My hubby went through the house and changed all the lightbulbs, and before he could recycle them I said, “Wait, I can use those for this project!” He may have given me that “year, sure” look, but I really had an idea for these little bulbs. I’ve been wanting to create a hanging lightbulb herb vase FORever and now I’ve done it and I love them. I didn’t really want floral vases, I wanted little herb vases. When you pluck a bit of rosemary or sage, the smell is amazing! We have an amazing amount of herbs always available in our yard (our rosemary grows year round) and if we need a bit for cooking, it’s right there. Ready to make one for yourself? Let’s go!

Supplies:

- Old lightbulbs

- Martha Stewart’s Multi-Surface Paint

- Painter’s Tape

- Wire

Directions: 

- First we need to prep the bulbs. Make sure you are wearing protective eyewear and gloves. Prepping the bulbs involves breaking glass, and it seems to fly everywhere! Do this project in a space you’re not worried to find little bits of glass later, cause you will find little bits of glass later. Be safe.

- Use a set of pliers to pry off the little metal disk on the base of the bulb.

- Using pliers or some sort of point, crack apart the glass inside of the bulb. When it’s broken up, pore out the glass. If there are any stuck pieces, use needle nose pliers to pull them out. Break away any extra bits of glass inside the rim. Pour some water in the bulb to swish it around and get any last little teeny bits of glass.

- Wash and completely dry the outside of each bulb. Use your painters tape to set up some fun shapes on the bulb. Tear and adjust the tape to your liking.

- Paint in the spaces you prepped for painting. Let dry completely before removing the tape. TIP: I put a chopstick inside each bulb and propped them up in glasses to dry.

- So, the Martha Stewart paint requires 21 days to cure completely, but I didn’t really wait for that. Since I’m not putting this in a dishwasher, I think it’s probably ok.

- Cut a couple 10 inch sections of wire. Make a “U” shape with one of the wires, and fold up the tips on each end (see photo below) and this will be your handle. Make a rough circle with the other wire piece, loop the tips onto the circle.

- Use some needle nose pliers to twist and tighten the wire on one of the lightbulb ridges and the tips of the “U” handle. Trim the extra bits of wire.

- You’re done! Just needs a bit of wire and some smelltastic herbs.

We hung these lovely vases in our kitchen. I love it.

- Chelsey

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If you have a Wednesday post, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, Jenni from the Blog, In The Moment With, and Live and Love Outloud.

The milk jug watering can. It’s free and easy to make! Wait…. why make it? Well, if your kiddo is like mine and wants to help you water the plants every time, and always ends up getting soaked from normal watering cans, then this is for you.

There are a couple ways to make this. You can poke holes in the lid or right on top of the jug. I failed with getting the lid to work (the lid was very flimsy), so I scrapped that idea and poked holes on the top instead. I used a large nail to start the holes (spacing them about 1 inch apart). The holes weren’t large enough to get a nice water flow from the original nail hole, so I used my  X-acto knife to trim and make each hole a little bigger. Draw on a face (kiddo asked if the watering can could look like she’s spitting… I think it looks like she’s puking, but she loves it), add some water, and put on the lid.

Hand this watering can over to your kid and HOPEFULLY it’s easier for them to water (and maybe they stay dry while watering in their jammies before bedtime).

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If you have a Wednesday post, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, Jenni from the Blog, In The Moment With, and Live and Love Outloud.

This past week I took on something new… A full on DIY with my kiddo. With her help. It was hard, but we did it. I’ll chat more about working with my kiddo at home, but for this moment I really just want to share what we made. Cardboard Playhouses! I’ve been seeing these wonderful creations ALL over Pinterest (I mean, where else) and I have wanted to make this for R. It’s cheap and easy. That’s perfect for me.

Directions:

- it’s all pretty easy… but the basic idea is starting with a couple of large boxes. There was an awesome guy that helped us, at Home Depot, to find these damaged boxes.

- Unfold the box and use masking tape to connect the flap edges of the box or boxes.

- Use a permanent marker to draw on doors and windows.

- Cut out the doors and windows with an xacto knife (watch your fingers).

- We decided to turn our 2 boxes into one giant row house, cutting a door on the inside and taping it together.

- I added some cardboard to the roof area to add height (especially since my kiddo is so tall. Put on the roof.

- If you’d like a shingled roof, cut out little rectangle shapes for the roof top. Scalloped roof? Use some paper and cut scallops out. Tape on with clear tape.

- Add paint to any doors/windows. Let dry.

- Tape or ModPodge on some cute wrapping paper onto your home. I went with ModPodge, since I know this will help keep this home cleanish for a bit longer.

- Do any touchups, and you’re done!

The kiddo has LOVED this. It’s long enough she can lay down in it (for about 10 more minutes). This was a fun project to create with my kiddo.

Enjoy!

- Chelsey

P.S. one of my favorite cardboard house inspirations is from Skunkboy Creatures.

TODAY on the Better Homes and Gardens Blog: A couple of months ago I happened to catch an episode of the Rachel Ray show. I’ve only seen it a couple of times and never actually try to watch it. For some reason… the sparkling lights in the TV mesmerized me and I had to watch. I’m glad I did. I saw the most amazing thing! Ok, not super spectacular, but pretty neat. A designer on the show shared the idea of putting earring pairs together ON buttons. Yup, a button earring holder. That means they are ALWAYS together. So awesome.

How many times have I fished around for the matching earring pair? How many hours have I lost doing this? Kidding, it’s not that bad. It will just be great to know where my earrings are.

Head on over to the blog today to see my post and a couple of extra tips for bulky earring on buttons. Have a happy Thursday!

- Chelsey