Category: Upcycling

Decorate a Terra Cotta Plant Pot with Acrylic Paint and Stencils

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date May 16, 2016
1 Comment on Decorate a Terra Cotta Plant Pot with Acrylic Paint and Stencils

Decorate a Terra Cotta Plant Pot with Acrylic Paint and Stencils

Terra cotta pots decorated with paint and stencils

Supplies and Materials
*Indicates items available at Schnarr’s

Terra cotta pot*
Acrylic paint*
Water-based varnish or sealer*
Small containers for mixing paint (can be disposable cleaned food containers)
Rags for cleanup*
Paintbrushes*
Water container*
Sponges*
Decorative stencils
Letter and number stencils*
Palette knife for paint mixing
Palette (could be a proper artists palette or a temporary one made from freezer paper*)
Sandpaper* (optional)
Memory Essentials Get Rollin’ tool
Memory Essentials Bits and Pieces
Optional – heat tool for speeding up drying between steps if you need to
Masking tape*
Optional – disposable plastic gloves* if you want to keep paint off your hands
Drop cloth* for work surface

Painting and stenciling terra-cotta pots is a fun and inexpensive way to enhance your patio or garden decor. Younger and older crafters alike can join in. Small decorated pots can be used as party favors. Medium-sized pots might provide the base for a table centerpiece. A large pot could function as a gift basket that you can fill with items for a loved one who likes gardening. Gardeners can always use extra small items such as gloves* (they tend to wear out with regularity), seeds*, bulbs*, bug repellent*, gardener’s soap, hand lotion*, sunscreen*, lip balm* and plant tags*. You can also throw in a gift card* so they can get exactly what they want!

You can use either a brand-new terra cotta pot or a used one. I kind of like a used one for this project because I’m going for an artificially aged or distressed look and and that’s easier to achieve if the pot already features some stains from being used. A brand new pot will work also.

Directions

1. Clean and dry your pot.

2.Using your acrylic paints, mix a terra cotta color that is lighter than your pot. Good colors to use in the mix are white, brown, orange and maybe red.

3. Put some water-based varnish in a small container and mix in some of the light terra cotta color. Brush some inside your pot to see how translucent it is. I used a stiff brush that was about 1″ wide. You should be adding a light, translucent haze of color in which you can see some brush strokes. Paint the whole inside of the pot and let dry. This step achieves two objectives – it seals the inside of the pot and tests your mixture to make sure it’s right – not too opaque and not too transparent. Normally one of the benefits of a terra cotta plant pot is the porosity, but since we’re applying paint to ours we don’t want water seeping through and wearing off the design over time. Set aside the remainder of the paint/varnish mixture to use later.

4. On your palette, squeeze out some green, yellow and white paint. Use a sponge to blend these colors in random ways and lightly sponge paint onto your pot in random areas. This is to simulate lime scaling and moss or algae that would normally appear on a terra cotta pot over time as it’s in use. After this paint is dry, if you need to tone it down any you can sand it lightly or sponge a litte of your translucent light terra cotta color over it.

5. The next step is to apply a loose vertical texture to the rim of the pot to accentuate it. I used a Memory Essentials Get Rollin’ tool with rubber bands on it from the set Memory Essentials Bits and Pieces. This is one of my favorite textures of all time and I’ve used it in paper crafts, fabric surface design and all kinds of random projects over the years. If you don’t have these tools you can create a similar texture tool by wrapping rubber bands or string around a wood block. Spread some cream-colored paint on your palette and run or press your tool in it then apply to the rim to make the texture. Let dry.

6. Select a stencil or stencils for applying a design to the side of your pot. You might want to use letter or number stencils to create names, initials, words or house numbers. In my examples I used decorative stencils in garden-related designs. Temporarily tape the stencils to the side of the pot with masking tape. Put some cream-colored paint on your palete (do not thin with water) and apply paint through the stencil with a dry sponge. When you’re done, pull off stencil and either wash paint from stencil immediately or put in a container of water to wash later. If your design requires more than one color, use a clean dry sponge for each color – a moist sponge will make your paint run under the stencil and mar the design. While you’re working, if you don’t want to pause and go to the sink to wash paint from your stencils, brushes and sponges at each step, throw them in the container of water until you’re ready to do cleanup at the end. Let stenciled paint dry on pot.

7. Take a look at your pot and see if you like the appearance the way it is or if you want to make it a little more distressed. Randomly hit some areas with sandpaper if you want to “age” it a bit more. Wipe off dust with a slightly damp rag.

8. Paint outside of pot with your translucent light terra cotta / varnish mixture. Let some brush marks show, but smooth them out a bit if you think they are too prominent. Turn pot over and paint the bottom to seal it. Let dry. You’re done!

For more information on stenciling, here are some of my other articles:

If you want to take the idea of using a decorated pot as table decor or a party favor a little further, here is an idea you might like from my personal blog. Make a bouquet out of seed packets with free templates that I provided for download and display it in one of your decorated pots.
Make a Seed Packet Bouquet

Tags decorate a plant pot, garden crafts, gift ideas for gardeners, plant pot, stencil a plant pot, stenciling, terra cotta planter

Backyard Wildlife DIY Gardening Sustainability Upcycling

Making a Pollinator House – Part 1

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date March 3, 2016
1 Comment on Making a Pollinator House – Part 1

Making a Pollinator House – Part 1

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

It’s becoming increasingly common to see structures called “Bug Houses” or “Insect Hotels” in gardens. Some people get squeamish at the mention of bugs or insects so perhaps the most appealing way to label such a structure is “Pollinator House”. Such structures are provided as a nesting and sheltering area for beneficial insects.

