DIY: Succulent Mini Garden

Ever since I received this large, round, acid green bowl as a gift from a dear friend I've thought about how good it would look as a planter for hens and chicks as well as other succulents. But for some reason never got around to making this idea into a reality. I don't know why, because this is one DIY project that is so simple to do, yet so fun and rewarding! So about a month ago I finally got down to business...

I love succulents because they are so easy to care for and require very little watering or other maintenance. Come autumn, I will bring it inside and attempt to keep it alive all winter long.

All you need for this project is a wide mouthed, shallow container, pebbles, soil and succulents. The pebbles are for the bottom of the pot to provide for drainage so the roots don't get root rot (this step is only necessary if your container does not have a hole in the bottom). Next fill your pot about 3/4 full of soil and place the succulents in the pot. This is the time to arrange and rearrange the plants into a pretty visual formation. I like to make sure I have a combination of sculptural plants with sprawling plants that can be planted near the edge so that as they grow they cascade over the edge. Lastly, fill in any gaps between plants with soil. And voila! You have yourself a succulent mini garden!

DIY: Design a Unique Cork Board Part 1 of 2

So now for a fun easy little project: making your own unique cork board. I am in the habit of keeping a cork board in my home office, as what I like to call an inspiration board. This board is ever evolving depending on what I'm working on and what is inspiring me right now.  But cork boards can be used for a variety of purposes from keeping all your sticky notes in one place to acting as a message board for the whole family.

All you will need for this project is a cork board of your desired shape and size, fabric, fabric scissors and a glue gun.

Step 1: Cut your fabric using your cork board measurements but adding two inches to each side for the overlap. The extra two inches is so your fabric can wrap around the entire board, including the trim and still have enough fabric on the back to adhered it to the back of your board with a glue gun.

Step 2: Glue the fabric to the back of the board making sure to pull it tightly and look at the front occasionally to make sure the fabric is is aligned properly with the board. This is especially important if your fabric has stripes or a geometric pattern because you'll want to make sure the pattern is nice and straight. Also, make sure to neatly fold the corners before gluing in place.

Step 3: As you are gluing, make sure to cut divets in your fabric where the wall hangers for the cork board are located.

Step 4: That's pretty much it. Simple hey!?! Hang your cork board in desired location and fill it up with pictures, notes, whatever floats your boat!

Here's my version of the finished product as a mood board:

Hope you enjoy this little project as much as I did! Feel free to share your versions!

DIY: Reusing your old candles

So you know when you are finished using a candle and there is still a little wax left at the bottom, but you just can't throw it out? This is a problem for someone like me who is ridiculously OCD about finishing things. Also if it is a scent you really love, it might make it even more difficult to throw that candle away. Well, guess what? You don't have to. I'm going to show you how easy it is to use up that left over wax and make new candles.

I have these candles that were not very well designed, shape-wise. As you can see they just melted down the center, creating a puddle of wax because they are so narrow. But, because I like the scent I haven't thrown them away. So I'm going to use them for this project. However, this project will also work well with little bits of wax left at the bottom of an old candle, you just make layers of different scents one at a time, allowing each layer to cool before pouring in the next. The trick is to not mix different kinds of wax or scents that aren't cohesive.

All you need to start is: 1) left over candle wax, duh; 2) candle wicks (which you can pick up at any craft supply store); 3) masking tape; 4) a clean glass or ceramic container to put the new candle into; 4) a couple of pots.

 I actually picked up wicks larger then I needed because I originally planned to put the wax in mason jars. (How cute would that have been!?!) Unfortunately I got a little over zealous in my kitchen purge/reorganization and seem to have gotten rid of them. But that's okay cause I have these cute little Japanese bowls that will suit my purposes just fine. Really, you can use any kind of glass container you like, time to get creative!

Step 1: Fill a large pot with about 1-2 inches of water and heat to a simmer. Set a smaller pot inside the larger one, making sure not to let any water get into the smaller pot. Ensure the smaller pot is large enough to hold the amount of wax you want to reuse.

Step 2: Remove any stickers or tags from your candle and place your candle wax inside the smaller pot. (If you are using multiple candles with different scents, only melt one at a time and let harden in your jar before adding the next layer.) Don't forget that if you are using wax from multiple candles to make sure they are the same type of wax. You cannot mix paraffin with soy wax or beeswax for example.

