Top 10 Web Pages from D&G Gardens and Crafts

Thought I'd countdown the top ten pages from our website.  If you subscribe to our newsletter, you will get notified of new stories regularly.  Sign up for the newsletter here. Now on to the Top 10!

10.  Cobblestone Walkway Project - See how we turned an unattractive pea gravel walkway into a lovely cobblestone walkway.

9.  Free Printables - A directory of the free printables including garden journals, seed packets, gift tags and more.

8.  Leaf Castings - Instructions on how to capture a little bit of nature by using Portland cement and sand to cast leaves for bird baths, bird feeders and more.

7.  Landscape Projects - A directory of some of the landscape projects we have done around our yard.

6.  Crafts - A directory of craft projects and how-to articles for inside and outside your home.

5.  Garden Journal Templates - Dozens of garden journal templates you can print for free.

4.  Totems - How to make glass garden totems from found objects.

3.  Seed Packet Templates - Hundreds of seed packet templates free to print in two sizes.

2.  Bowling Ball Art - How to paint, mosaic and decorate a bowling ball to add to your garden.

1.  Tipsy Pots - How to make your own Tipsy Pot plant tower fro clay pots, plastic post, tea pots and more.

Top Ten Lists - Garden Related Articles

I created a list the other day of the 10 crafty projects you may not have seen on our website.  Today I will focus on ten garden related articles.  Most of these articles are new.  I hope you enjoy.

10.  Root Pruning - Find out how this simple procedure can help you transplant trees or shrubs.

9.  Quickie Fall Garden Tune-Up - It's the end of the growing season and you are tired.  Here are some quick tips you can do in the fall to make your time in the garden next spring a breeze.

8.  How to Make a Trash Can Composter for $10 or Less - You don't need a big ugly pile.  You may even be able to compost even if you live in an area with a Home Owner's Association.

7.  How to Store Vegetable Seeds - Tips on storing and the usual shelf life of popular vegetable seeds.

6.  How Climate Change Will Affect Your Garden - I know this is a controversial topic, but I have pulled together some tips on how to deal with drought, too much water, and other weather related problems when it comes to your garden plants.

5.  Create Shade in Your Yard Fast - Creative ways and more traditional ways to make your yard a little more comfortable in the hot summer sun.

4.  How to Make Your Own All Purpose Fertilizer - My favorite recipes for fertilizer.

3.  Hardening Off Seedlings - How to harden off your seedlings so that all your hard work isn't wasted.

2.  How to Know When to Transplant Seedlings  - If you are new to seed starting, you may not be sure when the right time to transplant is.  Doing it at the right time can make for a faster growing, healthier plant.

1.  Why to Grow Heirloom Vegetables - Probably my favorite article of the year.  After doing the research I will be growing more if not all heirlooms this new year.

Top Ten Lists - Crafty Projects

This time of year, you always hear about top ten lists.  And I guess I'm no different.  But I thought I'd bring to your attention some of the lesser known pages on our website.  Some are new and some have not been promoted, but I think all have some valuable information that you may find useful.

Today's top 10 list will be for Crafty Projects.

10.  Mosaic Trays - Check out these ideas for rejuvenating old trays and wooden bowls.

9.  Hummingbird Feeder - Find out how you can take a piece of wire and a shot glass and turn it into a hummingbird or oriole feeder.

8.  Salt Dough Ornaments - I know Christmas is over, but think about making salt dough ornaments for next year's tree.  They last for years, so if you need a project to do with the kids this week, try it out.

7.  Suet Feeder - Woodpeckers and other birds love this style of suet feeder best.

6.  Mosaic Frames - Here are some ideas for turning plain mirrors and picture frames into beautiful mosaic works of art.

5.  Hypertufa Planter - A hypertufa project that utilizes railroad spikes for feet; a cool recycling project.

4.  Bird Seed Ornaments - A new project in the past few weeks; how to make decorative, yet edible ornaments for the tree.

3.  Hypertufa Millstone - How to make a millstone out of hypertufa.

2.  Earring Holder - Take an old picture frame and turn it into an adorable earring holder.

1.  Instant Evergreen Tree - Turn an obelisk or tomato cage into an instant evergreen tree.  A great way to display the bird seed ornaments above.

I Love Gardening....

And my husband knows that I do and he knows what a weird sense of humor I have at times, and I know that he's the same kind of crazy as me....LOL.  He gave me the best t-shirt ever and I can't wait to wear it at the spring gardening shows in 2012.

 In case you are having trouble reading the shirt, it says, "I ♥ Gardening.  It helps when you need to hide the bodies."  How funny is that?!?  And for the record, NO, I do not hide dead bodies in my yard.  It's a joke, plain and simple.

He also gave me a bunch of useful things to help me with my crafts and other creative projects.  Six organizers so I can sort my many glass pieces, tiles and beads, a jumbo box of masks for when I work with Portland cement, an awesome work light that winds up, so there are no batteries to worry about, some books for relaxing and a really cool pump to help me get water from our water barrel to the veggie garden beds.