Most people are familiar with the pollinating actions of honeybees, bumblebees and wasps. Social bees and wasps are beneficial to the garden in many ways, not only by pollinating but in the case of wasps eating garden pests.

It’s understandable to be nervous about the idea of having colonies of stinging insects living in your garden because some of these species are very aggressive about defending their homes. If you want more pollinators in your garden fortunately there are other bees and wasps that are easier to co-exist with peacefully. If you fear you have attracted the wrong kind of bee or wasp to your garden, I recommend getting help from an expert before deciding how or if to deal with them.

I don’t mind bees and wasps because I can identify them and know how close I can safely get to them. I also don’t have any serious allergic reactions to stings. I work in the garden alongside Honeybees, Carpenter Bees, Bumblebees, Cicada Killers, Mud Daubers, Potter Wasps and others with little apprehension. Honeybees often land on me and I just stay still until they fly away. I steer clear of Yellow Jackets because I know from experience they will sting if you inadvertently disturb their nest (happened last summer in a client’s garden). I don’t attempt to eliminate them unless they are really in the way or other people are in danger. Even though I’m in the garden a lot I only get stung once every several years or so. The consequences for me are some brief anger, localized soreness and itching for a few days. The consequences for others could be far more serious and even deadly so use your best judgement.

Many of the solitary species of bees such as Mason and Leafcutter Bees like to nest in hollow plant stalks or holes in old wood. We take away many of these potential nesting sites by cleaning dead plants and old wood out of the garden. Some amount of cleanup is necessary for human safety, aesthetics and homeowners associations but we can mitigate the effects of a too-clean garden by building a Pollinator House. As an added benefit you may get other desirable insects such as ground beetles and butterflies hibernating in the structure.

Insect Hotel at Missouri Botanical Garden
Here are some suggestions about what materials to use:

Stones and bricks
Dead leaves
Twigs or twig bundles
Corrugated cardboard rolls
Dried seed pods
Paper straws
Hollow reeds – preferably 6-8 inches long, closed on one end
Drilled pieces of wood – variety of hole diameters, 3-6″ deep

The structure should be sturdily built to avoid toppling.

Where to place the house:

Protected from high winds
Partly in sun and partly in shade to meet a variety of species preferences
If possible near water and mud for drinking and nest building

Dad's fence is falling down
You can have a lot of fun designing your Pollinator House by creatively using materials, limited only by your imagination. I started a simple one for my Dad’s garden, custom designed to solve two problems for him.

Problem 1 – Decorative garden fence is falling apart and sagging
Problem 2 – Lots of sticks lying around from deadfall and pruning

Propping up fence with cinder blocks
Solution
I bought 12 cinder blocks and used them to prop up the ailing fence. Then I filled some of the spaces with twigs and short segments of hollow, dead plant parts from the garden. I drilled some holes in some pieces of scrap wood. A variety of hole sizes and depths are good for different species. As we get more material we’ll keep filling in the spaces in the blocks.

Filling the blocks with nesting material
The result is practical and may not score high marks in the aesthetics department. However the fence is located in the middle of a mint patch (also a superb beneficial insect attractor) and it will be partially concealed by vegetation for much of the year. If Dad agrees I think I will add shelving to the top for containers of trailing plants which will help disguise the blocks. I will probably have to work on the bases of the cinder block towers to make them straighter since the ground here is soft and did some settling after I stacked the blocks.

Dad is pleased that his fence is at least upright again and he’s happy to do his part for invertebrate conservation. Dad’s garden was designed with wildlife in mind and already supports an abundant population of beneficial insects.

Hopefully my condo association will approve a Pollinator House in my garden. I don’t know what my chances are but I do know that my Pollinator House is going to have to be pretty to even have a prayer of getting approved. I guess I will have to make it portable so I can sell it if they say no! They have previously said yes to a bird house but a bug house might be a harder sell. Stay tuned for a more aesthetically pleasing Pollinator House plan in a future newsletter!

More information about bees, wasps and insect shelters:

Bees – tips for co-existing with them in the garden
Bring Back the Buzz
Nests for Native Bees
Tunnel Nests for Native Bees – has some good information about maintaining the nests after use
Potentially Dangerous Arachnids and Insects – if you need some help identifying which insects are a serious threat to people and which are not, this guide will help

Tags bee hotel, bee house, beneficial insect house, beneficial insects, insect conservation, insect hotel, insect house, invertebrate conservation, pollinator house

DIY Home Decor Upcycling

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part III – Filling in the Tile “Murals”

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date September 15, 2015
1 Comment on Kitchen Backsplash Project Part III – Filling in the Tile “Murals”

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part III – Filling in the Tile “Murals”

It’s a good thing I make detailed notes as I work, because this kitchen backsplash project underwent a two and a half year hiatus! I didn’t really plan to neglect the project for that long, but in 2013 and 2014 I did a lot of art and craft shows and my studio space and time was necessarily diverted to that pursuit rather than home improvement projects. In 2015 I’m doing fewer shows and determined to finish some of what I started earlier!

