Its PLANT WEEK!!!!!!!! Do you even know how exciting this is?!? Its like Shark Week but WAYYYYY better and with a lot less fear (mostly). Every day this week I have got an amazing project for you that will make the love in your plant-lovin heart swell to massive proportions.
I feel like marbling is one of those fun crafty type projects that everyone needs to try at least once, its just so pretty to see everything swirl together. The problem is that almost all of the tutorials online use fingernail polish. Which is great….unless you want to do something bigger and then before you know it you’ve spent $78 on nail polish. My brain was churning about this and I realized that you don’t need nail polish, you just need an oil based paint! Like (dun dun dun dun dun duuuuuun!) Spray Paint!!
So here is how you do it.
First things first, you’ll need a container large enough to fit your planter in it. My planter was pretty big so I used a storage tote but a 5 gallon bucket would totally work.
*I recommend trying it out a few times on paper cups to get the technique down before you start on your planters.
Round up your spray paint colors. I used a selection of RustOleum and LOVED the way that the metallic gold turned out, so use that!
Tape off your designs (if that is what you are going for)
Fill your container with water and start adding spray paint.
You have a pretty short window of time to work (you’ll see why in a second). Hold your can about 10 inches away from the water, if you get it too close it splashes the water up and creates little texture bubbles on your finished piece.
Gently tap the sides of your bucket to swirl the colors. By gently I mean create soft waves, not splashes (because texture bubbles)
Slowly dip your planter into the water. If you go too fast, or if your paint is too dry, the paint surface will break and you’ll get gaps with uneven edges (and not in a cute way.)
Submerge the planter in as far as you want and hold it there for about 30 seconds while you lightly fan the paint surface to quicken the drying. Using painters tape made it so that any wiggling that happened (and subsequently added more paint) didn’t stay on the planter, it came off with the tape.
This next step is a 2 handed job so I don’t have a picture but…use a spoon to swipe away all of the remaining surface paint. This will make it so your planter comes out with a clean design.
If you look closely in the picture below you can see texture lines in the lightest part of the paint. That is because the surface was starting to dry. Move fast and you wont get those!
Let it dry completely before removing the tape.
Ok so are you ready for a real life moment? I had this surface all prepped and ready for dipping (so pretty right?!)
I was using a large light weight plastic planter and it was SO HARD to push it down all the way (it wanted to float dang it!)
I got so wrapped up in making sure that the entire thing was covered that I didn’t realize that my hand was in the paint…
Or my wedding ring.
There were a few swears that followed but it came right off after an hour long soak in the jewelry cleaner.
Moral of the story. Don’t wear your wedding ring to a marbling party.
Now, I don’t mean to over sell tomorrow’s project but I am being completely honest when I say that it is my favorite project that I have done in a year. #anticipation #anti-ci-p-a-a-a-tion
Its PLANT WEEK!!!!!!!! Do you even know how exciting this is?!? Its like Shark Week but WAYYYYY better and with a lot less fear (mostly). Every day this week I have got an amazing project for you that will make the love in your plant-lovin heart swell to massive proportions.
Before we dive into DIY thought I thought it would be a really fantastic idea to talk about how not to kill your plants.
Trust me when I tell you that this post has been a long time coming and has been built upon the backs of hundreds of plants that I have unintentionally murdered. Do you guys remember Elmyra from Tiny Toons? Yes. That was me but with succulents.
Now I am no expert in this field but here is what I have learned.
Tip #1: Buy your plants at The Home Depot! They have a 1 year guarantee on them, so while it is a little bit embarrassing, you can take in your dead cacti (just make sure that they have a container and receipt) and they will give you a refund or a new plant. I don’t return small guys, but I have returned a Fiddle Leaf Fig that was $80 and it was no problem at all. I opted to exchange it for a few smaller houseplants and as I was leaving the cute door greeter wished them luck. It was hilarious.
Tip #2: Plants need sunlight. So I get that this one might not be that revolutionary but hear me out. I for the life of me couldn’t figure out why every succulent that I bought was dying. I didn’t over or under water them, they were repotted correctly but they still died. Until I realized that they need direct sunlight at least part of the day and they weren’t getting it sitting on my coffee table or bookcase. Once I started moving them to the windows (at least a few times a week) EVERYTHING changed. When I had one that was dying, it took an extended hospital stay on the kitchen table (where there is direct sunlight for 1/2 the day) and guess what?? Instead of dying they started getting better!!
That super long guy growing out of the blue planter used to look like this (after unintentionally being frozen solid…)
Tip #3: Find the watering groove. Every type of plant is different and I only have a few that require up close and personal care (you’ll meet them this week, its so worth it!!) I feel like people never know how much to water a cactus. A good rule of thumb is to water cactus next to never. The thinner the cactus, the more frequently it needs water. This little guy is seriously thin and gets watered about once every 10 days, when I don’t water it you can tell its drying out too much because it looks like this:
See how it just looks not right?
