DIY Vase + Twine Birdhouse

Peace and greetings to you all.  While most of the northern hemisphere is experiencing some sort of winter and the departure of most birds, we here in the UAE have begun our normal summer. We have two seasons: hell and normal summer which some like to call winter. Ha! Mind you, I haven't seen real rain in the almost year and a half I've been living in Dubai. 

Since the birds are back now, I felt it was time to make a bird house. I am really excited about this bird house because I think it's the first project I thought of that I haven't seen anywhere online, however the inspiration for it did come from currently trending twine light fixtures. I'm sorry the tutorial isn't really clear as I don't know how to explain how to wrap twine around a vase, so I took a ton of pics to show you the steps I took. Hope it's not too confusing. 

I started with a plain glass vase and some twine from Walmart (USA) Together, under $5

As much as I hate Ace brand spray paint, I have to finish the cans I have before I buy something else. 

I used gray Krylon primer to spray the outside of the vase. This created a dark interior so the birds would feel safe and cozy. I wanted the house to be dark inside. Then I sprayed white on that to create a bright contrasting background for they twine.

I started by leaving six inches of twine loose and glued the bottom of it to the vase 

and wrapped once around the center of the vase.

Then I began to wrap diagonally partially covering the whole. The whole was too big and 

I wanted to make it smaller. I felt a smaller whole would keep out predators 

I continued in a pattern.

Here you can see my original horizontal wrap.

Pattern is starting to show.

Notice how pretty the white with the twine is?

Make sure you glue generously so the twine doesn't unravel later.

Make sure you wear your best black skirt so it can get nice and dirty. ;oP

I didn't want too much of an uniformed look so I wrapped in a more organic pattern.

In the end, I took the end of these string and tied it to the original 6 inch piece I left when I started. This insured a sturdy attachment to the bird house. 

And the final product. Notice the dark interior. 

It turned out almost exactly how I expected it. The time it took was longer than expected though, about 45 minutes to wrap. It's really pleasing to look at. It's like garden eye candy Don't you think? I would love to read your comments, so feel free to leave one below. Thanks for stopping by!

-Debora

P.S. I'm linked up to:

Coastal Charm

Not Just a Housewife

Hope Studios 

DIY Show Off

DIY Bone White Turkey Platter

Look, but don't touch! This Turkey is just for the lookin' not for eating on. Back in California, my mom had been working next to a thrift store that frequently had awesome stuff. One of the things she found was a fiesta inspired turkey platter for....wait for it.... 5 bucks and I think it had a discount too. WIN! While some might have liked the platter in all its colorful glory, I felt it would match my kitchen better in a classic white.

Usually, platters and things made for food have a marking on the back that say "oven safe" dishwasher safe" etc. Or it would say say "not for food". This platter didn't say either. It was completely blank. So I was never comfortable serving food on it and gave myself the "OK" to spray away. Ha! That rhymed.

The final product...

Here is Mr. Color ME Badd before:

 ;o) I couldn't help myself guys. 

Here we go...Rainbow Turkey Glory

I used Krylon H2O which I love! Water based, easy to clean if you make a mistake and holds on for dear life. Ace, on the other hand, is a POCG. (Peace of crap garbage) Their Metallics and Primers are HORRIBLE. Metallics rub off on EVERYTHING and primers stick like humans on walls. The white wasn't bad, but was so thin I needed 3+ coats. Keep away from Ace brand sprays. Just sayin' 

Final product turned out great.

 I love color, when used appropriately. That previous turkey just wasn't working for my kitchen. Classic white is timeless and no matter what trends-in or trends-out (I just made those up ;o) bone white will also hold a special place in the decorating world. Hope you enjoyed. By the way, don't forget contest ends Monday November 19 midnight PST. Winner will be announced Tuesday morning. 

-Debora

Peacock isnpiration + First GIVEAWAY!!

Happy Friday Mideast and sorry America I couldn't make the Thursday evening cut off as I promised! Today,  I will be working on a little art project with the family that has to do with peacocks and handprints. So I wanted to share some inspirational photos with you all. Also, in celebration of reaching 30+ "likes" on my Facebook page, I will host a giveaway today (below). Enjoy!

Source unknown

 Art From OKL

 Print art

Love this one from Etsy

Aren't they so pretty? Especially the dining room. Well, now it's time for the fun. Announcing my GIVEAWAY:

$30.00 gift card to...

