I think it’s safe to admit, we’re all a bit done with coronavirus. Because COVID-19 is the worst! So if you find yourself needing a little outlet or to un-rationally smash something, I’ve got just the thing.
Make something to smash, a Coronavirus Piñata! It’s easy, satisfying and perfect for gatherings 6′ away. USA Today could easily add this to their list of 100 things to do while home during COVID-19. Best yet, all items are easily found at home for this paper mache creation.
Materials Needed to Make a Coronavirus Piñata
You will need a balloon, a large bowl the diameter of desired coronavirus circumference, a small cereal bowl for flour and water mixture and newspaper (cut into 2″ strips).
Blow up the balloon until it fits the top rim of your large bowl. Mix equal parts water and flour, about a cup each, in the cereal bowl. Adjust amounts to get a glue-like, paste substance. Dip newspaper strips into flour mixture, wipe most off with your fingers and apply to the balloon.
Continue applying strips of newspaper dipped in mixture in a cross like pattern to create strength, until you have added 4-5 layers.
To create the spiky look we simply took a quarter of a newspaper page, dipped it in the flour mixture and then molded it into kind of a table shape. Then we stuck it onto the ball in a random pattern. My kids, ages 6-12 years, had fun helping make this. Especially since they were looking forward to destroying it later.
How to Create the Piñata Hanger
Cut a small incision in the top, stuff the piñata full of candy and/or toys and insert a hanging system of some sort. I literally took a metal hanger in a “V” shape and placed it inside. Then duct taped the wire on the inside of the piñata as well as the outside of the piñata.
Let your kids paint it, it’s ok if it’s ugly, that’s what it is and we’re going to smash it right?
Let the kids wack it, kick it, smash it and take out all that angst on the coronavirus. It’s therapy really 😉
Stay connected, follow my blog, Facebook, Instagram and continue to get other fun, great ideas! Thanks for stopping by.
If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy these other crafty ideas.
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A living wreath is easy to make and keep alive once you know all the tricks. In this post you will learn how to make an inexpensive wreath that looks like a million bucks – figuratively right? I mean a million bucks? Who would sounds that much?
Usually a premade succulent frame will cost you about $30. Here you’ll see how to make one for $6.50 by making a wreath form from dollar tree supplies.
Shopping List for a Summer Succulent Wreath
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The package of sphagnum moss is $13, but will do about 4 wreaths. The floral pins package will do anywhere from 5-10 wreaths.
1. Making the Dollar Tree Spring Wreath
Use the floral wire to connect each joint of the two wreaths together. Make sure you fold the ends of the wire pointing inside the form to avoid being poked later.
Next, zig zag the wire on the inside of the wreath where you have the largest opening. You can wire the bottom and sides as well, but leave the top two rows open for succulents.
2. Putting Sphagnum Moss in the Frame
Sphagnum moss is important because it holds the succulents in the moss and frame. This special moss also absorbs and holds a lot of water.
Soak the moss in a bucket of water. Then squeeze out the excess water. Be careful for pokey items. The company does a good job preparing the moss, but sometimes there are small sticks. Squeeze with care. ☺️
Press the moss into the wire wreath form. You want the moss to be thin and compact so you can’t see light through the bottom and sides when you lift it up.
Leave as much room as possible (by making it compact) that you have room for succulent roots and soil. Imagine you are making a nest. You need it to be strong, but you also need it to be wide enough to hold plants.
3. Assembling Succulents in Moss
Keep as much soil as you can around your succulent roots. Press the roots and soil into the succulent form.
Use floral pins to hold your succulents in the wreath.
Next press more sphagnum moss into the wreath form, covering any exposed soil. This will help hold your succulents in place and help hold in moisture for your plants.
If desired, you may also want to wrap your wreath, moss and succulents with twine. Be careful to go around plants and only touch the moss. This can help further hold the moss and plants in place while they establish themselves in the wreath.
Once the root system is strong they will hold themselves in the wreath. You may wonder how long do succulent wreaths last?
A succulent wreath can last up to 5 years. It will change over time. As it gets over grown you can trim back the succulents and use the succulent starts for more wreaths.
Succulent Wreath Maintenance
If you would like to place your succulent wreath on the door avoid South facing doors as the sun will be too hot. Also if you have a wooden door, place plastic behind the wreath to protect the wood finish.
How to Care For Your Succulent Wreath
After planting, keep the wreath out of direct sunlight for a week. Gradually increase light levels to full exposure.
For hot zones protect plants from midday sun. Indoors set your wreath in a south-facing window, greenhouse or garden room.