The next step in finishing my kitchen backsplash is to complete the tile work in four frames spaced at intervals above the strip. These are inspired by Spanish and Mexican tile murals in their shape and placement though they don’t attempt to depict any kind of representational scene. In the interim I had carved some new rubber stamps of ancient petroglyph designs and made some small stoneware tiles from them which I decided to include.

Using paper templates, I laid out my designs on trays in the studio, then transported them to the kitchen.

As you can see in this picture, since I last worked on the tile strip, I installed a narrow shelf above the back of the stove. This is made from a piece of recycled flooring. I painted it in a color harmonious with my intended future paint scheme and sanded the edges for a slightly distressed look. I used corner brackets to mount it to the wall, attached with screws so I can remove it when it’s time to paint the wall. It is meant for holding some of the small Southwestern-themed collectibles that I keep in the kitchen. Later on I’m going to install another shelf above this frame with hooks on the underside for displaying a favorite set of collectible coffee cups.

Here is the frame partially filled with tile. Using a pencil and ruler, I marked where the large tile in the middle would go then worked out from the middle and the edges. I dabbed a bit of tile cement on the back of each piece and pressed it in place. Normally with tile work a quantity of cement is spread out on the surface first before the tiles are placed, but my way of working is slow so I wanted to make sure the cement didn’t dry before I could finish an area.

After the tiles are allowed a sufficient time to dry according to the directions on the tile cement bucket, the next step is to grout the tiles!

Tags ceramic, handmade tiles, home decor, kitchen backsplash, mosaic tiles, salvaged tiles, tile backsplash

DIY Home Decor Upcycling

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part II – Beginning Work on the Walls

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date September 14, 2015
2 Comments on Kitchen Backsplash Project Part II – Beginning Work on the Walls

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part II – Tile Design and Beginning Work on the Walls

After absorbing inspiration and stockpiling tiles for my kitchen for three years, how did I begin the process of actually getting some tiles on the wall?

I’ve been intending since I moved in to my condo in 2004 to eventually repaint the kitchen. The paint in this room is rough, and even worse, it’s pink! So it has to go and until it’s repainted it doesn’t matter to me if I mark it up with pencil or tape.

To begin my designs I cleared everything off of the counter top and used a ruler and pencil to mark where I wanted strips of tile. This work would be too much to be completed in one work session. It being necessary to use the kitchen in between work sessions, I had to devise a way to design and install the strips in sections.

I decided on a repeating pattern that would appear at intervals, with more free-form arrangements in between. I measured where the repeating elements would go and decided how many I would need, then I went into my studio and designed one of the repeating sections. Then I made sure I had enough of those tiles to repeat the pattern the required number of times. Choosing the tiles from which to create the repeating patterns could have been an overwhelming task, given the number of tiles I had accumulated – I had been collecting them for multiple projects, not just the back splash. For help I referred to the swatch page I had made for my kitchen to help me keep in mind what look and feel I wanted for the room. I hung up the swatch page nearby and sorted out tiles that seemed to fit. That narrowed down the selection and from those I was able to come up with the repeating pattern. I laid each section out on a tray in my studio and carried it into the kitchen to install each section, then repeated until all the recurring sections were in place.

After that was done, I filled in the spaces between the repeating segments, then added a strip in a terra cotta color above it.

A strip similar to this would be very easy to do with purchased or made to order tiles of a uniform size. Since I was including a lot of salvaged tiles however, I had to do a lot of piecing, cutting and nipping. I’m very pleased with the result and I think it was worth the extra effort – it would not be to everyone’s taste but is exactly the kind of look I wanted. There is no way anyone would be able to replicate this design exactly even if they wanted to!

While I had the tiles out, I decided to do a strip by the pantry as well.

I drew an outline of the area to be tiled on the paper that covers my studio table, then filled that in while working out my design. When I was satisfied, I placed some of the tiles on a tray, carried it to the kitchen, and installed the tiles one section at a time. I marked the wall with pencil lines before beginning so that I didn’t go out of the allotted spaces while installing.

While working on the tiles, I gave some thought to the future paint scheme of my kitchen and picked out color swatches. I put the swatches and some notes in my idea book and also marked in pencil what color goes where on the kitchen walls.

Tags ceramic tile, handmade tiles, home decor, kitchen backsplash, kitchen makeover, mosaic tiles, salvaged tiles, tile backsplash

DIY Home Decor Upcycling

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part I – Introduction

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date September 13, 2015

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part I – Introduction

When I wrote in my previous article Decor Idea Book that my home decor would take years to complete, I was not exaggerating. I’ve been interested in tiles and mosaics since I was a teenager, but the real impetus for beginning to decorate my condominium home with tile was a visit in 2009 to Henry Chapman Mercer’s Fonthill Castle in Pennsylvania. Among other things, Mercer was a tilemaker in the Arts and Crafts era and his historic home is decorated with outstanding examples of the tilemaker’s art, both from his own designs and tiles he collected on his travels.

What brought me to the vicinity of Fonthill was a buisness trip to Philadelphia. I arranged with my employer to arrive a day early so I could visit Fonthill Castle. The morning after my visit, I sketched tile design ideas in the hotel restaurant while waiting to meet my boss for breakfast. Later on I gave some thought to how I would turn these designs into tiles. Mercer favored plaster press molds, but since I had a small company on the side for which I designed rubber stamps, I decided to turn my designs into stamps and use them to impress the clay tiles. See my tutorial Mosaic Table Table Top With Textured Clay Tiles to learn my technique for making tiles from rubber stamps. In 2015 while on the way back from a trip to the Northeast I was in the vicinity of Fonthill again, so I stopped in the tileworks shop to buy some tiles made from Mercer’s original molds.

