Category: Home DIY

Affordable, Awards, Banquets, Basketball Players, Building It Yourself, Easy To Build, Football Players, Home DIY, Living, Storage Ideas, Things-to-Do, Trophies, Tutorials, Woodworking

DIY Trophy Shelf: How to Build and Hang a Trophy Shelf in One Afternoon

sharondashariee

DIY Trophy Shelf: How to Build and Hang a Trophy Shelf in One Afternoon

I’ll admit it, I know my way around tools and woodworking a bit. But don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert to tackle this project. This DIY trophy shelf is simple, affordable, and quick to execute with just a few tools and materials.

For years, my family’s trophies sat forgotten in a tub, then later on a cabinet, gathering dust. Honestly, I should have built these shelves ages ago. Don’t make the same mistake I did! Grab your materials today. Finally give those hard-earned awards, or any items you have been wanting to display, the showcase they deserve. Let’s get building!

Materials You Will Need:

  • Common Board

You can find one here for about $20:

 1 in. x 12 in. x 6 ft. Common Board 458511 – The Home Depot

  • Heavy Duty Shelf Brackets
  • Purchase them here for about $18:

Amazon.com: 4 Pcs Heavy Duty Shelf Brackets 8 Inch Industrial Metal Floating Bracket Shelving Supports Wall Mounted with Lip (Not Included Planks) : Tools & Home Improvement

Tools:

  • Saw (or have your local hardware store make the cuts for you if you don’t have a miter saw)
  • Sandpaper
  • Measuring tape
  • Drill
  • Stud finder
  • Leveler
  • Spray paint or stain (your choice of color/finish)

Let’s Get Started:

1. Cut Your Board

If you are making your own cuts, measure and cut your board to the desired length. In this example, I am making two 3-foot-long shelves from one 6 foot length board cut in half.  If you do not have a saw at home, do not worry. Most local hardware stores can make cuts for you.

2. Sand Your Boards

Move to a workspace or table and lay your boards flat.  Begin sanding each side until the surface is smooth to the touch.  This will likely be the most time-consuming step.  If you have a power sander, I highly recommend using it to cut your sanding time in half.  I sanded by hand this time because I did not feel like dragging my sander out.

Once you have sanded down both sides and eliminated any rough edges, dust off the boards to remove debris.  Be sure to also dust your workspace so it is clean and ready for the next step.

3. Paint or Stain

I chose spray paint because it is fast and easy. Staining the wood is another excellent option. It provides a beautiful finish. I have done both in other parts of my home, and they both look awesome.  Paint or stain one side of the boards and let them dry while you prepare your wall for the shelves.

4. Measure and Mark the Wall

While your boards are drying, go to the space where you plan to hang the shelves.  Use a stud finder to locate the studs in the wall.  Mark the stud locations with a pencil to ensure the shelves will be properly supported.

Next, measure and mark where the brackets will be placed.  Drill the first bracket into the wall. Use a leveler to ensure the second bracket is even before drilling it into place.  Repeat this process for the second shelf. Use a trophy or another item to gauge the appropriate spacing between the shelves.

5. Finish Painting the Boards

Once the brackets are installed, return to your workspace. Flip the boards over to paint or stain the other side.  Once finished, allow them to dry completely. (Pro tip: use this drying time to take a break or, in my case, make dinner!)

6. Assemble the Shelf

Once both sides of the boards are dry, bring them inside and place them on the brackets.  Arrange your trophies or other items on the shelves how you see fit.

7. Show Off Your Work

Finally, call everyone in to admire your craftsmanship.  Enjoy the compliments from your family. They will tell you what an amazing job you did building and hanging a trophy shelf. You accomplished this all in just one afternoon!

Final Thoughts: This project is not only quick and rewarding but also customizable.  You can build a display for trophies, books, or decor. This method can be easily adapted to suit your needs.  Happy building!

Farmhouse Table, Home DIY, Home Improvement, Living, Modern Farmhouse, Self-Care, Things-to-Do, Woodworking

DIY Farmhouse Kitchen Table

sharondashariee

We bought our first home in 2018, and like many others, the first thing we thought was, let’s go shopping!

Well, that’s what we though, but for us, that was not an actual reality after dishing out closing and down payment funds. So what did we do when we needed a dining room table at a reasonable cost? We DIY ourselves a farmhouse kitchen table. I began researching and found the amazing Ana White. Ana White provides free, printable, and easy to follow woodworking plans for hundreds of types of projects.

My husband and I used her “Beginner Farm Table” plans to build our farmhouse-style table. Link to the plans we used: https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/beginner-farm-table-2-tools-50-lumber

Ana states in the plans that only two tools (drill and a saw) and $50 are needed to build and complete the DIY farmhouse kitchen table and immediately my husband was skeptical.

TIP: Your local home improvement store will make cuts for you for free if you do not own a saw. Some policies charge .25-.50 cents per cut after two cuts.

