DIY

Make Compost Tea With This DIY Home Brewer

March 25, 2013 by Stephanie 2 Comments

Please welcome guest blogger for the day and author of the new book, The Mini Farming Guide to Composting: Self-Sufficiency from Your Kitchen to Your Backyard, Brett L. Markham. Brett is the author of the popular Mini Farming books, including Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on ¼ Acre, Maximizing Your Mini Farm, and the handbooks The Mini Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening and The Mini Farming Guide to Fermenting.

Before writing The Mini Farming Guide to Composting, Brett asked his readers which topic he should focus on next, and composting topped their wish list. Using the same straightforward, easy-to-follow instructions and the photos of his own plot that gained the following for his earlier books, he now turns his green thumbs to this important, yet overlooked aspect of growing plants. Today he shares with us instructions on how to make a compost tea brewer at home!

Compost Tea Brewer [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gardening, Projects Tagged With: book, compost, DIY, weekend project

Preserving the Ornamental Garden: How to Dry Flowers, Leaves, Stems, and Pods for Crafting

September 13, 2012 by Guest 4 Comments

Collecting flowers, leaves, stems, and pods from the garden now, will give you a treasure trove of beautiful dried plants to craft with all year long.

Please welcome Guest Blogger, Ann Clements, from the Sunshine Coast of BC, a dancer, naturalist, and avid plant preserver. If you are looking for expert tips in saving the most decorative parts of the garden, there is no one better to share her wisdom. Now over to Ann… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crafts, Flowers, Harvest, Projects Tagged With: crafts, DIY, Flowers, project

Branch Coat Rack Tutorial

February 18, 2012 by Stephanie 60 Comments

This inexpensive and easy weekend project shows you how to create a stylish coat rack with just some branches, paint, and a few tools.

Materials:

Branches with strong sections of wood that are no smaller than ¾” in diameter
Bypass pruners / pruning saw
Cedar plank or other raw, natural wood
Drill / screwdriver
Wood screws
White latex paint

Directions:

1. Using the saw of bypass pruners, cut sections of branches that:

a) have a nice shape to make a hook

b) are thick enough in diameter and strong enough to hold coats, etc when mounted

c) have a straight, flat back to lie against the cedar plank when mounted

2. Lay your branches out on your board to get the pattern and look that you like. If wood is green, then it must dry before you use it. Place in a warm, dry room until the wood turns brown.

3. Sand the edges of the branches lightly so that there are no sharp edges to snag your stuff.

4. Drill pilot holes in the wood with a thin drill bit, this will help the screw go through the wood without splitting. It is a good idea to have a few extras as backup though.

5. Add about ¼ cup water to 1 cup of white latex paint in a lidded container (like a large yogurt container) and stir. Drop each branch into the thinned-out paint, replace lid, and shake until branch is thoroughly coated. Place on a piece of wax paper or parchment to dry. Repeat with a second coat for a thicker paint look, although only one coat was used in this project as I like the wood coming through a bit. Touch up with a brush if necessary.

6. Using thin 1 ¼” screws, carefully drill each branch through the pilot hole onto the back board.

7. Mount the coat rack on the wall.

Thanks for visiting for the weekend project.

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: branch coat rack, DIY, projects, weekend project

Valentine’s Lavender Eye Pillows Printable

February 10, 2012 by Stephanie 4 Comments

Here a cute printable to romance-up some homemade lavender eye pillows (from this tutorial). Just be careful the soothing scent doesn’t put your Valentine to sleep too early!

Valentines Day Eye Pillow Printable Love

Valentines Day Eye Pillow Printable Amore

Filed Under: Projects Tagged With: DIY, handmade holiday gifts, lavender, p, projects

DIY Burlap-Wrapped Holiday Planters and Front Door Décor

December 9, 2011 by Stephanie 16 Comments

Ready for your weekend project? It’s holiday-themed planters this week and a quick tour of our front door, decorated for the season in non-traditional but natural tones of deep green, eucalyptus blue, and golden yellow.

It just didn’t feel like a red and green year for the holiday planters and wreath. Somewhat inspired by the golden berries and seeded eucalyptus stems that were found at the garden centre but also a unique contrast to the Bloodgood Japanese Maple-coloured front door, the pale green of the house, and the rustic tones of burlap which the planters are wrapped in.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Gardening, Projects Tagged With: burlap, DIY, holiday, planter, project, weekend project, wreath

Gardening For Your Front Door: Making Fresh Wreaths

December 3, 2011 by Stephanie 42 Comments

Every year we like to hang a different wreath on our front door during the holidays. We’ve amassed a collection of wreaths to match the holiday season trends of sparkly red berries, Christmas ornaments, peacock feathers, and square-shaped boxwood but my favorites are most certainly natural, fresh wreaths.