One of my favorite places to vacation is the Southwest, and for awhile I was taking so many trips to that area on Route 66 that I was in Santa Fe for at least a day or two almost every summer. Although I’ve been interested in art and crafts ever since I can remember, my first visit to Santa Fe while on a family vacation at the age of 16 was a life-changing experience. It was so different, so exotic and so saturated with the arts that I decided then and there that art was to be my area of study in college and I did eventually graduate with a Fine Art degree.

Over the years I’ve been to Santa Fe enough times to have a favorite restaurant – Cafe Pasqual’s – and a favorite motel – El Rey Inn. In September of 2009 I was on a trip with my family on the way to Arizona and we stayed at El Rey. It was Mom’s first time there and she was enthralled with the grounds. Since tile work and plans for my own home were on my mind, we wandered the exquisite grounds together and took lots of photos, with tiles prominent in my photos for future inspiration. On this trip my brother and I also introduced my parents to our favorite suite at El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM, the Ronald Reagan suite, with extensive tile work in the bathroom. Everyone should experience these historic properties at least once in a lifetime – you won’t be sorry!

Since Southwest decor and good food seem to go together, I decided the proper place in my home for Santa Fe inspired tile work is in my kitchen. Over the next 2-3 years I made a lot of tiles for this project.

I’ve been augmenting my growing store of tiles with recycled tiles that I picked up at Leftover’s Etc., a teacher’s resource recycling center where you can get donated leftover art and craft supplies for a very reasonable price. Since the stock varies depending on what is donated, collecting tiles suitable for a specific project can take quite a while, so it suited me to acquire these periodically while I slowly accumulated a stock of handmade tiles. You might ask, why not just buy the tiles you need and get it over with? There are beautiful tiles available commercially – one could make a lovely kitchen with these. However, while I’m sure I could design a very nice backsplash out of commercial tiles, my preference for my own home is to express my love of ceramics by putting more of myself into the project. Another thing that makes this project more personal and special is that in addition to my collection of salvaged tiles purchased from Leftover’s Etc., over the years I had accumulated tiles from sources significant to me – I added in some that I recycled from an old farmhouse down the street from where I grew up that was demolished when I was in college, and some that I dug up from the construction debris-filled soil while working on my current garden. Whenever I work in my kitchen I’ll get pleasure from thinking about how I made or acquired the tiles in front of me.

The next major step forward in my kitchen backsplash project occurred in the fall of 2012. I had just returned from a vacation/sabbatical which included a one-week workshop at Arcosanti, an experimental community in Arizona that teaches concepts in architecture, sustainability, re-use of materials and many other topics of interest to me. Visitors to Missouri Botanical Garden will have seen some bronze bells made at Arcosanti. There is a ceramics studio on the site and many areas of the community are decorated with wonderful tile work.

To see more of my Arcosanti Photos, check out my online albums:

2012 Trip Week 2

2012 Trip Week 3

I went to Arcosanti to be inspired, and wow was I ever! Upon my return I was fired up to work on the backsplash due to what I had seen and I was satisfied that I finally had enough tiles to begin. Look for Part II of this series to see how I incorporated all these creative influences!

Backyard Wildlife DIY Gardening Sustainability Upcycling

Upcycled Butterfly Feeder

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date September 10, 2015
1 Comment on Upcycled Butterfly Feeder

Upcycled Butterfly Feeder

This project was so easy that I worked on it up at the Schnarr’s cash register between customers!

When I got a new dishwasher this spring, I decided to get rid of my broken garbage disposal rather than purchase a new one. When it was working, I rarely used it anyway since I composted almost anything that would normally go down it. In a way it’s kind of a bad habit because I already have more than enough stuff but I do enjoy saving odds and ends of things I might be able to re-use and seeing if I can make them into something useful. My Dad installed my new dishwasher for me and removed the old garbage disposal and he gave me several ringlike parts that he thought I might be able to use for something. One of them fits perfectly a glass part of a broken fountain/mister that someone else gave me.

Ring from garbage disposal and glass dish.

The glass bowl-like object rests nicely in the ring, so I decided to make a butterfly feeder out of it. The ring has three rolled tabs protruding around the outside edge. It was an easy matter to thread some chain through these tabs to suspend the feeder. From Schnarr’s I purchased some chain of a suitable guage and some small s-hooks to link the chain pieces together.

First I made three short equal lengths of chain. I pulled chain links apart with pliers to separate.

Next I threaded the small chain pieces through the rolled tabs to make loops, securing each with a small s-hook that I pinched closed.

Connecting chain pieces to ring tabs with s-hooks.

Next I cut three equal longer lengths of chain and secured them to each small loop by pinching closed the other end of each s-hook. Then I gathered the three chain lengths together and the top and secured them with another s-hook which can be used to suspend the feeder from a beam, tree branch or stand.

With longer pieces of chain added for hanging.

Finished butterfly feeder hanging from a beam above my deck.

At right is how the finished butterfly feeder turned out.

