Clever Garden and Outdoor DIY Ideas

Clever Garden and Outdoor DIY Ideas

In the warmer months everyone wants to spend more time outdoors, after all, we need to make the most of the beautiful summer sunshine. Don’t let a drab outdoor space prevent you from whiling away the time outside. Try some of these clever outdoor DIY ideas to create a garden space that will make you wish that you lived outside!

Vegetable garden markers

If you’ve worked hard to tend to your vegetable patch, the chances are that you want it to look good too. When planting new seedlings, you needn’t have to stick unsightly markers in the ground that indicate which type of vegetable is growing there. Buy some round stones and paint them in colours of your choice (acrylic paints work well). Use a bold colour to write the names of each vegetable on them. Voila! You have colourful DIY vegetable patch name tags.

Wall pot herbs and flowers

If you’re stuck for space in your garden, but want to add a touch of fresh-growing herbs to your green thumb repertoire, or even some flowers for a pop of colour, you can create a ‘growing wall.’ Simply choose a solid, uncluttered wall in your garden and use affordable but sturdy brackets to mount up some old metal tins or empty pots. Each pot can be used to grow a different herb or type of flower. Get creative and paint each pot a different colour.

garden 2

Extra Tip: Old rusted wheelbarrows also work well as a giant feature potter for growing herbs or flowers.

Bird Watching

What could be more therapeutic than sitting in the garden and watching tiny birds twittering and flying about? Entice birds into your garden with a DIY bird feeder. Create an adorable bird feeder using an old teacup and saucer. Simply squeeze a good dollop of industrial-strength superglue onto the side of the saucer and secure the teacup on its side onto the patch of glue. Leave overnight to set, tie a strong piece of rope through the handle of the teacup and hang from a tree branch. All that’s left is to fill the teacup and saucer with bird seed and sit back and watch. Your cats will enjoy the show too.

garden 3

Decorative lighting

Add a touch of sparkle to your garden with night lighting and daytime dazzle. Fill empty glass jars with solar-powered fairy lights or candles and string them up in the branches of a tree. At night you will have beautiful lights in your garden. Fill empty mason glass jars with rice or beach sand and affix a candle in the centre to have beautiful DIY light pieces for your patio table at night. These nifty jars can even be used to dot a walkway at night.

garden 4

Patio Furniture

Last but not least, don’t forget to spruce up your outdoor furniture for a whole new look. Repaint old wooden patio furniture and even get creative with stencilling patterns.

Now that you’ve given your garden a makeover, all that’s left is to plan those lazy summer afternoon lunches.

For all the glues, hardware, ropes and goodies that you will need for your garden DIY adventure, visit your nearest Jack’s Paint & Hardware store.

DIY Do’s and Don’ts for Pregnant Women

baby articleMoms-to-be usually find themselves eager to tackle DIY projects. Whether it is painting the new arrival’s bedroom or installing some handy shelves for nappies, baby lotions and potions; there is often lots of DIY to be done before the 9 months are up.

If you’re pregnant and you’ve been bitten by the nesting bug, there are some DIY tasks that you can tackle yourself. However, with a baby on board, there are quite a few hazards to take into consideration to keep both you and baby safe:

Painting Pains

A new lick of paint is one of the best ways to revamp a room. Before you pick your favourite pastel and pick up the paintbrush, there are some important things you need to know:

  • If your home was built prior to the 80s, there is a chance that the old paint is lead-based. When removing lead-based paints, toxic levels of lead are released into the air which can be highly detrimental to unborn babies. If you are unsure about the lead content of your home’s paint, ask a professional assessor to determine if you have a problem and, if you do,  what you can do about it.
  • If you’re keen to do the painting work yourself, opt for water-based paints that do not contain lead or mercury. Simply ask for advice from a consultant at your local paint shop to make sure that you’re buying pregnancy-friendly paint. Don’t forget to cover up using gloves and protective clothing. Even if you are using water-based paint, it is important to keep the area well-ventilated at all times.

Side note: In a lot of cases, latex-based paints are the most pregnancy-friendly.

  • If oil-based paint is being used, make sure that the work is done when you are not around, and only return once all of the fumes have dissipated.

A Sticky Situation

It’s important for you to avoid any glues or solvents when pregnant as these products contain harmful chemicals. If you’re installing things in the nursery, it’s best to stick to good old nuts and bolts. If any gluing is necessary, let someone else do it and, as with the paint, allow for all fumes to dissipate before entering the room again. Remember that wallpaper and certain mural stickers use glues, so it is best that these decorative items are installed by someone else.

Electrics

Working with electricity is always risky business. The stakes are even higher when you are pregnant. Although, as adults, we can handle a minor shock, unborn babies’ hearts are not as strong as ours. Any electrical projects should be strictly avoided when you are expecting.