For cacti with a thicker trunk or leaves they need less water. Ones like this only get watered about once every 2-3 months.
If anything I tend to underwater…my sister on the other hand has an overwatering problem. When my plants start to die they get crispy, hers get really droopy and even the dead leaves are still soft and pliable. There is a very different look between plants that are under watered and over watered. Does it look thirsty or like its drowning?
Tip #4: The right way to divide a plant. One of the real life struggles of plant hoarding is not being patient enough to wait for a teeny plant to grow. I have killed many a plant trying to shove it into a smaller container so that it looks fuller or because the container is what the focus is on, not the plant. I’ve learned however that they don’t make Spanx for plants and they actually hate being squished with all of your might into a spot of your choosing. Without getting too technical about plant species, I’ve learned that plants that have more than one growth point from the roots (rhizomes) can be easily divided and therefore fit into smaller containers. Common examples are Snake Grass (MIL’s Tongue), some ferns, some succulents and cacti.
Basically if it looks like this (with multiple growths separately coming out of the soil) you are in luck!
Start by watering your plant a day beforehand if you can. This will soften the soil and make the roots prepped for movement.
Remove the planter.
Find a clear path for splitting (like parting your hair)
Some plants will come apart at the roots just by doing that, if it doesn’t, use a sharp knife to cut through the soil.
Keep dividing as much as you need to until your root ball is a little smaller than your container!
This aloe plant that I divided has really thick roots that I could untangle instead of cutting through.
Tip #5: Replanting. Almost all plants hate “wet feet” which is when their roots sit in water for an extended period of time. Drainage is a super necessary part to a happy plant. If you can find a container with a drainage hole you are in luck, if you want to plant in something that doesn’t have one, you’re still in luck, you just need some small rocks. (Target has some great little planters on clearance right now that have holes with plugs in them)
When the bottom is taken care of (with rocks or a hole) put some fresh soil into the planter and then your plant.
Fill in the sides with soil, water it and put it in the sun.
I’m sure that there are a million other techniques and steps for replanting (depending on the type of plant) but just adding rocks to the bottom of a planter for better drainage was a huge game changer for me.
Tip #6: Start with something easy to keep alive. Everyone loves Fiddle Leaf Fig plants but those suckers are fin-ic-ky. I’ve killed at least a dozen in the last 3 years. If you are a novice or a murderer, don’t start there. Get a Snake Grass or a palm, they are SO much easier to keep alive!
Tip #7: Plants act differently in different environments (face palm. Duh Mandi) Sorry if I am captain obvious, but this is really stuff I didn’t know! In February I bought 2 Peruvian Apple Cacti. One lives in my living room and the other one lives on my front porch.
Though they are sisters, they could not act more different.
The one in my house has this arm that is growing like CRAZY. It’s grown 18” in the last 4 months (you can see the new growth because its a little skinnier and lighter green)
You can see what it looked like a few months ago in the picture below, its the little guy sticking up behind the pillow on the couch.
The one outside has only grown this little arm.
But the one outside had 17 blossoms on it (they are beautiful and so fragrant but only lasted one night, by the time I got out in the morning to take pictures of them they were already closed and dying. Its like on Dennis the Menace!)
The cactus inside hasn’t bloomed at all.
Crazy right!?
Tip #8 Succulent Propagation takes a long time. In February I tried my hand a succulent propagation (you can find a gorgeous how to here). 5 months later this is what I have to show for it.
Teeeeeny baby succulents.
They aren’t dead but man they take a while. So I guess this tip is to not give up if your propagation is feeling a little bit um…stunted? Maybe by plant week next year I’ll have an actual full sized succulent to show you!
Ok now this is where you guys get to chime in with all of your plant tips, tricks, favorites, horror stories, must have products, really anything plant related is welcome.
First things first, I just want to give a massive thank you to the responses to the question that I posed about authenticity. You guys blew me away with the thoughtfulness and time that you put into your comments. It is everything I could have hoped for!
For those that are confused about the title of this post, let me explain. #Colddeadfingers is an Instagram hashtag that I started a little while ago for the AMAZING thrift store/secondhand finds that (you guessed it) can only be pried from your cold dead fingers. So if you have an amazing score we’d love to see it!!
Now on to the goods. I’ve come up with a theory about thrifting. Its totally a numbers game. Lately I haven’t been going as much (out of habit) and I feel like I NEVER find anything. But the reality is that I probably find something purchase worthy 1 in 10 trips. So if I take 10 trips in 10 days or 10 trips in 3 months I am still scoring at about the same frequency. (Anyone want to chime in and back this theory up?)