What food should one put in a butterfly feeder? If you have visited the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Faust Park you have probably seen plate feeders stocked with fruit in the conservatory. Butterflies like to sip juices from the fruit and according to Sally Roth, author of one of my all-time favorite gardening books “Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard”, they like it even better if it’s fermenting. That’s a good way to get use out of fruit that has gone bad.

Butterflies feeding on overripe bananas at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House.

Other foods that Roth suggests offering in butterfly feeders:

A clean chemical-free sponge or kitchen scrubber soaked in sugar water
Meat and fish scraps – especially if they are juicy
Fungi – if you don’t like to leave the fungal growths that pop up spontaneously in the garden in place, you could add them to the butterfly feeder – the butterflies will appreciate it!

It is evident that some foods that butterflies like are not attractive to humans. What you choose to add to the feeder may depend on your tolerance for odors or the possibility of attracting other wildlife. If you do not want other insects such as wasps and bees to access the food, you can make a cover from window screen or wire mesh that will allow the butterflies to poke their long proboscises through the screen into the food while excluding other insects.

I’m writing this toward the end of summer so there is not a whole lot of time this year for butterflies to make use of my new feeder. When the weather gets too cold for butterflies I’ll hang the feeder from a ceiling hook near a window in my home and use it as a plant hanger! In the fall I can always use extra space for plants when it’s time to bring them inside – they have a way of multiplying in the warm months, don’t they? I’ll put the feeder back out in late winter, perhaps even before flowers are in bloom, so that early-emerging butterflies can get something to eat if they need it.

Tags backyard wildlife, butterfly conservation, butterfly feeder, butterfly gardening, butterfly habitat, garden wildlife, insect conservation, invertebrate conservation, Sally Roth, Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, upcycling, wildlife gardening

DIY Gardening Sustainability Upcycling Ways With Wood

Make a Garden Sign Out of a Recycled Produce Crate

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date September 9, 2015

Make a Garden Sign Out of a Recycled Produce Crate

What you’ll need:

Thin wood produce crate
Sturdy screwdriver or pry tool*
Saw*
Wide masking tape*
Paint*
Paintbrush*
Decorative stencils
Optional: Letter and number stencils*
Sponge or sponge brushes*
Temporary palette (freezer paper* or old plastic lid)
Drill*
Hammer*
Outdoor varnish*
Nails*
Brads*

*Available at Schnarr’s

In a previous article I described stenciling with paint on a wood garden sign. That works great if you don’t want a lot of small words but I found myself in need of some new garden signs that would require a lot of text on them. I decided to find a way to computer generate the text and put it on a weatherproof sign. In the past I had purchased produce from a co-op and had saved a couple of the thin wood crates thinking they would be useful for garden markers of some kind. I decided to make small signs from this wood and print out my text on clear acetate and attach that to the signs with brads.

I have some special gardening challenges where I live. I want to have a Permaculture garden. Different people will define Permaculture slightly different ways but the easiest way I can explain it is that I want to manage my garden in a way that works with nature instead of fighting it in order to save both labor and money. Surrounding my condo are large Oak trees which deposit mass quantities of leaves each season. The types of plants that thrive under trees are adapted to grow in the conditions created by a yearly deposit of leaf litter which is not removed but left to decay in place. However since I live in a condo, the leaves are removed by the groundskeepers which causes a lot of problems. I have mostly perennial plants which are not intended to be replaced each year. The leaf blowers make the plants look bent and bedraggled, as if they’d just been power-washed. The plants need the winter protection provided by leaves, so I have more die-off than I should. Leaf litter helps soil retain moisture and most shade-adapted plants like moist soil. When the naturally provided soil protection is stripped off, the soil dries out too much. I can see why a plant seller would be happy about this, but I’m a plant consumer and I’d rather keep the ones I have rather than keep buying new ones! To keep plants alive I have to water more which costs the condo complex money. I can and do put down mulch, but the leaf blowers blow a lot of it into the lawn which doesn’t help either my garden or the lawn to look it’s best.

I think my garden would look a lot better and be healthier and require less maintenance if the groundskeepers would leave it alone. I have explained the situation to the condo management and they have agreed to let me deal with the leaves myself this season and keep the leaf blowers away as an experiment. Getting the agreement is one major step forward, getting the groundskeepers to comply will be another challenge. I don’t expect the groundskeepers to remember which is my garden, there are around 1,500 units where I live. So I obtained permission to install six signs to place around my garden which would read: “PERMACULTURE GARDEN. Please do not remove leaves, trim plants, or spray plants. Please do not use leaf blowers. Please do not allow dogs in garden. Thank you!” I worked this text out in computer graphics software and for good measure added icons to represent no leaf blowers, no spray and no peeing dogs. I looked online for the graphics and was amused by how many choices of “No leaf blowers” icons there are! I must not be the only person who finds they interfere with my gardening techniques.

These signs will have to be somewhat prominent to be seen, so I tried to make them as attractive as possible and harmonious with my gardening style. First I pried apart the salvaged wood produce crates to get the wood pieces, then I cut them into 8 inch long sections. For each sign I placed two pieces together and held them together in the back with a piece of wide masking tape. This created a roughly square sign (8 x 7.5 inches).

I painted a rough square of off-white paint in the middle of each sign, treating the edges very loosely for a rustic look. Then I used some medium avocado-green paint to stencil botanical designs around the edges. See my previous article Stencil a Wood Garden Sign for detailed information on how to stencil on wood. Then I painted the backs and fronts with several coats of weatherproof varnish.

