Welcome Mat Upcycle

 

I have welcome mats (doormats) at each of the exterior doors of my house and I usually switch them out based on the holiday or season.  Sooner or later, they start to fade and show wear and tear from use. 

One of my favorite doormats was rubber mat decorated with flower pots.  After several seasons it was faded, but otherwise still in good condition.

I wanted to upcycle the mat and give it a bit more life by painting the mat.  Before I could add paint, I needed to clean it.  I went to work by spraying with some multi-purpose cleaner and scrubbing.  This step took some elbow grease, but I was able to get a lot of the dirt and grim off the top of the mat.

From there, I took basic acrylic paint and mixed a few colors of green for my “succulents” and then a simple white background, and light brown pots.  After several layers of paint and letting it dry over night, I sprayed the top of the mat with a clear spray paint so it wouldn’t run when walking on it.

After several months, I can say it is still in great condition.  I might try this on a few other mats that are still in good condition but the design is fading a bit. 

Let me know what you think!

DIY - Foaming Hand Soap (EASY!)

I love the pretty labels on foaming hand soap -for some reason, they are cuter than just regular ol’ soap that have the pictures of the fishies.  But, they can be really expensive!    However, I learned a cool trick to refill your foaming soap bottles with cheap liquid hand soap.

 

Take your empty foaming soap container and fill it about 25% full of your liquid hand soap.

Fill up with water!

Done!  Now you can enjoy your cute foaming soap containers without the price!

I wouldn’t do this with soap that states it is antimicrobial or antibacterial – these have special ingredients and diluting them would change the mix. 

 

How to: Remove Wine Bottle Labels / Halloween Decor

 

You probably know by now that I love to turn trash into treasure.  I've shown you how to create your own "milk bottles" and how to reuse plastic containers in your kitchen.  This how-to is to explain how I take labels off of wine bottles and turn them into decor!  

First, you have to drink some wine, which isn't too bad of a step one if you ask me!  I've been collecting these wine bottles and finally have an idea of how to decorate them.  Before we make some decor, we must take off the labels!

Here is how I get the labels off of wine bottles:

1.  Fill your sink with some warn soapy water.  

2.  Toss in the wine bottles and let them soak.  You should be able to see the labels start to get soggy as they darken in color.  

3.  Start to peel the labels off by any corner.  If the label is fully "wet" it should come off fairly easily.  If the label rips as you peel it, toss the bottle back into the warm bottle bath to continue to soak.  

4.  If you have any "goo" left on the bottle after peeling the label off, use a magic eraser or goo-b-gone.

5. Wash and dry the bottles!

Once the bottles are dry, they are ready to paint! I decided to make three sets:  Frankenstein, Jack-o-lantern, and Ghost!  

I used acrylic paint and a foam brush to paint the bottles.  It took a few coats, but once the first layer of color was dry, it was ready to turn them into characters!

 

There you go, easy peasy Halloween decor, from some "trash" you were going to recycle!

DIY: Halloween Brittle

I love using melted chocolate to make desserts because it is so easy to use and you don't have to pre-heat the oven!  Usually I stick to chocolate covered pretzels or oreos, but today I have a brittle recipe that is perfect for Halloween!

Just a few simple steps and you'll have a perfect snack while you watch your favorite Halloween movie!

What you'll need:

Chocolate Chips

Candy Corn M&Ms

Candy Corn

Wax Paper

First, place the wax paper on a tray for your brittle making surface.  Then melt the chocolate chips.  Spread the melted chocolate on the wax paper to make a "chocolate patty". 

Next, sprinkle the M&M's and candy corn on the chocolate patty.  Press the candies into the chocolate so they stick better when the chocolate hardens.  

Now all you have to do it wait!  Wait an hour or so while the chocolate hardens really well.  You could even put the chocolate into the fridge to speed up the process.  Once hard, break the patty into small pieces - this makes it a "brittle"!  

I can imagine putting a few pieces in a plastic bag with an orange ribbon for a gift, or just munching on a few pieces while watching Hocus Pocus!