Hang your wreath using galvanized hardware to avoid rust.
If you’ll be displaying your wreath on a wooden surface (such as a door) consider covering the back of your wreath with plastic, using floral pins.
Water your succulent wreath when it feels dry, every 3-10 weeks depending on temperature and lighting.
Soak the wreath in a container of water for at least an hour.
Avoid misting the surface with water as this encourages shallow roots and effects the health of the plant. Enjoy your living wreath!
One last dollar store tip: for easy watering purchase a round dollar store serving tray. It fits the dollar store wire wreath forms perfectly. Place your wreath on the tray. Fill the tray with water until the wreath won’t soak up any more water. Let the wreath dry out a bit, then hang back up.
How to hang hooks and faux wainscoting to increase the use of your space and make your entry feel more welcoming.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small percentage of the sale of items you may purchase at no increased price to you.
The entryway is the first and often only place many people see of your home. By making it welcoming and spacious you give an impression of what you’re whole home looks like.
There are different techniques to use whether you have a small, narrow space or large space that needs focus. Today I am writing about how we gave a larger entry focus. Read here for tips on a smaller space.
The reason for the project
I found that when people arrived at our home they had no convenient place to put their jackets. Though we do have a small coat closet, people usually chose to just lay them on the floor. I wanted there to be an attractive and useful spot to quickly put visitors items and help them feel welcome.
I also hated the orange peel texture, so you can see in my before picture that the project is already underway…And I forgot to take a picture before I had started 😅.
This can be done (as demonstrated on my YouTube channel) with a skim coat of dry wall mud. You can buy this in powder form and mix to the desired consistency or pre mixed.
Tip:
Bumps on the wall are more concerning than dips in the wall. You can always come back and fill in a hole. It’s much harder to scrape off a poorly filled hole that sticks up and is now painted.
Space Vertical Trim
When I first started doing faux wainscoting, someone had suggested to use a computer program to decide where to put each piece of vertical slat. I don’t have the patience for that.
I place the piece where it looks normal up close, then I back up to see if it looks good.
After it visually looks good, I measure between each piece and make slight adjustments. You may have light switches, plugs or door frames to maneuver around.
The slats are pine, 1/4 inch by 2 inches, found in the buy-by-the-foot trim section at the Home Depot. I believe they are lattice slats.
Tape Each Slat in Place
Once I am sure of the location of each slat, I tape it in place with painters tape. It is also a good idea to use a level as you tape them down. It may look perfectly vertical when you are up close, but when you move away the slight slants really stick out.
Secure the slates in place with either finish nails and a hammer or an automatic finish nailer. We bought the Porter – Cable combo pack nailers and upholstery stapler with an air compressor. It had the best price and highest reviews.
Add Boards for a Shelf
Two 6″ X 1″ pine boards make a narrow shelf and a great support to add coat hooks. You can also add a piece of decorative trim where the boards come together, for extra support and detail.
Secure in place with finish nails and a few screws. I used my awesome magnetic stud finder and placed the screws into studs. The shelf isn’t meant to hold much weight, but it will be holding several hooks and weight from coats.
Caulk All Joints
Use paintable caulk along all joints. This is what gives a finished, professional look.
Friends have told me before that they were intimidated by all the caulk choices. See my caulk choosing guide here.
For this project I went with DAP paintable caulk.
Fill in any nail or screw holes with caulk.
Choose Your Paint Color
Paint can dramatically change the feel of a room. I went with a light blue on the upper wall to help soften my crazy horizontal lines along the ceiling.
As you can see in the image below the diagonal wall painted in blue draws less attention to the strange angle, than the brown.
It works because the wall color comes closer to matching the ceiling. It blend in instead of sticking out. In this case I really wanted that effect.
I painted the faux wainscoting the same color as my baseboards and trim. This created continuity and gave the impression of more space.
Add Coat Hooks
I searched everywhere for hooks that looked nice and weren’t too big or expensive. Many were too tall to fit under the shelf and leave enough head room to fit a coat over the hook. Many looked cheap.
Eventually I chose these. They had good shape, good reviews, they held your attention, but didn’t draw away from the rest of the design.
Our home immediately looked elevated. I recieved complements from people who were seeing the home for the first time as well as old friends.
I thought it, “worked! The entry really does speak for the whole home.” 🙂 It’s worth investing in.
I hope you liked this little tutorial today. What is something you want to upgrade in your home? What do you wish you knew how to do (maybe I’ll make a tutorial 😉).
The only thing worse than a room being small is actually feeling small. Thankfully there are plenty of things to do to not only increase the look, but also the feel by adding attractive, inconspicuous storage, well placed accent walls and choosing color than enhances the space.