I did happen to find this super cool vintage Kodak camera the last time I was there (it was one of those spot across the store/half run half walk situations.) and I massively dig it. I might stick a bulb in the flash just so it looks a little prettier (cause that’s what it’s all about).
I love this vintage Drexel dresser that Caitlin from Desert Domicile found on Craigslist. (Also I love her. If you haven’t checked out her blog you’re missing out!)
I am telling you, a tall campaign dresser will go with literally any decor style. If you see one, GRAB IT!! I love this white one that Kelly found! (You can see on the I recently rehabbed here)
What can you buy for $1 these days? Like 3 ketchup packets? If your name is Emily you can buy these AMAZING chairs from an estate sale. $1.00 PEOPLE. Dang.
Can you even believe these brass deer that Sandra found?!! I would take these things with me to the grocery store, just so they’d never leave my sight!! Also to pet.
Do you guys ever feel like sometimes you just want a simple DIY project? Like really. They can get SO complicated and supply heavy (3/4” wood cut to 16×98’, 2/3” roofing nails, sliding compound miter saw, 16 of your favorite drill bits, a master electrician license, and the blood of a virgin unicorn.)
Sometimes I just want to make something. I don’t want to have to run to Home Depot 15 times. I want 1 thing on my supply list. A paint brush (and obviously paint.)
Since the very beginning of time (blog time) I have shared my undying devotion for Purdy paint tools. There are VERY FEW things in life that are more calming than petting a brand new XL Purdy paintbrush (don’t act like you’ve never done that.) So I thought that it would be really fun to do 3 really simple projects that require just a paintbrush.
The reason that Purdy tools win the universe is because of their amazing quality. Each brush is made by a brushmaker and has their name on it (personally I am a big fan of Emma’s work). Before I really got into DIY I couldn’t understand why you would spend $12.00 on a brush when you could get one for $2.99. You guys. There are many a thing that go into a great paint finish and the tool that you use is THE MOST important part. In the case of brushes you absolutely get what you pay for. I mean, do you want all the trim in your house to look like the Grand Canyon? Cause it will if you don’t use the right tools, Regardless of how great and wonderful the paint is, if you use crappy tools you are going to get a subpar finish. But a great brush? A great brush can be used for a myriad of projects from furniture painting to cutting in. One thing that I love about Purdy brushes is that no matter how many projects they’ve been used on, they always are up for another one. Cheap quality brushes get bedhead bristles (you know the wild and crazy ones that have a mind of their own?) Basically what I am saying is, if you are going to invest the time to do a project make sure that you aren’t sabotaging yourself by using low quality tools.
Now that I am off my soapbox, lets get to the projects shall we?
First up is a simple circle wall treatment.
Start by drawing a large circle by tying a pencil to one end of string and a nail to the other. Put the nail right in the center of where you want your circle to be, stretch the string out as far as it can go. Keeping it taught, draw a circle all the way around.
I wanted mine to be a little brushstrokey <—totally a word. and undefined on the edges (but still a perfect circle) so I started by painting right along the inside edge of the line (the line is super light in the picture below)
Once you’ve established where the edge of your circle is, soften it by very lightly brushing on the outside of it. You don’t want gobs of paint for this or it will turn your circle into a wonky blob. Just a teeny bit of paint to soften the edge.
Fill it in (again don’t make it perfect, we are going for a little bit of variation folks.)
Then you get to make it your own.
Project #2 involves channeling your inner kindergartener. Brushstroke Art.
The whole key to this project is using the right amount of paint and a flat ended brush (like the XL brush). You want to see a little bit of bristle separation when you look at the end of it instead of something that is completely coated with paint.
Really the only thing to remember is to not over saturate your brush and you’ll be golden! After a few lines step back and give it a once over before you add more, that way you can see where its feeling a little empty before it gets too crazy.
For project #3 you’ll need a planter and the same flat ended XL brush that we used in project #2. The only difference is that this time you do want your brush to be saturated with paint.
Starting at the bottom of your planter dab the brush at an angle all the way around. For the next row swap sides and go at a different angle. Repeat until you are at the rim of your planter.
The thing that I love most about projects like this is that you can do them in just a few minutes and they are sort of fool proof.
MASSIVE thank you to Purdy for teaming up with me on this post. You guys, if you haven’t tried Purdy tools it will change your life. Like you’ll probably want to kiss me when we finally meet. It’s fine. We can hug it out instead.
Holy. Crap. The last little bit has been a little rough round these parts with summer being in full chaotic swing and all (which means 110 degrees at.all.times. blech.) but after a break I am finally BACK! I don’t mean just posting here on the blog, like my sparkle that sort of fizzled out for a bit is finally resurfacing! It feels SO GOOD to feel like me again!!!
