Introducing My Friday Favorites Linky Party - Week 333!

I see so many fantastic DIY, home decor and green living projects on the Internet I want to share with you. I do that mostly with the Condo Blues Pinterest, Facebook page, and Twitter accounts (give me a follow, pretty please?) but oh my goodness friends, you have so much awesome going on I could be sharing your projects 24/7 on those channels and barely make a dent in all of the wonderfulness I admire and want to feature.

Not to mention, there are just as many fantastic and creative projects and recipes out there that I haven't found that I would share if I knew about them.So let's have some fun adn fix that, shall we?

We shall!

I'm joining Jerri at Simply Sweet Home   in co-hosting her Friday Favorites Linky Party! Every week you will have the chance to share your favorite DIY, craft, recipe, and creative projects using the Linky Tools at the bottom of this post. The best part of the party is not only are you sharing your creative genius with the Condo Blues blog community but also on the nine other blogs of party co-hosts!


 

21 Unique Bottle Cap Crafts to Inspire You!

I remake and makeover a lot of things using bottle caps but as our collection grows I need new recycled DIY ideas.

If you look at my Pinterest Crafts board you will see I have bottle cap projects on the brain. It seems like after I complete one bottle cap decorating project I see and pin a bunch more. (Follow me @condoblues on Pinterest pretty please?)

I can’t be the only one that doesn't this, can I?

Pint this post for later!

I thought I’d share the bottle cap craft love and show you some of my favorite recycled bottle cap projects from around the web to inspire you.

You can just drool over them like the bottle cap house. I doubt my Home Owner’s Association will let me do that or Husband for that matter.

10 Ways to Reuse Plastic Food and Laundry Measuring Scoops

Even though Husband and I try to run a low waste home with careful shopping and find new reuses for what we can't recycle through our city's recycling program, there is one thing we are swimming in and loathe to regularly send to the landfill: plastic laundry and food measuring scoops.

 Pin this list of ideas for later!

How to Make a Bottle Cap Mosaic Chair

Ewwww!

The cute little mosaic tile bistro set on our patio has lived outside in the rain sleet and snow for a very long time.

How long?

Long enough for the elements to take their toll and dry rot the wood base of the table and all of the chairs.

 

The thing I like best about the current set is the size and design of the metal ice cream parlor style chairs (minus the mushrooms.)  I wasn’t in love with anything I saw in the stores as a replacement.

Well, when I can’t buy I DIY!

Recycled Bottle Cap Craft Tutorial

 

   Pin this recycled bottle cap craft idea for later!

How to Make Motivational Chalkboard Art the Easy Way!

I learned in my garage organizing post Organize Your Garage in Three Simple Questions that hanging and storing items high on a wall doesn’t work well for a short person like me. If I can’t easily reach it without a step stool I won’t put it away in its proper place.

That’s why the wall above my recycled cabinet workbench (read the tutorial on Condo Blues here) is blank. All of my tools and DIY supplies are stored low to the ground – like me! – in the workbench.

Since that area is pretty much dead to me for tool storage, why not fill it with some motivational DIY décor?

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I read several interviews from local resident Kelly Harris when she was on Face Off. (Which is the only reality show I watch because it is all about creating cool movie makeups and not about manufacturing drama between the contestants and judges.) When asked in interviews how Kelly learned to how to do  makeup special effects, Kelly always says her personal motto is, “Try. Suck. Get Better. Repeat.”

I immediately scribbled her motto on a Post It Note and slapped it on my computer stand because she summed up how I go about doing just about every project you read about on Condo Blues. My plan was to hang Kelly’s motto above my workbench for DIY inspiration when I hit a spot in a project that makes me sing the blues.

How to Make a Pallet Wood Clamp Storage Rack

The small downside to insulating the garage walls is I lost my free wood clamp storage organizer. I can’t store my clamps on wall stud like I used to now that they are filled with insulation.
Currently my wood clamps are stored in a pile of stuff on top of my workbench. At least I think they are. There is too much junk on top of the workbench to tell. Sigh.

During Operation: Clean and Organize my Workbench and Clear My Recycled Materials Stash, I added a woodworking clamp storage rack is a quick and easy wood pallet stash bust project that took practically no time and with very few tools to make to my punch list.

Quick and Easy Workbench Woodworking Clamp Rack

 

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You will need:

Win a Naturepedic EOS Standard Organic Mattress Giveaway!

Welcome to the Naturepedic EOS Standard Queen Organic Mattress Giveaway ($2599 Value), sponsored by Naturepedic and hosted by Happy Mothering and the Green Moms Network.

   

Shopping for a new mattress can be an intimidating experience. It seems like there are so many mattress brands to choose from, and it can be dizzying to find the one that's right for you. Before you go mattress shopping, let's talk about why most mattresses on the market these days are toxic. Did you know that most mattresses are full of lots of toxic chemicals?