He also found a jig to help me bend wire into all sorts of shapes and connectors.  I just hope I can figure out how to use it since there really aren't very good instructions with it.  And lately I've been wishing I had one of those immersion blenders and, guess what, he was listening.  I also got a corded drill because my cordless drill was always dead, the batteries just wouldn't hold the charge anymore and frankly, I got tired of asking hubby to use his and since I could never find a darn thing in his workshop, I would always have to wait until he was home to use one.

All in all we had a great Christmas weekend; spent time with my family on Saturday night and had a relaxing day at home on Sunday.  Monday will be a great day too, looking for after Christmas bargains and catching up on a little housework.

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

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Happy Holidays!!!

I just wanted to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, and Happy Festivus!  Whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope you are able to spend it with the ones you love!

I was playing around on Amazon and found some free mp3 downloads you might like.  Some are a little quirky, but since they are free you have nothing to lose by downloading them, right?  Not sure how long they will be free on Amazon, so better check them out now.

Quickie Herbal Soap

If you are looking for a last minute gift, this soap recipe could be just the ticket.  Check it out.

What you will need:

• 2 cups of chopped glycerin soap bars
• double boiler
• 10-20 drops of essential oils of choice
• soap or candy molds
• towel
• plastic wrap

Directions:

1. Melt soap chunks in a double boiler over medium-low heat.
2. Stir in essential oils and remove from heat.
3. Pour into molds and allow to harden for 30 minutes.
4. Remove soap from molds and place on towel.
5. Allow to harden for at least 8 hours.
6. Wrap soap in plastic wrap to preserve scent.

Types of Essential Oils:

• Chamomile
• Lavender
• Lemon
• Grapefruit
• Geranium
• Rose Attar
• Rosemary
• Orange
• Pine
• Peppermint (avoid using on face)
• Orange

Awesome Salvage Garden Art

I was surfing the net and found some really cool garden art ideas.  You know how much I love my junk and I think I can make something like this for my own garden.  Besides, a girl's gotta have a hobby during the winter months to stay out of trouble, you know.

These first two ideas were discovered at This Old house.  I wonder if you could use JBWeld on this project if you don't have a welder?

And this birdhouse is incredibly cute, but not sure if I would use an oil can as the base unless I was very sure there was no oil residue left in the can.  I would also make sure it was in the shade so that it didn't get too hot for the baby birds. See more about this project and others here.

There are several rusted junk ideas on favorite garden junk forum here.

If you have never visited my friend the Empress of Dirt, you have got to visit her blog.  Check out her awesome wind chime creation below and see more of her projects here.

Quick Christmas Gift Ideas

Christmas will be here before you know it.  But I found some cute quick ideas that you could use as a goft, hostess gift or party favors.

This first one comes from Thriftfun.com.  I love there site!  It has some great articles contributed by it's readers.  This one is a an adorable angel made from a kitchen towel. Find the instructions here.

This next two ideas come from Better Homes & Gardens.  You can take any plain glass surface and spruce it up with glass paint.  You bake the object to set the paint so that it will hold up to hand washing.  View this and other ideas here.

I just love this idea.  Transform an inexpensive storage container into a personalized treat box.  It's so easy to buy candies in bulk at the grocery store or smaller packages at the dollar store.  You could even adapt this idea for craft supplies, school supplies or even cooking spices.  Read about this and other ideas here.

Cute Step Ladder Tree?

I love stepladders in the garden.  I have a cute little blue one you may remember seeing.  Here's what I did with it this year.

I came across this unique use for a ladder today at JunkMarket Style.  I can honestly say that I don't think I've seen this before. I'll have to check out more of Funky Junk Interiors.  Check out how she made this tree here. 

 

This tree is so fantastic, isn't it?  Definitely check out some of the close-up shots on that link to see the unusual "ornaments" she used.  I wish I had more room in my house to have multiple trees at Christmas.  I'm currently collecting bird and birdhouse ornaments so that I can eventually have a bird themed tree, but having a junk tree would be a whole lot of fun too.

And here is probably the most elegant junky mantel I've ever seen.  You can see more pics here.

Fridge Transformation

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I don't normally talk about hum drum ordinary everyday things on this blog, but I am so excited about this new discovery that I just had to share it with you all.

You see, one of my biggest pet peeves is how messy and unorganized the refrigerator gets.  No matter my good intentions, after a week or two, things always get lost in the back and end up being wasted and thrown out.  I hate that!

A couple weeks ago, I was thumbing through one of the many catalogs that grace our mailbox this time of year and stumbled upon these cute clear plastic bins...Fridge Binz they are called. I was completely intrigued and, of course, went looking online to find them for less money than the fancy catalog prices I had in front of me.  As always, Amazon did not disappoint.  I found them all and they even were eligible for free super saver shipping.  So I ordered them immediately!

Here is my fridge before the Binz. Ugly, isn't it?  Terribly disorganized...Hard to find what you need....

And here is my fridge after. Isn't it beautiful?

