Categories
DIY Home Decor Upcycling Ways With Wood

Make a picture frame from scrap wood

Make a picture frame from scrap wood

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Have you taken down an old fence or pulled up an old wood floor? Are you getting some remodeling done or have access to scrap wood? It’s fun to make reclaimed wood pieces into unique picture frames. For my sample I purposefully chose scrap wood with a rustic and weathered appearance, welcoming flaws that don’t compromise the wood’s structural integrity such as saw marks, knots, plaster stains and nail holes. This project is designed to exploit the unique qualities of scrap wood – the flaws in the wood are part of the “decoration”. If you like you can choose new wood and give the surface whatever treatment that fits your decor. You can even buy wood made specifically for picture framing if you want a more conventional style of frame. I made this frame the size of an 8 1/2 by 11″ award certificate because this is a common size that a lot of people need.

Watch Video of Carolyn Teaching this Class at Schnarr’s Hardware in Webster Groves:
Part 1
Part 2

Materials needed:
Scrap wood approximately the size of lattice strips – 1 1/2″ wide by 2/8″ thick. For my sample I used wood lath salvaged from a demolished building. You can purchase new lattice strips if you don’t have access to the right size scrap wood.
Scrap wood strips – 2/8 – 3/8″ thick by 1/2 – 3/4″ wide. I obtained my strips from the scrap stashes available to me. You can buy such wood new if you need to where molding is sold.
Small washers
Staples for staple gun
Sandpaper
Aluminum flashing
Small nails – long enough to go through both layers of wood but not long enough to penetrate to the front of the frame
8 1/2″ piece of plexiglass, clear acetate or glass
8 1/2″ piece of chipboard, cardboard or mat board
Wire
Wood glue

Tools needed:
Mitre saw
Eye protection
Staple gun
Dust mask
Drill with tiny drill bit
Ruler
Pencil
Permanent marker
Sturdy scissors
Wire cutter
Large nail
Scrap block of wood
Hammer
Staple gun

Click the diagram above to download a PDF copy to print out

1. The inside edge of the opening for your framed picture will be 8″ x 10 1/2″. When finished the frame will overlap the framed image about 1/4″ all the way around. Mark with a ruler and pencil on the wood where the cuts will be. You might find it helpful to draw a rough diagram on paper to help visualize the cuts. Using a miter saw, cut four wood pieces with 45 degree angles at the ends. Wear eye protection when sawing and drilling.

2. Sand the cut ends of the wood. I did not give my wood any other treatment or finish. This is partly because I like the way it looks as it is. Another reason is that this wood was salvaged from a historic building that has great personal significance to me. I did not want to alter the historic integrity of the wood beyond cutting it to size. There are saw marks on the wood from the 1920s which I think are cool! Salvaged lath wood that has been separated from its original historic context is often available for purchase at Perennial, an art studio that promotes the reuse of materials. If you want you can give your scrap or new wood further treatments such as sanding, painting or staining for a variety of decorative effects. Wear a dust mask while sanding – it’s never good to breathe dust and old wood may have mold spores or contaminants.

3. With a staple gun, shoot two or three staples into the back of the frame across each mitered corner. The staples will help tack your work in place until you can get some bracing installed on the back of the frame to make it more sturdy. Tap the staples with a hammer if they need a little extra help going all the way into the wood.

4. On the back of the frame, center an 8.5 x 11 piece of chipboard, cardboard or matt board and trace around it as a guide for placing narrow wood strips on the back for holding your protective layer (plexiglass, clear acetate or glass) and artwork.

5. To make the bracing, cut four pieces from the wood strips that are approximately 2/8 x 3/8 inches thick and 3/4 to 1/2 inches wide. The lengths you cut from with wood will be slightly different depending on how wide the strips are. Cut them so that the inside edge opening is 8 1/2 by 11. Make the lengths 9 inches for the short side and 11 1/2 inches for the long sides if using 1/2″ wide wood. If using 3/4 inch wide wood use 2 9 1/4″ pieces and 2 11 3/4″ pieces. If you are using wood in different dimensions just cut them so that the opening id 8 1/2 x 11″. Since you’ll be attaching these pieces to the back of the frame, if the pieces don’t all match or don’t line up perfectly it doesn’t matter, they won’t be visible. Sand pieces smooth.

6. Apply a line of wood glue on the back of each wood strip then press in place on the back of the frame. Drill small pilot holes, about three per strip, then nail the strips to the frame.

7. Next make some metal tabs to hold the artwork into the frame. These tabs are designed to swivel in and out so that you can easily take out or put in artwork. Draw four rectangles with permanent marker, 1 3/4 by 2 1/2 inches each, onto aluminum flashing. The flashing we sell has both a silver colored side and a brass colored side. These tabs won’t be visible when the frame is on the wall but if you have a preference for one side or the other keep that in mind. Using a sturdy pair of scissors cut out four pieces and round the corners to avoid sharp points. Sand or file the metal peices to get sharp edges off if necessary. On two of the pieces drill or punch one hole toward one end, on the two other pieces drill or punch a hole in each end. An easy way to punch a hole is to place the flashing on a scrap wood block and hammer in a large nail where you want the hole.