How to Make Rosemary Mint Salt Scrub

I recently declared a Treat Yo’ Self weekend after buying a massage special from Groupon (so much cheaper than going to the massage school and I got a much better massage too!)

A fun little family adventure with Lacey, dinner and drinks out followed. Sunday, prompted by the desire to wear a skirt on a gloriously warm day, and the state of some winter skin in desperate need of exfoliation, an in home spa day was in order since everything was closed. Otherwise - you guessed it - Groupon time.

Fortunately, everything I need to make a fantastic nontoxic and natural exfoliating skin scrub is sitting right here in my kitchen. I bet you do too!

Exfoliating Rosemary Peppermint Salt Scrub: The Step by Step Tutorial

 

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How to Make Vintage Wall Map Decor

I like big maps and I cannot lie.

I cannot tell you how many times the room I fall for in a decor magazine or on a blog features a big vintage map hanging  on the wall. Swoooooooon!

In my made up fantasy world I would find the perfect old school wall map at a thrift shop for 10 bucks, merrily dance with it all the way home, and after a rousing game of Not It Won't Fit Yes It Will with Husband, hang it on a well deserving wall in our house. Where it fits perfectly, of course.

Photo courtesy of Blesser House

Aquaponic Gardens for Lazy Gardeners

Husband and I are on again off again gardeners.

Why?

Because gardens, especially vegetable gardens, are needy. You can’t just plant some seeds and walk away until harvest time. Nope. There is the watering, the fertilizing, the watering, the thinning, the watering, the staking, the watering, the pest control, the watering…and did I mention watering the garden?

With all of our summer and warm weather activities it would be nice if there was a way to grow fresh vegetables on auto pilot or inside during the winter when we have more time for more involved projects like gardening. I’ve been thinking about growing vegetables in an aquaponic garden ever since Husband and I saw a display on aquaponics last summer at the Ohio State Fair.

 Pin this post for reference!

In both hydroponic and aquaponic gardens, the seeds and plants are not planted in traditional soil but some sort of growth medium suspended above a pool or tank of water. We saw examples of plants growing in clay pebbles, stones made from recycled glass, foam baskets, and on a floating raft.

Recycled Pallet and Pot Planters

A big wood barrel planter is so welcoming at the end of a driveway,  on a front porch, deck, or patio. Unfortunately those expensive buggers start to crack and rot a few years after you buy them.

If only there was a way, to get a lasting  wood barrel planter look for less. Then we can get down to the business of buying and growing pretty plants and not replacing their planters every other year.

There is something to say for a lasting rustic garden like this one.

Photo courtesy of  Make the Best of Things

Zipper Yoga Mat Tote Bag Tutorial

Yoga is my favorite form of exercise. Husband thoughtfully gave me a better and slightly thicker sticky yoga mat so I didn’t have to borrow his mat anymore.  Awww. What a guy!

He offered to buy me a new yoga mat bag too. I told him I had all of the materials I need in my craft room to make a yoga mat bag.

Three months later I finally got around to making it.

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My bloggy friend Jen Goode from 100 Directions asked me to be part of her National Craft Month celebration.   Jen’s blog collaboration was the kick in the seat I needed to design and sew the yoga mat bag I planned from recycled and stash bust craft materials.

How to Make a Corner Window Cornice

Our Master Bedroom has a windows on each wall in a corner and high ceilings. Installing a corner window cornice will tie the windows together and solve several window decorating problems:

• A window cornice will add visual height to the wall while also visually bringing down the high ceiling.
• I can use small scale curtain rods I already have. I don't need to buy new curtain rods that  meet in the corner or need to have a custom corner window curtain rod made or cut to order.
• I can hang off the shelf curtains lower on the wall and just touching the floor so they look like custom length curtains. The cornice hides the curtain rod and hardware.
• I can make a lightweight custom window corner for practically nothing because I am using cardboard boxes to build it.
• It’s a no sew project. If you can use a stapler, you can make this project!

How to Make a Cardboard Window Valance

 

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How to Adjust a Shower Water Temperature Valve

The shower in our guest bathroom runs cold and takes forever to heat up. It can be sign your water heater is ready to heave its last breath. Sure enough after 11 years of faithful service, our water heater went to that great metal recycling plant in the sky.

Well, actually, it went to a metal recycling plant down the round but in the sky sounds more poetic.
Shower water still took forever to heat with the new water heater. I thought it was set at a lower temperature until we passed inspection from the natural gas company.

Nope.

The natural gas inspector told me our hot water heater passed with flying colors and is already set at the correct temperature. He said the issue is with the faucet not the water heater. The water temperature regulator (also known as a scald valve) on the faucet is set too low.