I’ve compiled amazing tips for decorating small spaces for the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and home, that will help you meet your goals.
Small Bathrooms
Sometimes there is just not a cost effective way to increase the size of a bathroom. If you have a small bathroom all is not lost. At Trend4Homey you will find a variety of truly small bathrooms with inspiring decorating ideas.
The following rooms all increase their storage with the use of shelves and make the room feel more homey.
Small spaces can be great. Less to clean, less to own, but it also has its draw backs, namely storage.
One of the most effective ways to create space in a small bedroom or apartment is to add storage in attractive and efficient ways. Like this storage added under a loft bed. See how to make your own loft bed and immediately have more space.
This bedroom has been given an airy feel by adding curtains around the bed to create a sense of privacy. The curtains, though thin, give the feeling of separate rooms. See it here along with 37 other small bedroom ideas.
Small Kitchens
Check out Architectural Digest for an amazing tour of small kitchens. These are my favorites.
Many kitchens (and homes for that matter) are going all white. With the right decore and texture through fabric, wall covering etc. An all white space can be pulled off well. It also increases the effect of space and is wonderful in small rooms, but check out this kitchen!
I love it so much. Using a light grey paint, they created height and still kept the spacial feeling by painting the walls and cabinets the same color. While this wouldn’t work in all situations it works here because there is a good balance of smooth and lined texture. The shiplap helps break up the monotony and the smooth cabinets help separate them from the wall.
The bright window is set high on the wall which pulls your eyes upward and increases the spacial feeling.
The live plants add interest and also pull your eyes upward, creating an inviting and calm space. Imagine this room without plants – it would feel kind of blah and the grey would likely become overpowering.
And of course these amazing counters and floor. They are the highlight. The final touch. They would easily be “too much” in an otherwise busy kitchen with alot of texture and color, but with the grey throughout and the green plants up high, they have nothing to compete with – they just get to shine.
Beautiful light coming in from a window that can’t even be seen. Technically you could add lighting to mimic natural light and get the same effect. The cabinets go to the ceiling creating both storage and bringing attention to the height of the ceiling. They were even able to squeeze in room for a mini breakfast bar.
The all white kitchen helps it feel larger than it is while the wood counters bring in warmth. White subway tile add to the brightness of the room while also adding subtle texture. Though it doesn’t seem to stick out, this kitchen would look much different if it had plain painted walls.
Small Homes
At designertrapped.Com you’ll find 7 tips for making a room seem larger than it is using furniture and decorating tips.
Among her designer tips – adding curtains that go to the ceiling to make the window feel larger than it is.
Try thishomemadehome.com tips on using paint, color, texture and mirrors to trick the eye. Creating a spatial feeling without knocking down any walls.
That is my quick and simple guide to making a room feel larger. If you have other ideas that have worked for you, please share in the comments below.
If you liked what you read and want to keep up on the latest posts from This Homemade Home, please subscribe.
This style is simple and can be removed when you leave.
Creating Study or Play Space
We found ourselves trying to build a bedroom in a narrow portion of the basement. With the placement of the hot water heater and window it was impossible to avoid a narrow space.
Building a Wall to Wall Loft Bed
We made up for it with a large walk in closet and a loft bed. Now our daughter is in 7th Heaven and has loved organizing all her stuff on the book shelf and cubby wall.
Bolt Supports Into the Wall
Create a firm bed that won’t creak or move by first building a good support system. I used 1/4″ diameter bolts and ratcheted a bolt into each stud in the wall. With this being a wall-to-wall loft I was able to bolt into the walls on three sides.
Mark where each wall stud is on the wall. Hold a 2×4 up on the wall and mark on the 2×4 where each stud is located. Drill 1/4″ pilot holes where you have marked for the bolt to fit.
To get an truly flat bed, use a level when attaching 2x4s to ensure the support is horizontal.
For the large “doorway” under the bed use 2x4s as shown in the picture below, resting on vertical 2x4s.
Build Shelves Under the Loft Bed
To make the most of the space under the bed you can create deep shelves for cubbies and a book shelf.
Use a level here as well to ensure the shelves are straight. I would hold the shelf level, then measure the vertical support beam.
When finishing the shelves, paint the support boards to match the wall color. As you can see here the supports almost blend into the wall.
Place Supports Under the Bed
Putting supports under the bed also help with making a solid immovable bed. I used one 2×4 length wise and cut notches out for two 2x2s then reinforced each board with metal brackets.
The floor of the bed was made using 3/4 inch plywood.