8. Attach the four flashing pieces to the back of your frame as shown on the diagram. Place a small washer under each nail head.

9. You are now ready to add artwork to the frame. First put in your clear protective layer (the glass, acetate or plexiglass), the display item, then a stiff layer of chipboard, cardboard or mat board to protect the artwork from the back and keep it from falling out. Rotate the tabs inward.

10. String a piece of wire from inner holes on the two-hole tabs from one side to the other for hanging. You’re done!

Here is how my frame looks with a certificate displayed in it:

Suggestions For Sources of Scrap Wood
Ask home improvement stores for scraps.
Volunteer to clean out someone’s garage or workshop in exchange for keeping some interesting wood pieces.
Make inquiries of people you know who are doing home improvements.
Look in thrift stores for picture frames or cheap pictures in frames that you can get parts from.
Make a request for wood pieces from the Freecycle community – freecycle.org
Walk your neighborhood on trash day – I’ve found so much usable wood that way.
Purchase salvaged supplies from a non-profit studio that specializes in reclaimed materials such as Perennial or Leftovers, Etc..

Categories
DIY Home Decor Ways With Wood

Schnarr’s Hardware is now offering DIY Classes!

Schnarr’s Hardware is now offering DIY Classes!

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

I hope you can join us for our first class at Schnarr’s Hardware in Webster Groves – Make a Picture Frame from Scrap Wood!

make a picture frame from scrap wood

Schnarr’s employee Carolyn Hasenfratz will show you how to use reclaimed wood pieces to make a frame that fits an 8 1/2 x 11-inch picture. This size frame is a good size for award certificates and other common documents that you might want to display. Tools and materials will be provided. You will learn techniques that you can use to design and build your own frames from your choice of wood scraps. Save a ton of money by gaining skills you can use by making your own unique frames for your home decor while gaining the satisfaction of saving materials from the landfill.

Class with Carolyn Hasenfratz – Make a Picture Frame from Scrap Wood
Date: February 22, 2018
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Schnarr’s Hardware in Webster Groves, 40 East Lockwood, St. Louis MO, 63144

The cost of the class is $20. To register please go to this url: https://dabble.co/rc/carolynhasenfratz10

What’s Provided
Wood, tools, metal, chipboard, hardware

What You Can Expect
Learn to build simple picture frames
Learn to design frames from reclaimed wood
Learn to fabricate hardware for the back of the frame using simple tools
Learn how to recycle wood pieces
Learn about sources of low cost reclaimed materials for your DIY projects

For Carolyn’s complete teaching schedule, please go to:
http://www.chasenfratz.com/wp/about/classes-and-events/

Categories
DIY Gardening Home Decor

Making Holiday Centerpieces From Natural Materials

Making Holiday Centerpieces From Natural Materials

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

I enjoy walking around outside at any time of year. It takes more motivation to go outdoors in cold weather but I’m always glad at such times that I made the effort. A landscape that is mostly dry and brown may seem unappealing at first, but if you look closely at plants and their remains in winter you will see more textures, shapes and colors than you may have thought possible.

One way to enrich the way you see the winter landscape is to collect natural materials and use them to make centerpieces for your Holiday celebrations, or any occasion. I had the opportunity recently to join other volunteers at the Litzinger Road Ecology Center in making centerpieces for the annual Holiday party. We were provided with a variety of recycled and donated containers along with embellishments such as ribbon and floral accents. Our goal was to create arrangements of mostly natural materials from the prairie at Litzinger Road Ecology Center to make attractive centerpieces.


collecting natural materials from the prairie

After taking a quick look at the available floral supplies, we spread out around the property to look for plant materials that we wanted to use. We collected reeds, grasses, seed heads, dried flowers, branches, feathers, vines, berries, pods, snake-skin, pine cones, nuts, bark, evergreen branches and more. A few plants were still green. Others provided many variations on dried plant colors – red-brown, silvery grey, dark brown, straw yellow hues and more. Often when we are working in the field we are mindful of the identification of plants. This time we were free to concentrate mainly on what the plant materials look like and what would make attractive combinations. Tall or short, delicate or bold, feathery or solid, rough or smooth – how can one enhance the other?

It’s enjoyable to go into a craft store and buy materials that fit a preconceived idea of what you want to make – it’s also a fun creative challenge to see what you can make out of the limited materials on hand with little to no pre-planning. I decided to be a little irreverent with my arrangement and use some green invasive creeping euonymus (Euonymus fortunei) which is a plant that may not quite be as hated as invasive honeysuckle here at LREC but could be a close second! To keep the vine green until the time of the party, I placed the cut ends of the vines into small bottles of water in the bottom of the glass container I was using. This also helped provide structural support since we did not have any florist foam in our supply stash to help hold tall stems erect.


