How to decorate outdoor with lights. The best tutorial with images from DIYnetwork.
Safe tips and ideas to jazz the lawn up during the holiday season.
Author: Meredith Blair
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DIY Gingerbread Ornaments
It’s almost that time of year again. With Thanksgiving happening in just a few weeks, it’s time to think about what to decorate with for the holiday season. Gingerbread ornaments are an elegant addition to any holiday decor. Use them spruce up a Christmas tree with cinnamon sticks and dry fruit slice, use them for garland or simply place them in baskets with other decor. Learn how to make gingerbread ornaments for this holiday season!
Kid friendly project
Dog friendly footprints
Cookie cutter appropriate
For decorative use only!
How To Make Gingerbread Ornaments – That won’t rot and will last for years
Ingredients for Gingerbread
3 Tablespoons Shortening
1/2 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup water
1 tsp of Baking soda
1/2 Cup Molasses
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
3 1/2 Cups of flour**Use Cookie cutters, peppercorns or small rusty bells and clear acrylic varnish
Directions:
In a medium large bowl, beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy, stir in molasses. Combine dry ingredients and sift then add to shortening mixture alternating with water. Dough should be stiff. Cover dough and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease baking sheets.
Cut dough into 3 piece sections and knead to warm on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out using cookie cutters and place on cookie sheets.
Decorate with peppercorns and rusty bells. Bake for 20 minutes, then shut off oven and let cool inside. Remove ornaments from sheet and place on rack and allow to dry for 3 days. Then preserve with 3 coats of clear varnish. Ornaments are not edible and will last for years.
Image credit: Hilaryscraps Video via istockphoto
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5 Home Improvement Wood Projects
Make any space into something that can be enjoyed for years to come. Refinish wood and make it into beautiful decor and helpful home features.
5 beautiful up-cycled, recycled and reclaimed home improvement projects!
Wood crates reclaimed and stained into a beautiful bedroom feature, see more here
Create a beautiful kitchen table with old wood pieces from home improvement stores.
Turn everyday pallets into a rustic country bench.
Salvage wood flooring and reclaim it into a beautiful home feature.
Reclaimed Wood Ceiling.
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DIY Dry Fruit Slices
Jazz up any favorite space in the house!
Dry fruit slices are pretty common Christmas and holiday decorations. I loved smelling the warm aromas of dried apples and oranges hanging from trees when I was young. It wasn’t until I was off in college that I learned to do it myself. Here is a low cost alternative to buying store bought dried fruit.
Cranberries * Blueberries * Pineapple
Apples * Oranges * Grapefruit * Pears
Peaches * Cherries * And moreString a needle with thread through dry fruit to hang. Place in baskets and boxes with decorative earthy items such as pin cones, cinnamon sticks and fresh pine branches. Pair with other dry fruit and make a beautiful display basket for counter tops and bathrooms. Spruce up branches by sticking dry berries on the end. Decorate Christmas trees by placing dried slices in branches.
Sort fresh fruit and select only the pieces that are perfectly ripe. Use fruit with good, bright colors and is without any bruises/rotting discoloration. Slice the apples and oranges into 1/4 inch slices crosswise and dip them into a solution of half lemon juice and half water. This step will keep the fruit from turning brown and will also show off the pretty seed core.
Next, blanch the fresh fruit in a pot with water on the stove top. Make sure the water is boiling then lower the fruit into the pot and blanch for five minutes. Have an ice bath near by. After 5 minutes, remove the fruit and place directly into the ice bath to lock the fruit’s colors in.
Dry the fruit with paper towels. The fruit can then be dried one of two ways: in the oven or in the sunlight. Put a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread the fruit on the sheet evenly, so the pieces don’t overlap or stick to each other.
Place fruit in the oven and bake it at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-5 hours. If you have chosen to dry the fruit in the sunlight, leave it in the sun for 2-4 days until the fruit has completely dried. Also, bring the fruit inside at night if you choose to use this method.
image credit French Larkspur
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DIY Replace Broken iphone Screen
Money Saver Alert!
We have all been there. The new phone you just bought broke, well the screen at least. Cell phone providers do not cover the inevitable broken cell phone screen. And if you have insurance on the phone it can still cost a bit. Follow this easy tutorial to fix an iphone screen in no time. All you need are a few tools and a few bucks for the low cost of the screen. Save a fortune fixing the phone in this DIY tutorial.
A Little Bit Funky’s DIY tutorial: Fix a broken iphone screen
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15 Wood Flooring Ideas
Get Inspired!
A selection of wood choices made to help achieve any design vision.
15 wide plank flooring ideas for your next project
Wide Plank Walnut Watermill Surface Distress with dark finish
Brown Maple Pine Wide Plank Flooring
Wide Plank Brown Maple flooring with light finish
Eastern White Pine Wide Plank Flooring
Wide Plank Birch with a light finish
Wide Plank Walnut with dark-medium finish
Wide Plank Walnut with light finish
Walnut Wide Plank Flooring with medium dark finish
Reclaimed Oak Flooring with medium finish
Wide Plank Long Leaf Heart Pine with light finish
Wide Plank Hickory customized surface with medium dark finish
White Oak brushed distressed with light, custom finish
Wide Plank Ash Flooring with light finish
Quartersawn Red Oak with dark finish
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Swanky Top 15 Christmas Designs
Here is Swanky Top 15 Christmas Design Ideas for 2020 ! With Christmas right around the corner, now is a good time to start getting ideas for holiday season. Usually, the day after Thanksgiving my family gets all the boxes out from the attic. I spend black Friday shopping for some of the best deals.
