Showing posts with label Orchard Supply Hardware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orchard Supply Hardware. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

D.I.Y. Necklace Display

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Orchard Supply Hardware {OSH} they have provided me with gift cards to make an organizational project. However, all opinions and images are 100% my own.


Our family works hard on keeping our home organized, my grandfather used to say "cada cosa en su lugar" which translates to "each thing in its own place" it was his way of passing along his organizational skills. I can only hope to be as organized as he was though. 


Lately I had been having issues with my accessories, through the years I've accumulated quite a collection of necklaces and bracelets. My collection has grown out of the little trinket boxes I had them in for as long as I can remember. Not only that but moving around hasn't helped keep them at their best, some end up tangling so bad that as I work on getting them back to wearable condition they end up breaking. This time though, I wanted to create something to display my collection and  make it easier for me to find what I'd like to wear along with keeping them untangled. 

My mother has always had a beautiful necklace holder, but she has had it for as long as I can remember and I also wanted to have a place for my bracelets. Right before our daughter was born, my husband bought a lovely coat rack that had a shelve on the top and made it really functional for us, so I thought of creating something similar since I couldn't find a necklace rack with enough space for all my necklaces.


Lucky for me Orchard Supply Hardware {OSH} is just a quick 5 minute drive from our home and they have an amazing team that is ready to help make those ideas come to life. I explained to Flor {the Assistant Manager} what I was looking for and she along with Christina {she is an amazing woman that knows all about DIY and will show you how to get your project done} helped me figure out how to do my project, they took the time to show me where the ready made shelves were in the store. Which are a great idea, but I wanted to make my project a little more personal and be able to have the necklace display in a matching color to our bedroom's theme. Christina mentioned I could buy wood, OSH could cut it down to the size I wanted it at no extra cost. This was perfect, because I don't own an electric saw or any power tools. 

Here is what you'll need to make your own necklace display/holder:



Wood {mine measures 18" long x 3.5" wide, 1/2" thick}
Spray Paint Primer {This is to cover the woods imperfections}
Spray Paint {color of your choice}
Sanding material {there is sand paper, but we chose a sanding square it's easier on the hands}
Screws
Shelf brackets {for the size of shelve I made I used 3}
Cup hooks {one per necklace}
Tarp {to protect your project area from getting stained}
Gloves {to protect your hands from getting spray painted}
Face Mask {to protect from dust and paint chemicals}
Protective goggles
Nails
Hammer
Screw driver

Project Instructions:

1.- First things first: prepare the area you will be working at by covering it with the plastic tarp, it is best to work outdoors in the shade. We chose our backyard and since there was a bit of a breeze we help our tarp in place with large rocks, we protected our lawn from the spray paint. 

Then we placed all the items we would be working with on hand: sanding material, wood, spray paints. This made it easier for us to get what we needed without making a mess. 

Now onto safety, put your working gloves on as well as your safety goggles and face mask. *If you don't have safety goggles or they don't fit use sunglasses.



2.- Using the sanding material, sand all sides of the wood to make it smooth to touch. This will take roughly a minute per side. Don't forget to sand edges too, but not too much so the ends don't lose shape.



3.- Place wood on tarp on top of a rock or something to lift it up a bit and spray one side at a time allowing each side to dry for at least 15 minutes, covering it evenly and without spraying too much on it. When the shelf is fully painted, take to a dry indoor area {the garage works best} and allow it to dry for 24 hours.



After 24 hours of allowing paint to dry and set, follow these steps:

1.- Measure the shelf's length and mark where the brackets will be along with the brackets. I placed 2 brackets on each end and another in the center of my shelf for added support. I then counted how many cup hooks I'd need for all my necklaces and left 1" distance between hooks, but you can certainly place them closer. Mark where each hook will go.


2.- Hammer a nail for each screw and cup hook you'll be placing just 1/4 of each nail and pull out the nail immediately. This is to make space in the wood for the screws and cup hooks. Remember I said I didn't own any power tools, so this is how I was able to do my project by hand. If you own an electric drill then use it. 


3.- Place cup hooks using your hand, you just turn it clockwise and the cup hook should easily go into the wood. Now place each bracket into place on the shelf using the screws and screwdriver. Make sure all cup hooks and brackets are securely in place.



4.- Use a ruler to make a straight line as a guide to place shelf leveled on wall. Mark lightly with a pencil, mark with the pencil where each bracket will have a screw going into the wall. Using the bracket marks on the wall, hammer 1/4 of a nail into the wall to make space for the screws.



5.- Place shelf aligned with the line you made with the pencil on the wall, make sure it is leveled. Using the screwdriver, screw in each bracket. When done make sure the shelf is securely placed on the wall. Hang 1-2 necklaces per cup hook. For bracelets I chose small dipping bowls I had for them on my night stand and simply placed them on top of the shelf. 


And that is how you make your very own necklace organizer, for a more organized home. I have to admit this is my first DIY project that I did 90% on my own. My kids helped sand the wood and my husband helped me paint it the second time around. 




Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind, when doing this and other projects:



- It is best to follow the instructions on the can and to do this outdoors in a shady area when temperatures aren't above 90ยบ weather. Let dry for the amount of time specific to your spray paint (it will say the suggested amount of time on the can). I read the instructions lightly, had my kids help me spray paint one side of my shelf and it was during the heat wave in California, under the sun. Of course my shelf's paint bubbled while drying due to the heat. 