Making a holiday arrangement with invasive euonymus vines


I added a few small pine cones among the green to break up the color a little bit, then I made a small donut shape of grasses and placed it in the vase on its side to provide extra structural support at the top. Then I added some branches with red berries, a few pine needles and some tall thin strips of wood with plastic crystals on them. A few red berries fell into the vase and down into the greenery so I added a few more here and there to make it look like I put them there on purpose.


finished arrangements made from natural materials and a few embellishments
Finished arrangements made by other volunteers


Is there anything in your backyard that would look good in a Holiday arrangement? Explore with fresh eyes and you might find a new way to appreciate your garden in what we normally think of as the off-season. I recommend you take care to identify your finds if you have children or pets in the house who might eat things that they shouldn’t. Some common garden plants (and houseplants) are toxic. Have fun and see where your creativity takes you!

Categories
Gardening Sustainability

Tips for Removing Invasive Honeysuckle

Tips for Removing Invasive Honeysuckle

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Honeysuckle is one of the last plants to drop leaves in the fall, and one of the first plants to get leaves in the spring. This makes it quite pretty to look at sometimes. A recent photo from Emmenegger Nature Park shows the light green leaves on honeysuckle growing in the understory of a forest in late November.

Honeysuckle at Emmanegger Nature Park

Unfortunately this characteristic also gives honeysuckle an advantage over other plants. Since many species of honeysuckle are not native and reseed readily, Honeysuckle can be a danger to native plants and plant diversity. Many organizations that are involved with environmental stewardship sponsor volunteer Honeysuckle removal days. I spent a couple of days volunteering recently to remove invasive Honeysuckle from Emmenegger Nature Park in Kirkwood and Litzinger Road Ecology Center in Ladue. If you remove invasive Honeysuckle from your own property you can help stop the spread to other areas. Birds really love to eat the berries and spread the seeds around to places where Honeysuckle is not wanted.

How to Identify Honeysuckle
If you need help with identification, it is very useful to participate in one or two group cleanups so that experts can show you what to look for. After an hour or two of practice you’ll be spotting it everywhere with little effort! Fall is an ideal time for removal because the leaves, being one of the last to persist in the forest, make identification easier.

Look for:
Opposite leaves
Red berries in the fall
Leaves can be green, yellowish, or red/brown depending on the time of year. You may even see it with different colored leaves on the same property on the same day.
Stems are hollow once it gets large enough – snip off a piece to check
Once stems get large enough the bark appears very groovy

Honeysuckle leaves in brown fall color

If you’re not sure whether your honeysuckle is a undesirable invasive type, you can get help with identification at Missouri Botanical Garden.

How to Remove Honeysuckle
If the plant is small enough, you may be able to just pull it out. Make sure to get the center root clump around the stem or it may grow back. It’s not necessary to get every little piece of root out.
If you can remove the root material from the premises after it’s pulled, do so. If that is not possible hang the plant in a tree off the ground so the roots dry out and die. If you leave the plant on the ground, it may regrow from the roots.
If the plant is too big to pull, dig it out if you can without damaging other plants or causing excessive disturbance of the soil.
If digging is not practical, saw the trunk off as close to the ground as you can. Treat the stub with a 20% solution of glyphosate herbicide. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup. You can apply it with a bottle that features a dauber attachment, such as a shoe polish bottle or a bingo marker. Or you can spray the glyphosate on the trunk stub. Clearly label bottles, store safely and observe all precautions. You can add dye to the solution to help you keep track of where you have already applied herbicide.
If you can’t remove all the branches from the property, cut them up into smaller pieces so that they lie flat on the ground. Contact with the ground will help the branches decompose faster.
Useful tools to have on hand are a small shovel, a pruning saw, hand pruners and loppers.

You can save yourself a lot of work over time by patrolling your property regularly and removing the Honeysuckle plants while they are still small enough to pull out easily. Once the bushes get to full size, they can still be removed but the job is a lot more labor intensive.

Honeysuckle next to a bottle of herbicide in a shoe polish bottle

Safety precautions
Wear eye protection, gloves, long sleeves and long pants. You need to protect yourself from scratches, pokes in the eye and chemicals.
Wear work boots or hiking boots with good ankle support – in the woods it’s easy to step in a hole or slip on an uneven surface.
Wear safety orange in case you are in or near a hunting area without realizing it.
Mark your tools with orange tape or paint, because they are easy to lose among the fall leaves on the ground.

After the Honeysuckle is gone, your woods might look a little bare. Don’t worry, there are native plants that can fill the gap and make a healthy as well as lovely contribution to the ecology of your property. Consider planting some of these species instead of Honeysuckle: Some recommended alternatives to bush honeysuckle and other exotic shrubs.

Here is some more information about Honeysuckle:
Bush Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles: For Better or For Worse – There are some species of Honeysuckle that are nice to have – read about them here.

Categories
DIY Sustainability Upcycling

Decorate Gift Packages with Stencils and Chalk

Decorate Gift Packages with Stencils and Chalk

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Decorate Gift Packages with Stencils and Chalk

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make your own stencils from recycled food container lids and use them to decorate personalized gift packages. Many of the stencil designs I used in my demo were traced from nostalgic Christmas cookie cutters that were passed down to me from parents and grandparents. They bring back a lot of happy memories of doing holiday crafts and baking with my Mom. Most of the time making things in preparation for the Holiday was more fun for me than the actual event!

