FREE Class on Installing Tile Backsplash

This Weekend, Home Depot is going to teach you how to install a Tile Backsplash with this FREE class. Get registered today!

Learn How to Install a Ceiling Fan

Always wanted to changed out that ceiling fan, but didn't want to pay for an electrician. Check out this FREE class at Home Depot to learn how to install a ceiling fan this weekend!

Inexpensive and Easy Way to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling

How many of you inherited popcorn ceiling in a house you purchased that you did not put on and probably don't want it there?

That is certainly the case with our home and it's every where! I mean, everywhere! Ours even has some pretty sparkles in it that catch your eye. I know at one time this ceiling technique was en vogue, but not anymore and not for a long time.

I learned about this technique from my friend Caitlin and it works wonderfully. We have removed the popcorn ceiling in a few rooms now and it is relatively quick and easy to do the actual removal, but there are a few things you have to do first:

1. Gather your supplies: scraper, garden sprayer, ladder and cardboard or plastic
2. Remove everything from the room you are removing the popcorn ceiling in
3. Lay down plastic or cardboard over all of the floor
4. Remove any molding (if possible) that has popcorn texture on it. Take this outside and spray down with a trigger nozzle on a garden house, this is the quickest way to remove it from molding.

Here are your next steps in removing the popcorn ceiling:

1. Fill the garden sprayer with tap water.
2. Using the garden sprayer, spray down about a 3x3 section of the ceiling
3. Let it sit for a few seconds then use your scraper to scrape it right off, allowing it to fall on your plastic or cardboard.
4. Continue around the room working in small sections until you have finished.

Now clean up begins. If you laid cardboard or plastic over the entire floor, cleanup is quick and easy. Just roll up or fold up everything and throw it away. If any texture got on to your wall, just wash it off with water and a rag.
Allow the wet ceiling to dry for 24 hours before you paint it with primer and ceiling paint.
See how quick that was and certainly inexpensive if you already have a garden sprayer (or buy a garden sprayer on Amazon for under $15) and a scraper (or buy a scraper on Amazon for under $6).
We have A LOT more popcorn ceilings to remove, but this technique makes it easy and doesn't add the the expense of redecorating a room.

Pottery Leaf and Fish Candle Chargers / Platters

Today I want to share with you a couple of candle chargers or platters that I made. I used the same mold for both of these, which is also the same one as the Pottery Candle Charger I made as a gift as well. 

I made the fish one for my husband and it is at our cabin. The leaf one I made for myself (I do occasionally make something for myself) to have at our house. The fish pieces are from clay cutters I bought and the leaf prints are from a push in clay mold I purchased. These were a fun experiment to see how I could use these fun new tools

NOEL Decorative Sign

This was something I was inspired to make from a Pottery Barn catalog years ago. It was stuck in my head until I finally found the perfect wooden letters to make it and made it.

I just spray painted the letters with red paint and when they were dried I used hot glue to secure them together in this configuration. You could put a picture hanger on the back to hang it up or you can so what I did and just rest it against the wall on top of the mantle.

Try It Tuesday: Contact Paper Update

I have to tell you, this has been on my to-do list for a long time. I even bought the contact paper one time ended u[ using it for another project and had to buy new contact paper. When I bought new contact paper, I bought this 2-pack of contact paper by Laura Ashley on Amazon for under $10. I used about 2/3 of one roll, so I suspect there will be another project in my future where I use this contact paper.

So you can see the before the picture (click on the picture to enlarge it) you can see the the veneer in bay window has peeled away (that to some spilled water and kids peeling at it - darn kids!), and then the veneer cracked all across where the window is attached to the wall leaving a crack line across the whole thing. Structurally, everything is ok, but ascetically it was not, so I put down some contact paper to cover it up.

This pattern works great in my old Queen Anne Victorian home. Contact paper is so easy to apply to shelves or anything. You can easily remove it as well. I think it is such an improvement that literally took me about 10 minutes to do and leaves me wondering why I didn't do this so much sooner.

Try It Tuesday: Create Your Own Personalized Wreath

Making your own wreath is as simple as buying a grapevine wreath, some artificial flowers, a wooden letter and some hot glue.

I like to have a wreath at the front door, but some of ours are getting a little worse for the wear. Plus combine that with the fact that we were getting a new front door, we needed something that was nice looking too.

Our door needed to be painted, so I used that paint to paint the letter to match it and picked out some accent flowers to match as well. I am very happy with how this turned out.

#92 Lower Your Water Heater Thermostat

Set your water heater at 120 degrees. It the lowest you can go and still be able to kill bacteria. Anything higher is just a waste of energy and can be dangerous, especially to infants, young children and elderly who have thinner skin and are more sensitive to higher temperatures. By lowering your water heater from 140 degrees to 120 degress you can trim off about 6% on your electric or gas bill.