Sometimes it can be difficult to paint details on your nails, especially on your dominant hand. When you make your own decals you can have intricate nails in the style you want. For this design I started by putting down two coats of base coat and two coats of color. You do not have to use color as a base. If you only use clear coat it is see through and you can trace a design, choose a base color later, and even see better for placement. I like to use color so I can see better for painting the design. I could also use a nail outline underneath for placement. You do want to use several coats to build up a nice base though. You can paint on parchment or a plastic bag. I like to use a packet with a card for a stable surface. I used acrylic for the design and a top coat to seal it. You need to let it cure for six hours but no longer than a few days to a week or it becomes brittle. If you have made these in advance are concerned you can refresh with a top coat the day before using.



I like to use a straight pin to slide under and release them from the plastic. I get less breakage than using my nails or tweezers to peal them up. Paint a base coat and color on your nail and let it dry. It can be slightly tacky, this helps it adhere, but if it is completely dry it will work like the window clings and become permanent with time. I have one stuck to my table that I left sit too long. Smooth it onto the nail. You can use a top coat to help it adhere before the next step.




Dip a cotton swab into nail polish remover to clean away excess.





You can do all your nails or just one or more accent nails. I still need to to do more clean up around my nails, but you can see I went with a brown polish with an accent nail. I dropped the other decal in my mail clutter so I only did one accent.

I decided to try my hand at nail stamps. I used Mickey and Minnie this time as it matched two of my scrub tops, it is cute for Valentines Day or just any day. I started with a pearly white on my thumbs and stamped in black for a nice contrast to show off the stamp. I then filled in the red with a dotting tool. I also added red sequin hearts for more color. The rest of the nails I painted red and added an xoxo in black to my ring finger and added a white heart. One of my scrub tops has xoxo on it as well.

I did smudge the base coat on my right thumb. The top coat had streaked the stamped image and I had to start over and rushed it.

Flocked nails seems to be popular online, but I have not seen it here yet. So, I decided to share my new years version. I started with a base coat of matching polish on all my nails. I actually did a couple coats. For the flocked nails I brushed on one more coat of polish and dumped flocking powder (from the scrapbook dept). I used a soft brush to brush off excess. I had a matching glitter polish that matched so I alternated for fun this time.


I made up a kit with three different matching powders and polish as a gift for my nieces this year.

For this challenge I used leftover craft materials from four different generations of crafters. I started with a small med vial I had saved to make small terrariums. I had used a couple in swaps. I used leftover fimo from another swap. My daughter and I had made Harry Potter figure charms. I used the fimo to make a stopper for the bottle. I then used thin acrylic yarn/thread leftover from when my mom made needle punch embroidery. I used the needle punch yarn to crochet a cover and make string to wear it. To finish it off I took an extra shell from a craft my grandmother made. I filled it with sand leftover from another swap. I plan to put a message in it but can not decide what it should say.

As you can see half of my outdoor space gets little sun, the other half is the driveway. That means my garden has to make room for my car, a moped and my bbq and patio furniture. I have to use the space wisely, which is trial and error. I found that planting my root vegetable in the front of the bed and my tomatoes in the back helps. In the spring there is room to share before the tomatoes take over in the summer.
spring bed

summer bed- next year I want cages


I also used a arch to coral some of my pots on one side of the drive. I then placed hanging baskets of flowers and strawberries to double the space. A nice benefit is when you water the top plants they drain into the bottom plants conserving the water and nutrients that can be lost with hanging plants.


I also added a potted plant for the shade this year. Just a little whimsy.


Another fun addition are my moss balls for the bird bath. the birds approved when I managed to keep it full. We have had a hot dry summer this year. The birds also seem to like the grass growing in the driveway.


Yea, for storage. I started the year with bags of mulch and soil lying around and extra pots in a storage tub. This year I found two free work benches and re-purposed them for my needs. The short bench also makes a nice buffet for entertaining.