If you’re pregnant and longing to quieten down your enthusiastic nesting hormones with some DIY, it is important to bear all the above-mentioned points in mind. In addition to all of these, remember that your sense of gravity is off so you will be more prone to tripping or going off balance – particularly when standing on a ladder or steps. Remember the rule ‘if it smells bad, run away’ – even if you are simply using a household cleaner or have stepped into a newly painted room that was ventilated overnight. If all else fails, you can always sit back and delegate all of your grandiose nursery plans and DIY to the daddy-to-be.

Head down to your nearest Jack’s Paint & Hardware store and find water-based paint and any other painting supplies and hardware necessary for your baby projects. Contact us for advice on 011 616 8709.

Transforming Picture Frames

picture frame introWhen we stand in a shop, we imagine how a frame would look on the wall, we start seeing so many creative ideas. By painting them we are able to change them with every season.

Before we paint, we have to make sure what we would like to create, a smooth solid colour or something different. Lay out your paint sheets and let’s get creating….

 

 

Painting a solid colour frame

What we need:

Panache multi purpose primer

Panache water based Polyglo (your selected Colour)

38mm Brush (depending on frame size)

Scotch-bride pad

Sugar soap

Mutton cloth

Remember to remove the glass and screws before you paint. Start with cleaning the frame with some sugar soap mixture and a scotch-bride pad, wipe afterwards with clean water and mutton cloth. Apply one coat Panache multi purpose primer. Leave to dry for 24 hours. When dry apply two coats Panache water based Polyglo.

Painting two colours

What we need

Panache multi purpose primer

Panache water based Polyglo (two different colours)

Vaseline

Sugar soap

Scotch-bride pad

Brush

Mutton cloth

This process is where you can be creative. Again start with cleaning the frame with some sugar soap and scotch-bride pad, wipe afterwards with clean water and mutton cloth. Apply one coat Panache multi purpose primer. Leave to dry for 24 hours. When dry apply one coat Panache water based Polyglo. Leave to dry and apply Vaseline to only parts of the frame with an art brush.  Apply second colour Panache Polyglo to the frame. Leave to dry, use scotch-bride pad to remove Vaseline. This will give you two colours on the frame; you can also use more than two colours, this is all about how creative you want to be.

Happy Painting!

Inspiring Bathrooms

jared rice 408402 unsplash 300x200If you are not someone that likes wall décor this is just the thing for you, instead of placing towel rails on the wall make your own. A standing towel rail is simple yet it could add some extra touches to your bathroom. This is a great idea especially if you change the look of your bathroom on a regular basis. This could add splashes of colour or it could just have a wooden finish.

You see with #Panache Water based High gloss this is made easy, you can change the colour as often as you feel like it. All you have to do is wash the surface with some sugar soap and a scotch-bride pad and away we go with our different colour. If it was varnished before we need to place one coat #Panache universal undercoat and then two coats of our #Panache water based high gloss.

 

You would require:

New:  Panache Wood primer white

Old:  Panache Universal Undercoat white

Panache Water Based High Gloss (choice of colour)

Brush

Scotch-bride pad

Sugar soap

Sandpaper 100grid (to smooth the wood out before we paint)

Drop sheet

Rags

Why Water based High Gloss:

Water-based Enamel is Non-Yellowing with a luxurious low gloss finish, ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, trims, doors and window frames that does not chalk or yellow over time. It is safe to the environment as it does not contain lead and has a very low Volatile organic compound.(VOC) The beneficial characteristics of such paints include low odour, clean air, and safer technology, as well as excellent durability and a washable finish.

Happy Painting!

Bathroom Shelves

jonny caspari 513574 unsplash 200x300Making use of every space in small bathrooms is essential. And so in every bathroom we always look for places to put our everyday used items and so bathroom shelfs are always welcome as they are out of the eye, yet nicely stacked they bring uniqueness.  So why not paint them…

With everyday items stacked on these shelfs #Panache water based enamel is the perfect coating for wash ability as well as durability. When we choose paint colours we should also consider the finish we want to use as this could also affect our colour in can. When using bright colours on smaller shelfs they could seem brighter when used on a lighter background.  This al is important in what we are using the shelfs for especially if we are using it for everyday items that we want to blend into the wall instead of stand out, but if we are using it for décor purposes then bright colours are a good choice.

You will require:

Old:  Panache universal undercoat white

New: Panache Wood primer white

Panache High gloss enamel Water based (choice of colour)

Scotch-bride pad

Sugar soap

Brush

Drop sheet

Rags

Why Water based High Gloss:

Water-based Enamel is Non-Yellowing with a luxurious gloss finish, ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, trims, doors and window frames that does not chalk or yellow over time. It is safe to the environment as it does not contain lead and has a very low Volatile organic compound.(VOC) The beneficial characteristics of such paints include low odour, clean air, and safer technology, as well as excellent durability and a washable finish.

Happy Painting!

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