In this tutorial, we'll show you how to make a weathered wood crate for a glass carboy with a few pieces of pine and some layered stain. When I was small and still looked up at the world, I loved to go fishing with my Grampop in the tiny creek behind his small farmhouse on…
Using mallets from an old croquet set and a pressure-treated 4x4, we'll show you how to make a simple and beautiful croquet mallet pool towel rack. You may remember a little post from two years ago in which I endeavored to recount a tale of a harrowing hot August Saturday (and Sunday) wherein Handan, Barish…
You've heard me bitch about our oak trees before. Look, I'm not some nature-hating monster that wants to destroy the planet, but I've really come to despise oak trees over the years. Now I know when some of you think of oak trees, you think of wide, sprawling beauties with gnarled old limbs - maybe…
These solar mason jar lights are an easy DIY that will add a little magic to your deck or patio at night! All you need are old sconces, mason jars, and solar fairy lights! Do you know who loves the word "sconce?" Geese. Especially Long Island geese. It is their favorite salutation. It is their…
It was on this very day 8 years ago that an improbable union was formed against all odds and in defiance of so many who "knew" better. They said it was a bad idea. Too risky. They said I knew nothing about her. They wanted to know why I had to go "over there." Why…
This DIY outdoor magnetic chalkboard is a great addition to any deck or patio. Hang it on your house and fill it with words or hang your favorite flowers! Do you ever watch those nationally televised talent shows? You know, the ones with the panel of celebrity judges, one of whom is usually a cantankerous…
Let's face it - chalk paint is overpriced! The solution? DIY chalk paint! This is the best chalk paint recipe online and the closest you can come to that "most famous and favored" brand. Some of you may have seen this post in its original form when I first published it 2 1/2 years ago.…
Turkish stuffed peppers (etli biber dolması) are a favorite around here. If you've never tried them, here's your chance to taste the best recipe out there! The stuffed peppers of my youth were pitiable little things, wrinkled and desiccated like the mummified remains of some long-forgotten Pharaoh buried under the hot Egyptian sands. It took…
Alcohol Ink Bottle Lights are an easy 10-minute project that look great during the day and spectacular at night. Perfect indoors or out! Look, I get it, you're a busy woman. It's hard to find time to do all the things in a day you'd like to do. What with all the ass-kicking and name-taking…