When you’re home & garden DIY’ers that repurpose and upcycle as much as we do – whether it’s a reno or craft project – it only makes sense that we would endeavour to do the same when it comes to our tools! A DIY quilling tool is an easy upcycle that’s within reach! Continue reading
Category Archives: Home Decor and Crafts
2018 Round Up: Lessons Learned on BoF
I’ve been spending some long overdue quality time with Hubs this holiday season, so this post comes a day late for our 2018 round up. Looking back on our projects of 2018 has made me realize how much I’ve turned into my mother’s daughter. It’s a strange thing to think all your life that you’re nothing like your mother then suddenly come to the realization that you have more in common than you ever thought. Continue reading
Paper Holiday Ornament: Fun with Folding
If you’re looking for a last minute, but fun and easy, ornament to do with the kids, look no further than this paper holiday ornament from Instructables. I used their blank template and our Birdz of a Feather logo to create this polyhedral paper craft ornament. You need nothing more than a printer, some paper, a piece of string or ribbon and craft glue to make your own.
Dog Gift Basket – Toy Organizer
With Christmas fast approaching, this dog gift basket is perfect for gift giving! When the goodies are gone, use it as dog toy organizer. It’s a cool project for the furry friends in your life and their human counterparts!
Vintage Ink Stamp Holder Upcycle
If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that one last bloom from the garden as Fall sets in, grab an ink stamp holder the next time you’re out hunting for those vintage treasures. I can promise this will be the fastest, easiest and cutest 5 minute project you’ll ever do! Continue reading
Guitar Planter: Playing a New Tune
This is a project that was 7 years in the making because I couldn’t bring myself to destroy a perfectly good guitar! However, when Hubs came across an abandoned guitar that was beyond saving as an instrument, it was game on! In the meantime, we kept busy with these 10 outside the box planter ideas. Continue reading
Window Dressing Dilemma – An Easy Fix
Have you ever had a window dressing dilemma? We’ve had several – and all with the same window! This is how the window coverings looked in the bay window at the back of the house when I first moved in; tattered and worn. The house needed so much work that window dressings fell to the bottom of the priority list. Continue reading
Retro Bathroom Scale Makeovers – Step It Up!
Hubs had a thing for vintage metal pieces even before he met me, so when he came across a vintage display holder for a retro bathroom scale he stepped right up and bought it. I’m a Star Trek fan, so I instantly loved the ‘Borg’ reference! Once we wed and started frequenting antique markets together, we kept coming across scales. It wasn’t long before he found a Borg scale to accessorize it at our favourite antique market in Aberfoyle! Continue reading
Vintage Light Fixture – Enamel Light Rehab
A vintage light fixture can add a unique touch to a space. When hubs built my craft studio in the basement, the main source of lighting was pot lights but I also wanted pendant lighting over my sewing machines for additional task lighting. We chose a pair of Ranarp pendants* from Ikea. Continue reading
Repurpose Your Bathroom Fixtures: Garden Mirror
Why would you repurpose your bathroom fixtures in the garden? Because you can! When we left off in our last post, we had a blank section of fencing at the entry to our backyard that needed a little somethin’ somethin’. Continue reading
Faux Barn Board Phone Booth Shelf
Try saying the title 3 times fast; it’s a tongue twister! Reclaimed wood in our area costs a fortune so we worked hard to develop a DIY technique for faux barn board that was just as beautiful but a fraction of the price. Continue reading
Phone Booth Upcycle – DIY Planter Shelves
Thee Phone Booth Planter is finally here! You’ve seen the teaser: now we’re excited to share with you one of our most interesting projects to date! We’ve got two ideas in store; we’ll show you one today and the other one next week! Continue reading
Milk Paint DIY – Partners in Grime Planter
This milk paint DIY, my ‘partners in grime‘ planter, is a celebration of 16 years of DIY.
I feel like we’ve come a long way since Hubs first raised his eyebrows when he helped me replace all the ‘perfectly good’ door knobs in my house soon after we met. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks! It wasn’t until he agreed to help me install a little pond beside the front walkway that I realized Hubs really was a DIY wannabe.
Little did he know what I had in store for him after we wed! Although we’ve only been documenting our DIY pursuits on Birdz of a Feather for a few short years, since tying the knot Hubs has become my one and only ‘partner in grime’. We really do enjoy DIY’ing together. Continue reading
How to Get Milk Paint to Stick to Anything!
I always avoid indoor paint projects because of the fumes. Even with low VOC paint, I don’t want to pollute what precious indoor air quality I have in my basement craft studio – especially in the winter months when I can’t even crack a window open. Did you know that there are no VOCs in milk paint? Because it’s truly non-toxic, I get to keep every brain cell so I can keep dreaming up new projects! Continue reading
Foghorn Leghorn Clock – Ikea Besta Hack
And now for something completely different! When we didn’t have enough wall space for a clock in the Mancave, it didn’t stop us. We built a Foghorn Leghorn clock right into the door of our IKEA Besta TV stand! Continue reading
Succulent Display from Thrift Store Finds
I’m on a succulent craze and I just can’t get enough of them! Every time we visit a nursery, the first thing I look for are the succulents. That’s because I don’t need much of a green thumb to keep them alive; they don’t need to be watered as frequently as other indoor plants. Continue reading
Computer Hard Drive Clock
Ever wonder what to do with old hard drives? Then this is the tutorial for you! I got the idea for this computer hard drive clock from my niece. She used to make and sell these clocks for spare pocket change. Since her father (my brother) owns a computer repair shop, there are always dead hard drives around ripe for the picking.
My wife’s first computer was a PC with a whopping 40 MB hard drive (I’m a Mac guy myself). I have to laugh at that now because these days storage devices can hold many thousands of times more memory – and we can easily fill a 3GB hard drive in just over a year with all our blog photos!
We took her old computer apart for this a one-of-a-kind computer hard drive clock. Continue reading
Tin Can Crafts – Tuna Can Swing Out Storage Tower
Our tin can crafts project is so unique; the swing out feature allows you to store a multitude of items like jewelry, office supplies and you can even turn it into a drink station. The possibilities are endless! Continue reading