Adventures in DIY: How-To

Showing posts with label How-To. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

DIY Miss Minutes Loki Costume

Hi there!

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I wanted to hop on to share a Halloween costume I made a couple of years ago for when we went to Oogie Boogie Bash, which is Disney California Adventure's (aka "DCA") yearly Halloween party!

I'm not the biggest Marvel fan, but I do enjoy some of the movies and Disney+ series. With Avengers Campus being a new addition to DCA that year, I decided to dress as Miss Minutes - a character from the Loki series on Disney+. I had a feeling that many people would dress up as the different Loki variants (and they did!), so I thought Miss Minutes was a great choice for a more unique character.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Baby Shower: Diaper Cake

Earlier this week, I shared the tissue pom poms I made for my friend's baby shower. Well, I also surprised her with a diaper cake. I've made diaper cakes in the past by rolling up the diapers, but I decided to try something different this time and it came out really well (and I thought was a lot easier).

Friday, October 4, 2013

Guest Post: Looking After Outdoor Furniture During The Winter Months

I've got another guest post for you all today! I don't know about you, but here in Southern California we are still having summer-like weather (it's been slowly cooling down, though - yay!). But, with school back in session and since Fall is officially here, it's time to start thinking about winding down the outdoor activities. Amy is guest posting today with some ideas for looking after outdoor furniture during the winter months...

We all love spending time outside; there’s something about those late summer nights, the sound of crickets chirping and that summer night-time smell that brings back a plethora of memories. But caring for our outdoor furniture can be another matter entirely. Just thinking about it can be a drain but caring for your patio or garden furniture doesn't have to be inconvenient or difficult. Taking a bit of time throughout the year and at the end of summer can save you a significant amount of money, and make your outdoor furniture last for years. Below, is a little guide to the maintenance and storage of your outdoor furnishings.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Contact Lens Calendar

Ok - I know I'm not the only one out there that does this, but I'm very bad at changing out my contact lenses. I'm supposed to change them every 2 weeks, and well, it just doesn't happen when it's supposed to (I won't admit to how long, mmmkay?). Anyways, after my last eye appointment, I vowed to be better at changing out my contacts (it helps that I have a friend that works for my eye doctor and she gave me a friendly ~~lecture~~ reminder about changing my contacts on time). But, I quickly realized the main problem as to why I would always change them out too late - by the time I leave the bathroom after putting in a new set, I would forget to write in on my calendar. I know how my brain works and I have to write stuff down or I will forget. So, this idea popped into my head and I'm hoping it works in the long run...

This next picture should explain much better just why it should help me remember when it's time to change out my contacts.

BAM! Yep - it's a magnetic miniature dry erase calendar on the inside door of my medicine cabinet. Dry erase marker included. Stroke. of. genius. Ok, ok, maybe not genius, but man it's the little things that get me excited sometimes.

I took one of those magnetic plastic picture frames that I already owned and found a free yearly calendar online. I printed the calendar to the size of the frame (mine was 4x6).

(Please excuse the horrible, night time picture)

I also had this pen with an attached holder from a magnetic dry erase board that I already had. I wasn't using the pen for it, so I repurposed it by hotgluing it to the back of the frame.
***Update #1*** When I originally tested the dry erase marker on the plastic frame, it wiped off easily with a tissue. However, after using it for about a month now, it's not wiping off with a tissue anymore. A quick fix? Rubbing alcohol! Just dab some rubbing alcohol on the tissue and it will wipe right off.

For some reason, the magnet on the frame wasn't strong enough to hold onto the back of the medicine cabinet door (this was before I added the marker. It worked just fine where I was using it previously - weird). So, I had to hotglue a ton of the small, round magnets on the back.
***Update #2*** After using the hot glue to add the extra magnets, I discovered that the hot glue (since it goes on thick) made the height of the magnets un-even. I ended up taking them all off and used superglue instead. This worked out way better!

I even had to add more of the magnets after I took this picture. Hey, whatever works.

I added washi tape to the top and bottom to add a bit of color. Then, cut the calendar to size and slid it inside the frame. Easy peasy!

You just have to make sure that the frame will clear any of the shelves or items on the shelves. Otherwise, when you try closing the door, it won't stay shut. I had to rearrange a couple of things on the bottom shelf, but it wasn't a big deal.

Since the calendar is pretty small, I just mark a black dot on the date that I change my contacts. So far, this is making it much easier for me to keep track.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Replacing an Electrical Outlet

A couple of months ago, I went to use one of the electrical outlets in the kitchen and it didn't work. I thought, no big deal, I'll just press the reset button on it and it will start working again. No luck. I tried another outlet in the kitchen (the kind without the reset/test buttons) and same thing - it didn't work. Uh oh - no bueno! My dad happened to be visiting about a week after it happened, so we took a look at the fuse box and it appeared everything was fine. He then took a look at the outlet and determined that the outlet was no longer good and said I would need to replace it.

I had previously pinned a couple of good blog posts on how to change an outlet, so I used them as my guide. The main one I used was this one by Young House Love. The step-by-step pictures really helped!

I picked up a new GFCI outlet at Home Depot - I just happened to be there to get other stuff, so I didn't have anything written down as far as what exact outlet I needed. So, I grabbed one that looked right and figured if it was the wrong one, then I could return it and get the right one.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, TURN THE POWER OFF! Safety first!

So, this is what I started with. Take the decorative plate off.

Then, unscrew the outlet from the wall and carefully pull it out as much as you can.

Now, since I wasn't sure if I bought the right outlet or not, before I started to un-hook the wiring, I looked to see what outlet I had vs. the one I bought. You can see in the below picture that on the left side it says "125V, 60HZ, 20AMP". I compared that to my new one and bada bing! It was the right one. Lucky me!

