I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
This past fall we had a detached garage built on our property. Being what construction costs are these days we went with basic vinyl windows with no window panes since it was cheaper. We thought “Meh, it’s just a garage - it doesn’t have to match our house perfectly.” But after the garage was done we realized it really was missing something with the basic plain windows, and adding panes was just what it needed. | This post contains affiliate links |
I considered a bunch of different ways to make the panes, including using thin scraps of wood painted and set within the window frame on the inside - but all of that was pretty labor-intensive. In the end I realized using thin strips of vinyl or tape would probably be the easiest - and so that’s what I did!
Using white electrical tape ended up being the perfect solution in our situation - it was to be used in a little-used area, it was the right width, and it was the right color.
Materials:
white electrical tape (though if your window sashes are black or a different color you can buy different colored tape to match)
scissors
tape measure
How-To:
To apply, I first washed and dried the windows well. Then I measured out how to divide the window in an aesthetically pleasing way. For the small windows I did 4 panes across and 3 panes down, and for the big window (not pictured) I ended up doing 4 panes across and 4 panes down.
I measured out my spacing and then made small marks with a pencil on the edge of the window where I was going to place my tape lines, then carefully pulled the tape across the window (I applied the tape on the inside of the window). I did the shorter, horizontal runs of tape first because I found them to be easier and help keep the longer, vertical runs straighter since it was easier to line them up straight with those horizontal reference points.
When pulling your tape lines make sure to go slow and pull the tape out straight. Electrical tape is rather stretchy and it’s easy to distort the lines and make them wonky. Taking your time is key and don’t be discouraged if you have to redo some of the lines! I had to redo a bunch of mine, especially at the beginning while I was getting the hang of it.
TA-DA! In just a short amount of time you now have easy and cheap windowpanes, and the best part was no tools were needed. The style windowpane I tried to mimic was “colonial” in order to match our house, but if you wanted to get fancy you could try laying out your lines in a different style (diamond, prairie, etc).
DISCLAIMER: Please note that the electrical tape I used for this project does have a Prop 65 warning on the package. You may want to do your own research regarding this. We used it since it was a non-living area in a detached garage. I also made sure to wash my hands well after handling it. Use at own risk.
Just wanted to post a quick update that we have some new Vintage Items listed in our Etsy Shop. We also have some great all NEW products and designs coming soon to our shop as well - stay tuned! :)
If you’ve been following my Etsy Shop for awhile, you may have noticed I increased the pricing for most of my Handmade Ornaments this season compared to 2019 (I kept my Etsy Shop closed for most of 2020 due to the pandemic, and just focused on wholesale orders that year). In order to be transparent, I have increased my prices approximately 30% across the board for my handmade ornaments for 3 main reasons:
Getting paid for my time. These ornaments are simple and rustic but they do take a lot of time and effort… sourcing the wood from family and friends, cutting and slow drying the rounds so they don’t crack, creating the design and wood burning it by hand, drilling and stringing them, stamping and packaging them, etc - once I get the long logs in our garage I do the rest of the work solo. Last year I realized I was getting too stressed out about the amount of work and didn’t feel as though I was getting paid for the time I put in.
Postage costs. Postage costs have gone up considerably and no one likes to pay for it. In my Etsy shop I generally under-charge for shipping in order to not put off buyers, and orders over $35 always ship for free. Because of this I loose quite a bit of money on shipping costs on most orders and therefore need to charge a bit more for the items to make up for it.
Etsy fees. Etsy is wonderful for exposure and traffic which is why I’m still with them, but all their fees and listing charges add up fast and I need to account for those when pricing my items.
I just wanted to thank you all for the support and purchases you’ve made. I know these price increases aren’t easy and I likely won’t sell as many ornaments this year but I know it was needed in the long run in order to keep my Etsy shop profitable. I hope you can catch one of the sales we’re planning over the holiday season - the next one being a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale that will run for several days straight. Keep an eye on Instagram and Facebook for more updates when that sale happens!
I’ve been wanting a potting bench for a while now - something by the back door to display some decor, use as an outdoor work station, and double as a place for UPS to leave packages. After looking around online and at local stores, I couldn’t find anything that I liked that fit the narrow space - so I did what any #woodworkingmom would do, I decided to build it myself. | This post is not sponsored but does contain affiliate links |
{ Note: The plans I worked from were from Ana White and can be found HERE }
I came across these Ana White plans for a Simple Potting Bench on Pinterest and thought it was perfect! It was exactly the simple, rugged style I was looking for and easy to tailor to our space too. Most of the wood needed were 2x4’s, which are sturdy and cheap - and thankfully between our garage and my father-in-law’s garage we had all the wood scraps I needed to piece together this project. Since I used leftover wood we already had, this project cost me nothing which was pretty amazing!