- Make sure you wear the protective gear, I didn't put on gloves the first time around and accidentally spray painted my hands and it took 3 days to finally have it removed from my fingers and nails plus using nail polish remover. 

- I was able to screw in my necklace display to the wall because our walls are dry wall, if your walls are made of concrete or cinder block or solid wood then you will need a power tool. OSH has an electric drill kit for as low as $24.99 it comes with accessories and it is on my christmas list this year, because I know I will be doing more projects at home.

- Do you live in a rental? We do, so making holes on the wall can be a little unnerving considering rental agreements. Never fear, OSH has a spackle kit for as low as $8.99 with this kit you can repair and cover any wall. They will also show you step by step how to apply it. 

- One last tip, do not be afraid of giving this a try. If you don't want to paint your shelf you could always use decorative adhesive paper and cover the wood with it. ;-)

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Orchard Supply Hardware {OSH} they have provided me with gift cards so that I could make my project. However, all opinions, ideas and images are 100% my own.  

Monday, August 10, 2015

Succulent Terrarium DIY

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, all opinions and images are my own. We received a gift card from Orchard Supply Hardware which facilitated our review of their products and services, however we are loyal customers of our local store.* 

Back in 1974, after my parents got married they began a small business. Four years after, when I was born began the popularity of gardening and landscaping in the city of Los Angeles and both my parents had their own staff to keep up with business. Their love for landscaping was passed onto us, we grew up visiting local plant nurseries and learning to appreciate the beauty of a well landscaped back and front yard.



While in Costa Rica, I took our almost non-existent garden to a lush tropical garden full of herbs, succulents, colorful flowers and palm trees. I love to garden, so when the time came to move back to the Bay Area we knew we wanted  our new home to have a garden for us to care for. 

Since we moved into our new home last Spring, I've been slowly working to getting our garden to where we'd like it to be. One of the major changes for us is the weather, in Costa Rica it rains 6 months out of the year and I mean rain, rain like I'd never seen before. Here, in California we are experiencing one of the worst droughts ever. Which is why it is important to chose plants that are drought tolerant. 

Just a couple of weeks ago, Orchard Supply Hardware {OSH} mailed us a gift card to visit our local store, shop and work on a project of our choice to add to our new home. When we asked for suggestions we were given the following ideas:

-Terrariums Succulent Garden 
-Lanterns Succulent Garden 
-Letters Succulent Garden 

They know me well enough to know how much I love succulents, they're so easy to care for (just water once a week) and they have so many varieties that are simple yet beautiful.



We decided to work on a terrarium. When we arrived at OSH we immediately headed to the succulent area of their gardening department and began looking at all the options they had, between the kids and I we had a lot of ideas going on. Lucky for us Ash and Tina were there to help us from choosing our materials to working on our project with us. 

One of the many perks of shopping and buying your planter and plants at OSH is that their staff can help you plant your purchased plants for you at no additional cost plus they'll include the dirt and help make it look exactly what you had envisioned for it. 

Ash was amazing with our project and explained each step of it as he worked on it. Here are the instructions so that you too can make your own terranium.

Succulent Terrarium Garden:

1.- Choose the container in which you'll have your terranium, may I suggest a glass container so you can enjoy seeing your succulent garden to the fullest. OSH has many sizes and shapes to chose from, we chose a large fish bowl.



2.- Select the decorative rocks you'll be using, OSH has a wide variety of rocks from blue to gray to white to clear ones. It's completely up to you what color you'll be using.



3.- Chose your succulents according to the size of your container  -I should warn you that OSH has so many types of succulents you will take a while to narrow it down to a few-, for example in ours we were able to fit 4 different plants comfortably. If your container is small think one or two small plants.



4.- Clean your container, place some small stones at the bottom to help with watering. On our container it was about 1-2" deep in rocks, about 1/4 of the container's size. Place cactus dirt inside container roughly 3-4" deep, you want to cover roughly 1/2 of the container with the dirt.


5.- Plant each succulent gently, inside the dirt. You can make space for each succulent with your fingers, as gardening tools are too big to use inside the container. 


6.- top off the plants with small river rocks or small stones in your color of choice.


This is what our terrarium looks like inside:


Easy, right? Best part is kids can help make a terranium and care for it. You can use the terranium to decorate inside your home. We use ours as our dining table's centerpiece, it's like having a little piece of nature inside our home. 


We had part of a gift card with a positive balance on it, so we decided to purchase more plants for our garden. 

The house we moved into has a long rectangle shape in-ground planter, that had dirt in it and along the back wall were scattered trees and plants that in all honesty looked like they needed some TLC.  During our visit to OSH we also purchased plants that would add color to our garden as well as seeds of herbs to plant, as I love cooking with fresh cut herbs such as dill, rosemary and basil. 



Would you believe that these plants come in 4 or 6 packs? That made it easier to get more plants and more budget friendly. As you can see our garden is still a work in progress, we would also love to add mulch or river stones around our new flowers and plants. We hope to have our garden ready in a few weeks. For more ideas on how to refresh your garden and home visit your local OSH, I'm sure you will find experts as friendly as Tina and Ash there to help you.