I designed this project to be something you can do with kids, but I think anyone who enjoys being a little bit playful and making eco-friendly packaging would enjoy this – I know that I had a great time!

Part 1 – Making the Stencils

Tools and Materials – *indicates available at Schnarr’s
Self-healing cutting mat
*X-acto knife or craft knife and blades
*Sharpie marker
Cookie cutters
*Pencil
Cleaned plastic food container lids
*Scissors

1. Take an old plastic food container lid and cut off the rim.

2. Choose a cookie cuttter or some other object to use as a template and trace around it with pencil on a piece of paper. Or if you have no such object, draw a simple shape of your choice.

3. Place the food lid piece over the drawing and trace the outline with a permanent marker. Cut out the shape with a craft knife, scissors, or some combination of the two.

 

Part 2 – Applying Chalkboard Paint to the Paper

Tools and Materials – *indicates available at Schnarr’s
*Kraft paper or the backs of recycled grocery bags
*Chalkboard paint
*Small sponges
*Painter’s tape or *masking tape
Cleaned plastic food container lids

1. If you are using the backs of recycled grocery bags, you can get a lot of the folds and wrinkles out of them first by ironing them between pieces of clean scrap paper. Spread paper down on your work surface and tape edges to hold in place.

2. Dab some chalkboard paint onto an old food lid and dip a small sponge into it. Place your stencil on the paper and tape down if necessary to hold it steady. Dab the sponge gently inside the cutout area and slowly apply the paint. Increase the amount of pressure and paint if necessary to get full coverage. If you apply the paint gently and gradually, you can avoid applying too much and having it bleed under the stencil.

Here I am stencling chalkboard paint onto the kraft paper. I recommend that you apply the chalk after wrapping the package, but in this demo I drew with chalk on some of the shapes while I was still stenciling so that people would see the possibilities of the chalkboard paint.

3. Lift stencil straight up to avoid smearing and repeat until the whole piece of paper is covered to your satisfaction. Let the paper dry.

4. Wrap the package after the paint is dry.

 

Part 3 – Adding More Decoration

Tools and Materials – *indicates available at Schnarr’s
Colored chalk
Stickers
*Markers
*Ribbon
*Baker’s twine or decorative string
*Bows
*Gift tags
Spray fixative (optional)

 

Here is a selection of wrapped boxes and decorating materials to give you an idea of how you can combine markers, stickers, ribbon, twine and tags with your chalked designs.

Tip: If your package is going to get handled a lot before presenting, you can spray your chalk work with spray fixative to protect it. Spray fixative is a product artists sometimes use to protect pencil, chalk, pastel and other media that might smear, and it is available at art supply stores.

Drawing with both markers and chalk is great fun!

 

On this sample, I sponged the chalkboard paint around a cutout star that was left over when I made a six-pointed star stencil. Combined with royal blue marker drawn through another stencil and light blue chalk I made a Hanukkah design.

Part 4 – Making Gift Tags

Tools and Materials – *indicates available at Schnarr’s
Scrap chipboard or cardstock
*Chalkboard paint
*Paintbrush
Stencils
*Scissors
*Pencil
*Ribbon
*Baker’s twine or decorative string
Hole punch
Spray fixative (optional)

It’s easy to make chalkboard gift tags to go along with your chalk-enhanced gift packages.

1. Paint some chalkboard paint onto one side of some scrap chipboard or card stock and let dry.

2. Use your stencils to trace shapes onto the unpainted side with pencil and cut out. You can make your tags tag-shaped or any other shape you like that fits your theme.

3. Punch a hole at the top of your tag and attach a piece of ribbon or twine using a lark’s head knot.

4. Use chalk to write on the tag and protect with spray fixative if necessary.

Categories
DIY Home Decor

Holiday Table Runner With Wired Burlap Ribbon

Holiday Table Runner With Wired Burlap Ribbon

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

To celebrate the Holiday season, here are instructions for making a table runner that uses some of the wired burlap ribbon that we sell in the gift wrap and decoration aisle at Schnarr’s Hardware in Ladue.

Tools and Materials
*indicates items available at Schnarr’s
Wired burlap ribbon*
Several different colors of felt
Ball-point pen*
Several different colors of embroidery floss
Embroidery sewing needle
Fabric Scissors
Masking tape*
Pins
Sequins
Seed beads
Sewing needle small enough to go through seed beads while threaded
Sewing thread
Scrap chipboard
Fabric
Washable fabric marker (optional)

Rolls of wired burlap ribbon that are available at Schnarr's Hardware in Ladue.
Rolls of wired burlap ribbon that are available at Schnarr’s Hardware in Ladue.

Cut a piece of wide burlap ribbon the length that you want for your table runner, plus about 4 extra inches for hemming. Before cutting, tape a piece of masking tape just inside where you plan to cut. The tape will help keep the ends of the ribbon from unraveling while you work.

Pin down the hems on the ends but don’t sew yet.

