DIY Wall Hanging Jewelry Display

DIY Wall Hanging Jewelry Display

I made this DIY hanging jewelry rack as a way to appease my wife and thwart my cat. If you have ever suffered through a morning of untangling necklaces or if your cat has ever stolen your jewelry off your night stand, then this wall hanging jewelry display might just be for you! I made it with spare wood I had laying around but all the materials needed could be purchased for less than $10.

DIY Wall Hanging Jewelry Display

Instructions on how to build your own hanging jewelry display can be found below!

DIY Christmas Tree Stand

This year we got our first pre-cut live Christmas tree! Unfortunately, we didn't have a christmas tree stand, so we went ahead and made our own. This tree stand supports the tree, makes it easy to water, costs around $10, and looks great!

DIY Christmas Tree Stand

Check out the instructions below to make your own.

Hot Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

This afternoon I got home from teaching a little early since my afternoon class was off on an ice skating field trip. Since it's Friday and the weekend is almost upon us I decided I would make my wife a little treat for when she gets home from work. (I also forgot to get her some St. Nick's Day presents yesterday so I thought I would try and make up for it today). My wife loves cookies so I thought I would make a batch of chocolate chip cookies so they would be fresh out of the oven when she got home.

 I found a very highly rated recipe from Allrecipes.com and got to work! I decided to make a half recipe since I only had half a bag of chocolate chips. However, I soon realized I was missing some key ingredients (whoops!) so I made up a different recipe on the spot. I basically simplified the recipe I had been using and added hot chocolate mix in hopes of filling in for the lack of brown sugar. The cookies turned out to be super delicious so I thought I would share my DIY improvised recipe.

The first of two batches of Hot Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

Check out below for the recipe to make your own batch!

DIY Wall Hanging Coat Rack

As the weather gets colder here in Wisconsin I am reminded of the multiple jackets and sweatshirts that we keep piling on to stay warm. This also means that these same jackets have just been piling up in our entryway. So I decided to build a nice coat rack that can also serve as a wall shelf. This is what I came up with! 

DIY Wall Mounted Coat Rack

Check out the instructions below to make your own!

DIY Beeswax Wood Polish and Sealant

Since I have mentioned  DIY Beeswax Wood Sealant in many of my posts, I figured it was about time I showed you how to make it! This polish will help protect the color of your stain, seal your wood from unwanted stains, and keep the wood from drying out and cracking. It can also serve as a standalone wood sealer and stain. 

DIY Wood Sealant and Wood Polish

I first discovered beeswax furniture polish a few months ago when I was looking for a varnish alternative. The main option for sealing most furniture projects is using commercial varnishes that contain harsh chemicals. The chemicals have strong odors that lead to indoor air pollution long after the varnish has dried. In an effort to improve my indoor air quality while still protecting my wood working projects I now use a DIY beeswax wood sealant exclusively on all of my indoor furniture.

Check out the instructions below to make your own!

How to Make Wood Stain from Natural Dyes

A few months ago, one of my friends was talking about using natural dyes to make her own beautifully colored dresses. Then about a week ago I ran across this amazing post about making natural dyes over at the blog a pair and a spare. I believe they got their initial inspiration from a DIY Wednesday post from FreePeople.com.  This post is absolutely excellent and if you have ever been interested in natural dyes you should definitely check it out. Anyways, that post got me thinking about using these dyes for natural DIY wood stain. So last weekend I made up a recipe, and surprisingly enough it worked!!!

As usual, necessity is the mother of invention. This last weekend I was at my parents house with my brother who wanted to build a display stand for his 20 gallon aquarium. My dad has a plethora of home milled lumber and some fun power tools so there was no way I could pass on such a project.
Together a good friend of mine, my brother and I got to work build the aquarium stand. The picture below shows how the aquarium stand turned out (you can see the DIY Stain in the bottom left corner):

DIY Aquarium Stand for 20 gallon Fish Tank

Now that we had a finished project, we realized we needed some wood stain. So I improvised (using some of the knowledge from this post about making natural dyes) and I quickly whipped up a stain using beets, spinach, vinegar and flour. We went ahead and applied the stain with an old rag and this is how it turned out!

DIY Aquarium Stand with Beet and Spinach Wood Stain

I didn't end up with too many pictures as I wasn't really sure that this was going to work out. However,  given the success of this stain, I plan on doing further experiments with these natural dyes. When I create more DIY Natural Stains I will post more detailed recipes.

Read below for directions on how to make your own wood stain from natural dyes!

DIY Baked Kale Chips

After stuffing my face over Thanksgiving I found myself craving a healthy snack. I needed something salty AND healthy to wean me down from a weekend overeating. Enter Kale Chips!

I was originally inspired by a post on Kale Chips over at Wellness Mama. As Wellness Mama points out,  kale is extremely nutritious, readily available in the fall, and all around oozing with healthiness. On its own kale is a pretty dense leafy green, that can sometimes be a little bitter. Kale chips on the other hand are light, crispy and delicious. Unfortunately, in the store they are very expensive. The good news is that they can be made at home in about 20 minutes with really basic and inexpensive ingredients!

Read below for the recipe to make your own!