Since I only used what wood we had on hand, I had to make do - some of the wood was pressure-treated, some was not, some had knot holes or gashes, and not all of it was “true” (straight). But that was fine by me as this was to be a rustic piece for outside.
Before I started building, I followed Ana White’s “cut list,” cutting and making piles of all the wood in the dimensions I would need to build the project. I carefully chose the lumber for each section to minimize how the knot holes, gashes, or crooked pieces would be seen in the final piece. For our potting bench I made it 4 inches narrower so it would fit against the small wall next to our back door and because of this I had to adjust my cut list and refigure some of the overall dimensions.
The next step was constructing the shelves individually - attaching the outer planks first, checking for square, then spacing out the middle planks and attaching them. To build this whole project I used an Impact Driver, which made the entire project go much quicker and easier.
To attach the legs, I laid the project on it’s side and carefully measured the distances between the legs as well as up the legs before attaching the shelves to makes sure everything would be as level and as square as possible.
Finally to make the project look more “finished” I added some wood scraps to the sides of the project to conceal the butt ends of the shelves and make it look a little more polished.
I also decided to add some 1x3”s to the front of the shelves to make it look a little more polished from the front as well. (I did not counter-sink these screws, but I should have as they were more noticeable than I was expecting in the finished piece.)
Then came time for painting - I chose to paint the whole potting bench in several coats of my favorite Valspar Stainblocking Bonding Primer/Sealer. This stuff has great coverage and really covers and seals well. My one regret was not giving all the wood pieces a single coat of paint before assembling - as once everything was assembled it was a huge pain to get in all the nooks and crannies.
Finally I finished the project by adding a few little hooks underneath the shelf (very similar hooks linked here), from which I can hang tools or decor. I’m really happy with how this came out and how quickly it came together. I can’t wait to decorate it with some plants come next spring!
PS - I’m thinking this potting bench would also be great for parties and BBQ’s! It would be perfect on a patio or deck as a makeshift buffet table.
UPDATE: Spring, 2020
Just wanted to give a quick update after I made the potting bench last Fall: Over winter we decided to store it in our shed, just so we wouldn’t have to snow blow and shovel around it all winter, but as soon as the threat of snow passed in early Spring we brought it right back out. It’s been wonderful to have for planting and working on outside this spring, and due to the current Pandemic situation we’re getting more packages than ever so it’s great to have a designated spot for deliveries (and right in view of our security camera too).
For decor right now I'm keeping it very simple, especially since the potting bench is utilized daily for mail - there's just a garden rock, a metal barn star (hung from a special hook that doesn't damage vinyl siding), and a small potted lavender plant with an American flag - all items we already had around our house.
Summer, 2020 - sharing another little decor update for the potting bench:
I found this weathered piece of wood in our scrap bin and thought it would make a cute sign for the potting bench. I used my Cricut Machine to design and cut a stencil that said "Fresh Cut Flowers 5¢" and used it to paint the sign. I think it looks cute and it's a great finishing touch!
Okay, so I don’t know if “makeover” is the right word here because it’s not a huge change but it certainly helps! So in our area, most homes have septic tanks/leach fields with terribly ugly white or sea foam green PVC vent pipes that stick out like a sore thumb in their lawn. They can be tricky to hide because you don’t want to plant or build anything too heavy or substantial around them and risk damaging the leach field underground or diminish their venting capabilities… so we were limited on options on how to “make it over.”
In any case, I decided to pick up some outdoor rated matte black spray paint from our local hardware store and give our vent pipe a quick coat of black paint and it’s made a huge difference! The black definitely makes the pipe look more industrial and blends in with the grass and trees better than a bright white pipe. Like I said before, it’s certainly not a huge change but it’s a small one that’s made a big difference in my opinion.
AFTER: I forgot to take a “Before” photo but this is the After! The black definitely helps the pipe blend in with the trees and background much better than a white pipe.
