When we bought our house I was pregnant with my first son. Our house was built in the 90’s and the previous owner’s didn’t do a lot of updating. Our kitchen countertops were    PINK!

One of my favorite things to do is refinish old furniture. A lot of things I’ve bought in the past were from consignment stores and were decent quality but over time became out dated. This particular desk I found when we were out on a family walk during trash day. Yes, I am not above trash picking!  Especially when it’s an Ethan Allen writing desk that’s probably around $2,000.

This is seriously one of my greatest finds. It had a little bit of wear in the front from where a chair or something seemed to be rubbing but other than than it was in great shape! I couldn’t believe our neighbors were throwing it out!

I forgot to take a picture of the condition it was in when I first found it, but here’s a photo after my first pass at sanding it.

1. The first thing I like to do is use some liquid sandpaper or de-glosser just to take the clear finish off especially in those nooks and crannies where you can’t get to it well with sandpaper or a sander. I let it sit for a while to really penetrate the finish and then wipe it off with a damp rag.
   
   
2. Next, I use my orbital sander to go over the flat surfaces. I start with some 80 grit sandpaper and move to 220 grit sandpaper to create a smooth finish. I don’t ever use the orbital sander on any edges or places that have detail. It will make marks and deform the shape of the wood. I hand sand all of those areas. You can fold the sandpaper and run it in the creases. This part requires a ton of elbow grease but is an important step in having your new finish adhere properly.
   
3. Once I’ve finished sanding. I wipe down the surface with a dry rag. You can also use a leaf blower to clear out the sanding debris from all of the cracks. This step is very important because you don’t want shavings mixing in with your stain or paint. It will make the finish gritty.
4. Now comes the fun part: staining or painting! For stains I like to use a cotton or cloth rag to really push the stain into the wood grain. I chose a stain called Carbon Grey by Varathane. If you’ve chosen paint, a nice soft paint brush will do. Be careful not to use to much paint especially when painting vertical areas or areas with detail in order to avoid drips and paint blobs. Once you’ve laid down your first coat it’s very important to let it dry completely. If you try to add stain or paint too soon you’ll end up taking off the first coat and ruining the finish. (Trust me I’ve done it!) There’s no sense in rushing and having to start from scratch!
   

   Here it is after a first coat.

    

5. Once it is fully dried from the first coat it’s time for a second. You may even need to go back a third time and cover any spots that are still showing.
   

   Second coat!

    

6. The next step is to add a protective clear coat. I usually choose a satin polyurethane because I don’t like it to be too glossy or too matte. It’s really a matter of preference. This step will make your furniture easier to clean and wipe down from spills and dust.
   
7. Last step is to replace the old hardware. You’d be surprised how much new hardware can make an old piece of furniture look completely updated. I kept the hardware on this desk because I liked it but I could have bought some new knobs or drawer pulls to change the style. You can also spray paint old hardware to different colors to create a unique look.
   

Ok, so I have to post about this because it has become my latest obsession which I’m sure it has also for many of you. I have a friend that invited me to a Facebook party for a brand of DIY acrylic nail strips decals called Color Street. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, but if you haven’t this concept is totally amazing. They are literally nail polish in the form of stickers or decals that stick onto your nail and have the same finish as if you just got a manicure. They take about 10-15 minutes to apply and the options for designs are limitless!  Keep reading to find out how to make fake nails at home that look real!

This year has been an incredible challenge with trying to achieve some sort of normalcy in our lives as I’m sure it has been for so many. My son’s school Halloween celebration is coming up and there’s a lot of rules about the what type of costume he can wear. As an avid DIYer I’m not only working on his Audrey 2 Halloween costume but a costume that will fit all the rules his school as requested. They must obviously be wearing their non-medical masks so he requested Jack Skellington which is a perfect way to tie in his mask into his costume. In this post I will show you how to make your own Jack Skellington Face Mask!

You can make this recipe a few different ways. You can use fresh ripe tomatoes for a wonderful summertime quick pasta sauce. This way is quicker and more vibrant than using canned and I highly suggest trying it when your garden is at it’s peak! Another way is to use your quick and easy canned tomatoes you’ve got stored in the cabinet, or sometimes you may run out or you just don’t have a garden but still want a great easy recipe. In this case you can use store bought tomatoes or sauce. If you buy whole canned tomatoes in sauce you can just put them in a blender and add in place of diced tomatoes. I recommend finding a brand that does not have added salt. It’s better if you can control how much salt is used. Either way works and all make for great options at dinner time!

