Easy DIY Paw Print Home Sign

Once upon a time, I bought a wood burning and stencil tool thinking it would be a fun hobby that would allow me to make all sorts of unique handmade signs. I brought it home, fired it up and remembered I don’t like the way I draw, and screwed up every stencil I attempted to make. I shelved all of my stencil making dreams along with the tool in m craft room.

Recently the super nice people at Stencil Revolution asked me if I wanted to try their laser cut stencils to make a project – no strings attached. Since there was absolutely no pressure and I wasn’t sure I was going to publish the project because I tend to overload the stencil with too much paint and ruin the project.

I saw the perfect dog related decorative Stencil Revolution stencil for our house, and given the no pressure requirements of the trial, I decided to cross my fingers and Lacey's paws, jump out of my comfort zone, and say yes to their kind offer.

Wood sign work in progress!

I wanted to bump a sign project with more than just two different colors of paint to make the paw stand out. Think, think, thinkidy, think.... hey!

What about using that old woodburning tool?

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Time to link up and share your fantastic craft and DIY projects, recipes, tutorials, and ideas! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us this week!

How to Make 6 DIY Cooling Body Spray Recipes (Hydrosols)

Summer is hot.

Really hot.

Add a big dollop of Ohio humidity and it feels ridiculously stupid hot.

All I can think of when the heat index makes the air temperature feel like it is 105 degrees outside (like yesterday. Ugh!) is how nice it would be if I could accessorize my outfit of the day with a wearable air conditioner.

Which  I can, sort of, if I make and use a quick, easy, and cheap body cooling spray that feels like an air conditioner in a bottle! Or if you are not the DIY type, you can buy a refreshing cooling spray here (I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

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Six Quick and Easy Essential Oil Cooling Spray Recipes

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How to Make Hot Glue Wax Seals

I want to make a bunch of favors that look like they are sealed with sealing wax. Unfortunately, real sealing wax isn’t sturdy enough to hold up if you use it to seal a letter or invitation you want to mail. I doubt it will hold up for my project.

The same goes for trying to use crayons as sealing wax or sealing wax made for hot glue guns. All great (and fairly expensive) for hand dispatched letters and invitations but not for something I want to last because they are all made from some sort of wax that easily cracks.

Keep reading and I'll show you how to make your own super simple sealing wax!

Hot glue pretty much lasts forever and is a less expensive way to make the three hundred faux wax seals I need and by using colored Mod Melts, the hot glue looks like sealing wax but is much sturdier. My hot glue gun wax seals will go through the US mail without being damaged if I chose.

How to Make Hot Glue Sealing Wax

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My husband and I are blessed with the pitter patter of new little feet this week. Meet our energetic house guest Mattis!

Hello. My name is Mattis.  

My husband and I wanted to help our friends by dogsitting but we had a little concern. Lacey still sometimes guards me from other dogs, which is one of the reasons she was rehomed with us. We've  worked on it (and still work on it when necessary) and established some rules ahead of time to set everyone up for success during Mattis' visit. We had a good first night - no guarding from anyone! 

How to Extend a Downspout the Easy Way

Your local building code my differ but most recommend the water running through the downspouts of your house discharge the water at least six feet away from the house’s foundation. Otherwise, the water can splash back and erode the soil around the downspout where rain water can get in to damage the foundation of your home.

Putting a splash block under each downspout is the easiest way to divert rainwater away from the foundation of your house and fix the problem.  That’s what the builder of my neighborhood did to our houses.

The results are hit and miss because the builder used a one measurement fits all approach and some of our downspouts are too high due to hills in the neighborhood and some of us have soil eroding under their splash blocks like my neighbor’s house shown below.

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Two Easy Ways to Extend an Existing House Downspout