A fresh wreath makes for an individual work of art that smells as good as it looks. Florists and garden centers are wonderful places to find one to suit any style but if you are feeling adventurous, a homemade wreath made with garden clippings or purchased greens, can be most gratifying.

Given the current popularity of lateral space gardening, there are supplies available for all sorts of wreath plantings. Evergreen, succulent, moss, and flower wreaths are beautiful micro gardens that will suit most any style or climate. Care will vary depending on what type of planting you decide on, but many will last for months, if not years, with a couple weekly squirts of a spray bottle.

Here’s how to make one:

Materials:

evergreen foliage
grapevine wreath
pruners
gloves
twine
berries, twigs, pinecones, ribbons (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Gather a variety of foliage, berries, twigs, pinecones, ribbons, and anything else you want to add to your wreath. Some of the evergreen cuttings that work very well are: holly, cedar, contoneaster, yew, pine, pieris, boxwood, laurel, camellia, fir, cypress, and magnolia. I like to contrast needles with broad leaves, and vary the color, but a wreath made of entirely one type of foliage can be incredibly dramatic. Also, think about tucking in herbs like rosemary, sage, lavender into the foliage to add another delightful aroma.

Step 2: Using a grapevine wreath as your base, start by choosing a firm branch with stem thick enough that it will not bend easily. Add other cuttings of different foliage on top and gather the bunch in your hand. Snip off any long stems.

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Step 3: Using the twine, wrap around the bunch and the grapevine wreath together a few times until secured. For the first bunch, tie a knot in the twine to hold it in place but do not cut the end of the twine.

Step 4: Gather a second bunch of foliage. Lay this bunch overlapping the twine securing the first bunch to the wreath. Wrap twine around the base of the new bunch a few times and set down. Continue adding foliage to the wreath by overlapping the previous bunch and securing with twine until there are no more gaps to fill.

Step 5: Secure the final bunch by gently lift the foliage from the first bunch and tuck the stems under it. Secure with twine and tie off the final bunch with a few knots.

Step 6: Now take a last look at the wreath. You can tuck in a few more greens to even out the design or add a few embellishments such as pinecones (using florist wire to attach them), berries, ribbons, or even ornaments.

Step 7: hang and enjoy!

The final word on making a perfect wreath: just have fun with it. Experimenting with different foliage will allow the wreath to become tradional or modern, contained or wild, themed or everyday. I loved the look of the magnolia leaves with their velvety bronze undersides. There wasn’t much else this wreath needed to make it perfectly stunning and completely different from my holiday wreath.

A special thanks to the wonderful neighbourhood gals who provided all the foliage, wine, and treats that go along with the annual wreath-making afternoon.

Filed Under: Gardening, Harvest, Photography, Projects Tagged With: DIY, evergreen, holiday, project, weekend project, wreath

Weekend Project: Halloween Planters

October 28, 2011 by Stephanie 5 Comments

For the Halloween weekend project we put together a variety of festive planters and used some DIY rock spiders to dress them up.

We designed our planters with a colour scheme of purple, white, and orange plants along with various spooky additions that are nods to the holiday season. The supply list can vary depending on what you have or can find. Hover your mouse over the photo for a list of what was used in each planter.

Organic materials showcased in the four photos are ornamental kale, Filius Blue hot pepper, heuchera, aster, crocosmia seed heads, Cinderella pumpkin, warty pumpkin, artists gourds, butternut squash, and buttercup squash.

Other items you’ll see are a witch’s broom, rubber hand, Boo sign, rubber bats, and DIY rock spiders. Most of what we added was readily available in any store carrying Halloween décor. When the holiday is over, we plan to take the kitsch out and leave the gorgeous planters for some festive fall colour. We’ll definitely keep the spiders though!

For more Halloween decorating ideas check out our Halloween Hop Wreath and Jack-o-Planterns. Have a wonderful and festive Halloween; may it include some garden therapy.

Filed Under: Gardening, Projects Tagged With: DIY, Garden Therapy, halloween, heuchera, kale, planter, Squash, weekend project

Weekend Project: Halloween Hop Wreath

October 22, 2011 by Stephanie 4 Comments

For this weekend’s project, we took a bunch of golden hops and tucked them into grapevine wreath. With a crow nestled in it has just the perfect balance of “festive” and “ominous” to become Halloween décor.

Without the space to grow hops in our small, urban garden, we were excited to receive a gift of freshly cut hops from the country. the Golden Hop Vine (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’) is a vigorous-growing deciduous vine and the prettier sibling of the common hops used to make beer. The cone-shaped flowers are green in the summer but when it’s time to cut the vine back in the fall, the flowers start to turn. The flowers arrived a pale yellow, but have dried to a rich golden colour. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some hops, here are the instructions on making your own Halloween Hop Wreath.