I did look at the instructions that came with the outlet and they were a bit confusing.

So, I proceeded to follow what I had read online - you just match up the wires from where they were on the old one. You just unscrew those screws on the side, slide the bare wire in and then tighten the screw. Easy peasy.

There was also this wire underneath - it just wrapped around the screw. I think it's called the "ground" wire.

Once all the wires were connected, I turned the power back on and tested out the outlet by plugging something in and...WHAT?!? It didn't work. But, that little light in the bottom right hand corner was on! Hmmm...

Luckily, it didn't take me too long to figure it out. After looking at the directions again...

...I remembered that I had noticed that on the backs of the outlets it showed this.

See how is says "LINE" on the left (which was the bottom) and "LOAD" on the right (which was the top)? Well, these were flipped on the brand new outlet as you can see on the directions. So, I took the outlet out again and reversed the wiring (after I turned the power back off).

Once I did that, I screwed it back onto the wall and turned the power back on. Apparently the little light just means that all the wiring is hooked up and doesn't necessarily mean you've done it correctly. Hmph.

I hit the reset button and tested it out - BAM! It worked! I figured that the other outlet that wasn't working was connected to this outlet, so after I hit the reset button, I also tested that one out and it worked. Whew! Now, I don't have to use all my appliances in the cramped spot where the one working outlet was.

I would say that this took me about 1/2 hour to do from start to finish. The hardest part was dealing with the wiring because it was pretty thick, so they didn't move very easily. And pushing it back into the wall was a pain because of the thick wiring, but since that was the hardest thing of the whole project, I'm not going to complain. And the best part of it all? I didn't shock myself! Yay!

So, now I can say that I can do minimal plumbing and electrical work! It's really nice to be able to attempt both - it saves me money from hiring a plumber or electrician to do simple jobs. Just remember to be safe when attempting anything like this! (***Disclaimer*** I'm not a professional electrician by any means. Attempt this at your own risk. )

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Beatles Abbey Road Canvas

Hi there! Today, I have a different type of craft than I usually do. It's more artsy than crafty. :)

Not bad, eh?

I had found this (below) on Pinterest and being a huge Beatles fan, thought it was way cool.

Via Always in Wonder blog

Of course, I immediately thought "oh I can do that myself". I actually planned to make this as a gift for my brother, who is also a Beatles fan. Months went by, his birthday went by and I never made it. So, in November, I finally thought that I should make it as a Christmas gift for him and this would give me deadline to get it done. I made sure to not wait until the last minute either . Ya know - just in case it didn't turn out so well. :)

Here's how I did it...

Supplies:
* Canvas
* Paint
* Image printed on paper
* Craft scissors
* Paint brush (or sponge brush)
* Adhesive

1) I Googled images of the Beatles' Abbey Road album. I happened to find one that was just the silhouettes of them, instead of the original picture. So I printed it out and using my craft scissors (they were easier to use than regular scissors), I cut the figures out. I made sure to cut very carefully in case I needed to use the "reverse" stencil.

2) Once cut, I laid out the stencils/figures, I placed them on the canvas until I got them in a spot that I liked. I liked the placement of the original that I found on Pinterest, so I used that as my guide.

3) I didn't have any repositional spray adhesive and I didn't want to use my permanent spray adhesive for fear that the stencils wouldn't come off when it was time to remove them. So, I used double-sided tape. This ended up not being a good idea, but I digress.

4) I searched through my many sample pots of paint and decided on "Anonymous" by Behr. It's a nice, dark gray color and I figured it would match with pretty much most color/decor schemes. Using a sponge brush, I just splattered the paint in all different directions. There was no rhyme or reason to it - I just splattered it until I thought it looked good.

5) Since the paint was thick in some spots, it was sort of hard to see where the stencils were. So, I decided to take the stencils off while it was still wet.

6) If you look closely at the figures in the picture above, you can see that in several spots, the paint leaked. There were jacked-up feet, hands, heads all over the place. So, I racked my brain to try to think how to fix them or if I should just go buy some repositional spray adhesive and start over. Since I wouldn't be able to go to the store for a few days, I decided to just try and fix it - if it didn't work, then I would just start from scratch. I decided to use my reverse stencil that I had taken the time to very carefully cut out.

7) I matched the figure on the canvas to the figure of the reverse stencil and taped it into place over the figure. I also held it in place with my fingers to ensure that it stayed in place. Using my off-the-shelf Pure White Behr paint, I painted within the stencil with an artist's brush. It just so happened that this white paint matched the white of the canvas perfectly. If I accidentally painted "outside of the lines", I just dipped some of the gray paint onto the tip of a wood skewer and touched it up. It was actually very easy.

8) Paul went from looking like this...

To this...

It actually looks a lot better in person - for some reason the camera picked up on the glare from the paint and made it look a bit more rough than it really is. It's not perfect, but much better than how he started out.

George came out looking really good too.

And here is all 4 of them after I touched them all up.

9) I wasn't sure if my brother would want to hang this or lean it up against a wall, so to give him the option, I added picture hanging hardware. I tend to save extra parts and had this in my stash. It came with small nails, but they were too long for the canvas - they would go right through to the front. So, I ended up super gluing it to the back of the canvas. It worked like a charm - I even tested it out.

Here's the final product. This is one where it's leaning against the wall...

And where it's hanging on the wall...

I hope he likes it!! I was actually very, very thrilled with how it came out. I'm going to make one for myself (eventually), but probably paint a nice chevron background. But, I'll definitely need to go buy that repositional spray adhesive first!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday and time with their families! And as always, thanks for stopping by.

originally posted by http://adventuresindiy1759.blogspot.com/

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