Sign ground after painting, stenciling and varnishing.

Then I took my computer generated text to a copy shop and got six copies printed in reverse on clear tranparencies. The reason for printing in reverse is that I think the ink will hold up better to the weather if it’s on the back of the clear film.

Next I punched four holes in the corners of the pieces of film and drilled four corresponding holes in each sign. Then I attached the film to the wood with brads.

I purchased six wooden stakes from Schnarr’s, sanded them and varnished those as well. Then I nailed the signs to the stakes and installed them.

Here is one of the six finished signs! If all goes well and I actually get the opportunity, I will write about how I chose to deal with the fall leaves and what the results were.

Tags fall leaf management, garden signs, organic gardening, permaculture garden, shade gardening, stenciling, stenciling on wood, upcycling

DIY Gardening Home Decor Upcycling

Terra-Cotta Mosaic Planter

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date June 3, 2015
1 Comment on Terra-Cotta Mosaic Planter

Terra-Cotta Mosaic Planter

You can make a plain terra cotta planter more interesting with ceramic tile pieces!

What You’ll Need

Terra Cotta planter
Disposable latex or vinyl gloves
Paintbrush
Black oil-based waterproof enamel paint or color of your choice
Paint thinner
Liquid soap in a pump-top dispenser
Rags (you’ll need several)
Tile cement
Small putty knife
Old plastic lid
Small plastic tray

Eye goggles
Broken up ceramic pieces or tiles
Tile grout
Heavy leather gloves
Hammer
Optional – tile nippers
Optional – abrasive sponge
Optional – dust mask
Optional – cement pigment
Tile and grout sealer
Small bucket of water

1. Whether your terra cotta planter is new or you’re upcycling an old one, be sure it is thoroughly clean and dry.

2. Put on disposable gloves and paint the planter inside and out. You will probably need two coats to cover completely. The reason for painting the planter is to keep water from seeping through the wall of the planter and weakening the applied tile pieces. Normally the porous nature of terra cotta is desirable but in this case it would harm the durability of the tile work so we’re sealing the surface. If you need a refresher on how to clean up oil-based paint and care for your brushes, here are some tips:

How to Clean Oil Paint from Paint Brushes

Cleaning Brushes

If you want to avoid having to clean up oil-based paint, you can substitute water-based paint. Your finished project might be less durable but if you choose a good quality high-gloss water-based enamel paint that should help. I used black paint in my samples because I wanted it to match the black tile grout that I used in my demo. You can choose different paint and grout colors if you want. Painting the pot in sections and letting it dry while resting on the unpainted portion helps you do a neater job. You’ll need to let the paint dry between coats.

Terra cotta pot painted with black enamel

3. While you are waiting for the paint to dry, you can start getting your tiles ready. What are some good sources of tiles?

Break up old broken ceramic items into smaller pieces. One way is to wrap pieces in an old towel and smash them with a hammer. Wear leather gloves and goggles when you do this to protect yourself from sharp pieces. For more refined shaping of small pieces, you can cut them with tile nippers. The broken edges can and will cut you if mishandled so be careful! If any pieces are unacceptably sharp, you can try filing them or smoothing them on a grinding wheel.
A teacher/artist resource recycling center – a lot of the tiles I’ve accumulated for my projects came from Leftover’s, Etc. (http://www.leftoversetc.com/)
If you have access to a ceramics studio, you can make your own tile pieces – see this tutorial of mine to learn how to get started – http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/mosaic_table_top_with_textured_clay_tiles.php.
Commission a local ceramic artist to make some tiles for you.
By far the most convenient and quick way to get tiles is to purchase them from a craft or tile dealer. Craft dealers also sometimes have glass tiles and faux seaglass which is well worth some experimentation.

Broken ceramic pieces ready to install on plant pot

Painted bread pan with tiles ready to install

This photo shows more prepared tile pieces along with some metal bread pans painted and ready for tile application. The bread pans were rusty and/or afflicted with peeling non-stick coating so I decided to upcycle them. I sanded and cleaned them thoroughly before applying paint to make sure the paint would stick. You can try this with a variety of old metal containers – I’ve made a mosaic tile planter out of an old metal roasting pan as well.

4. Cover the lower portion of the planter with tile pieces. You can attempt to follow a planned design or use a random arrangement like I did in my samples. On an old lid, put out a small portion of tile cement, about as much as you can use in 15 minutes. Put a small dab on the back of each tile and press in place. If you are using pieces of varying thicknesses as I am, it will be easier to grout later if you try to even up the tile height by putting more cement on the thinner pieces.

5. Let the tile cement dry thoroughly – see instructions on the package for how much time this is.

6. When it’s dry you’re ready to apply grout. I chose to use black grout to match the black paint on the pot. You can use any color of grout that you want, but it will probably look better if the grout and paint colors match. If you don’t find grout in your preferred color, it’s possible to tint grout with cement pigments. If you decide to do this wear a dust mask while mixing. Be sure to mix up a large enough batch to complete the whole project because it might be difficult to mix the exact same color twice unless you measure the materials very carefully. Grouting is very messy, especially with dark colors. I recommend you wear old clothes and protect your work surface and floor. Have plenty of clean rags on hand and a small bucket of water for cleanup. Don’t be surprised if you need a bath when you’re done!