How to Adjust the Water Temperature Regulator on a Kohler Shower Faucet

 

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How to Make Bottle Cap Tiles

I want another ear phone, phone, and table charger organizer for the living room to hold the overflow from the Cigar Box and Wine Cork Storage Box I made last month.

I found a decorative Indian spice box during a 10 minute tidy in the kitchen that will a few quick tweaks will fit the bill just fine thank you.

 
The interior wood dividers easily popped out of the box in my hand. I wanted to add feet to the bottom of my DIY decorative storage box.  What to use?

Bottle caps!

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12 Things I Do Not Buy and What I Use Instead

 Like most of you, I buy things on sale to save money where I can. Unfortunately, I’m just as guilty as anyone else who ran to the store to buy two things and came out with a buggy of stuff because I found a sale or a deal.

Sometimes I saved money and often times I didn't. The light bulb went off when I decluttered and organized the basement of our old place. Most of the Donate Pile was stuff I bought on sale because I thought I was saving money at the time.
  

 The easiest way to stop those intermittent money leaks disguised as saving was to stop buying things I didn't need even if they were on sale. I either gave up using it, found a reusable for a disposable, or repurposed something to take its place - all are extremely green, painless, and low cost options!

 So scoot over to my food blog Lazy Budget Chef to read my  post:

12 Things I Do Buy

Make sure you read the comments. A bunch of super smart folks shared their money saving tips there too!


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How to Make a Reversible Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day Garland

I don’t decorate for Valentine's Day or St Patrick’s Day very much, if at all. I’m not hating on either holiday.  I don’t have much room to store extra decorations that will be up for only a few weeks for Valentine's Day only to take them down and put up new decorations that will be up for only a few weeks for Saint Patrick's Day.

I got a flash of inspiration when I saw the servants hall in Downton Abby decorated with colorful cloth pennant garland in a recent episode. I know I’m a little late to the cloth garland party but a Valentine’s Day decoration I can flip over and reuse as a Saint Patrick’s Day decoration will solve my storage and holiday décor problem nicely.

Let’s get our DIY on!

St Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day Garland Decor Tutorial

 

 

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(No dog Project Mangers where harmed in the making of this project.)

 

Tiny House Living Lies

I think tiny houses are twee and adorable. I have dozens pinned to my Pinterest boards (follow me @condoblues on Pinterest, pretty please?) I applaud living in a small ecological footprint. There positive financial aspects too. I understand how freeing that can be.

But.

I find it hard to believe that living tiny is nothing but utopia.

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We never hear about the downside of living in a tiny home. Sure, there is talk of how difficult it can be to decide what to keep and what needs to go. However the elephant in the itty bitty room no one will openly admit or discuss especially on tiny house TV shows is this:

• It is illegal to park and live full time in a tiny house on wheels in most parts of the United States. Legally parking a tiny house is the most problematic issue and absolutely not addressed. Most camp grounds and mobile home parks forbid tiny houses - which is their right - as they are privately owned. Buying or renting land and plopping a tiny house on it may not solve the problem either. Local zoning laws often include minimum square footing for a house on a foundation and prohibit full time camping in a RV which is how tiny houses on wheels are classified. And sometimes what must be done to make a tiny house legal makes living in it all but impossible as Rowdy Kittens discusses here in her post On the Road Again…

 

DIY Cigar Box and Wine Cork Storage Box

More often than I want to admit, phone and table cords, earphones, and eyeglasses are strewn about the side tables in my living room.  I put the stuff away. The next evening we need the stuff to read books or watch movies on our tablets and plop it on a table before heading off to bed. I put the stuff away…

It’s a never ending cycle.

A friend found a bunch of empty wood cigar boxes in the basement of her wine shop. I was drooling when I found out. Old cigar boxes are the gold standard of recycled project material just begging for an upcycle!

Needless to say, I made my way over to her shop and came home with a cigar box to make into a decorative storage box with wine cork feet to contain the flotsam and jetsam littering the living room.

 You have no idea how much work it took to to win the eBay auction for these vintage metal frames. I had my optimist fill them with my prescription. I love them!

How to Make a Decorative Cigar Box Storage Box 

How to Make an Office Chair Mat

The plastic mats under the rolling chairs in our home office have seen better days. No matter what kind of office chair mat I buy, it eventually cracks, breaks, and sheds plastic chunks all over the carpet in the office.

I need to use a chair mat under our rolling chairs to protect the carpeting we aren't ready to replace.  Replacing the mats every couple of years isn’t sustainable. More than that it is a pain!

I solved our problem by making durable office chair mats from laminate flooring I bought at the Habitat Restore. I went with laminate flooring instead of plain plywood because I was concerned the plain plywood office chair mats would crack and break. Laminate flooring isn’t my favorite look but it is built to do the job I need it to do – be a floor.

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