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How to Stain Wood- 5 Awesome Tips from the Pros

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That awesome project you’ve been working on is finally almost done. Maybe you built a table, or have been trying to refinish that old dresser. Now, the last step is to stain the wood and give it that professional, glossy look. If you’re such a pro that you are building your own furniture, you probably have already mastered the basics. But, for those of us attempting our first or second projects, staining wood can be a bit more tricky than we imagined. Luckily for us staining noobs, Cheryl Spangenberg at That’s What Che Said has put together an amazing list of tips:

Calculate Your Square Feet and Figure Out How Much Stain You Need. If you need more than one container, always MIX THE CONTAINERS from the beginning to ensure that you have the same color throughout.

Be Prepared and get your materials ready before you begin.

Work in Small Areas You always want a wet leading edge– you don’t want the edge of your stain to dry and leave a dark mark.

Don’t Stain Wood When It’s Warmer than 90 Degrees F. It will make it dry faster.

Don’t Over Saturate Your Wood. Apply, wipe off any excess, and keep going.

Photo Credit: Mark Englebrecht 

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How to Not Hate Your Kitchen Remodel

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I know what you’re thinking — how could anyone POSSIBLY hate their kitchen remodel? It’s at the top of many homeowners’ to-do lists, if they ever get extra money, and can totally transform your home (and even its resale value) But, like all major decorating and renovating decisions, there are a number of mistakes that can be made. Elzy Kolb at Zillowblog shares some tips on how to make sure you LOVE your new room:

1. Set a budget Although spending too little is a concern, it’s equally important to avoid overspending.

2. Indulge (some of) your whims Integrate the design elements you love as accents, not centerpieces

3. Base choices on reality In short, don’t lie to yourself!

4. Lots of landing zones Include plenty of wide-open countertop space around each of your appliances.

5. Island style These days, a kitchen island is practically a must-have. But choose carefully — an oversized or poorly located island can block traffic and workflow.

Photo Credit: Sitka Projects LLC 

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Basil Growing Tip

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We just got a new spice rack at our house, and it’s gorgeous! While dried spices are delicious and can instantly add flavor to even the most hopeless of dishes, nothing beats freshly grown herbs. Out of all the herbs you can grow at home, basil is one of the most versatile and delicious. You can use it to make fresh pesto, bruschetta, and as seasoning in pretty much any Italian dish. Unfortunately, growing basil can be tricky if you don’t know how to prune it correctly. Mamabyrd at MyByrdHouse shares the ultimate secret to growing huge basil plants:

 See how it has two leaves? That is important. On a basil plant the leaves grow in twos opposite each other. As the little plant sends up the stalk it will grow two more leaves.

You need to go to those two leaves and prune about one inch or so above them.

 Cut there and you will grow four more and so on till you have a bush big enough to make a gallon of pesto. Happy thought. :o)

Be sure to click through to the entire post to see step by step instructions!

Photo Credit: emerson12 

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How to Stain Concrete

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Always wanted a flagstone path in your garden or yard? Have some spare concrete lying around? Try out this trick from Hometalk. They used Ironite (found in lawn fertilizer) from any hardware store, coffee grounds, and vegetable oil to stain the concrete.

The total project was under $15 and looks just like real flagstone for a fraction of the cost. The whole process is only two steps and all ingredients are safe and nontoxic, and the final result looks amazing! Be sure to click through to Hometalk to see the entire tutorial, including before and after photos.

 

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Watering for the Forgetful

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My poor plants in the sunroom. It’s a good thing my husband remembers to water them.  For people who are forgetful when it comes to watering – like me – here’s a great solution for those outdoor gardens from Domestic Imperfection,

Eric made two piles of garden soil, spread it, surrounded them with a thick layer of mulch. Then he lined it with rocks we had lying around the yard…standard garden stuff. This is where I would have planted seeds and called it a day, but Eric had better plans.

First he dug a trench and laid in PVC, one arm going to each bed and one that went to the edge of the garden.

Click through and read all the directions. This is genius!

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Newspaper helps mulch

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When we put down river rock in our gardens out front, we first put down black sheets of plastic. Five years later, weeds are plentiful. However this tip from Parent’s Room looks like it could work,

The newspaper will prevent any grass and weed seeds from germinating, but unlike fabric, it will decompose after about 18 months. By that time, any grass and weed seeds that were present in the soil on planting will be dead. It’s green, it’s cheaper than fabric, and when you decide to remove or redesign the bed later on, you will not have the headache you would with fabric.

My bet is you’ll have to re-do it in another year, though!

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Preserving Cilantro for Future Use

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The best salsa recipe I’ve ever made calls for chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and onions, along with a sprinkle of garlic salt and salt and pepper.  But cilantro is so hard to preserve … once you buy it you need to use it quickly!  Because I’ve thrown out more cilantro than I care to admit because of how quickly it does go bad, I was very happy to find this link on Our Subsistence Pattern about harvesting and preserving cilantro,

As we only allow a small area of our garden for this plant, if lucky, we are able to get three good cuttings that provide us with around 6 frozen gallons. Surprisingly, both cilantro and basil freeze very well. After cutting the leaves, preferably in the early morning while they are freshest, we mix them with a small amount of olive oil… just enough to coat the leaves. They are then packed into freezer bags and frozen for later use. The olive oil makes it really easy to separate the frozen leaves and also adds an extra flavor to the mix.

Nice! Now I’ll go make some salsa and freeze the cilantro I don’t use!

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