Fold wired burlap ribbon lengthwise and pin along the long sides of the wide ribbon.

Use a large needle and full thickness of one of your colors of embroidery thread to sew the ribbon in place with a running stitch just inside the wired edge.

Draw simple ornament designs or other holiday designs of your choice onto scrap chipboard. Cookie cutters are a great source for simple holiday shapes. Depending on how long your table runner is, you could possibly need a lot of felt shapes, so that’s why I suggest preparing chipboard shape templates to trace around. It’s quicker and easier than tracing around a cookie cutter. If you have stencils with designs you like, you could also use those or cut your own custom stencils.

Using the ball-point pen, trace shapes onto the back of your felt pieces. Cut out shapes.

Place felt shapes on your runner in an arrangement that you like. Pin in place.

Sew a running stitch along the edges of the felt shapes, attaching them to the wide burlap ribbon.

Stitch details to your shapes using a running stitch or other embroidery techniques of your choice with the various embroidery thread colors. If it helps to figure out where to sew details, you can draw the lines on the felt with a washable fabric marker. After you’re done sewing on the details, dab any washable marker marks that show with a damp cloth to get rid of them.

Accent the shapes with a few sequins. Hold the sequins on by bringing a thread from the back through a bead, around the side of the bead then back down through the sequin. Go back through each bead at least twice for durability. Sew a few beads by themselves among the sequins if you want to.

Pin and fold strips of fabric in a complementary color to the ends to cover up the raw edge of the ribbon. Sew in place with embroidery thread.

When the Holiday season is over, store your table runner rolled up so that the wire in the ribbon does not kink.

I have made a similar table runner using a fall leaf design. Here is a link to instructions on my blog:
Fall Table Runner with Wired Burlap Ribbon

Categories
Gardening

Strategies for Maintaining My Garden Through the Winter

Strategies for Maintaining My Garden Through the Winter

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

What do I normally do to prepare my garden for winter? I panic the night before a frost is predicted. I lay old towels on the floor to protect it from dirt and dampness and bring inside all the container plants that are not hardy. When I get time I then stick the plants where I can make some room in my condo which is for the most part not very well-lit. Some of my plants survive this kind of laissez-faire treatment for years but many of them although alive don’t look as good as they could. I think some planning is called for if I want to do better than have hit-or-miss results this year.

Strategy #1 – Saving seeds
Most of my garden plants are hardy perennials and need little or no help from me to survive the winter. However there are a few plants I grow as annuals that I replant every year from seed or just let them reseed themselves – for example Texas Sage and Flowering Tobacco.

Would you like to try saving some of your plants as seeds this year? Here are some tips on seed saving and seed starting:

Strategy #2 – Overwintering as cuttings
I love the sweet potato vines I planted in containers this year. The whole plants are too large for me to bring inside as is so I’m going to grow a couple as cuttings indoors and overwinter the rest as tubers (see Strategy #3).

Here is the method for starting cuttings that I learned in my Master Gardener class. One of my practice plants from the training program is still alive, so give it a try!

  • Prepare a tray full of sterile seed starting medium.
  • Use a sharp clean knife such as a craft knife to cut a 3-4 inch shoot from the stem tip.
  • Remove the bottom few leaves from the cut segment.
  • Dip cut end in rooting hormone.
  • Place cutting in medium and water in well, then let drain.
  • Put tray in a plastic bag or cover with plastic wrap for about a week.
  • Place cuttings in a well-lit location that is 75 to 80 degrees F if possible and keep evenly watered.
  • Gradually harden off cuttings to prepare for planting.

Strategy #3 – Overwintering as dormant bulbs
I grew Cannas and Sweet Potato vines in containers this summer and I’m going to need to bring them in for the winter. Here is how to store non-hardy bulbs.

  • Dig up bulbs, divide and clean them.
  • Let the bulbs dry in an area with good air circulation for a week or two.
  • Dust with sulfur powder to prevent rot.
  • Pack them in a box with peat moss, wood shavings or shredded paper and store in a dark, dry, cool location. Keep packing medium slightly moist and inspect monthly for rot. Make sure this location is away from stored fruits and vegetables.
  • Replant outside in the spring after the last frost.

For tender bulb plants that do not go dormant, repot in a container. Trim off any old foliage but leave the good foliage. Keep evenly moist in a well-lit warm environment.

Strategy #4 – Overwintering as a house plant
For cacti, succulents and tropical plants that are small enough to just leave in their containers and bring in, they will get the following treatment:

  • Provide as much light as possible.
  • Reduce the amount of watering.
  • Refrain from fertilizing.
  • Provide humidity tray for plants that like humidity.
  • Inspect for pests and treat if necessary.
  • Sprinkle BT on soil to reduce fungus gnats breeding in the soil.

