Get the carriage look for less without having to put holes in your garage door.

So they sell these magnets that are just vinyl silhouettes of garage door hardware, which go me thinking… of course.

I took a standard garage door hardware kit (that I scored on clearance to boot) and modified them to be magnetic for ease, and since I didn’t want to put holes in my door.

Supplies:

Garage Door Decorative Hardware Kit
Small Bolt Cutters (Harbor Freight's worked fine)
E6000 glue
Neodymium magnets (the extra strong kind, you can also find those at Harbor Freight)
Hammered Spray Paint
Safety Glasses

 

 

First we need to  paint the top of the screws and the hardware pieces. Spray the screws by sticking them upright on a piece or cardboard or Styrofoam.

Then it time to cut off the back side of the screws using your bolt cutters. The head of the screw can bounce off very far, so please wear full safety goggles and cut into a box to trying catch the flying pieces. 

Next glue the screw ‘muffin tops’ into the holes of the hardware using the E6000 glue, if you have too much glue, acetone works well for clean up. Working on wax paper was also helpful.

 

Then glue the magnets to the back of the hardware, off set these from the filled screw holes, the number of magnets you need will vary based on the size of your magnets.

Pop them on to the door, and ta dah instant upgrade.

You might have to push them back into place every once in a while, but it’s easy. Make sure you ‘pull’ them off, if you slide them you’ll scratch your garage door.

Note: I put these up 7/13 I’m finally blogging these 3/15 and they still look fabulous, and I haven’t even had to readjust some of them!

We have a side load garage in our 1950s home. The front side is covered by a hill, but on the back we have a great window and door with a window up top.

These windows peer right into the garage, aren’t very visible from any other windows, and is on the opposite side of the house from our master bedroom… so we needed a privacy and security option as our garage tool collection expands.

I thought about doing blinds, but blinds in the garage always get icky, and since the window is set in cinderblock it wasn’t a simple hang.

I used the frosted glass spray paint for the bathroom medicine cabinet and was really impressed with the ease so we decided to give it a shot. What nice about going the spray paint route instead of the chemical glass etching route is if we change our minds, we can remove the ‘etching’ with acetone and be back where we were.

We used the Rust-oleum Specialty Frosted Glass spray and were happy with it. (I found mine at Wal-Mart)

 

Steps:

1. Clean – Since we were working with a garage location I started by vacuuming the sills, then I cleaned with Windex, then I wiped them down with some rubbing alcohol as well, the cleaner the surface the more even the look.

2. Tape off – While the paint is transparent it will give non glass surfaces a matte finish so I taped off all the trim.

3. Spray – Using one of those clip on spray guns to keep a steady pressure spray according to the cans directions, they are different than regular spray paint.  I used 3 coats for my windows and didn’t even finish a whole can.

We are really happy with the end result, it still allows for plenty of natural light to diffuse into the garage, helps block the direct sun that would heat up the garage, and it doesn't get nasty with spider webs.

So mosquitos in Nashville this summer have been ridiculous! Like every evening we’ve spent outside the following day I'm coating myself in aerosol Benadryl .(Yes it exists, yes it’s the best ever cause you don’t have to touch what you want to scratch so badly, and yes it works great!

So in my war against getting eaten my Mom sent me this photo that’s been floating around, of citronella torches gone cute.

No real directions though, so here’s my take.

Materials:

Mason Jars  - from my collection. I HAD to buy some of the reissue Blue Ball ones too though. (6 for $9.99)

Cotton String to use as wick – This was the tough part, I looked a Michaels and the ‘real’ wicking was like $20 for a small spool, after some searching I found cotton string/twine at Lowe’s for $3

Citronella & Cedar Torch Fuel – Easy to find most stores with an outdoor section around $10 

Standard Screw Driver – to punch hole in the lid

Pliers or Tweezers – to pick up the wick out of the fuels

Steps:

1. Make the wicks – the cotton string draws up the citronella oil, the larger the wick the more flame. So to make my wicks I cut many lengths of the string, then braided them together. I made them much longer than the height of the mason jars so they last longer. Rather than knotting them I took a scrap string and tied it, a knot would have difficulty going through the small hole.

2. Punch the hole for the wick – With the top on the mason jar carefully press the screwdriver through the lid, making a small hole, you can adjust it to the size of your wick later.

