December - Dejá Vu a Month in Review

Wham! This year has flown by so fast, it feels like I've been shot out of a cannon. December was a quick flash of light. As a courtesy to those of us that rarely have enough time to read all the fabulous blogs on a regular basis, I have for you a review of all the posts at Pretty Handy Girl in December.

1. Using Shutters for Displaying Christmas Cards

2. Painting Brick Fireplaces  - Reader's Spotlights

3. Presto Chango - Christmas Wreath Tutorial

4. Winter Wonderland Photo Gallery

5. Mini Gift Pouches from Napkins Tutorial

6. Glass Jar Votive Holder Tutorial

7. Installing Anti-Tip Bracket on Your Oven

8. Why I Love My Cordless Drill

9. El Cheapo Laundry Room Makeover

10. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #1

11. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #2

12. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #3

13. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #4

14. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #5

15. Creative Gift Wrapping Day #6 

16. Repairing a Pop Up Sink Drain

17. Fixing Common Gift Wrap Problems - Pretty Handsome Guy Guest Posting

18. Creating Magical Silhouette Gifts from Santa

19. The Best of Pretty Handy Girl 2010

And that finishes up December of 2010! I hope you all have a wonderfully Happy New Year.
I look forward to sharing some more DIY empowerment with you in 2011!

Creating a Mulch and Stone Path

Did you know that a new heat pump, wood rot repair, and yard drainage issues will put a hefty dent in your bank account? Apparently it will also wreck your yard after all those contractors have been traipsing through it on a rainy Saturday!

That is 100% authentic Carolina red clay! Yummy! It will stain everything you own and make housekeeping a nightmare. With this mess, I had to come up with a fast and frugal solution to our mud problem.

While searching Lowe's for some solutions, I stumbled across this landscape edging. I was very excited to see that I wouldn't have to dig a trench to bury half of it! Instead, it comes with pegs that you nail into the ground. Suh-weet!

Materials:
Flat stones or stepping stones (cost will vary)
2 Garden Plus 20' No Dig Landscape Edging Kits - $16 ea.
2 Extra bags of Garden Plus Edging Pegs - $4
Two different colors of mulch (I used 20 bags -10 for each color) $3 each
3' or 4' stick or yardstick for your width template - free
Hammer
Garden Rake

Tutorial:
Gather all your materials near your path site. Layout all your stones and walk on them to make sure they are spaced for a comfortable gait. Do you see that stick in the above picture? That was my path width template.

Use your path width template (aka stick) to keep your edging equal distance apart the entire length of your path. (You may need to put a weight on your edging or set a peg in halfway to hold the edging in place.)

After you have your path and the edging laid out, step away from it and take a look. Make any tweaks in the layout now.

To set the path, start from one end and hold the peg at an angle.

Then hammer the peg into the ground...

...until it is flush with the earth.

Set a peg every 4-6 feet and especially at the peak of any curves.

Repeat for the other side of your path.

Open a bag of mulch and spread the mulch to the top of your stones and the edging. Use the back side of your garden rake to smooth the mulch and eliminate any high or low spots.

Repeat until you have filled your entire path.

Then spread the second color mulch on the outside of your path. Don't you just love the contrast between these two? The lighter color mulch is cypress mulch and the darker is hardwood mulch.

Walk on your stones and put some mulch, dirt or sand underneath any that wobble.

Now stand back and admire your finished path! I think my favorite stepping stone is the broken heart stone I made with two rocks.

The entire path took me just over two hours. Not bad and the bonus is that I didn't need to go to the gym to workout that day!

DIY Glass Window Shelves

I love african violets! They can be fickle, but once they have the right amount of light, and slightly damp soil, they will happily put on a show for you. My violets used to perch on the kitchen window sill, but occasionally they would take a suicidal nose dive into the sink.

So, I decided to install two glass shelves over the sink.

Would you like to install your own glass shelves between two kitchen cabinets? It is a relatively easy project, but does require two sets of hands for one step. The directions below will take you through the step-by-step process for installing 2 glass shelves.

Materials:

3/16 inch tempered glass
quarter round moulding
paint (to match your kitchen cabinets)
medium size paint brush
painters tape
hammer
level
drill w/ bits
finish nails 1.25" long
nail set
wood putty or caulk
flat toothpick or wood shim

Instructions:

1. First measure your window width and subtracted 0.25" from the measurement.) Then measure the depth of your kitchen cabinets to the window frame (or tile, whatever sticks out the furthest).

Take those measurements to a glass manufacturer and have them cut two pieces of 3/16" tempered glass. Make sure that the edges will be smooth. And, definitely ask for the tempered glass. (My shelves never broke, but I banged them occasionally while being overzealous about washing dishes.)

2. Using the measurement you took for the depth of your cabinets, cut 8 lengths of quarter round (four for each glass shelf you are hanging.)

3. Prime and then paint the quarter round to match your cabinets.

4. Determine the height where you want your glass shelves to be. (I put each shelf at the same height as my window grill pieces.) Use a level and draw lines on your cabinet on one side of the window.

5. Pre-drill three holes (the size of your finish nails) into your quarter round.

6. Using a piece of painters tape, attach once piece of the quarter round to your cabinet. This is your shelf support piece, so make sure that the flat edge is facing up. Gently nail the finish nails through the predrilled holes and into the cabinet. Repeat this step for your other shelf support (on the same side.)

7. Rest one glass shelf on one piece of the installed quarter round. You will need an assistant to help hold the glass shelf up as you level it.

8. Make a mark on the under side of your glass.

9. Double check that the mark is level (from front to back), and line your next piece of quarter round below the line. Repeat steps 5 & 6 above until you have the four shelf supports installed.

10. Gently rest your glass shelves on the supports.

11. Pre-drill holes in your four remaining quarter round strips.

12. Set wood shims (or toothpicks) on top of the glass shelves and up against the cabinets on both ends. Rest your quarter round strips on top of the shims. This should give you a slight space between the glass and the quarter round. Now, tape the quarter round pieces in place and REMOVE BOTH glass shelves and the shims.

13. Nail your quarter round pieces in place. Use a nail set to countersink (set the nail below the wood surface) all your nails. Fill the nail holes with wood putty or caulk and touch it up with your paint.

14. When the paint has dried, slide in your shelves. The shelves should slide in easily and should not be tight.

15. Put some plants or other accessories on your new shelves! And enjoy.