We are not woodworkers by trade, so we were not sure if the tool assessment or cost was accurate. I said to my husband, we should go price the materials. We did just that at our local home improvement store, and the $50 cost was spot on (see editor’s note).

For us, all the lumber and screws were about $55 with local taxes. We had to buy stain and paint in the color we preferred, so that was an additional cost and if you do not have a drill, that will also be an expense. A drill will be cost worthy for future projects, if you plan to build other projects around your home, so consider it an investment.

Ana provides a cut list and specific instruction in each of her plans to make it simple to shop for what you will need at the home improvement store.

It took us a weekend to build the table. We sanded, stained, and painted over the next week. We let the table cure for about three days before we put it to use. We built the table inside the house, otherwise it would not fit through the doorway once we completed it. The length of the table is 8 feet, and width is about 4 feet. From start to finish, total completion time was 10 days, with having to go work in between.

Editors Note: This post was originally published August 19, 2019 and has been revamped and updated for comprehensiveness.

Our DIY farmhouse kitchen table is still our main dining table 5 years later, in 2024.

Home DIY, Living

Art & Prints Refresh for Less

sharondashariee

This canvas had a beautiful, yellow, and orange pear painted on it. The canvas hung in my kitchen. A few years ago, I repurposed the canvas and created a “gather” sign to hang in my themed modern farmhouse home.

Doing a refresh in a few spaces and decided to update the gather sign once again.

Out with the canvas, and I went with a grayish/black metal, glass frame from HomeGoods for $29.99. That is typically more than I would normally pay for this type of project, but I had these frames on-hand for a different project that I have not done yet so I decided to put it to use now.

Anyhow, I searched Etsy for a digital download of a gather print I liked. I paid $5. The Etsy seller even made the image high resolution for free, so I could print to poster size, 24×36. Then I sent the digital print to Walgreens for printing.

Walgreen’s Photo Center often has 50% off printing promo codes. If you do not see a promo code displayed on the screen for your project, wait. Printing a 24×36 inch poster sized print is normally $32.99. I paid $16.49 plus tax.

Tips: 

  • Find inexpensive frames from Dollar Tree, Amazon, HomeGoods, etc.
  • Find digital art or prints on Etsy from sellers with a style you are looking for.
  • Find art on art.com and society6.com.
  • Use Walgreens or a similar print shop to print your digital art or print.
  • Always use a promo code to save money.

My gather sign refresh cost $21.49.

Did you know about this printing hack? Have you used Etsy, art.com, or society6 to print art or digital prints? Where do you typically buy your frames?

Food Opinion, Home Cooked Food, Home DIY, Homemade Food, Living

Bacon Ranch Macaroni Salad

sharondashariee

I was craving macaroni salad.  I am the only person in my house who eats it, so I rarely make it.  I decided to try a different version, Bacon Ranch, to see if I can persuade the family to give it a try.  I got the recipe from Pinterest (Pinterest User: LifeInTheLoftHouse.com) and my 10-year-old daughter asked if she could make it.  She whipped it up in no time. She only needed help with boiling the noodles.  She could probably do this part as well, but I have not relinquished boiling or frying to her, yet, for obvious reasons.  I asked my husband to take care of the noodle boiling, and she went from there.

The Bacon Ranch Macaroni Salad was a hit with everyone. We will definitely be adding this to our menu of optional sides, especially when we grill.

Recipe:

  • 1 package (12 ounces) tri-color rotini pasta
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 package (1 ounce) dry ranch dressing/seasoning mix
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 8 slices of cooked bacon chopped (The recipe suggested using pre-cooked bacon, just threw in the microwave and done.  Best advice ever! Also, if you do not eat pork, just skip the bacon. Turkey bacon will not do this recipe justice).
  • 1 large tomato, diced (Most of the house does not eat tomatoes, so we left them out).
  • 1 can (4.25 ounces) sliced black olives, drained
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (We used ½ cup of cheddar cheese).

Instructions:

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add rotini pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain water. Rinse pasta with cold water to cool. Set it aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, dry ranch mix, garlic powder and milk. Add pasta, cooked bacon pieces, tomato, olives, and cheese to the bowl. Gently toss to combine everything.
  3. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. (We ate it immediately, and the next day it was just as good).
Beginner Gardener, Gardening, Home DIY, Lemon Tree, Plants

Semi-Dwarf Meyer Lemon Tree

sharondashariee
Semi-Dwarf Lemon Tree (Meyer Variety)

We planted a lemon tree.  It is a semi-dwarf Meyer lemon tree.  It can grow up to 6ft, but no more than 8ft.  I planted it in a beautiful piece of pottery we purchased from the Plant Stand to contain its size.

I had been to the Plant Stand and walked around taking in all of what they have, and they have A LOT.  Real and artificial plants and trees.  Indoor and outdoor plants.  Small, medium and large pottery.  I took my husband back because he would like to grow new trees in the backyard, and I told him the Plant Stand may be his source.