Strategy #5 – What’s going to go in my containers during the winter?
This past year I made more use of container plantings in my outdoor garden than I ever have. They added so tremendously to my enjoyment of the garden and I got so many nice comments on them from neighbors that I’m going to try to keep at least one of my containers going all winter. Some of my containers are too fragile to ride out the freeze-thaw cycle so I will store them empty indoors, but there are one or two that I think can withstand the temperature variations as long as they have good drainage. Pretty soon I will have to decide what to put in them. I have decided to plant Pansies around the edges and Winter Scouring Rush in the center. The rush should stay green all winter. Winter Scouring Rush can become invasive but it has some good qualities – it’s an interesting “living fossil” that reproduces with spores and rhizomes. It can grow in soil or in standing water. I have some in my water garden also.

Many people wait until late winter or early spring to plant Pansies but you can plant them in fall – they may not look great all winter but planting them in the fall gives them a head start and you will get a better and earlier show in the spring. If I decide I need a third layer to add interest between my low plant and my tall plant, I think I will try putting some trimmed evergreen boughs in water containers set into the soil. If your winter planters need a little help, dried plants, artificial plants, lights and seasonal decorations can be good additions. As you’re planting your container in the fall, you can also add winter hardy bulbs for an extra surprise in the spring!

Strategy #6 – Keeping track of my perennials
Parts of my garden need a major makeover. Depending on what is going to be done, sometimes winter is an excellent time to perform some of the required tasks. Winter is also the time when many of my perennial plants are dormant and can’t be seen above the soil surface. I may risk damaging them if I make major changes in their spot. Some of my native plants like Wild Sweet William and Indian Pink I have tried for years to establish before success – I don’t want to risk losing
those plants now that I’ve finally gotten them in a place they like. They should not be trod on, accidentally dug up or smothered. I need to know where these plants are at all times so before they die back to the ground I will make drawings of my garden and put tags in the ground to mark the plants.

Strategy #7 – Protecting plants in situ
The growing season for some crops can be extended with row covers. Some plants such as strawberries, mums and roses need mulching for the winter and just about any plant will benefit from it even if it will survive without mulch. Mulch stabilizes the ground temperature, prevents frost heaving and can help keep soil from drying out too much. If you have any newly planted broadleaf evergreens such as azaleas, boxwood and hollies, place a burlap screen around them for winter wind protection. Paint the trunks of young fruit trees with diluted white latex paint to prevent winter sun scald.

Categories
Gardening

Adventures in Indoor Horticulture With Rich Reed

Adventures in Indoor Horticulture With Rich Reed

by Carolyn Hasenfratz



Name of Image

Rich Reed is a gardening friend that I met several years ago while trading plants on Freecycle. He also recently became a volunteer at Missouri Botanical Garden. I previously interviewed Rich for my blog in 2015 because I was impressed by what he was able to achieve at the apartment complex where he lives, using it as a living laboratory for indoor and outdoor growing.

At the time I’m writing this article we are past the average first frost date for our area without actually having frost yet. I’m enjoying the extra time to keep our plants outdoors this year but soon many of us will have to bow to the inevitable and bring some of them in. I wanted to interview Rich again because he grows a lot of tropical plants outdoors in the warm months that need to be moved with the seasons and he propagates a lot of plants indoors for transplanting outdoors later. I knew he’d have some useful tips for home gardeners because he does not indulge in a lot of special equipment and has learned a lot through trial and error on how to use his indoor growing space. Since our last interview, the manager of the apartment complex where Rich lives has given him the use of an empty apartment unit where he can store supplies and grow lots of plants. He packs this extra unit, which he calls the sun room, as well as his own living quarters with as many plants as possible! He also has an agreement with the apartment manager to supply plants for the grounds and the building’s indoor spaces such as stairwells and balconies. I asked Rich for some of his best tips.



Cuttings growing in the sun room
Because this apartment unit is not used as living quarters, Rich can make maximum use of the window light for growing cuttings.

Like the rest of us Rich does struggle with getting plants that normally live outside to stay alive indoors. His situation does not allow for a lot of supplemental lighting. To get more light to the plants he recommends rotating the plants outside on warm days whenever possible. He gets light from the West through his windows – both his living quarters and sun room face in that direction. He makes some use of ordinary household lighting fixtures and bulbs. He prefers fluorescent to incandescent lights because they are not as hot. When plants are not doing well in a particular spot in the room he moves them to see if the light is more favorable somewhere else.

Overwatering is the most common way for Rich to lose plants – not surprisingly he has found that plants kept indoors need a lot less water than when they are outside, and less water still when it’s colder. He does not take any precautions to remove pests from his plants or pots before bringing then indoors. Fortunately his pest problems have been minor so far.

He has had the most consistent success indoors with “viney” plants such as Pothos, Arrowhead vines, Sweet Potato, Lamium and Vinca. Not surprisingly the types of plants that are commonly sold as house plants do well in home lighting conditions.

Banana plantRich is planning on bringing inside some of his really large and nice banana plants for the winter while leaving a few small ones outside as an experiment. His tropical Hibiscus and other tropical plants that are woody will also come inside as whole potted plants. He has many herbaceous tropical plants outside augmenting his perennials and annuals. For space reasons it’s not really possible to bring them all in intact, so he gets around that by making small cuttings of plants he wants to grow again next year. He grows more cuttings than he needs for the apartment property so that he has some available for gifts and trading stock. He does not use any special rooting hormone or treatments for cuttings – just water and soil.



