DIY Security Sticks

There's been some robberies in our hood lately, which moved this DIY project to the top of the list.  Granted, I understand these sticks won't completely save the day, but they won't invite anyone in with open arms either.  But safety doesn't have to be boring, am I right? Break out the paints!

I don't know what these things are really called, so I'm gonna go ahead and name them Security Sticks, which is the best name ever.  This is an extremely easy DIY project that doesn't even warrant a tutorial.  You can look at them and already know what to do. So easy you can get the kids involved.  For the adults this project pairs nicely with beer, wine, and good music.

See? Simple.  We have the type of windows that those little screw locks BARELY hang onto, and ya know what? Those are a paint to screw and unscrew each day.  I like to have a little breathing room while we are gone at work, and these puppies fit the bill.  OK here's my super quick security stick project, that I think came out kinda cute.

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1000+ Fans Giveaway WINNERS

Whoah, Memorial Day Weekend just flew by!  I fell off the bloggin' bandwagon since we were so busy not only prepping for a fun camping weekend, but then recovering! Hope you all had a great one too.

In other news, we have 11 winners from last weeks giveaway! Thanks to all who entered, and a big HELLO  and WELCOME to all the newbies who've joined us - so glad to have ya here.  If you won, check your inbox - I sent you an email with all the details.

And the winners are...

Free Custom String Art Winner:

Jennifer K. !

Coupon Codes for 50% off ANYTHING:

Stuff F.

Anacani 

Julia M.

Aunt S.

Jill Z.

Kelsey H.

Ashley E.

Jacki B.

Heather P.

Vidya S.

Congratulations everyone - again, you should have received an email from  me but if you didn't, get in touch with me for your prize: 9redinfo@gmail.com  I've heard from some of you but not everyone.

That's all for today, We decided on a whim to paint the living room which unleashed a whole world of projects, and we weren't even done with the front deck completely yet.  Balancing multiple projects seems to be the way around here...

Have a great one!

    -Jesse

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Curb Appeal: Wonderful White Paint

In my past, white has been the most under appreciated paint color in my book. We totally fought.  I used to think it was boring, and just avoided it as much as possible.  Maybe that's because I always lived in apartments where I wasn't allowed to paint, so everything was stark white.  I was surrounded by it during a time when I craved color, big time.  Then in our last house, the landlord gave us the all clear to paint whatever we wanted, and I about exploded. Color everywhere, which you can see an example of in this old post.  And you can see even then, with the white trim, that I was just starting to embrace and appreciate white. That was a beach house in Santa Cruz, so wild colors went over real well & matched the 'hood.

Then I started to try white a little more. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE color (yea, seen the guest room? hehe..) but I've really come to appreciate the difference a little white paint can make.  When we painted the pergola we constructed out front, we bought a gallon of that white, figuring we would use it all over the yard.  In attempts to make the house a bit more welcoming from the street, we decided to tackle this crazy retaining wall along our driveway:

Come on white paint, save the day, please.

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Colorful Antique Crates

As soon as it started warming up, it seems like ALL the inside projects we had going on just dropped so we could get to the outdoor ones.  Can't help it, right? If it's gorgeous outside you don't want to be painting some closet or rebuilding a book shelf as the birds chirp by, you wanna be in the sun! So we've been working on our front deck big time.  I've built a few herb planters, we scored some furniture (CVS of all places!), and now it's time to cute-ify.  I saw these crates over at All Things Thrifty and knew they'd be perfect for the deck. Plus, versatile - they can hold stuff, or be a little end table, plant stand... I like that.
Take a look:

Looks great, right? But you may ask yourself, where will I find an assortment of antique crates in just my color scheme? Well, you'll make them of course.  I'm sure you've seen these bad boys 'round the craft store:

Mmhmm.  Mega easy tutorial over at All Things Thrifty, she did a great job of transforming an affordable lil crate into a piece that looks like it's been in the family a while. I need at least 6 of these, in assorted colors.  Scratch that, make it like 16, as I want to make a bookshelf out of crates someday. I love the wood look and the aged technique would totally match our "Modern Mountain" living room.... more on that later. We WERE going to do something like these OSB modular units inside, but I think they just got a run for their money...

What do you think? Is this your style? What colors would you do?  For our deck I'm leaning teals & yellows... we'll see.  Share what you're up to on Facebook, we all love to see projects!

Enjoy the day, it's another great one!

     -Jesse


Entered the String Art Giveaway? It ends tomorrow! Click here for details.

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Spotlight: Fan of Succulents

Get it? A Fan of Succulents? Because these are old fan covers! Now you see it, huh?  My sister Denise sent me this super cute planter the other morning and I fell in love! Pinned that right away. What a perfect succulent planter!  And surprisingly - I have actually brainstormed in the past uses for old fan covers, who knew I'd have enough dead fans to actually think this over?  I'd seen people make them into snazzy fruit bowls before, but really - you only need maybe one of those.  These? You could go on and on with this project and have them all over the place.

For the full project tutorial, pop over to Rancho Reubidoux.

I think you could do this with newer fan covers as well, as long as they are metal. Just pop any plastic parts out, and either give it a fresh coat of spray paint or distress it and let the weather do the work.  The metal will age well regardless and look really killer with the succulents. I wonder if you slightly sanded a the paint off the metal, then left the cover in a tub of water for a few days, what would happen? Anyone done this?

What do you think of this idea, you like? I love it. Next time I see a fan at a garage sale, that puppy is coming home!

Thanks Denise for sending the idea!
Got an idea to share? Submit it here.

Entered the String Art Giveaway? It ends Thursday! Click here for details.

     -Jesse

Linkies: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

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