The Plant Stand of Arizona
Falling Green 20″ Potter

I went online as well and browsed around.  I decided to go back to get a planter for my new lemon tree.  It was hard to decide because there are so many great choices, but I fell in love with this planter.  I paid $83 and they will cure the pot for 20% of the cost, which was about $16 for the protection against the continuous watering and ailments.

The Plant Stand has many selections of pottery fitting any style. Here is another snippet of what they have to offer indoors.

When I do anything, I research all there is to know about it, or at least I try.  My Google search, “what soil should a beginner gardener use for food gardening?”  This soil came up many times, on many lists so I decided on this one.  It was $7.47 per bag at Home Depot.  I purchased 2 bags, but I only needed one and little bit.

Miracle Grow-Cactus, Palm & Citrus Soil

I took my Meyer lemon tree out of the original container, along with its native soil and combined it with the Miracle Grow-Cactus, Palm and Citrus soil.  We purchased the lemon tree from Lowe’s Home Improvement store for $30.  Next, we watered the soil and placed the tree in the space  that will be its home for now.

Have you grown citrus before?  How many fruits does your tree produce yearly?

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Location Visited:

The Plant Stand of Arizona
6420 S. 28th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85042

Website: www.plantstandaz.com

Gardening, Home DIY, Living

Building a Raised Garden Bed

sharondashariee

Let the growing games begin!

  • Shipment from Amazon

This has been a thought in my mind for a few years.  After taking in gardening content for the purposes of growing food, attending classes, and stalking the amazing gardeners of Instagram, I am finally jumping out there with what I know to see what happens.

I ordered this raised garden bed on Amazon.  It was super easy to put together.  If I can harvest just one thing that is edible, I will be a happy woman.

As mentioned, I purchased this garden bed from Amazon.  This raised bed is not available directly through Amazon anymore, but there are a ton of options to choose from.

The pieces were packaged nice and secure.  Every piece was cut precisely, to allow the groves to slide into place.  There are no tools required to build the actual box.  You will only need a screwdriver to screw in the screws that attach to the decorative pieces on each corner of the raised bed.  I used a battery pack drill to do this, easy, but you can use a hand screwdriver with a little elbow grease.

The total build time took 22 minutes, from start to finish.  I built it alone, in my dining room.  No help is required.

This bed seems to be a great product and it gathers great reviews.  I paid $99.  The current cost of this specific raised bed at the time of this post is, $109.

This is where you can order the garden bed directly:  www.bestchoiceproducts.com

Added bonus: Free shipping, no minimum.

Do you have a home garden?  If so, what are you currently growing?  If not, what would you like to see me grow in my garden?

I hope you follow me along this journey.

Home DIY

$10 Blanket Ladder

sharondashariee

Have you guys seen these ladders that you hang blankets on?  They are a cute way to store your blankets and have them close-by when you want to snuggle up on the sofa and watch T.V.  Well, I wanted one, so I hopped on the internet to buy one but there were no blanket ladders less than $50.  That weekend I headed out to a few stores to buy one, cause certainly a retailer had to have these things for less. I spotted a cute one, I slowly approached and flipped the tag over, $125.  I said to myself, oh wow!  Blanket ladders are serious business. I guess I must make my own.  Click the *link in bio* to see how I created a blanket ladder for $10.

Back on my sofa, I open the app called Offer Up.  Offer Up is an app. where you can buy and sell items locally.  It’s basically an online yard sale.  It has an added feature where you can have an item shipped to you if it is not local.  I searched ladders within a 10-mile radius.  Just a regular, used, wooden ladder.  I found this one, listed for $15.  I asked my husband if he’d go with me to pick the ladder up (don’t ever go by yourself to pick these items up, stranger danger).  He agrees, even though he sees no purpose for a blanket ladder.  Just get a blanket from the linen closet when you’d like to have one, is how he sees it.

Anyhow, as I mentioned this system is like a yard sale, so my husband offers the seller $10 instead of $15 and the seller accepts.  You can also negotiate the price of the item prior to pick-up.  We get home and I start to break the ladder down because you only need one side for this project.  I wasn’t strong enough to tear the hardware away from the sides that held it together, so my husband assisted.  He used three tools, a drill, pliers and a hammer.  After he had the two sides separated, I removed the excess bolts, screws and metal straps.  Recycled the wood and metal from the other half that I wasn’t going to use.

I got a can of white spray paint, specifically for wood, that I bought at Home Depot but didn’t use.  My daughter (she never lets me leave her out when I’m DIYing) and I went outside, hand-sanded the ladder with a sheet of sandpaper torn in half, and then dusted it off with a cloth.  Laid the ladder down on a drop cloth and sprayed one side.  We let it dry for about an hour, turned it over and sprayed the other side.  Let it dry for another hour.  It was done.

The next day I purchased two blankets to match the space and hung them on the ladder.  I love that I completed this for only $10 and a few hours time.  Now, the blankets are on the floor or in-use more than they are on the ladder.  Why? Because I have kids, but hey at least they are putting the blankets to use is what I tell myself.