Celosia outside and Celosia cuttings
Celosia adding color to the outdoor garden on the left. The right photo shows a cutting with root growth after two weeks in water.

Rich with rubber treeEven with an abundance of plants in his environment Rich still likes trading. Any plant he doesn’t already have he would like to add to
his collection – but realistically he has to be mindful of how much room is available. He is on the lookout for a Chinese Evergreen and some Peppermint – he has been able to find numerous other members of the mint family for trade but is missing that one.

At left: Rich with a favorite rubber tree and some other plants that live in the apartment building’s atria all year round.

Categories
DIY

Textured Backgrounds For Fall Leaf Greeting Cards

Textured Backgrounds For Fall Leaf Greeting Cards

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Learn techniques for making interesting backgrounds for paper projects with some items that can be found in a hardware store. Make a Happy Thanksgiving card by embellishing your card further with rubber stamps and paper tape!

Tools and Materials
*indicates items available at Schnarr’s
*Foam paint roller
*String
Water-based block printing ink or rubber stamping ink
Rubber brayer – a brayer is a rubber roller that is used to spread printmaking ink
Palette knife
Fall leaf, foliage and flower rubber stamps
Stamps with sayings, greetings or sentiments (optional)
StazOn Jet Black and Timber Brown stamping ink
*Freezer paper
*Masking tape
*Glue stick
8.5 x 11 cardstock in a light color and a second color
Assorted 12″ x 12″ decorative papers in both light and dark colors
Bone folder
*Scrap piece of thick wood dowel
*Two long nails
*Hammer
Optional – craft stencil with leaf designs
Paper cutter or paper cutting system
Envelope template (download here – http://www.carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/members/envelope_template_rectangular.pdf)
*Double-sided tape
Pencil
*Scissors
*Rags or paper towels for cleanup
Flat metal ruler
*Gold acrylic paint
Rectangular eraser with flat surfaces
Old cleaned food container lid
Matte medium
*Paintbrush
Decorative paper edging scissors
Decorative paper tape (also known as washi tape)
Clean scrap paper

Directions

Some of these pictures will show parts being made for more than one greeting card. Normally when I’m making cards I make several at a time and I make more parts than I think I’ll need so that I can mix and match to get the best color combinations.

1. First take a foam roller and wrap some string around it in a random fashion. Tie off string to hold it in place.

Foam paint roller wrapped with string to make textures.
Foam paint roller wrapped with string to make textures.

2. Tape some freezer paper down to your work surface shiny side up. This is to protect the table and also so you can use part of the paper covered work surface as a disposable palette. In some of my sample photos I used a large piece of scrap plexiglass as a work surface and palette instead of the freezer paper – that’s why the ceiling lights are reflected in a couple of the pictures.

3. Choose a light earth tone color of ink and spread some on a portion of the freezer paper. Tape a piece of cardstock to the work surface to keep it from moving around. Roll the string covered foam roller in the ink and test on a piece of scrap paper to see if the color is what you want. When satisfied, re-ink and roll the pattern on the cardstock. Let ink dry on cardstock. Rinse out and clean the foam roller.

An example of a rolled pattern.
An example of a rolled out pattern. To make the color darker, press harder or add more ink.

4. Take a segment of thick wood dowel and hammer a nail in each end of the dowel to use as handles. Wrap string around the wood randomly. Select an earth tone ink color that is darker than the first color. Roll some ink out on your palette with the the rubber brayer. Roll the string covered dowel onto the ink palette then onto your cardstock multiple times in different directions until you are satisfied with the results. Let dry.

5. These next few steps (5-7) are optional. If you want to tone down the texture on the cardstock to make it fade more into the background, a very effective way to do that is to roll some semi-translucent stamping ink in a light color over your background. Chalk inks and pigment inks in white and soft pastel colors are very effective for this.

White chalk ink rolled out on the left. On the right is a piece of textured cardstock that I want to tone down to make more subtle.

 

What a similar piece of cardstock looks like after rolling with off-white chalk ink.

6. Allow the chalk or pigment ink to dry thoroughly. Chalk and pigment inks take longer to dry than dye-based inks. To speed up the drying, you can use a heat tool or iron the sheets of cardstock between two sheets of clean scrap paper.

7. Chalk ink can cause interesting effects when used in conjunction with other inks. Often it causes a blurring effect if you stamp over it, especially if the chalk ink is not completely dry. Sometimes this blurring effect can be exploited in a design to good effect but in this case I don’t want my next layer to be blurred. To prevent this, paint the inked cardstock with a layer of matte medium and allow to dry.

8. Take a piece of 11″ x 8.5″ piece of cardstock that is a different color and cut it in half lengthwise. Fold one of these pieces in half and make the fold crisp with a bone folder. You’ll end up with a card that is 4.25″ x 5.5″ when folded to use as a base.

9. Cut out a piece of 4″ x 5.25″ paper to use as border around your center piece. Center it on the card base and glue down with a glue stick.