TARGET!!! 

So in celebration of 30 "likes" and my last two months of being 30 (o: I am giving a $30 gift card to ONE lucky winner. NOTE: THIS IS NOT SPONSORED BY TARGET. I choose Target because I love that store and they have online shopping. Here are the rules to enter:

1. For a chance to win you must link this giveaway to either Facebook or Twitter. (linking to both will only get you one entry) THEN, leave a comment on this blog stating where you linked. No comment, no entry.

2. For a second chance to win you must follow this blog with Google friend connect. or "like" Debdoozle on FB. THEN, leave a comment stating if you "followed" or "liked". If you "liked" the fan page before the contest, please recommend a friend to "like" and comment that you did so.  Again, no comment, no entry.

3. Contest is open to USA, UAE, and Egyptian Residents only. Do not leave your e-mail in the comments. Contest ends midnight pacific standard time. Winner will be announced Tuesday November 20th UAE time. Please check in to see if you have WON. 

4. UAE and Egyptian residents only have the option to opt out of gift card in turn for cash prize in AED or Egyptian pound if you win. 

I wil attempt to use Random (dot) org to generate a winner, however, if I have issues with it, I will literally print all comments, stick them in a hat and have my kids pick the winner ;o) 

GoodLuck

-Debora

Spiritual Friday: "What's the big deal?" I'll tell you.

Welcome to Spiritual Friday. When I started this blog, I decided to take one day a week to focus on more spiritual aspects of life that may or may not deal with DIY and Decor. The reason being that I want to keep my life as balanced as possible.

Today I wanted to talk about the phrase "what's the big deal?" What sparked this idea for me was the reaction of my friends on Facebook about this recent Halloween. While I was fortunate enough this year to not see my Facebook news feed filled with as many arguments as last year between those who celebrate and those who don't, it still looked like Servant of God vs. Patriotic American. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but there were definitely some rude comments from both sides. I myself, was left in the middle watching the show and contemplating the whole thing. I couldn't help but imagine the devil sitting back and laughing his hee-haa off at us saying we are so easily fooled and divided.

I noticed two main themes: What's the big deal? It's just (insert controversial topic) and that is totally un-Islamic. While the two extreme responses and tones in people's writing bothered me, the former comment frustrated me the most. Why? It's dangerous to brush off an important decision with a simple and quite meaningless comment. The comment itself goes against the first message God sent to Muslims. God told us to read, educate our selves. What's the big deal  is like a wild fire of ignorance. Once it catches it's all over the place and people repeat it without even thinking. And before you know it damage is catastrophic. Or at least it can be at times. It also instigates peer-pressure. It starts with what's the big deal and ultimately leads to but everyone is doing it. It's not an educated justification for ones actions.

So Halloween, itself may not be catastrophic. My friend David summed up Halloween in this day in age the best: "Halloween used to be 1/3 awkward, 1/3 risqué, 1/3 half-assed... now it's just 100% friends' cute babies..." However, when I see people defending their beliefs they have crossed the line of respect for each other. I mean I though I saw the "ugly" in people during election season. Muslims talking about Halloween was just as ugly.

So how did Halloween mutate from scaring away spirits to scaring each other with a little cute and candy in between? I can't help but imagine the tiny flame that is what's the big deal slowly, but surely engulfing almost an entire world and persuading people that Halloween is just fun. After reviewing the history of Halloween, so I myself can make a decision once and for all, I realized that while it wasn't nearly as evil back then as it is now, people still argue that in this day in age it's "just fun" where as back then it was "evil". People don't even know what the heck they are talking about and that is my point!!

I'm not here to judge those who celebrate or not. I want to raise an awareness on the dangers of brushing off decisions (big or small) with a simple what's the big deal? statement.

When I was a kid I celebrated Halloween, I was also in girl scouts. One of the troop members was a Christian girl whose family did not partake in Halloween. She couldn't even make a Halloween craft. This was the late 80's early 90's. Back then I thought she was a weirdo, what's the big deal, everyone does it? I wish I could find that girl now and tell her I'm sorry I disrespected you because your convictions were not popular.

Don't get me wrong, this post IS NOT about judging others because of their views on Halloween. It's merely an example of how a tradition based on superstition became popular, commercialized and some of the powerful justifications for it's acceptance in our culture today was and still is What's the big deal? Seriously? I get that not everyone hones in on the evilness of it, but that IS the Halloween of today not yester-century as one of my friends called it. What else is it if not evil? It's all about witches, goblins, skeletons a little bit of cute here and there. Lets be real though, Knotts Scary farm and all the spook-fests across the nation are not cute.