After spending nearly an hour and a half cleaning the darn thing, I end up with this nicely organized refrigerator.  The size of the bins were perfect.  We have an average sized fridge, not too large, not too small, right in the middle, so I think these bins would work for the majority of the refrigerators out there.  I do not think they would work for refrigerators that have wire shelves.  I think the bins would get caught on them, but I could be wrong.

I purchased two of the 8" x 4" bins, two 12" x 2" bins,  three 4" x 2" bins and one split 12" x 4" bins.  I used all but two of the 4" x 2" bins, but I can either use them some place else, or possibly switch some bins out of the fridge if our needs change.

I love how I can just slide out the entire bin and reach everything.  No more yogurt getting lost in back and stocking the fridge after grocery shopping is a breeze.  Everything has it's place.  And if something spills I can just take the bin out and wash the bin without having to wash the entire fridge.  If the power goes out for a long period of time, I can pull the whole bin out to quickly load them into a cooler.  If I'm organizing a camping trip, I can organize what I want to pack ahead of time, bin by bin.

After a week of living with the bins, I did find that I need to figure out where to keep the eggs.  And we have a few too many condiments, so once those things are figured out, I'll be golden.  All in all I am very glad I bought these bins.

Hopefully, this little post might spark some inspiration for others who may have struggled with similar fridge woes.

Congrats to the Elmer's Prize Pack Winners

Congrats to Audrey and Candy from MugWump Designs for winning an Elmer's Prize Pack.  They will each receive: 

·         Black 20x30 Foam Board

·         White 20x30 Foam Board

·         CraftBond All-Purpose Glue Stick

·         CraftBond Repositionable Glue Stick

·         CraftBond Extra-Strength Glue Stick

·         X-ACTO Designer Series Gripster Knife

·         Painters Assorted Colors Set

 

If they do not get back to me within 3 business days with a mailing address, a new winner will be chosen.

Elmer's Craft Challenge - And Prizes for You!

Contest is now closed.

It's that time of year again and Elmer's has been gracious enough to ask me to participate in this year's Elmer's Craft Challenge. In doing so, the good people at Elmer's will be sending two of my readers a wonderful prize pack of your own, so you can create your own Look for Less.  Check out their Looks for Less Guide here to find your inspiration.

What You'll Need:

• Elmer's Black Foam Board 20" x 30" x 1/4" (cut in half)
• Elmer's Craftbond Glue Tape Runner - Permanent
• Elmer's Craftbond Glue Stick - Permanent
• X-ACTO Designer Series 12" x 12" Self Healing Mat
• X-ACTO Designer Series Retractable Knife
• X-ACTO Designer Series 9" Paper Trimmer
• X-ACTO Designer Series 12" Metal Ruler
• Elmer's White Glue
• 6 feet 1" wood trim
• 18 inches of 20-gauge wire
• Paint color of choice
• Duct tape
• Miter saw
• Other embellishments of choice
• three 4" x 6" photos of choice

1. Cut the foam board in half by placing the foam board on the self healing mat, score the foam board using the ruler as your straight edge.  Score lightly at first, and then repeat the cut until the board is cut all the way through.
2. Apply the glue stick along the entire backside of one piece of the foam and press the pieces together to form a 1/2" thick board.  Place some heavy books on the board until the glue has dried, about 1 hour.
3. While glue is drying, cut molding to form three 4" x 6" picture frames.  You'll need to set up a 45 degree cutting angle on a miter box or saw to accomplish this.  You can use any type of molding you'd like, but with a board this size, a 1" wide panel molding seemed to work the best for me.
4. Create three picture frames evenly spaced by gluing the molding to the board using the Elmer's white glue.  Press molding firmly and wipe any excess that might squeeze out the sides. Use the ruler to help space them.
5. Paint trim to match foam board.  In this case, I used black, but if you are starting with white foam board, by all means use white, or what ever color you like.
6. At this point, you can embellish the board any way you'd like.  I sprayed mine with metallic copper paint and glued on vitreous glass tiles in the color squash and black.
7. Cut photos of choice to 4" x 6" using the paper trimmer and glue to the inside of each frame using the permanent tape runner.  You could use the repositionable tape runner if you'd like to change the photos out over time.
8. To hang, I found it easiest to duct tape an 18" piece of wire to the back.

This foam board was so easy to work with and it looks great, in my opinion.  There are even 1/2" thick pieces available for purchase. There are so many things you can do with it, so make sure you check out the Looks for Less Guide to get some ideas of your own.

Now on to what you can win!

Elmer's will send the following prize pack to two of my readers

·         Black 20x30 Foam Board

·         White 20x30 Foam Board

·         CraftBond All-Purpose Glue Stick

·         CraftBond Repositionable Glue Stick

·         CraftBond Extra-Strength Glue Stick

·         X-ACTO Designer Series Gripster Knife

·         Painters Assorted Colors Set

You have until Sunday night, 9pm EST, December 11, 2011 to win.   Just leave your comment on this blog post to win and make sure you are logged in or leave an e-mail address so I can get in touch with you.  Winners will be announced no later than Monday December 12th. 

Earn an additional entry by liking us on Facebook and making a comment on the official contest post found here.