Materials:

grapevine wreath
golden hop stems
scissors
Halloween decoration (crow or other)

Step 1: Pick out strong stems 3″-6″ long with clusters of hops at the ends. Snip off the leaves and flowers at the base of each stem, enough so that the stem can inserted into the wreath and hold.

Step 2: Starting at the inner bottom edge of the wreath, tuck each stem into the web of grapevine branches, enough so that when the wreath is hung they will not fall out. Insert the stems around the grapevine wreath from inner bottom edge of the form to the upper top edge. As the hop flowers will hang once mounted upright, this will ensure that the wreath will look symmetrical. A good practice is to periodically lift the wreath to its finished position to check the arrangement. Give it a light shake at the same time to remove any flowers that are loose.

Step 3: Use your creativity to decorate the wreath for the season. We used a crow but a spider, rat, or even a severed hand would have been just as compelling.

Step 4: hang your wreath and enjoy the flowers as they deepen in colour and release the most delicious hop aroma.

Filed Under: Flowers, Gardening, Harvest, Projects Tagged With: DIY, halloween, hops, project, weekend project, wreath

Weekend Project: Dried Lavender Wreath

October 15, 2011 by Stephanie 9 Comments

It’s no longer possible to deny that it’s autumn (no matter how hard we try) so perhaps it’s best to start winding down along with the temperatures and light. Hanging some dried lavender around the garden could be just the aromatherapy needed to help de-compress after a long day, or perhaps it will just make you smile. Regardless, it’s a quick weekend project that will leave you calm enough for an afternoon read or a good night’s sleep.

Materials:

wire coat hanger
scissors
twine or wire (in a colour that matches your flowers*)
dried lavender

Instructions:

The best part about this project is that you don’t need any special materials beyond what you can likely find around the house. Start by bending a wire coat hanger into a circular form. The hook of the hanger will be hidden when the wreath is complete, and it makes it easy to hang the wreath when finished.

Gather a bunch of dried lavender and snip the ends with the scissors to get a nice neat edge. Secure the bunch to the form by winding the twine around it a few times and tying a knot. (*We’ve used green gardening wire for demonstration purposes, but a twine or wire colour that matches your dried flowers will have a much cleaner look in the end.)

Leaving the twine on the roll, wind each new bunch to the form as they are added. Continue adding bunches until you complete the circle. Tuck a final bunch under the first bunch, and secure with twine and tie off.

Be sure to work on a table or tarp where you can collect the dried flowers that fall of in the wreath-making process. Those wonderfully scented blooms are great for lavender sachets, cooking, or soap-making. We keep a big jar in the house over winter for a variety of uses.

Filed Under: Flowers, Gardening, Harvest, Projects Tagged With: DIY, lavender, projects, weekend project, wreath

Concrete Garden Planters & Stepping Stones

October 1, 2011 by Stephanie 22 Comments

Not long ago I saw some very cool, modern concrete planters that I added to my DIY To Do List. Not long afterwards the lovely folks over at Timber Press sent me a copy of Concrete Garden Projects: Easy & Inexpensive Containers, Furniture, Water Features & More to review so when I had a crafty friend stop by for a visit + a sunny afternoon, I needed no more hints to dig into some projects.

Modern Concrete Planters

The projects in the book are great starting points for concrete projects that will suit many different garden styles. In addition to modern planters we made some leaf print stepping stones: some in moulds with pressed leaves and one where we used a giant hydrangea leaf as the mould.

The authors, Malin Nilsson and Camilla Arvidsson, layed out each project in six simple steps which were easy to follow, especially easy given each step has a beautiful photograph. The best part was the ease and speed at which you can create concrete projects; we had seven planters and seven stepping stones curing within an hour of arriving home with the materials.

For the planters, we used a variety of different sized plastic tubs that we collected. I filled my three square tubs with concrete and used round tubs and cups for the holes. I then filled the some of the larger hole-spacers with concrete and a small cup so each would produce yet another planter.

I particularly loved how this one square planter turned out when planted with sedum.

The stepping stones were also formed in plastic tubs, but larger, shallower ones. We pressed interesting leaves found around the garden (lady’s mantle, Japanese maple, and hosta) and weighted them with small stones. When un-moulded, they have depressions that will hopefully fill with little pools of water or perhaps moss.

Near the end, we took the left over concrete and piled it in a mound on top of a giant hosta leaf. When nestled into the shade garden it is right at home with the hosta who donated a leaf for the mould.

It was so surprisingly easy to make stepping stones that I’m happy to say that my days of hunting for rocks in rivers and back alleys might just be over (insert grinning husband here). I would certainly recommend the book to anyone looking for a fun and creative way to spend a sunny afternoon in the garden.