7. Put some grout in a small plastic tray, such as one left over from a microwave dinner. Add water until it’s about the consistency of soft cream cheese – a little at a time to make sure you don’t add too much. Stir it with your putty knife as you add the water. Try to only mix up small amounts at a time so it does not start to set up before you’ve applied it.

Put on your disposable gloves, and use a rag to pick up a portion of tile cement. Smear it around to fill the cracks between tiles. The rags will help protect your hands from sharp pieces so always make sure there is a rag between your hand and the pot. The thin disposable gloves will protect your hands from being irritated, dried out or discolored by the grout, but alone they will not protect you from cuts.

After one section of the pot is grouted, go back over it with a succession of fresh rags to remove the grout from the surface of the tiles. Dampen the rag with a little water toward the end to get them really cleaned off if needed. If you can’t get them all the way clean with rags only, try an abrasive sponge. This step takes a lot of patience, you will probably have to wipe each section several times, especially when using a dark grout color like I did in my sample. It’s also a rewarding step, because you can start to see how your design will turn out!

Repeat this process until the whole pot is grouted and cleaned.

Be careful not to dispose of any grout in your sink – it could clog the drain. Dispose of any rags that are really soaked with grout – I put mine in the compost. If some are only slightly dirty, you may be able to re-use them by rinsing them in a bucket of water. If you do that, dump the dirty water out in the yard, don’t put it down the drain.

7. Let the grout dry, then apply tile and grout sealer. You’re done!

I recommend bringing this type of planter inside for the winter if you use it outdoors, subjecting it to the freeze-thaw cycle is probably not good for durability.

Available at Schnarr’s:
Leather Work Gloves	Dust Mask	Protective Goggles
Hammer	Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap	Disposable Latex Gloves
Tile Nippers	Odorless Paint Thinner	Paint Brush
Putty Knife	Cloth Rags	Rust Control Enamel
Terra Cotta Plant Pot	Tile and Grout Sealer	SimpleSet Pre-Mixed Ceramic Tile Thin-Set Mortar
Polyblend Sanded Tile Grout

Tags ceramic tile, decorative planter, mosaic planter, mosaic tile, mosaics, terra cotta planter, upcycling broken ceramics

DIY Home Decor Ladies' Night Storage and Organizing Uncategorized Upcycling Ways With Wood

DIY Mason Jar Organizer

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date April 28, 2015

See the blog Fox and Gypsy for a DIY project mason jar orgainzer diy. See this project at our Ladies’ Night on April 30th, 2015!

If you want to come you can RSVP for Ladies’ Night (on Facebook and via email [[email protected]]).

DIY Ladies' Night Upcycling Ways With Wood

Stencil a Wood Garden Sign

Post author By Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
Post date April 23, 2015
5 Comments on Stencil a Wood Garden Sign

Stencil a Wood Garden Sign

Schnarr's employee Carolyn with several finished signs and a selection of supplies you can use to make one. Carolyn will be demonstrating stenciling at our Ladies' Night on April 30, 2015. — Schnarr’s employee Carolyn with several finished wood garden signs and a selection of supplies you can use to make one. Carolyn will be demonstrating stenciling at our Ladies’ Night on April 30, 2015.

How would you like a practical and decorative wood garden sign? Stencils are handy for such a project because they are available in letters, numbers and lots of fun decorative designs.

Here are the tools and materials you will need:

Pencil
Paper
Ruler
Tracing paper
Letter or number stencils
Decorative stencils
Wood
Acrylic or latex paint
Bristle paintbrush(es)
Water container for paint brushes
Rags
Sandpaper
Dust mask
Freezer paper
Drop cloth
Wide painter’s tape or low-tack masking tape
Small disposable plastic cups

Wooden stake
Sponge brushes or sponge pieces (at least one for each color)
Plastic lids from food containers
Large water container (preferably shallow and flat)
Optional – hair dryer or heat tool
Old toothbrush
Outdoor wood varnish with sun protection
Paint thinner for cleaning brushes if using brush-on varnish
Drill
Drill bit
2 bolts
2 nuts
2 washers (optional)

The first step in making such a sign is to decide how big it should be. If you have some scrap wood available, you could let the size of the wood pieces you have on hand determine your design. In my case, I had some used, distressed long boards that were 7 1/4 inches wide. I got out some stencil letters and decided how long my wood piece should be to fit the lettering I wanted on the sign. I worked out some lettering samples on tracing paper and taped these to a piece of paper to determine my final sign size – 7 1/4 x 16 1/2 inches.

Working out my stencil design on paper for my wood garden sign. — Working out my stencil design on paper.

If you don’t have scrap wood to start out with, you can just make your design any size you want and get your wood cut to order. Work out your design ahead of time using pencil, paper and tracing paper, then go get your wood cut or cut it to size yourself. I recommend using wood of a 3/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. If you buy a board at Schnarr’s we will cut it to length.

After the wood is cut, sand it smooth. I recommend you wear a dust mask while sanding. Wipe off the dust with a damp rag.

The next step is to decide on a base or ground color for your sign. For this project I am using all acrylic or latex water-based paints (except for the varnish layer). You can use a dark color as base and stencil on it later with light colors, or make your ground color light with darker colors stenciled on later. If you like the distressed look that I am so fond of, you can put an additional color under the ground color and let some of it show through by sanding on the corners and other strategic places on the sign. You can make the back and sides a different color like I did in my sample or make it all one color. Freezer paper or drop cloths are handy for protecting your work surface while you paint.