Our home came with a classic late 90’s “builder’s grade kitchen” - you know the type: honey-colored basic cabinets with no hardware and laminate counters. Someday we’d love to totally overhaul the space and paint the cupboards, trim them out, and install granite countertops - however all those things involve a lot of work and money and just aren’t in the budget right now. In the meantime we’re working on making small upgrades ourselves that will make the space look more finished. And what’s the easiest, budget-friendly way to update the look of your cabinets? Replace or install new hardware! If you’re installing new hardware on blank cabinets it can be a bit intimidating, so read on for my tips on installing for the first time. And don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY over on Instagram for a $50 Credit to Cosmas Hardware! | This post is sponsored by Cosmas Hardware and affiliate links |
If you’re installing new hardware on a blank cabinet door, the first step is deciding hardware placement. I’m a very visual person so to help me decide on where things would go I first traced the hardware on a piece of black construction paper, cut it out, and taped them to the door and drawer fronts. This way I could step back and play around with the placement before I finalized it.
For our cabinets, we decided we liked the knobs two inches from the edge of the cabinet (not including the beveled edge). Once we decided on this placement, it was just a matter of measuring it out on all the cabinet doors so they were centered side-to-side on the trim piece as well as two inches in. Consistency is key to having uniform placement - and I made sure to measure multiple times in both directions before marking it with a pen
It’s important to measure the knobs on each door independently - if the doors aren’t hung evenly, it may look off initially but the hinges can be adjusted later so everything (the doors themselves as well as the hardware) will line up visually.
When it comes time to drill the holes, it’s important to make a small pilot (starter) hole before you drill the full size hole. There’s several reasons for this, but the two most important ones being that larger drill bits tend to “walk” when you drill on a smooth surface, and without drilling a pilot hole first you might end up off your mark. The other important reason is that pre-drilling the hole smaller first will help lessen the chance of the wood splitting. Be aware of what’s behind the cabinet front when you drill! Make sure you aren’t drilling into the cabinet frame or dishes that may be in the cabinet behind the door. For the larger hole you’ll want the drill bit diameter to be just barely bigger than the diameter of the screws that come with the hardware.
Once the larger hole is drilled, slide the screw in from the back and use a screwdriver to hold it in place while you thread the knob on snuggly.
Deciding on drawer pull placement. (Note that while the lower cabinet knobs are each in the correct place, they look off since the cabinet doors are uneven - this can be fixed by adjusting the cabinet door hinges, which I did once I was finished installing all the hardware.)
For the drawer pulls I followed a similar procedure as I did for the door fronts. One thing I had to keep in mind though is the drawer pulls I chose aren’t symmetrical top-to-bottom - the mounting screws are towards the bottom of of the pulls. Therefore, playing around with the placement of the drawer pulls was very important - the drawer pulls needed to look centered visually from top to bottom on the drawer fronts, even though that made for the screw placement to be slightly below center.
Once I liked the visual placement of the paper templates I carefully measured out the spacing on each side as well as down from the screw holes to make sure everything was accurate and even. These particular drawer pulls have screws 3” apart so I made sure that the spacing between the screw markings was accurate as well. (Once you get an idea of placement, you could also use a Cabinet Hardware Template here to help mark everything out.) In our kitchen the drawers are three different sizes, so this process needed to be repeated several times - on the shorter drawers I used one pull, and on the longer drawer I used two pulls.
After the hole placements were marked, I remeasured the spacings several times before drilling the pilot holes and then the screw holes. Then it’s simply a matter of screwing the screws in from the backside of the drawers with a screwdriver into the drawer pulls.
AFTER
And that’s it - the whole project took less than an afternoon to do and it really helps our kitchen look more finished. I just love how it came out! Once we replace our countertops with a more modern granite counter the space will really look sharp and the hardware will compliment it beautifully.
GIVEAWAY!
Head on over to our Instagram for details and to enter our Giveaway with Cosmas Hardware for a $50 shop credit so you can update the look of your kitchen too with the hardware of your choice!
- I received these items from Cosmas Hardware but all opinions expressed are my own. Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information -
Disclaimer: Installing new cabinet hardware from scratch is something that most people can very easily do on their own and here I’ve shared my tips on the easiest way I’ve personally found to measure and install them. However, use your best judgement when installing your hardware - if you’re in doubt of your measuring or drilling skills, there’s no harm in consulting a professional before you tackle this or any project.
It's been awhile since I introduced myself so I thought I'd say Hi to all the new followers! I'm Sarah - a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England along with our black lab and six chickens.
I have an Etsy shop known for our hand-etched snowflake ornaments (they had a little feature in Martha Stewart last year), and I love showcasing local products on my blog and Instagram. My Etsy shop currently is on "semi-vacation" this month while I catch up on some house projects and prepare some totally new items for the shop. There are a few listings still available right now and custom inquiries are always welcome. Keep your eye out for some great new products in February and thank you for all the support!
Thank you all so much for following along, please stay tuned for lots of great things in store for the Etsy shop and blog this year.
