Posts Tagged ‘quick and easy

Yes, I’m writing a post about installing a paper towel rack under the cabinet.

No, I haven’t run out of things to blog about so I’m blogging about mundane chores around the house.

This is actually useful to know!

Would you believe my own mother hasn’t done this yet because she needs her handy-man husband to do it for her?

Say wha?? Handy-man husband???

Girls, pull up your big girl panties! You can do these things!!

I’m here to show you how easy it is to install a paper towel rack. It really is. You can do it yourself. Trust me. (Famous last words…)

Okay, so first off, buy a paper towel rack.

I bought this one at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It was $12.99 but I used a 20% off coupon. If you don’t have one, wait like two days and you’ll probably get one in the mail.

You can use any type of paper towel rack. It doesn’t have to be this particular one. I’ve seen plastic ones at Wally World for like a buck, but I got this one because it looked a little nicer and it probably won’t break over the next 15 years.

Okay, so I’m sure this kit came with directions, but I threw them away. I know better than any directions. Ha! I can do it myself. (Famous last words…)

(No, seriously, you should probably read the directions first. Anything I tell you is my personal opinion and I’m not liable if you ruin your cabinet or cut off your finger.)

Okay, anyway, where were we? Oh ya, I’m suppose to be starting the tutorial. Man I’m chatty today.

I didn’t take a picture of step one because I don’t have 3 hands (one to hold the pencil, one to hold the paper towel rack, and one to take a picture), but basically hold the rack under the counter where you want to hang it and color in the screw holes with a pencil. Make sure you leave enough room at the back of the cabinet for the paper towels to actually fit and not get smashed by the wall.

Once you’ve got two little pencil holes, set the rack down and pick up your drill. Yes, I said drill. Stay with me here. You can do this.

Put a small drill bit on the end of it. I don’t know what size I used, but I picked one that was pretty tiny. At the least MAKE SURE it is SMALLER than the screw you are going to use!

Drill a small hole on each of the pencil markings.

Now that you have two little drilled pilot holes take your drill bit off your drill and swap it out for a phillips head screwdriver (the one that is pluss-ey. You know, it looks like a plus sign? + + +).

Put your rack back on the cabinet and line up the holes on the rack with the holes you just drilled. They should line up. If not, um, didn’t you drill on the pencil markings?

Drill the screws that the rack came with into the holes on the rack.

OMG we are done! Srsly. It was that easy.

I swear it took longer to write this tutorial then it took me to actually install the paper towel rack.

Wow, what a beauty. This looks so freaking amazing I should call it ‘art’.

Just look at how that bad boy hangs there (that’s what she said).

And whatdya’ know, the paper towels don’t scrape on the wall. Man I’m good at eye-balling stuff.

If you are nervous about eye-balling it, use a ruler. There is nothing wrong with admitting defeat and busting out the ruler.

And never forget:

You are freaking awesome and you can do it!

I like to say that I don’t need my man, I want my man. I think wanting him around is so much better than needing him around.

What do you think, Ben? How does it feel to not be needed? Wait. That didn’t sound right. Er, I mean…

I better stop digging now. It’s only getting worse.

(Famous last words…)

I’ve temporarily taken down the Fall decor and busted out the Halloween stuff!

I pulled out my box-o-scariness…

… if you can call it “scary”

I’m more of a “cutesy” seasonal decorator.

I had most of my decor already, but I did make a few spray paint adjustments…

I painted the wreath black as well as the candle stick that I bought months ago.

For the wreath I decided to go low-key. I just painted a wreath black and hung it with a 1 1/2″ thick orange ribbon.

I was planning on doing more detail on the wreath, but once it was painted I really liked it plain.

I love my little crow perched up on top of the mirror. Subtle and spooky.

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.

I bought this little guy from the Dollar Spot and gave him a fresh coat of white spray paint for plastic.

I added a few subtle details…

Lots of spider webs

and candles

and hints of ribbon

and cute spooky little ghosts and pumpkins

and spiders.

Cutesy and glitter make me giddy.

And the Halloween mantle is DONE.

I turned my fall table piece into a Halloween one by adding some moss and ribbon.

Little bits of ribbon can make anything look festive!

I used a sharpie to draw a face on the lil’ punkin’

Isn’t it cute with the moss and spider and web?

Who can resist a mini truffle dish with moss, skulls, and a bow?

More cutesy stuff.

I wish I could take credit for these, but I bought them years ago on a mega after-Halloween sale.

So adorable.

And of course Halloween just isn’t complete with a spooky glitter tree!

Candy, anyone?

Here’s to a fun,

Halloween!

As much as I liked the centerpiece on my coffee table, it really needed a Fall makeover.

My new centerpiece took me less than 10 minutes to put together and was free!

(I only used stuff I had laying around the house)

To create this super cute centerpiece, I took the tray from the last centerpiece, set it on top of a placemat I already had, and added some fake leaves.

Then I added two dollar store glass vases and a few fake plastic acorns and apples from the Dollar Spot at Target.

You can see that I was playing around with which size candle to use.

I decided I wanted to have the little ones because I thought they were cuter, but they needed something under them to raise them up.

So I went to my pantry…

And came up with this:

I also wanted the candles to have something cute on them so I just took some hemp and leaves and tied them to the side of each candle.

Testing it out…

I love it. I can proceed now! Yay!

A lot of my crafts are trial and error. I just play around with different elements until I get a look I like.

Finally, I just added the glass jars back on the tray and I was done!

One thing to point out if you make your own display is to make the levels of the lentils at different heights. It gives it more depth.

I am very pleased with how this display turned out.

And seriously, it was really easy to throw together!

I have no idea what is going on with my newel and large decor ball in the background. Ha! Kids! I didn’t even notice until after I took the pictures. Silly kids. (But I did paint the newel green. It’s slowly coming along…)

Now I’m just one step closer to having a Fall house!

Except now I really should move things around a bit until the end of October to make room for all the

HALLOWEEN DECOR

Have a great Fall, y’all!