3. Wicks - Place wicks in the jars fill up with some citronella, I only filled mine up a third of the way to start. Let the wicks dunk in the oil then fish them out with the pliers and push through the lids so the braid is secure in the top.

4. Adjust & Light the wick – to start leave a good bit of the wick out to start, light the wick. At first you’ll have a large flame as the extra cotton from the end of the braid burns off.

5.Enjoy – Pull up the wick with pliers as needed between sessions. Blow out or use a small tomato sauce can as your ‘snuffer’. Keep your mason jar box as an easy way to transport in and out.

Here’s an easy room divider my Dad made for their pool house. He wrapped a typical plastic shelving unit in table cloth. By adding pleats it lays nicely.  It’s makes easy to get to hidden storage for all the ‘pool stuff’.

To attach it at the top use screws paired with washers screwed into the plastic.

Very simple, but effective and cheap.

 

   

The blogerverse has long loved spray paint, but now that I have a yard, and lots of things I want to "look better” until we can replace, I really LOVE the spray paint.

Case and point. I bought this $10 Target metal side table ages ago, it looked cute in my then Black & White living room. But now the pattern screamed “I’m cheapy dorm furniture” to me. It’s also tiny!

Now that it’s plain ole black it no longer screams, it just sorta disappears, perfect since it’s a boring little table!

Our house was built in 1954 so we have two prong outlets, and as a Master Electrician’s daughter this definitely needed to be resolved safely! We found these great portable GFCIs at Home Depot for $12 which is less than a GFCI outlet, ha-ha!

What we did was we pulled out the ground on these units since our plugs are ground less, then plug in our grounded devices, if the plugged in item has an issue and tries to ground the GFCI trips cutting off the power, creating a safe way to bypass the ground.  The issue was that they are BRIGHT BRIGHT YELLOW!

Spray paint to the rescue!  It took many thin coats, but they are finally pretty much white, and from standing when plugged in they look GREAT!

It just so happened that Andrew had to work at his company's Baltimore office the week of Labor Day and I managed to go with him making it a super nice week long visit with my family!

I didn't take too many photos, but a fun time was had.

We left super early in the morning so we could make Dis-Funk-Shun's gig! Andrew got to sit in a bit, which is always fun! It's soo weird to see him playing no his drums!

Then we of course went to my favorite place ever in the Federal Hill area of Baltimore.

Building our burgers and drinking Natty Boh

 
I had an amazing Bison Burger on a pretzel roll, sweet potato fries, and the crab mac and cheese which was aMazing. Andrew’s burger on texas toast with tots

These cute people are my parents. I love them.

Then after a full belly we headed off to see the Freddie Long Band / Dis-funk-shun play at the Austin Grill in Silver Spring. Andrew got to sit in again and had a fun time! Then we headed home early Saturday morning. It was a the trip from Hell. In the end the 12 hour trip took us 16, due to tire issues we ended up having to trade cars with my parents 3 hours in. I still can't handle thinking about it. But it's all OK now since my car is fixed, and now my folks have an excuse to visit me!

A little montage of my quick week and a few days at home.

On Christmas Eve

 I feel in love with this little guy at a friends. His name is Bacco (Rottie) and he snuggled with me all night.

 Too sweet.

 Momma found me this awesome Burberry headband at the outlets. Love the spunk of the studs.

 Of course there was some pioneer woman... can't wait to make some tasty stuff from her cookbook.

 Santa brought me some lovely Kate Spade. I've used the bag a ton already, it's perfect for going out!

 Andrew AKA Mr.Awesome found this kindle case. Could it be more me?!?

 Love, Love, Love my lovely kindle from Andrew, it's so amazing!

 Pink and green outdoor pillows from the momma!

 New Years Eve at Ski Liberty Resort with our good friends The Freddie Long Band

 Favorite part of being home is definitely my puppies, if only they could talk.
This is Max my sheltie baby.

This just might be my parent's christmas present... I also listed the names of all their friends on the tag... 

I could forget my favorite Boo. Bella is a sweet Chow and golden mix, or as I prefer to call her, a Pooh bear.

Christmas 2010 can be summed up as the year of the pillow pet. They are too darn cute, soft, and make great neck roll pillows.