10. Cut out a 3.75″ x 5″ section out of your printed cardstock to use as the center front of your greeting card.

Three parts for each card – a folded base piece which is the body of the card, a border piece and a center piece.

 

These pieces are stacked but not glued yet to see how they look and check if the colors work well together.

11. Squirt some gold paint onto an old food container lid and dip the side of the rectangular eraser in the paint. Use the side of the eraser to stamp a border on three sides of the center 3.75″ x 5″ section. The gold edges will become the top and side edges of the center part of the card.

 

12. Using StazOn Timber Brown ink, stamp two flower or foliage stamps in the corners of your front piece. Bold stamps without fine detail will be especially effective here because a little bit of the brushed-on texture from the matte medium will find it’s way into the design and enhance the rich textures of the card.

13. Draw some leaf shapes on the backs of different pieces of decorative paper. You can use a stencil to trace the leaf shapes as I did or draw them from your own design. Cut out leaves.

14. Using black ink and rubber stamps with sayings on them, stamp some of the leaves with a word that goes well with “Happy Thanksgiving”. In my samples I stamped “Togetherness”, “Treasure” and “Celebrate”. Underline your stamped word with a piece of plaid patterned paper tape in fall colors or other tape design of your choice. Trim the tape.

15. Stamp “Happy Thanksgiving” or other greeting of your choice onto a strip of light colored paper. Trim the strip with decorative paper edging scissors. Take a piece of 3.75″ x .75″ decorative paper and tape a piece of decorative paper tape down the center lengthwise. I chose a black and white floral design for my samples. With a glue stick, glue the strip that says “Happy Thanksgiving” over the paper tape.

16. Stamp some leaf rubber stamps in black on various pieces of light colored paper. Cut out the stamped leaves.

17. Place a variety of leaf parts on the center of your card and move them around until you get an arrangement that you like. Glue down the leaves with the glue stick. Glue the “Happy Thanksgiving” strip to the bottom center of the card. Center and glue the center section to the front of the card.

18. To make an envelope for your card, print out the envelope template and cut it out. I laminated my template for durability because I use it a lot. Place the template on the back side of a piece of decorative paper. Trace around it with a pencil. Cut out envelope. Fold in tabs, using the ruler and bone folder as aids. Assemble envelope by putting double-sided tape about halfway up the side flaps and pressing tabs together.

You’re done!

Categories
DIY Upcycling

Making Fun and Useful Things From Recycled Materials

Making Fun and Useful Things From Recycled Materials

by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Fall Art WalkAt right is a photo of my display at Schnarr’s Hardware in Webster Groves, Missouri at 40 East Lockwood. You can view my work from October 6 – October 15 2017 as part of the Old Webster Fall Art Walk. Look for the lime green cones outside Schnarr’s and other businesses in Old Webster to see where exhibits for the art walk are located.

One of my favorite things to do is to find interesting salvaged materials and apply my creativity to see what I can make out of them. Don’t get me wrong, a trip to the craft store or hardware store is always a treat but sometimes all-new materials don’t give me the same satisfaction that I get from bringing something old back to life. Some materials I use are hand-me-downs or old items of mine that are no longer useful. If I can’t use a whole object that is being discarded I often scavenge parts from it. I’ve made myself some really nice things out of stuff that I picked up off of the curb on trash day. Garage sales and thrift stores sometimes yield fun supplies and I also like to look for interesting materials at non-profits that specialize in keeping things out of landfills such as Leftovers, Etc. and Perennial.



Do you want some ideas for repurposing materials? I’ve written tutorials about how I made many of the items in the show. For inspiration, check out some of my projects!

Antique Key Necklace
Recycled materials – skeleton key, upcycled chain, thrift store beads
Tutorial – Skeleton Key Necklace

 

 

Birding Journal
Recycled materials – matt board, scrap paper, found images
Tutorial – Handmade Birding Journal

 

 

Insulator Votive Candle Lantern
Recycled materials – Glass insulator
Tutorial – Make an Insulator Votive Candle Lantern

 

 

Button Bracelets
Recycled materials – buttons, trim, ribbon
Tutorial – Button Headband and Bracelet

 

 

Butterfly Feeder
Recycled materials – glass dish, metal rings
Tutorial – Upcycled Butterfly Feeder

 

 

Wood Garden Sign
Recycled materials – wood plank
Tutorial – Stencil a Wood Garden Sign

 

 

Mosaic Plant Stand
Recycled materials – wood, paper backing glass blobs, tiles
Tutorial – Build a Mosaic Plant Stand

 

 

Dia De Los Muertos Skull
Recycled materials – fabric, beaded trim, floral embellishments, chipboard
Tutorial – Dia De Los Muertos Skull

 

 

Upcycled Tea Box
Recycled materials – Wood tea box, found images
Tutorial – Vintage Look Box

 

 

Upcycled Metal Tin
Recycled materials – metal tin, found images, recycled ribbon
Tutorial – Upcycle a Metal Tin With Decoupage

 

 

Mini Album
Recycled Materials – scrap paper and cardstock
Tutorial – Make a Mini Album