Step 3: Once the wax is melted, carefully fish out any charred bits and old wicks with a fork or spoon.

Step 4: Place your new wick in the center of your jar and carefully pour a small amount of wax in the bottom. Pour just enough wax to hold the wick in place and let harden. (I poured the wax into the jar over the kitchen sink with old newspaper in the sink to catch any wax drips, otherwise it can create quite the mess.)

 Step 5: With your masking tape, make and X and tear a hole in the centre of each piece of tape. This is to hold your wick in the centre, so it won't move around as you pour in the rest of the wax.

Step 6: Carefully pour the rest of the wax from the small pot into your jar/container, filling to about 1/4 inch from the top.

 Step 7: Let your new candle harden and then cut the wick so about 1/2 inch sticks out from the top.

Step 8: Enjoy your new candles! I ended up getting 5 candles out of those two large candles! Awesome! Next time I think it would be fun to do this with beeswax.

DIY: Kitchen Organization

Cute Martha Stewart labels with hand stamped letters

Spring is here (sort of) and I know I'm not the only one doing a little spring cleaning and clearing out of clutter. I don't know why, but it feels so great to purge my house of all the things I no longer use or need. Along with the purging, it felt necessary to reorganize the very limited space in my small kitchen. Those of you with limited storage will know what I'm talking about; it feels like I'm always re-working my storage to try and make everything fit and function. So, I thought I'd share a few new strategies to try and wrangle all of that kitchen clutter:

My first idea was to dedicate a space to create a beverage station. I used to have all my teas, drink mixes, coffee, etc. literally stuffed into the spice drawer and overflowing into random other locations throughout the kitchen. The drawer that is now dedicated to beverage storage was previously a drawer for all my many random kitchen utensils. I purged out all the utensils that I never use and the rest fit into a beautiful antique jug that was my grandmother's. I'd been looking for a way to utilize the jug for a while and am thrilled it functions so nicely in it's little spot in the corner on my counter top.  

Now I have a drawer dedicated to my beverages and a drawer dedicated to spices! I still need to purge the old and unused spices. But in the mean time I'm just happy to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

My spice drawer, currently overflowing with spices. How on earth did I also fit my teas in here???

My new tea/beverage drawer!

Not having teas, coffee, cocoa, etc. scattered throughout my kitchen created space for a cubby for my cookbooks, coffee press + all my cocktail making utensils.

As in many small kitchens, we also have very limited pantry space and thus have decided to dedicated a few drawers in the main kitchen cabinetry to canned goods that were previously difficult to find and sort through. As a bonus, I think they look pretty sitting on the shelf and add a splash of colour to my white kitchen.

Lastly, (and btw I can't entirely take credit for this part since my hubby found the jars) we bought a bunch of glass jars with steel lids for like $2 each from the dollar store! We use them to store everything from flour to pasta. I found cute labels from the new Martha Stewart line available at Staples to label each container. Then I hand stamped them for an extra fun touch.

Don't forget to cut out the expiry date from the original packaging and tape it to the bottom of the container.

I know, I'm such a geek for getting such joy from this, but I can't help it. Hope you enjoy it too and get some ideas for your next spring cleaning project!

DIY: Taking the Guess Work Out of Picture Hanging

Okay, so maybe you already know this, if so, just ignore this post. I can't remember where I first heard about this method myself, but I thought I'd share for those of you who are as of yet uniformed. This is especially helpful when hanging groups of art together.

1) Measure the size of the frames you want to hang and cut pieces of craft paper to the exact size of the frames.

2) Using masking tape, place the cut pieces of craft paper on the wall in the location you want to hang the pictures. Then adjust until you have the exact spot where you want to place the wall art. 

This step is great because you can play around with the wall position of the various pieces of art until you find the perfect spot and can actually see exactly what it will look like before you've hung a single picture.

3) Measure and mark the top middle of the craft paper with a vertical line.

4) Measure the distance from the top of the frame to the top of the hanger on the back of your frame.

5) Take that measurement to draw another line at the top of the paper. This time draw a horizontal line.

6) These two lines should cross. Where they cross is exactly where you want to hang the picture. Take a nail and hammer and tap gentle to create an indentation in the wall where the two lines meet.

7) Now you can take down the craft paper, hammer your nail into the indentation point and hang your picture. Simple. And no unnecessary holes in your walls! Tada!