Sunday, November 27, 2016

How To Make A Lighted Grapevine Orb



Yesterday, I gathered all my supplies to make a lighted grapevine orb and didn't come out of my office until it was finished. It's a really simple project that takes about 45 minutes to make, maybe less if you're a great crafter. I can't take credit for such a creative idea, though. I saw this over at All Things Heart and Home.
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My supplies:

A 10" grapevine orb
1 String of mini lights (50 lights)
8" terra cotta pot
Reindeer Moss
Craft Paint
Spanish Moss (I used green)
Hot glue gun/glue stick
A paper bowl or 6" terra cotta saucer
Felt pads with adhesive
Ribbon (I ended up not using it)


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You can buy an orb with lights already inside. If not, place the lights inside the orb and set aside.

Next, paint your pot. I used a matte white acrylic, with a little cream added in. I may sand it a little to let more of the terra cotta show through later on.


Since the cord on my lights was short, I had to use an extension cord inside the pot. Robin over at All Things Heart and Home made the hole in the bottom of the pot larger. You can see how she did it HERE
I added some felt pads to the bottom so that the pot would sit flat with the cord coming out.
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I hot glued the moss to the top of the pot.
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I used a large paper bowl, cut a hole in it large enough to put the end of cord through and set the bowl at near the top of the pot. The pot is tapered and keeps the bowl from falling further down into the pot. I may change this out to a terra cotta saucer.
I needed either the saucer or a bowl to keep the moss from falling onto the cord at the bottom.
Put the end of the cord through the bowl and through the bottom of the pot.
Holding the grapevine orb with one hand, cover the top op the paper bowl with moss, then set the orb on top of it.
The orb just sits on top.


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You can add a festive bow, some mini pinecones to make it more Christmasy. 
I set mine out in the screened porch on the Cat House/End Table that Mr. DIY made for our cat Buddy.
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There you have it! 
Hope you have as much fun making a Lighted Grapevine Orb as I did.



Pam



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This blog shares how we do projects. We don't take any responsibility for any errors or results obtained from using this information. 

Saturday, November 19, 2016

A FABULOUS Before and After

I am constantly looking for houses on Realtor.com. I know that we just moved and aren't going to move anytime soon, but I enjoy seeing what's out there and what the market is doing.


This past week, I came across a really fabulous house in a neighborhood that we had looked at.
I found the new pics on Realtor.com and Allentate.com, but Zillow had the photos for when it sold back in 2014 and I was AMAZED and thought you'd enjoy this.

The owners of this house probably spent $100,000 on this reno as it is awesome...

Here's the front elevation before...

After, with new stone facade, vinyl siding, new roof and new landscaping...


Great room before...

And after...


 The kitchen before...
 And after...


The Sunroom before...

And after...



The dining room before...
 And after...


The Master Bedroom before...
 And after...


The master bath before...
 And after...



One of the bedrooms before...
  And the after... This bedroom is GORGEOUS! I love this paint color....



As if the inside isn't beautiful enough, the owners did extensive renovations on the backyard.
Here's the before...

 And the after...

An up close look at the covered patio.        

                                                                                               


Wouldn't you love to have a party on this patio?

I'm sure this house was under contract the first day and went for at least full price. The house was purchased 2 years ago in 2014 for $266,500 and was listed for $339,000 I'm sure the owners put at least $100,000 into this beautiful reno.


You can see more of the before HERE on Zillow.
You can see more after photos of this fabulous house on Allentate.com while it's still available.
You can see it here on Realtor.com, as well.

I hope you enjoyed this fabulous house tour!

Pam

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Fall At The Mountain Cottage 2016

Mr. DIY and I went up to the mountain cottage last weekend to work on the kitchen reno. We've been so busy getting our house organized and working on projects that we haven't had any time to work on it. I hadn't been up there since we spent 2 weeks living there between closings back in July. I was afraid I had missed Fall. 

We drove there by way of Boone since Mr. DIY had an appointment there and almost all the Fall colors were gone. I knew we'd have some left since Boone is at a much higher elevation and I was relieved when we arrived to this beautiful view!





Nights have turned a little nippy here in the North Carolina mountains, which makes for really good sleeping weather. I added another blanket and the big puffy comforter  to the attic bedroom, which made for a cozy bed.


This room has come a long way since we first moved in. You can see the whole room HERE.

Remember, we stole some floor space to build a Closet.

The Storage Shelves/built in bookcase in the Attic Bedroom is still more than sufficient.



Nothing much has changed in the attic bedroom or the World's Smallest Halfbath... 


Before we moved from our last house, we brought up my grandmother's chair for the attic bedroom since we needed a chair in the room and didn't have space it at the new house. I still want to paint the wood and have it reupholstered.


No renovations have been done in the living room and we're using the Pottery Barn wicker outdoor seating as a sofa with a twin matelasse cover thrown over it. 

We have a vintage buffet we found a couple of years ago, which a tv will eventually be set above. Our daughter didn't have room for the shuttered mirror in her new room, so I brought it up to the mountain cottage.  The lamps were previously in our basement.

We're still loving the Vintage Style Pantry in the kitchen. Building this first saved us a lot of grief during the kitchen reno while we were without cabinets.


By the time we go back to the mountain cottage, all this beautiful Fall color will be gone.

I'm not ready to show you the kitchen just yet, but I will leave you with a little peek of what we've been working on... 

I'm sure we won't finish the kitchen before Winter arrives because we still have several projects to do. At least the kitchen is functional and I am grateful for that!

Hope you are enjoying Fall at your house and I'm so glad you stopped by for our Fall Mountain Cottage Update. 

Pam

Saturday, November 5, 2016

How To Make A Cat House/Side Table

Our cat Buddy has been enjoying the cat house Mr. DIY made for him a couple of weeks ago. He took to it right away and spends a lot of time in it snoozing the day away. The side table really is nice to have on the days I spend outside on the porch. The days have been so beautiful lately that I've been out there a lot and it's so wonderful to have a table to set my drink or snacks on.
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The cat house took Mr. DIY a whole day to build. The painting and staining took several days more.
First, the sides, front, back and bottom were cut out of 3/4" B/C plywood.
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With the help of a Kreg Jig,  pocket holes were drilled to connect them all together with screws.  
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Wood glue was applied to all joints.
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The entrance doorway was cut with a saber saw before all the sides were put together...
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Cleats were screwed around the sides for the shelf to rest on, but to also allow it to be removed for easy cleaning.
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The legs were made with 1x3's -one side is cut one down so each leg would be symetrical, then nailed together.
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The legs were attached with glue and 4 screws; 2 on each side.
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The top was made from 2x3's attached together with a Kreg Jig, then sanded smooth. Simple hinges on the back allow access to the inside for storage and cleaning.
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Cleats on the bottom side of the top were attached for rigidity and so it wouldn't warp.
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The top was stainedwith Olympics Mountain Cedar and the bottom painted with Valspar "Blackstrap".
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Buddy loves his new house! It's going to keep him warm on those chilly days coming up when he wants to be outside.


Hope you have a great weekend!

Pam
Dimensions are : Total: 19 1/4" wide, 24" deep and 21" high The box is 18" wide, 21" deep, 20 1/2" high The top is 19 1/4" wide, 22" deep and 1/2" high

*this is how we made our cat house/side table. . We don't take any responsibility for any errors or results obtained from you using this information. Using power tools can result in injury: be sure to wear safety equipment when using them.