DIY
Plastic Birkenstock Repair Hack
If you are the .01% of the population that needs a plastic Birkenstock repair hack to fix the stretched out toe post on your Gizeh-style sandals, you’ve come to the right place! I fear the following disaster has only happened to me, but on the off chance it has happened to another Birkenstock fan, here’s what happened and the repair hack I used to fix it. I was wearing my plastic Birkenstocks and walking through the yard carrying something large and bulky. Does it matter what it was and where I was taking it? No. Fine. I’ll tell you. It was a Culligan water dispenser and I was taking it…
My Dining Table Is Now a Coffee Table
Do you remember when I bought a $9.60 round dining table at the Habitat Restore and making over that table almost sent me over the edge? That was fun. Fast forward several months and the scars from the traumatic table makeover experience were healing nicely. Then I realized why that table might have been donated to the Habitat Restore in the first place. The top kept coming loose from the base. I’d tighten it and then people would put their elbows on the table (!) and eventually the top would loosen up again. The solution was clear. Either I could teach my family manners or we could stop eating all…
Insight on Repairing a Slate Roof
Here’s something I learned last week. My idea of a crisis is not a roofing contractor’s idea of a crisis. Roofing Person: You have an active leak, ma’am? Me: Isn’t that the very definition of a leak? Roofing Person: Okay. We can come out and take a look in 3.5 million years from now and then get you an estimate to do the repairs 1.5 million years after that. Of course, that’s contractor time, so plus or minus another million years on all those dates and times. Me: My house could crumble to the ground by then. Roofing Person: So should I put you on the schedule? I realize when…
Herringbone Rolling Plant Caddy
We might have leveled up our reuse and repurpose game with our latest DIY project – a Herringbone Rolling Plant Caddy. We created it from items we had in our house, which made it a zero cost project. And I love it so much. Three main items were repurposed to make this rolling plant caddy. The first item was an old board that we cut into a square. What would I do without old boards in my life? The second item was a set of wheels that we removed from this thrift store dresser. The third thing we repurposed to make this plant caddy was a set of wood blocks that…
Bookrack Makeover for an Older Boy’s Room
Before I get rid of anything in our home, I do not ask myself if it sparks joy. No. I ask myself if I can repurpose, reuse or makeover the item to make it work better in our home. I also ask myself if I have the energy to repurpose, reuse or makeover the item. Sometimes the answer is “no.” Sometimes the answer is “maybe.” Sometimes the answer is “I really shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself!” Then I end up doing something drastic like cutting off belt loops on Handy Husband’s old, ripped-up jeans to make hanging loops for kitchen towels. Remember that project? Still using those towels, by…
Turn a Hutch Into a Freestanding Bookcase
Who loves a good furniture makeover? *raises both my hands…and feet* You’ve come to the right place because I have a fun makeover to show you today! We were able to turn a hutch into a freestanding bookcase and it’s been a game-changer in my tween daughter’s room. If you’ve been a long-time follower, you might remember that when I bought this dresser with brass details at the Habitat Restore it came with a hutch. I never could figure out the hutch part of the dresser. Not only was it not quite the right size, I couldn’t tell where it had ever attached to the dresser. It was a mystery. I…
Update: Making the Switch to Linen Bath Towels
A couple of year ago I posed the question: Should I switch to linen bath towels? You can count on me to ask the hard-hitting questions. At the time I was living in Ireland and drying clothes outside on the line was the norm. Since Ireland has a well-deserved reputation for raining A LOT, I hung clothes indoors to dry on a rack next to our radiators too. Cotton bath towels were tricky to wash in a teeny tiny washing machine (many European washing machines are smaller than their U.S. counterparts) and even trickier to dry, so that’s what led me down the rabbit hole of linen bath towels. In…
How to Mount Antlers on an Acrylic Base
I’m not a hunter. I’ve never hunted. I don’t own anything camouflage. I’ve never worn anything in a hue resembling hunter orange. Although, I did have a pair of fluorescent yellow leg warmers in 4th grade. I do own a set of deer antlers though. My brother gave them to me years ago. I don’t know where they came from. Or how old they are. I have no answers on that front. I just liked the antlers. If you’re an antler purist (is that a thing?) then stop reading now because it will definitely seem blasphemous that I painted the antlers gold at some point. What can I say? I…
Easy DIY Leather Drawer Pulls
I don’t throw the word ‘easy’ around willy nilly. So if I say it is easy to DIY your own leather drawer pulls without fancy tools, then trust me, it is. Here’s what I used…(I’ll link the relevant things at the end.) I’m of absolute certainty that there are more proper ways to make leather drawer pulls, but I’m all about using the tools I have on hand. Call it a creative problem-solving challenge. If I was going to go into the leather pull business, then I’d invest in leather tools, but for a one-time project, this is how I made it work. And it was actually easy! I purchased…
Makeover: Dresser with Brass Details
My love affair with my local Habitat ReStore is still going strong. In early August I found a small dresser with brass accents at the ReStore. When I spotted those brass accents it was like the heavens opened up and angels began singing. Honestly, I need to have this sort of reaction when I find a piece of used furniture in order to go through the herculean effort to get it home and refinish it. We all have our barometers. Mine is angels singing. Totally normal, right? As you can see, the dresser had a hutch on top that I still do not understand. It has the same brass edging…