Fresh Homemade Italian Pasta Sauce

October 15, 2020

by Steph

Cuisine Italian

Category Dinner How-To Recipes

Persons

6

Serving Size

1 cup

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Notes

You may also make this recipe in an instant pot or pressure cooker for a faster cook time. See instructions below.

Ingredients

• 4-5 TBS of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2lbs of Fresh Ripe Tomatoes or 1 Jar of preserved
• 1/2 Onion Diced
• 3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic Minced
• 1/4 Cup of Fresh Basil -additional 3TBS for garnish
• I TB Dried Oregano
• 1-2 TSP Kosher Salt
• 1/4 TSP Fresh Ground Pepper
• 1-2 TSP Sugar

Instructions

1. Wash and prepare tomatoes for a rough dice. Remove stems while dicing. No need to remove seeds. Once all tomatoes are prepped, set aside.
2. Dice half an onion and set aside.
3. Drizzle about 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep wide sauce pan and set heat to medium. You can also use your pressure cooker and use the sauté function.
4. While oil is heating add diced onion and minced garlic. When the onions become translucent and the garlic becomes fragrant add in 1 tablespoon of dried oregano. Gently stir. Do not let the garlic burn.
5. Add diced tomatoes and turn heat to medium high. Continue to heat until tomatoes begin to break down and become watery. Turn heat to medium low.
6. Add 1 TSP of kosher salt and a 1/4 TSP of freshly ground black pepper. More to taste if needed. Add 1/4 freshly chopped basil.
7. Let sauce simmer for about a half hour. If using the pressure cooker method set the pressure cooker to 20 minutes on high. When finished, taste to see if more seasoning is needed. If the sauce is too sour or you prefer a sweeter sauce, add a TSP or two of sugar.
8. When the sauce is finished it should be thickened for serving.
9. Serve over your favorite cooked pasta and add some fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese on top and ENJOY!

© 2021 Copyright The DIY Handy Mom

If you have a garden and you grow tomatoes, there comes a time when you’ve got more than you can handle! You’ve probably got it in your mind to can them but you know it’s an all day event and you just don’t have the time between work and the kids! Each day that goes by you toss another moldy tomato in the trash and think “Ughh all that work gardening and here I am throwing them away!”  Canning tomatoes (a.k.a. jarring tomatoes, or some people call it water bath canning tomatoes) can be easy, even for beginners.

I will show you the quickest easiest way to can or jar your tomatoes that will take you about an hour or two tops!

Hi! I’ve had some time to blog with my 5 year old back in school and my 2 year old still taking naps, so I’m starting this post as a preview for my 5 year old’s Halloween costume this year. It wasn’t easy trying to figure out how to get my son to make up his mind, but as soon as he heard “meat eating plant” he was all in on the idea!  Keep reading to learn how to make your own DIY audrey 2 halloween costume!

This time we took a family trip to go get supplies at JoAnn Fabric. I used to have to drag my husband and both boys there, but since this pandemic has had us all cooped up, they’ve been much more enthusiastic about leaving the house!

The firs thing I took a look at was fabric. I selected some cotton. It’s relatively inexpensive and very easy to work with. Two shades of Green for the leaves and body. Some accent foliage looking print and some pink which will be the base for my mouth, and I’ll probably embellish the  mouth with some purple acrylic paint to resemble the REAL Audrey 2!

Hi! So it’s been a while! My oldest is 5 and my youngest is 2 now!!!! Now I have twice the challenge for making super awesome DIY kids Halloween costumes! YAY! Before I move on to double trouble, I have to share one of my of oldest son’s amazing Halloween costumes! For those of you that have seen the movie Gremlins, I decided to make a Gizmo costume that was to die for! I always go into each project not knowing how the heck I’m going to pull it off and it always seems to come together.

As always I headed to my favorite store JoAnn Fabric to look for what I needed. I feel like they have a great selection of various types of fabric and I know I’d seen some furry looking fabric before. I chose a few that had the longest looking faux fur I could find. Be aware you need to know your child’s measurements before you go and grab your fabric.

For this post, I do not have a lot of step by step pictures as I am a doer and have a super hard time documenting when I’m in the swing of things, but I can demonstrate by adding drawings a descriptions that will help.

When you’re a new home owner, you learn a bunch of new things you didn’t know. You also learn a ton of other things you didn’t know you needed to know. How to clean dryer vents fell into the second category for me and my husband.  I didn’t really know much about it until my parents came for a visit. My dad noticed a lot of lint hanging out of exhaust vent on the side of the house.  Driving around town, I started to notice companies advertising their services of “Dryer Vent Cleaning” with images of houses engulfed in flames due to dirty dryer vents. As a DIY evangelist, I decided I would take on the job so that you too can learn how to clean dryer ducts and vents yourself.