ToolGirl Mag Ruffman

Reclaimed wood ideas

via www.eieihome.com

I'm a sucker for reclaimed anything and these wood/tree/driftwood/branch/chair designs at the International Design Show 2012, as reported by eieihome.com, are inspiring.

Under the Sink Storage by Pink Toes and Power Tools

via www.prettyhandygirl.com

Ingenious method for stabilizing those twisted wonky dollar-store plastic bins - force 'em into shape with runners created from strips of MDF.

Recycled paper basket | Design*Sponge

via www.designsponge.com

Anyone else remember learning to sew in Home Ec using paper templates with a spiral pattern (and shrieking as you went off course at full speed)?

Well, sewing on paper just came back in a big way. This is a cool improvised basket constructed from packing paper sewn into lengths with black thread.

Beer Bottle Cap Table

via diygadgets.blogspot.com

Continuing my fascination with round things plunked in grout, this would be a great treatment for a basement bar top or even a backsplash.

Make your own lapboards for eating, playing, drawing, writing, reading

This is a set of lap boards I made from my friend Leah.  They're made from 1/4-inch oak plywood cut into 10"x16" rectangles, with photos applied using t-shirt transfers (you can do this).  These boards have lots of uses including preventing spills at family buffet brunches!   

Leah chose a few of my photographs from around the farm and we applied them to sanded plywood

Sometimes the transfers have raggedy edges but I kind of like the randomness.

 

Amanda Edwards and her penny-tiled floor

via www.mandolinmosaics.com

I know, I know, I'm obsessed with coin flooring this week!  Amanda Edwards' stunning kitchen floor is tiled with pennies using black sanded grout. Then Amanda sealed it with clear polyurethane.  And this is only a sliver of her skill.  Lift your spirits in under 5 seconds; visit her web site to see the breathtaking stained glass works she spins from her limitless imagination. The colours and movement in her pieces will make you feel like you just took a vacation.  

Nickel Tile Floor! A DIY Bathroom Renovation

via www.apartmenttherapy.com

After the penny tiling investigation (in the previous post), I discovered some long-suffering souls who figured out one way to solve the coin-embedding mystery in their bathroom renovation. Their step-by-step instructions are a testament to determination.

Tiled Penny Floor

via www.curbly.com

It's gorgeous, even if it belongs in the curriculum of the Kill Me Now School of Decorating. So tilers, do you think they used black grout? Or did they use clear epoxy over the pennies?

Homemade easel for kids

This was one of the more successful Christmas presents Daniel and I made for our little friend Charlotte (3). 

We used poplar, small hinges and string.  

The red side of the easel is a chalkboard (homemade chalkboard paint, baby), the other side is a dry-erase board cut from a cheap 4x8 sheet of white bathroom paneling.

Charlotte's mum clamps newsprint to the whiteboard side any time Charlotte wants to paint. The easel folds flat for storage.  

P.S. I forgot to take step-by-step photos during the white-hot frenzy of creation so let me know if you want instructions and I'll build another.

Hanging a curtain rod {made simple}

via missmustardseed.com

Here's a brilliant idea from a decorator who hangs lots of curtains; make a template with pre-drilled holes.  Just flip the template to do the opposite side of the window.  Saves a ton of fussy measuring and speeds up the job by about 600%.