Hi friends! I don’t think I mentioned it here yet but I am now a contributor to Home and Garden for Mere Mortals! This is the sister channel to the uber popular Woodworking for Mere Mortals YouTube channel. I have been asked to create quick, fun DIY tutorials for them. My first project was a garden bench makeover that you can check out on the HGMM channel, feel free to subscribe, their is lots of useful info there. That is where I need your help. I am having a hard time coming up with home decor and Home DIY ideas. I need to come up with projects that appeal to a broader audience for that channel. My audience is 90% female and I think the audience on that channel is mostly male. I want to make projects that they will care about creating too. Any ideas? This is the project video I just made for HGMM, it is a super fun one to make with kids and cheap enough to make with an entire classroom or scout troop plus it can brighten up your lawn and garden.
Feel free to substitute cement for plaster of Paris for a more durable stepping stone.
Video!
You can find written instructions and step by step photos of the project at Home & Garden for Mere Mortals. Please leave a comment if you think of any home decor projects that might appeal to men and women, I have a few ideas but YOUR ideas always spark my creativity. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
Hi I have been wanting to make Humming Bird feeders, any ideas on that one? It would be great to make the feeder and the feed. Thanks and good luck.
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that is a great idea! I have made the humming bird syrup many times and i saw an idea for a DIY feeder at a craft fair. I’ll see what I can come up with, awesome idea!
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Hi Lindsay!
I have seen a couple of examples of exterior walls that have words or designs done in moss. They just spray yogurt on the wall in your design and moss grows on it. It’s pretty awesome.
Then there are lots of interesting shelves for interior walls such as floating books or boxes that hide electronics that look like a group of encyclopedias on the outside.
How about grow towers? These are 55-gallon plastic drums that have cuts all over that with heat the bottom of each cut is pulled out creating a cavity or pocket. A center 6″ pvc pipe with lots of holes in it is where your vegetable scraps go. Add worms and they move in and out of the center pipe to eat the scraps. The worm casings create rich dirt. Plants are put into each pocket. Unbelievable amount of vegetables and strawberries are produced in this grow tower. Minimal weeding, easy heights for harvesting. A fantastic project! Check out videos on these.
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great and ambitious ideas!
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Reblogged this on ustitleorem.
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Congrats on your new venture, know they will all love you! Very cute idea to make with the grand kids….
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Love the video!
Ideas – Mosaic table top
Containers for hanging on a fence for a container garden
Paper lanterns made from something sturdier than paper bags or thin paper
Wind chimes
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good ideas!
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Repurposing pallets, doors, shutters, painting techniques such as aging, distressing, chalk etc. Good luck and I know you will be great!
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Well, we know you won’t be doing any gardening ideas. LOL That leaves electrical, home repairs, home improvement, and plumbing. Hmmm…Is there a chance your hubby can do something and you can narrate it? How about doing wallpaper borders? Sewing kitchen cafe curtains? Recovering an ironing board? Framing a picture? You already have a good one on framing stitchery–would you need to redo it for use on the new channel? How to care for composite countertops and molded in sinks or whatever kind you want. How to change the washers in a faucet to stop a leak. (I know that isn’t decor, but it is good to know how.) What tools to buy or collect to fill a home repair tool box. How to install a Molly bolt to hang heavier objects like a large mirror or picture. You know how fashions recycle about every 20 years, maybe something vintage would be fun.
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all good ideas Pat!
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Congrats Lindsay!
What about fairy houses for outside. It’s such a fun and cute idea to place one by a tree trunk but my goodness the stuff is expensive. Might you have some homemade ideas to keep the cost down?
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Congratulations, Lindsay!! Perhaps you could share some unique ideas for birdbaths, a sundial, or even paint a Peace Pole for the garden. Can’t wait to see what’s next! ♡
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Hi Lindsay, love the stepping stone, maybe you could show how to make pots out ot compost and cement, not sure what its called, but when it’s dry looks like stone. Thanks. Lilian in Cornwall GB.
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Hi Lindsay, I decorated a terracotta planter once by carefully tearing away the top fancy layer of a flowery paper napkin. We just tore out the printed flower shapes and stuck them on with pva glue the when dry, coated outside of the planter with pva to seal the paper. The planter lasted for years. I live in Scotland so it gets quite wet and cold in the winter but it stood up to the varying temperatures.
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Love it Lindsey! Congratulations on your new venture
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Congrats. I have faith that you will come up,with some amazing ideas.
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Great Idea. I always wanted to do the handprints of the grandchildren this way and have them decorate around it with marbles, ect. Good Luck with your new venture!
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Hey great with new adventure yet again!! Years ago someone painted a sunflower on a wooden utility spool-I have a couple you’re welcome to practice on-I always wanted to do it!! I’ll even deliver and pick up!! Haha!
Also like the idea of inexpensive fairy houses. Good luck!
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that is so nice of you lorraine;) I have seen a “spool” table since I was in collage LOL!
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How about fountains made from plumbing salvage or kitchen items. Outdoor fish ponds. Aquaculture tanks are popular too. 25 years ago we honeymooned in Maine and visited a gift shop where someone has made a calla lily plant from copper piping that was a drip fountain. We couldn’t afford it but my husband primised to make one for me “someday”.
