DIY Butcher Block Countertops

Tweet

This post may or may not include affiliate links. Click here for disclosure policy.

Have you ever wondered how to make your own butcher block countertops? DIY countertops are very popular right now, and perfect for kitchen remodels (the case for the photos shared in this post) 

I almost jumped with joy when I saw the photos of this amazing Walnut countertop in my news feed on Facebook. Jason isn't an installer but is now thinking of doing it on the side after doing lots of the remodel work on his home himself. If we didn't already have granite in our kitchen, I can guarantee you this would be my next home project! Maybe in the next house :) hehe. 

Anywho, Jason gave me permission to share with you the transformation and I am SO excited about it. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will ask him :) 

Jason used Walnut Wood Slats which you can see are laid down long ways and flat ways, hope that makes sense! haha. Make sure all the pieces are equal in width.

Don't forget the wood clamps! :) 

Glue pieces together and secure with the clamps (I would guess keeping them clamped for a day or two would be best)

 You can see it really coming together at this point, and it just needs some finishing touches!

 Make sure the edges are equal, and get to sanding everything down! You can see how smooth the wood is in the picture above (before it had been sealed)

 How amazing is it looking now!?! You can see that the upper left hand edge has been sanded down to an angle, and the rest of the edges are square. You could sand down and cut around the edges to give rounded corners if you are into that look! 

 Jason said he sealed this with the Bacca sealer for the gold seal system. I looked and couldn't find this on Amazon, but here is a picture he sent me of the product! That should help you find it :)

Look at the amazing finish on the countertop? Can you believe he isn't a professional?! It looks awesome!! Thanks for letting me share, Jason!

How beautiful are these countertops?! If you like this post, make sure you check out my Home Improvement Directory here! 

Pick Your Plum Giveaway!!

Tweet

It's been quite a while since I have offered a giveaway on my page....so here we go! :) I have teamed up with Pick Your Plum to bring you this amazing (SURPRISE) $25 Pick Your Plum Mystery Box filled with Awesomeness. Yep, that's right...it's a surprise! All I can tell you is it's going to be amazing...

What might/could be in the box you ask? 

Products for: (Crafting, Fashion, Baking, Home Decor)

You can enter many ways using the entry form below.

You need to sign in using Facebook or Email, then complete the entries.

I will draw a winner on Wednesday the 14th, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post may or may not include affiliate links. Click here for disclosure policy.

Craft Storage Organization

Tweet

This post may or may not include affiliate links. Click here for disclosure policy.

Have you been looking for a great way to organize your office, store your craft supplies, or handy ways to organize teaching supplies with a rolling cart? Check out my craft supply organization makeover!

I have been looking for an organization cart for craft supplies for a while now! For the longest time I had my craft supplies stored in a couple fabric bins, but that was getting to be a digging war...not to mention there were a bunch of things too heavy for that setup....

  

 So, I found this little beauty and TA-DA, all of my craft supplies and some extra supplies fit into this ROLLING CART that is so handy. I can roll this from room to room with ease on our tile floor, and it has locking wheels when I want it to stay put. It looks much better, and it is SO much easier to find supplies...NO more digging!!! 

Get your own {here}!! 

Here's what I have transfered to, I think you will agree that it looks much better, I HOPE! lol. 

The bottom drawers are big enough for yarn, paint supplies, fabric, sewing supplies, you name it!

Mason Jar Uses

Tweet

After making a Mason Jar Vase, I started looking around the house and thinking of so many ideas of what I could fill cute mason jars with, and now I bring you the "Mason Jar Uses" post!! 

Hope you enjoy these fun and cute ideas, if you have any questions or you have ideas of your own that are not included in this post, COMMENT!

1. Vase

2. Cosmetic Storage

3. Storing Makeup Brushes

4. Storing Nail Polish

5. Dispensing Cotton Balls

6. Bird Feeder 

7. Wedding & Baby Shower Centerpieces

8. Drinking Glass

9. Button Holder

10. Clothespin Holder

11. Pen/ Pencil Holder

12. Store Your Razors

13. Bird Food Storage

14. Mason Jar Herb Garden by (One Good Thing by Jillee)

15. Mason Jar Centerpiece for Dining Room by Sarah Jane Design

If you have ideas that were not included in this post, please leave it in the comments below and I will add it - or add a picture of your item with a link to your post/blog and I will add the main photo to this post! :D

DIY Energy Efficient Window Screens

Tweet

We bought our first house in Arizona and when we moved in, we didn't have any screens on the windows. I am going to share with you the awesome improvement we made by adding energy efficient window screens, and we saved money in the process by doing it ourselves! :) 

We have seen a dramatic difference in our energy bill since installing these babies, I can't believe it took us this long to think of installing them!

I was worried they would block too much sun and make the inside of the house too dark, but it is really nice and still lets in plenty of light without all of the heat. You can still see out the windows from inside, even though you are not able to see into the house from the outside during the day - Adds some privacy as well, SO nice!! 

Here's how to make your very own custom window screens for any size window you can think of...

You will need:

*Frames (we got ours in kits and made sure to measure first to ensure we had enough for all of the windows)

*Roll of screen (you can pick the percentage of blockage - ours is 90%)

*Roller

*Hand Saw

*Tape Measure

*Power Drill

*Self-Tapping Screws

Directions:

First, you need to measure all of your windows and measure the width of the frames to make sure it will fit perfectly. We cut any extra pieces off with a hand saw as shown in the picture below. This was the best method we found and it doesn't take too much effort.

My husband's advice: MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE.

Next, you will assemble the screen with the pieces cut to the correct size. It is very easy to put together as you are just plugging in the edge pieces that fit into the side pieces just like a puzzle. No need to glue or secure other than pushing these two pieces together.

After you have the screens put together, you will take the roll of screen and place on top and cut to size. Don't make it too small, as you will need some extra space on all sides to secure correctly. 

There is a little rubber strip on the inside of the screen - pull on that and remove it carefully. You will place the screen over the frame, with the back side facing up and then you will use a little roller to insert that rubber piece back into place on TOP of the screen so it will hold it in place.

After you have done this on all 4 sides, go ahead and trim off any excess screen from edges (we left about an inch on each side, don't cut too close)

The frame is now done and should look like this! 

Lastly, you will be securing the screen onto the outside of the window using Self-Tapping Screws as shown in these pictures below. We probably used more than we needed, but wanted them to be very secure - especially for the monsoon season!

Check out the insane difference between these two windows, you can still see out of the window with the screen and it lets in just the right amount of sunlight and prevents heat coming into the house. The window before we installed the energy efficient screen looks much different, way too much heat coming in through that window.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments section and I will answer them as soon as I can.

Have a great day!