Build Loft Railing
The railing was a little difficult since the bed was longer. I wanted it to be sturdy and withstand heavy use. First I put a bolt in each rung. I screwed the top railing in place and found it still shook a bit.
I then installed an A frame support on the end of the railing. This worked beautifully and took care of any slight movement.
Smooth Out the Finish
Next I sanded down all the joints. Then I caulked in all the screws, joints and imperfections in the wood. There were still a few problem areas so I mixed up a batch of drywall mud and applied it to the wood, let dry and sanded smooth.
Paint or Stain Loft Bed
My daughter and I decided to use white wash on the bed since the room already had some deep blues and we wanted the bed to stand out.
You can buy whitewash stain or you can make your own whitewash. I used 2 parts water to 1 part paint. The nice thing about making your own is you can use paint you already have on hand. It also made it easy to match our trim since it was the same shade.
At first it looks pretty opaque, but the paint soaks into the wood and quickly gets that beach wood look. You can also wipe part of it away with a rag if you want a lighter effect.
Add a Carpet Landing
We had left over carpet scraps that I used for a comfy loft landing. First put down the padding and secure in place with staples. Then screw the carpet into place on the underside onto the landing. Once you flip the carpet over it gives a nice carpeted edge.
Enjoy Your New Space
You’ve arrived, pull out your organization skills and use those cubbies. I plan on installing some sort of material for privacy between the railing rung. I’m thinking corrugated metal, antique rulers or plain-boring-flat wood.
What would you put in between rungs for more privacy and still have it look nice?
Well until next time, have a great day and keep creating!
There are many ways to start out a garland. This version is with inexpensive wire from the dollar store, hot glue and pinecones. It cost about $3 to make two to five good length stands.
Cure your pinecones
If you plan on storing your garland from year to year you will want to cure the pinecones to get rid of the bugs. If you don’t you will have many bugs crawling around your house.
To do this stack your pinecones on a tray and bake @ 300° for 20 minutes. My pinecones began to leave a very unpleasant woodsy smell in my house so I pulled them out and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. It worked great and my house smelled like Christmas.
Prepare wire for the garland
While they are curing prepare your wire. You will want several feet for the garland length, plus more on each end for wiring onto a fence post etc.
I had 5′ length garlands with an extra 3′ feet on both ends to give me plenty of room to attach to my fence post. My total length was 11 feet.
To handle all that wire roll up the first 3′ and secure with a paperclip. Do the same with the last 3′ as well, this will set up your working wire area.
Next prepare the short wires to be hot glued to the top of the pinecones. As you can see in the picture this takes about 6″ of wire. Bend in half and then give a little foot to sit on top of the pinecone or wrap around the stem if there is one.
Once glued on, place the pinecone in an upward position until the glue has hardened. I used the bag holding all my pinecones to hold the glued cones in place. . 😊
Note: some people prefer to just wrap the wire around the end of the pinecone. Depending on the type of pinecone you have this could work quite well and save you time gluing. Since mine were flat on the bottom and not wanting the wire to show, I opted to glue the wire on.
Build the garland shape
To start off my garland I used three pinecones first then the ribbon. I actually left about 3″of space on the wire to tie the ribbon on and glued the ribbon in place so it wouldn’t slide or turn upside down.
To keep the pinecones from slipping I used the pattern below. The yellow line represents my 11′ wire and the blue lines represent the 6″ wire attached to the pinecone. First twist the blue wire around the yellow wire, like a twistie tie. Then wrap the yellow wire around the blue wire once.
This method allowed me to keep the pinecones exactly where I wanted them.
To get the shape on my garland I built it on a flat surface and placed the pinecones where I wanted them before I began. This mostly consisted of using the larger cones flat against the table and smaller cones on top.
In this illustration the blue circled pinecones are the large cones wired in place first. The yellow circled cones were put on last and were smaller.
This pattern gave me the nice shape. Even after I hung it up, the pinecones stayed where I placed them. The wire also helped as I could bend something to keep a cone where I wanted it.
I used 6″ of wire glued to the pinecone for easy handling. This also meant I had wire left poking out once the cone had been twisted into place.
To solve this I used needle nose plyers to curl each wire against the main wire. This kept the wire from being seen, but also added stability to the cones.
When done, unravel your 3′ wire on either end of your garland and string it up on a fence, mantle etc.
Thanks for stopping by. Please share some of your garland making tips or garlands you’ve wanted to try.
Hi, I’m Natalie. I’m a mother of four, an artist, and a DIYer that loves to reuse, recycle, and refurbish. I like power tools and teaching others how to save money while improving their home.
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