I have been busy this year, I helped start a potted garden at my daughters and a 2x2 child's raised bed at my sister's house. My nephew had a great time trying different vegetable that I helped cook or straight from the garden. I also added flowers to the other side of the car. Already it had daylilies and my bleeding hearts this year I added a few bulbs and a fushia plant I hope come back next year.

I have been wanting a potting bench for awhile. So when a local business closed and were giving away their workbenches, I had to snatch one up and then another.

This is the first one I picked up. It was covered in a thick layer of dust.


Since the benches were free, I did not want to spend a lot of money fixing them up. I painted some shelf brackets that were missing the glass and used random pieces, a drawer front for one, as the shelves. Other hooks and baskets are from the Dollar tree.


The other bench had an uneven top that stuck out in the back. I evened it out with the circular saw so it would go back against the wall. it got a coat of the darker paint on the outside. I had planned on painting the shelves the lighter color.


These will be great for keeping all my stuff organized, make winter storage and potting up easier. I can also used the tops as a summer buffet. I like how the mistint paint I used helps them blend in and look like they belong.

This was another item for the fox and owl swap. I used plaster to cover a wooden disk and build up the tree. I then carved an outline of the fox and painted the piece. i covered it in resin to protect it as I was using  it for the bottom of the basket and wanted it to be function-able.

I made this for How lovely in the fox and owl swap. Originally I had planned to just stain the wood, but when I poured the resin it leaked out and I had to paint it. I have never had a problem with a tray leaking before, but i have always painted first. The pattern is from a knitting chart on ravelry.

Tools needed: pliers, wire cutters, scissors, and Popsicle stick (not shown)


Materials: grapevine wire, moss garland, and 24 gauge brown coated wire


The first step is to make a frame out of the grapevine wire. You may need to use the scissors to cut the fibers after cutting the wire with wire cutters. For this basket I used two circles (one larger than the other) joined by three supports. Cut more wire than you need and wrap extra around it to secure it. The canoe basket had an oval with a curved support to shape the bottom.


Now you need to make the wire mesh for the sides. I like to use one and a half yard pieces of wire to work with. You will then have to join them as you work. Fasten on end to the larger, top circle. To make the first row of links you wrap the wire around the popsicle stick and down through the frame. wrapping links all the way around.


For the rest of the rows you wrap around the stick and through one of your links. It is very similar to nalbinding and you continue to work your way around until your work can stretch down to the base.



At this step you will not use the stick. Just wrap around the base catching each loop to secure it.


The base is a little more challenging as you need to make decreases. A wooden circle with holes drilled around the edge could be wired in for a solid base. To start weaving the base you need to wrap around the stick catching the wire used to secure the side to the base. You will not be able to fit more than 2/3 wraps on the stick at a time. To decrease, every other row needs to catch two links at a time. If you look carefully you can see the wire going through two links below.


Continue around until the last row and run the wire through all loops and secure end. At that point you can straighten out the bends in the frame from working the mesh.


Cut a piece of garland that is slightly larger than the top edge of basket. You want to overlap the ends. Secure the garland with excess wire wrapping around the basket top.


Cut three times the length of the desired handle, using grapevine wire. Thread the beads onto center of wire. My wire had a slub so I was not able to center the beads and had to cut an extra piece to finish off the short end. Wrap excess around the handle. This helps to secure the beads as well as give it strength.


To finish your piece you can paint or stain the beads, add sheet moss to the bottom, or add a bow.

I had to cut out a lot of the working pictures. I had trouble down loading more than one at a time even after decreasing the size.

Yesterday, I got it in my head that I wanted to make a wire basket. I couldn't find a tutorial so I had to wing it. I don't seem to find anything here that was similar either.

I wanted something similar to a gathering basket, but decorative so I can display it when not in use. I started with paper grapevine wire for the shape. I then wove a brown 24GA wire for the sides. To finish it up I wired a moss garland to the top, added grapevine handles with stained beads for a decorative grip.



If anyone is interested I can work up a tutorial for a small round one, using what I learned.