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Here’s another idea my husband likes. Painting a scene on screen doors. There used to be a company that made the screens or stencils. Lighthouses, landscapes, etc. Like pointillism you see it best from a slight distance.
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Lindsay, a bird bath and a sundial come to mind. This sounds like a challenge. Stuff for men is always difficult to figure out that also appeal to woman makes it double rough. Good luck and blessings, your Florida friend, Della
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Ha Ha. You doing full on gardening DIY. I laughed so hard I… swallowed my iced tea down the wrong pipe. (Just kidding tho)
You should do DIY Tabletop decoration. Take a wooden or plastic outdoor table or side table and do a painting on it. I think acrylic would be best. Simple designs or use stencils. Then some sort of protective coating over the top. Voila! One of a kind outdoor table. I know you love to paint anything you can get your hands on. For those who don’t feel comfortable with free-hand painting they could use border stencils or small flower stencil designs.
I have been thinking of doing this project myself– that is how I thought it would be something you could do. Just be sure to put some kind of sealer over the paint so it stays protected from the elements and weather. Your hard work needs to stay looking pretty.
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Oh– you could even use a wood burning tool and Burn your design into a wooden table top. The possibilities are endless.
Don’t you just love when you come up with an idea and the ideas just keep flowing. It is like a craft smorgasbord in my head. LOL
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I need ideas on place mats for the patio table that will stay put when the wind blows, and something cute for the unused umbrella hole in the table. How about yard art made out of window frames/wooden doors — perhaps to hang flower baskets or bird feeders or wind chimes. I just saw on Pinterest recycled, painted tires wrapped in rope and turned into planters– if you can’t use the same idea, it could be a take-off for something similar. My hubby re-purposed the metal pieces for the edges of interlock (one side is flat, the other is many triangles with holes in them for nailing them to the ground) He nailed them to the Interior garage walls and attached bungee cords all along them to store garden tools, car brushes, etc. I’m sure you’ll have lots of ideas of your own from the suggestions everyone has given. Congrats and best wishes for your new endeavour!
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I love the stay-put placemats idea!
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How about butterfly baths made from cement, rhubarb leaf and sand, sometimes painted with patio paint and a fish tank pump to keep it bubbling.
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Hello, from The Old Dominion! Here in Virginia, we don’t need more heat in our houses, as a rule, so I was thinking of using a wooden plank and a forstner wood bit to drill holes into the plank large enough to hold battery-powered votive-size candles. Don’t drill all the way through the plank. These are nice to use for seasonal decor among plants or leaves, or in the fireplace when you aren’t having a fire going.. Don’t use this kind of thing for a real candle!
I thought about a “Granddad’s coat rack” using hubby’s old pipes (the ones he smoked)., Into a wooden plank drill holes the size of the stems (remove the plastic bits on the pipes), insert stems, glue, glaze and hang with the pipe bowls upright to hold coats and scarves. (Make sure not to use his favorite briar!)
Thank you for your interesting projects and DIY suggestions through the years. Good luck with your new show!
Suzi Edwards
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Hi Lindsay! I have a question. I’m in charge of my church’s VBS craft time and it’s coming up in a BIG HURRY! One of the crafts requires several strips of duct tape for each student. How would you prep that? I’m prepping 40 projects. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Dawn, you could always cut the strips and put them onto plastic or just cut it for them at the time. Cut the strips you need for each person and then stick them to like a baggie or something plastic, maybe delli paper. Don’t know if that would work or not.
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then them on a sheet of waxed paper:)
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Wow Lindsey, a male audience……how about bird houses. That is a tough one LOL Good luck with your new show and congratulations.
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Maybe how to refurbish kitchen cabinets, talk to your husband and see what he knows and then ask him to tell you how to do it. Just a thought LOL
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What about painted rocks. I have some I painted—they are flat slate like; I’ve painted scenes on them. They make great porch decorations. Shaped rocks can be painted to look like critters. Might be fun for a dad and the kiddos to do as a gift for mom, grandmother, even grandpa for fathers day (a ship in the water scene). Mine were done with acrylic paints that have been outside on my porch for several years and still look great. One is a cottage surrounded by flowers and trees. I have limited painting skills, anyone should be able to do these. Mind, don’t use good brushes on rocks—it will ruin them. Rocks are very forgiving too.
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Think you are lucky that your hubs is into woodworking too. I have a friend whose hubs carves animals and Santas. She paints them. How about something easier like round rustic lazy Susan for patio table that you paint or a cut flower container for said table. Napkin rings? Pretty citronella holder?
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I love these homemade paving stones. My kids make them so cute. I like that they are personalized and then it makes them want to check on the garden. Thanks for posting.
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good point! My daughters made one with out dogs paw-prints too, so cute!
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Making the stepping stones looks like a fun time! I think that this could make a great family project to work on with eachother and make our own custom stones for our garden. Each child could decide where to put theirs. It would be fun, easy, cheap, and strengthen the family.
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