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

The Steps to a More Perfect Container Garden

Last year I showed you how I started my seedlings indoors.  My process worked, but as I have been upgrading my container garden, I decided a needed I a little bit more preparation this year in order to have a smoother spring/summer.  Usually I plant seedlings and put those seedlings into pots when they are big enough to go outside, however I never really thought through the space or number of pots that I had on hand.  So, I ended up putting a plant in either too small or too big of a pot, not having enough tomato cages, or not having the space to put them altogether.  This year, I decided to decide what my garden is going to look like BEFORE I start my seedlings so that I don’t waste time or effort later when it comes time to put them outside.

Last spring, the Mr. Fix-it husband upgraded my watering system from hoses and 360 degree sprayers that mostly just got the ground wet, to a fantastic built in piping system that allows me to have rows of container plants on my deck!  This is perfect because from where our kitchen is, I get to look out at my garden each day, as well as have easy access to the veggies for a fresh salsa or salad.  Below is a picture of what my “garden” ended up being organized last year:

I really enjoyed this set up last year, so I decided I wanted to do the same thing this year.  But first, I had to decide what I want to grow.  I had a few plants last year that I still have in the freezer that I don’t need anymore of (lookin’ at you jalapeno pepper plant) and some new ones I wanted to try. 

I started this process by writing down a list of the plants I knew I wanted to grow (tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, and herbs), then looked through my seedbox to find the seeds I already had on hand, and then looked through several seed catalogs to find new plants that I hadn’t grown before.  This process took most of January.  I took my time with this process because, everything was frozen and I really enjoyed looking at all the plant catalogs!  This process shouldn’t be rushed, and I wanted to take  to think about what I wanted to harvest in the future. 

Part of the process of looking at my own seeds included building my own seed storage box.  While searching for my seeds, I realized I had them stashed in all sorts of places and I wanted one container to call my seed box.  I shopped in catalogs as well as online for a box that I liked, but I couldn’t find anything in the shape or price range I wanted, so I decided to use my new wood working hobby to make my own.  (Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see the process in a post!)

After I had settled on a list of plants and purchased seeds for the items I didn’t already own, I decided to stay organized and write this information down.  (I know, sounds simple, right?)  I have not been very good at keeping a garden journal so I don’t have a good sense of what time of year we normally have our last real frost.  There are several websites with rules of thumb, so I decided to use that date until I had a better understanding from my “future” garden journals.  My area’s average last frost date is April 15th.  This date is important because most seed packets reference a “start you seeds” date based on the last frost for the year.  I made a list of each item, how many weeks before or after the frost date they should be planted and made an excel formula to tell me when I need to start the seeds (yes, I’m an excel nerd).  Now I know exactly when to start the seeds for each item instead of looking at each of the seed packets each weekend and doing to math to decide if I need to start some or not. 

Once I had the seedling start date, I needed to decide how many seedlings to start!  In order to do that, I need to know how many mature plants I want.  I started to list in my same spreadsheet the quantity of mature plants.  This would be another helpful piece of information to keep in a garden journal, for example, do four tomato plants produce the quantity of tomatoes I need, or should I plant five to keep up?  Or were eight eggplants too much for one year and I should cut back to six the next, etc.  I had to guess this year based on what I remember from last year and picked out how many I wanted of each.  I then categorized each item by what type of pot they would go into, and used a count formula to add up the quantity of each type of pot.  This way, I already know many of each kind of pot I need.  Lucky for me, I have twenty of my five gallon vegetable pots and I want exactly twenty vegetable plants (don’t you just love it when a plan comes together)?

Here is an idea of the pots that I use:

• Vegetable Pots:  mix of different five gallon pots are the perfect size for one plant (tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, etc).
• Small Pots:  mix of one to two gallon pots for smaller herb or lettuce plants
• Rectangular Pots:  foot long rectangular plants for onions (see post here).
• Trough:  very large 150 gallon trough on sale that I am going to try and use for large crops, and perhaps potatoes in the future
• Grill:  an old grill that I converted into a planter which is the perfect standing height for a planter and works well for small herb plants like basil, rosemary, and cilantro.     
• Decorative:  pretty pots I have collected over the years that I use for flowers

Once I had my full list of plants, quantities, and pots, I decided to map out how the container garden would look, much like my 2018 view.  This is really helpful because, now I don’t have to think about where I’m going to put each plant when it comes time to place them outside in a couple of months!  I already did all the work!

Now to get started on those seedlings!

