a surprise visit from Mr. Winter last night, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Besides sledding, the boys and I will finish up these fun little Valentine gifts over the long weekend: They were easy to make, and easy on the wallet! [...]
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After the abundance of candy and cookies consumed over the holidays, I cringe at the idea of more sweets finding their way into our home. Especially candy with artificial colored dyes added. Valentine’s Day and Halloween are the two holidays where I have to brace myself for the inevitable influx of dye-laden candies. I don’t [...]
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I’ve made some progress this weekend on the desk for our kitchen. This was the keystone in the decision making process for the color of our cabinets. I wanted to see what the color would look like in the kitchen, on a real piece of furniture before spending big bucks on cabinets. I’m happy to [...]
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Are you ready to get toasty today? Today is the day that I’ll be showing you how to install the WarmlyYours TempZone radiant floor heat. Can I tell you a little secret? I was terrified! I was so fearful of breaking the heating wire, that I handled this roll with kid gloves. And I yelled [...]
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After you read the title, I guess the cat’s out of the bag. It’s true, I installed radiant floor heating in our mudroom/laundry room and I couldn’t be more thrilled. One of the positives of having a plumbing leak and subsequent gutted room, is being able to make changes that you otherwise wouldn’t have considered. [...]
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We are well on our way to putting Humpty Dumpty back together when it comes to our mudroom and laundry room. The kitchen, it’s still a blank canvas. After the water leak, the linoleum flooring had to be removed. What was left was a plethora of problem areas. Cracks, crumbled concrete and an uneven surface resembling [...]
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Happy New Year! What did you do to ring in 2013? Every year we have a New Year’s Day party. It’s our annual tradition. This year we almost didn’t have our party because our kitchen was in such a disheveled state. But, I remember someone wise asked if you wait until your house is perfect [...]
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Over the holidays, I had the good fortune to attend one of Miss Mustard Seed’s painting demos here in Raleigh. Marian is such a joy to watch. She’s so laid back about her painting techniques, that you want to jump up there with her and start painting. Of course, I resisted the urge that day. [...]
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2012 was a jam packed year. It was filled with adventures, triumphs, and destruction. But, overall it was filled with a mass of accomplished projects. I shared some great tutorials with you and these are just a few of the best from 2012! One of my favorite transformation tools is paint. Whether it be spray [...]
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I have to share something that happened to me on Friday. It’s long so pull up a chair and a cup of peppermint hot cocoa (a yummy recipe from Tauni at SNAP!) A few weeks ago Pretty Handsome Guy made up some bags for homeless people with our 8 year old for a Y Guides service [...]
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How are y’all holding up in this holiday rush? The boys and I ventured to the mall to see Santa on Friday. The 2.5 hour wait quickly helped us decide to skip the big guy’s lap route and attempt a last minute letter to his greatness. The boys were a bit crestfallen, but I [...]
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I hope you all enjoyed the 10 Days of 15 Minute Gift Ideas. I really wanted to include this gift idea because they are adorable and were well received last year, but they take more than 15 minutes. But, they cost next to nothing to make. So, if you find yourself with a little extra [...]
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Sometimes there are no words and silence is golden. “By not talking too much about it. Silence is sometimes the best thing to do, holding a hand, hugging somebody.” – Reverend Eugene Peterson, an except from this interview on Spiritual Strength in Times of Great Need
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I love making my own gift baskets. They cost less than a store bought version. Plus, they don’t need to be wrapped! A pair of Goodwill pants and an ugly tin bucket get the royal treatment in this spa themed gift basket: I seriously seek out the opportunity to make one whenever I can. Nothing [...]
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This little key hook frame was incredibly easy to make and would make a great gift for a new homeowner or that college student who is moving into a new apartment. (Or for that special someone who is always losing their keys.)
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I love nature and her beautiful palette, even as winter sets in she showcases a beautiful white, green and red color theme in honor of the impending holidays. With these colors in mind, I decided to bring a little of this beauty indoors with these twig star ornaments.
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2013 is right around the corner! Do you have your new calendar? I bet several people on your gift list don’t either. That’s why I think these tea towel calendars from Spoonflower would make a great gift. Have you heard of Spoonflower? It is a custom fabric printing company that allows you to upload your [...]
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I cannot claim authorship of this DIY Gift Idea (Family Fun Magazine), but I can tell you that it is one heck of a fun way to entertain the kids for 15 minutes AND they make great gifts for the kids on your list.
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