Since I was starting with distressed wood with some paint already on it, I let the existing color influence my other color choices. My scrap wood had previously been painted white over a light green. Some of the green showed through the white as I was sanding. There were a few spots where the paint had peeled away entirely showing dark wood underneath. I wanted to tone down these areas but not cover them up entirely so I decided to paint the front of my sign with an off-white wash to preserve some of the distressed look and create a more even ground for the subsequent design. After the off-white wash was dry I painted the back and sides of my sign green.

Distressed wood cut to size, painted, sanded and read for stenciling on wood garden sign.. — Distressed wood cut to size, painted, sanded and read for stenciling.

For a vertical post to use for mounting my sign, I chose a wood stake available at Schnarr’s. I sanded it smooth then painted it green.

After the paint is dry, sand the edges on the sign and post to make them look distressed and wipe both with a damp cloth to get all of the dust off.

Now it’s time to actually start stenciling. Get your work area ready by placing your paints, stencils, tape, small brushes for mixing, water container, rags, small plastic cup, sponge brushes or sponges, and plastic lid where you can reach them. At your feet or on the table if there is enough room, place a large flat container filled with water. This is for placing your stencils and other tools in to soak when you are done using them. This can be a messy process so wear old clothes.

The next step is to apply some background design in a light color. I wanted to add a little interest to the background and edges without detracting too much from the lettering that would be applied later, so I chose a light yellow paint for my sample.

Choose a stencil and tape it in place on your wood sign.

Mix some light yellow paint in a little plastic cup. Do not mix any water into the paint. Dab some paint onto a plastic lid. If you don’t have a plastic lid, a little square of freezer paper taped to your work surface will serve as a disposable palette. Press your sponge or sponge brush into the paint and dab it onto the lid a few times to distribute the paint. You want a light application of paint to start out. If you are new to stenciling, you most likely will overestimate the amount of paint you need and use too much, so start with less than you think you need – you can always add more but if your paint application is too heavy it could bleed under the stencil.

Start pressing the sponge lightly into the stencil openings. Dab very gently at first and increase pressure gradually until all the open areas are filled with paint. When you are satisfied, lift the stencil.

Starting to develop the stencil design with some yellow in the background for wood garden sign.. — Starting to develop the stencil design with some yellow in the background.

If you are finished with that particular stencil, put it in the large container of water to soak. If you are going to use the stencil again on another part of the sign, move it and continue stenciling until you are finished, then soak it.

When you are finished with a color, put the sponge and plastic lid in the water container for cleaning later. Do not attempt to clean the sponge or sponge brush and use it immediately for a new color – you will have to start with a clean dry sponge for the next color because water makes the paint too runny and it will bleed under the stencil.

Acrylic paint dries quickly. It won’t take long for your first layer of paint to be dry enough to work on the next layer, but if you need to speed up the drying you can hit it with a hair dryer or heat tool. Repeat the above steps with each new color until your sign is complete.

If you are using letters or numbers on your sign, you can draw a line with pencil or ruler to help you apply them in a straight line, then erase the pencil line later after the paint is dry.

Wood garden sign in progress with two colors

Wood garden sign in progress with two paint colors in place.

Finished wood garden sign with stencils.

Antique brass stencils with the lettering they made on my sign.

To clean your stencils and tools, swirl them around in the water to get out as much paint as possible. Squeeze all the paint you can out of the sponges and brushes. If needed clean with soap. Rinse and let them dry on a rag. Dump out the paint water and replace with fresh. Scrub your paint lids and stencils with a toothbrush to get the remaining paint off. Acrylic paint doesn’t have much of an affinity for sticking on plastic especially if soaked, but if allowed to dry prior to soaking some spots might be stubborn. If all the paint doesn’t come off it won’t affect future use so don’t worry about it. Remove as much paint as you can, rinse off stencils and lids and let dry.

When your sign is completely dry, if you are going for the distressed look rough up the design in a few spots with sandpaper. Wipe off dust.

Coat both sign and post with outdoor weatherproof wood varnish, preferably one with sunlight protection to help keep your paint colors from fading. Follow the safety directions on the container for both varnish and paint thinner as they can be dangerous if not handled properly. Do not use a sponge brush for the varnish, it will dissolve. You can avoid the hassle of dealing with brushes and rags and paint thinner by using a spray varnish instead of a brush-on product. I used a brush-on varnish because it’s more economical and I think I get a thicker coat by using a brush. Ultimately, you can make your varnish choice based on your personal application preference.

When varnish is dry, drill two holes in both sign and post to accommodate the bolts that will hold the sign together.

Connect sign to post with nuts and bolts. Place a washer behind the bolt head for a more finished look. Bolts are preferred over nails for this project so you can easily replace the post if it rots over time.

Install your sign where you want it by hammering it into the ground.

If you would like to read about how to cut your own stencils, see my article Fun with Stencils.

If you are interested in attending our Ladies’ Night on April 30, 2015 remember to RSVP (on Facebook and via email [[email protected]]).

Available at Schnarr’s:
Letter and Number Stencils	Masking Tape	Indoor / Outdoor Varnish
Sandpaper	Sponge Brushes	Valspar Indoor Outdoor Latex Enamel
Freezer Paper	Wood Stake	Hobby Knife
Hobby Knife Blades	Dust Mask	Drop Cloth