How do you decide what to plant?  Do you keep a garden journal?  I want to know!

How To: DIY Plastic Containers Around the Kitchen

A few years ago I shared how I turned Starbucks Coffee Bottles into the popular faux milk bottles for parties, it was the perfect combination of making something similar to a product that I couldn’t afford, as well as recycling my trash!  I also shared how I turned beer holders into a cute utensil container instead of buying a new one.  I love using containers that I would otherwise throw out as something useful because I feel like I’m getting a bigger bang for my buck! 

I ran into two different issues in my kitchen that needed a solution and I decided to use my “trash” that was sitting in my recycling bin to fix!

Dish Brush Storage

The first issue I had was with the way I was storing my dish washing brushes, and I shared some of this project on my instagram (follow me here!).  I love using the dish washing brushes from Aldi because they seem to get my dishes cleaner and are easier to use compared to sponges.  They also last longer, but are harder to store.  I also just purchased two straw brushes from Amazon to clean my plastic straws that I wanted to make sure didn’t get beat up in storage as they are a little bit flimsier than the Aldi brushes.  

My current storage container was a plastic cup, yes, a plastic cup.  This worked for one or two brushes, but each time I went to grab one of them from under the sink, the whole thing fell over.  Also, the times I could get it to balance and stay standing, I had to store the brushes handle down which made them hard to get out and put away after use.  Since I store my brushes under the sink, I didn’t want to spend money on a caddy, the solution to my problem didn’t need to look “pretty”, it just needed to work. 

My goal was to get a container that was large enough to hold all the brushes handle side up and be able to drain, much like a plant pot.  When I found an empty pretzel container in my pantry cabinet (yes, empty, but that’s another story), I thought to myself “Self, could I turn this into a bin for my dish washing brushes?”  And then I thought, “Why not try it and if it doesn’t work out, I can just toss it in the recycling bin?”  I decided to try it out by throwing my brushes in the container to see if they would fit, and they did!   

To turn this pretzel container into a brush holder, I first took off the label.  I did this by using hot water, soap, and a magic eraser.  By the time I was done scrubbing, you couldn’t even tell it ever had a label on it.  It was just a clean clear bucket. 

Next, to make drain holes, I drilled some holes into the base.  I used a ¾ inch bit and drilled holes in the base about an inch and a half apart.

For a tray for water to collect under the container, I decided to try out the lid.  It was either use the lid or a plastic plate, so I opted for the lid to see how it worked.

Then, to keep my two new straw brushes safe, I added two command strip hooks to the inside of the bin to lock in the straw brushes.  The brushes just happened to fit in the command strip hooks, so they stay put when in storage but are easy to pull out when needing to be used.  

And there you go, an easy answer to my lack of dish washing brush storage!

Dish Soap Container

The second issue was with my dish soap container.  I had a very cute dish soap dispenser that I bought from the Container Store several years ago, but it rusted through most of it’s parts and no longer worked.  (it was a very sad day when I said good buy to this dispenser.)  In the interim, I tried to use a spare olive oil bottle for a cute replacement, however it was glass (breakable) and was very slow to dispense any soap onto my dishes in the sink because I had to turn it upside down and wait for the soap to slooowly come out of the top of the bottle.  It became more of a chore to use, and even though it was “pretty” on my counter, function wins over form what it comes to dish washing!  So I was on the hunt for a new container for my dish soap.  Could I just stuck with the Dawn or Palmolive soap container?  Sure, but I wanted something cute because it sits out all the time!

The solution to this issue started with washing my hair, yes, washing my hair.  I started buying Pantene Charcoal Shampoo and Conditioner a month or so ago, which by the way is AMAZING and totally worth the price if you ask me!  

The bottles have a nice large pump that doesn’t clog and the plastic is sturdy, not too flexible.  When my shampoo and conditioner ran out for the first time, I noticed that the labels were on the outside of the bottles, meaning it is a removable wrap label, not melted or glued onto the bottle.  I cut the label off to see what the bottles looked like without it and thought “these types of bottle sell for about $15 bucks at the store, what can I use this for?”  My answer to myself was “DISH SOAP!”

What is nice about reusing this type of container is that the bottle isn’t flimsy, but if I need to replace it, it won’t be as sad as tossing out a soap dispenser I purchased from the Container Store.  I can just recycle the old one and use a newly finished bottle of shampoo.  Easy Peasy!   