Now that I am finally up to it, the projects that I’ve been side eyeing are now in high gear. Remember when we started on the makeover at our family restaurant Durango’s? Like in December? Yeah…. It is getting so close to being finished, I’ll have a post all about the updates that we’ve made and so really incredible tutorials (like how to make seriously chic tables out of plain old plywood) in the next little bit.
I am DYING to get re-started on my kitchen makeover. The herringbone floors got put in and it took a backseat to about a million other things. Mostly because I didn’t have a clear execution plan for those dang cabinets that are sucking the life. Buuuuuut, I’ve caught the vision and I know exactly where I want this thing to go.
Because honestly, anything is better than where it began. (Picture from the MLS listing for our house)
In a few weeks I am heading to Atlanta for Haven, (its the best thing since a sliding compound miter saw) and get this, I’m the closing keynote speaker.(!??!) I am so excited and humbled. My topic revolves around blogging with authenticity so I thought it would be super insightful to ask you guys, who (or what blog) do you feel really embodies that characteristic? What makes you feel like a blog is/is not authentic? If you could tell a group of 500 bloggers one thing what would it be? Feel free to add any other comments that you might have on this subject. It would be super appreciated!
Phew, I think that is it! Can we have a group hug about it?
Hi hi!! The past 5 weeks have flown by! I hope that you’ve enjoyed the Fearless DIY episodes on The Design Network as much as I have!! Today’s episode is the last of this season’s and it is probably my favorite. If you know me at all you now that I love a good lighting project. Especially one that will save you a bunch of moolah.
Doing this series was a massive learning experience in more ways than one. Would you believe it if I told you that the hardest part was getting ready just to work on projects? Apparently its the little things. I’m dying to know, which project was your favorite? I love the watercolor wall and the brass sconces the most. You can check out all of the episodes (that you might have missed) here!
Oh man have I got a fun project for you today! A little bit ago I scored this cute little mid century cabinet at the thrift store (for $12!!!) As is its pretty cute, but I have been waiting to see what kind of fun inspiration would pop up.
One of the really amazing things about having inspiration readily available from sites like Pinterest is that you can always find a project, one of the bummer things is that sometimes the project that you love doesn’t have any info. My girls over at ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape from 3M (blue tape for life!!) emailed me about this exact dilemma. Being the amazing company that they are, they have access to top secret info. Info like which pins are super popular and lead to dead links. So they asked if they sent over one such project if I would be up for reverse engineering a tutorial and put a Vintage Revivals spin on it.
The challenge was to take something that was completely not my personal style and find as much inspiration from it as I could. I loved the bright colors and the pattern (naturally).
Want to see what I ended up with?
Creating a diamond pattern is super simple. You’ll need:
Start by measuring the width of your piece (because I was painting my design on the doors that is what I measured.)
Take that number (mine was just over 34”) and divide it by the number of diamonds that you want in a row. I had 5 so it came out to 6.85 inches each. Then all you do is measure that number (6.85 in my case) and mark where all of those spots are (you will need to mark at 0)
The next step is to find the center between each of those marks. This will make the top and bottom points to your diamond. Once you decide how tall you want your diamond to be, all you do is mark the top and bottom.
Then you just connect the dots (la la la la!)
Because I painted on the outside of the diamonds, I put ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Delicate Surfaces with Advanced Edge-Lock™ Paint Line Protector on the inside of the marks that I made.
You’ll need a razor blade to trim the excess tape off to get sharp corners (a straight edge like this fabric ruler is perfect for the job!)
Repeat until you have all of your diamonds taped off.
Paint your piece on the outside of the diamonds.
Gently peel up the ScotchBlue™ at a 45 degree angle and TA DA! Perfect paint lines!
Once everything is peeled off you’ll want to wait until your paint is 100% dry before you start the rest of your design. This is one of the reasons that I love using the ScotchBlue™ Delicate surface tape (the orange one). It is gentle enough to use of freshly painted surfaces but still give you a clean line.
Now you are going to tape right along the edge on the outside of your diamond. (You’ll need to do every other one because the tape overlaps onto the neighbors)
Creating the facets is really easy. Measure the width of your diamond and divide that # by 5. (You’ll totally be a pro at this point, this is the same process that you used to create the diamonds.) Mark along in a horizontal line along the widest part of your diamond. Then using a straight edge, connect those dots to the top and bottom points.
Then you are going to fill the 2nd and 4th sections with tape. Use a razor blade to create the tapering at both ends.
Paint and then peel! (Please let it be noted that I used paint testers on this, not the best choice for a flawless paint finish. Though it did dry a little less textured. Do as I say, not as I do.)
It turned out so cute right!? Huge thank you to ScotchBlue for teaming up with me on this post! As always, all project ideas and opinions are 100% Mandilicious.
