One of my most popular posts is my tutorial on making your own tumbled sea glass using a rock tumbler. I love seeing the projects people are creating using the glass produced with the described in the tutorial. From vase filler to aquarium decoration and all kinds of beach-inspired crafts, it’s fun to follow…
Whether you’re in the investigation/planning stage of installing a doggie door or if you’ve already installed one and discovered the freedom a doggie door gives owners and pets, this article is for you! I love pet doors. The confidence that pups get from having their own freedom to go outside when needed is…
One of the most frequently asked questions I am asked about my above ground pond is how it is cleaned out. This is often framed as negative feedback- which kind of confuses me because, having had both styles of garden pond, my above ground pond is much easier to clean than the in-ground…
Did you know that wool makes an exceptional diffuser for essential oils? Wool felt is a highly porous natural fiber, allowing air to pass through rather than around it. Because of this, wool felt can be used as an eco-friendly portable diffuser for your favorite scents. You may have seen diffuser necklaces that use felt…
The Internet is filled with tutorials for fixing scratches on leather chairs and sofas- I know because I read at least a half-dozen of them when I adopted my leather Broyhill armchair from Craigslist. In excellent condition other than surface scratches, this find from the free section of Craigslist was well worth the short drive…
Classy floor lamps are expensive –like, very expensive. As I priced sturdy lamps for my new North Seattle apartment, I couldn’t find a single sturdy tripod-style adjustable lamp for under $250. Target and World Market had non-adjustable options in the $80-$120 range, but I’d been tricked into buying cute-but-fragile lamps there before and always ended…
This post updated: One of my most-read posts – and the post that really got me taking my blog more seriously- is my tutorial on how to convert a light fixture to a plug-in style lamp, but for some of the applications where a portable-chandelier lamp comes in handy, it can be easier and safer…
It would be fair to say that my timing for this project was less than ideal. Although I picked up these BED|STU boots up a few weeks ago at my favorite thrift store, I didn’t actually get around to re-dying them until Seattle was smack dab in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. I…
Living in Seattle on a grad school budget means having to sometimes settle for a lifestyle very different from the one I lived in Missouri only a few years ago. With Seattle’s booming tech industry, housing on a grad school budget usually implies lots of roommates or ultra-tiny studios (some of my fellow students even…
Nesting boxes are a recent addition to my vintage 1920’s era chicken coop. Tired of retrieving eggs from plastic-totes-turned-nesting-boxes (that had a tendency to migrate across the floor of the coop!), I mounted permanent nesting boxes that could be accessed without climbing into the coop. Along the way, I used a few cheats to make installation and…
Today, I want to show you how to line a drawer with felt. This project can be a bit intimidating but it’s actually so easy to create a luxuriously lined drawers to upgrade your closet or furniture project! I’ll be demonstrating this method with a medium sized drawer that I picked up second-hand just for…
Last winter in Seattle was colder and wetter than most, and with my social media feeds filling with the comfort-loving aesthetic of Hygge, I decided I needed more cozy throws in my life. Unsatisfied with cheap throws and fleece blankets, I wanted a very substantial blankie- and I found it in an unlikely place. …
Before downsizing, I purchased a light box for my art studio. It was handy and worked great for finessing my art, but it was also expensive, bulky and difficult to use due to the electrical cord. I sold my light box in an estate sale when I moved to Seattle, but as I do more…
Whether you are creating fine art or a first-time concrete user making DIY planters for your houseplants, metallic gold can be a dramatic way to add visual interest to your project. Layers of metallic gold within a cement art object can create an effect that reminds me of geology, shaping the illusion that the pigment…
In 2017 I was commissioned to create 5 sculptures riffing off of the themes in Henri Matisse’s painting “La Danse.” The interpretation I envisioned represented moving water sculpted via resin- but there was no technique at the time for getting resin to cure in a “splash,” and the months that ensued between being commissioned…
Recently while browsing (of all places!) Anthropologie’s website I came across a product I thought was pretty genius but dramatically overpriced: A small and adorably labeled tin that contained pre-waxed waxing strips that, when warmed slightly, can be used for waxing your upper lip when you are away from home or salon. It’s…
Last Updated: I’ve always been enamored by sea glass. When I was eleven, growing up in Kansas, I vividly remember opening an envelope from a pen pal on the coast that contained the beautiful soft frosted glass pearls she said were known as “mermaid tears” in her family. As I’ve become, in my professional life,…