Now doesn’t that look so much better than a regular ol’ bottle of soap sitting on the counter?!

How do you re-use containers around your house?  Do you think about how to reuse a nice container before throwing it in the recycling container?

DIY: Chocolate Covered Pretzels

 I LOVE the mix of salty with sweet, specifically pretzels and chocolate. 

Chocolate covered pretzels are an easy fix for a salty/sweet craving!  I have one issue with making chocolate covered pretzels, however, and it is that when I try to cover the ENTIRE pretzel, I get chocolate all over the place! (my hands, the counter, the floor, etc.)  I have a new method that still gives me a bit of salt and sweet, while not creating a mess – only covering half the pretzel! 

For this quick and easy DIY - you will need semi-sweet chocolate chips and pretzels.  I use about 1 cup semi sweet chocolate for 40 pretzels – this doesn’t have to be exact.

First, melt your chocolate chips.  I always use my Crofton soup bowl from Aldi to melt my chocolate in the microwave.  The bowl is microwave safe and has a nice handle so I don’t have to touch anything hot!  It also has a wide opening that I can fit my hand in without getting covered in chocolate!

To melt chocolate chips in the microwave, put the bowl with chocolate chips in the microwave for intervals of 30 seconds.  Between each interval stir the chocolate chips, making sure to move the ones on the bottom to the top so nothing burns.  When you don’t have anymore lumps, your chocolate chips are melted!

While the chocolate is melting in the microwave, cover your work space with wax paper for a place to lay your pretzels.  This step makes clean up much easier!

When the chocolate is melted, cover your pretzels by holding one side of the pretzel and dip the other side into the chocolate half way.  Wipe any excess off the back of the pretzel on the side of the container.  Lay the pretzel on the wax paper to set.  Continue until you have used up all of your pretzels or all of your chocolate!  Tada! Easy peasy – you made chocolate covered pretzels and didn’t make a mess! 

If you want, you can add sprinkles to your tasty treat to make them more festive!  While the chocolate is still “soft” sprinkle your choice of sprinkles onto the chocolate for a bit of extra fun!  I made three different “kinds” of pretzels, some with white sprinkles, some with multi-colored sprinkles and some that were just plain chocolate covered pretzels.

Now let your pretzels set until the chocolate is solid! 

You can store these in a plastic container, or make a small gift bag with plastic wrap and some baking twine or ribbon!  These could be such a cute gift!  I store mine in a plastic container in the fridge so the chocolate doesn’t become soft.    

There you go, chocolate covered pretzels, in about 10 minutes and without any mess!  For other quick and easy snacks, try out these chocolate covered Oreos or no-bake cookies!

Leave a comment below of your favorite salty and sweet snack!

Planting Onion Sets in Containers

While perusing my local garden and pet store I found some onion sets and decided that I needed to give them a try!  I haven’t tried to grow onions before so I had to do a little research first.  Since I grow most (all) of my veggies in pots, I had to find out the correct size container for onions.

In order to grow onions in containers, they need enough space to root and grow.  The container should be around 6 inches deep and about 4 inches between onions to give them enough space to grow large enough to make a decent size onion.  I pulled out a few pots and found some rectangle containers that are just a bit under 6 inches deep, as well as long and wide enough to fit about 6 onion sets in one pot. 

During my research, I found that onion sets can be planted once the soil is able to be worked and when the temperature won’t go below 20 degrees F.  The rule of thumb for containers is that they can take temperatures about 10 degrees warmer than the average low end of a temperature.  So my onion sets in containers can take cooler temperatures to about 30 degrees.  If the forecast says the temp will go below that temp, I’ll pull them into the house for an evening. 

Onion sets should be planted about 1 inch below the surface of the soil.  I filled each container with potting mix and then placed my onion sets so I could make sure they had enough room.

To plant onion sets, put the root end down and the pointy end up.  This will let the roots grow down and the greens to grow up through the soil. 

Then cover the onion set with soil and water them in!  Onions need a lot of water, so make sure to keep soil moist, especially if keeping them in containers.  

Below is a picture of my current set-up!  Have you ever planted onion sets?  Do you garden in containers?  Share in the comments!