Halloween in it's original form wasn't about scaring each other the way we do today, it was about scaring away evil spirits from harming ones family. Even though to me that is not a better reason to celebrate Halloween, I see that over time people have no knowledge and they don't care. The goal is meaningless fun without judgement. 

I decided to do a little experiment. While there were many posts on Facebook for and against Halloween, I took only one post (against Halloween) that had 642 'likes' and 43 comments. I read through the entire 45 comments to get a perspective from both sides.

This thread was CRAZY to say the least. Again, I'm not judging anyone, I am simply reflecting on the fact that what's the big deal? is so frequently used. On top of that, people were really harsh on each other. Is Halloween or any holiday or any belief really worth offending others over especially when the importance of that holiday is rooted in what's the big deal? It blows me away that the justification is worth the disrespect of others just to prove oneself "right"? Even the religious people forgot that love is the key to sharing wisdom.
Siggggghhhhh...

I decided not to share the Facebook status update along with the comments. What I can tell you is this; while some tried to be respectful and calm,  almost everyone was defensive and rude, even if their opinions were backed by valid facts or arguments.  But because these opinions were flung in such a know-it-all manner, it really made me realize this way of lazily arguing what's the big deal can be very problematic. Ultimately if people tend to dismiss small matters, over time serious issues can arise as a result. 

-Debora

Permanent eye sores: Covering up electrical panels

Good morning! Sabah el khair! Günaydın! Now that you got your English, Turkish, and Arabic dose of the day let's talk about some serious eye sores in the home. Electrical panels. YUCK! I know they are a necessity, especially when we women are cleaning, cooking, baking, DIY'ing and blogging all at the SAME TIME. All that power will definitely cause some breakers to trip, thus preventing a fire. WIN!  When that happens we mozey on along to that ugly electrical panel and flip the switches back. I know I shouldn't be so harsh, especially when my own panel has saved me on numerous occasions but lets be real; it's UGLY.

Some times I feel like builders are the men from Mars, and designers are the women from Venus. None-the-less the two live together almost harmoniously (o: and everyone makes things work. Here is my example:

Most electrical panels in the USA are like the one on the left of the picture above. However, what the heck is up on the right??? It looks like a UFO, and at night, the Main Street Electrical Parade sans music. Oh-me-oh-my. I think they are the meters that, in the USA, would be outside your house, but in Dubai it's inside? I guess. As soon as we moved into this house this was the FIRST thing I noticed. Granted it's in a low traffic hallway, but it can still be seen from almost any spot in the house. Not to mention every time I walk into the kitchen, it blinks at me in a weird way. :o/

So my simple solution was to cover that thing up with the most minimal effort. Since we live in a rental, I couldn't do anything irreversible or expensive. Plus, with all the 3D action on the right panel, my only choice to cover it would be something free flowing like this...

My hallway is so narrow these were the best shots I could get. 

My husband screwed in a rod and I threw up this really pretty hand sewn quilt art. Not meant for sleeping at all. If you saw the back! Oh my!! It was big enough to cover both panels, maybe 4 1/2 ft x 3 ft. It was the best solution for my situation. However, I found other great ideas for smaller and solid door panels.

Bird House Family had this framed wall paper idea. Even though she only had one odd ball panel to cover, the sequence of three balanced it and made the art look more natural. Who wants art screaming "I'm covering an electrical panel"? Maybe you? 

So cute!! Lindsay at A design story covered these small panels on the left with canvas art she made. Even though the panels were in her pantry, no one wants to see ugly. Nothing like seeing eye candy when getting some belly candy ha! 

Garden Stew had this option. Though not something I would do, but if it works for you then go for it. She painted the door with a scene that matches another painting in the same room and left the boarder of the panel as a "frame". Great painting skills!!

One last close up of my beauty! I guess you can say she is the family pet. 

Low maintenance (o: 

So there you have it, 4 options, and maybe even more online, to cover up that nasty electrical panel. Lets review: 1: hang a light quilt 2: hang framed wallpaper or art 3: Hang a painted canvas and 4: paint it up. As long as you have easy access to it like I do, then it shouldn't be a problem! And with 2% battery left on my laptop, it's time for me to head out without checking grammar mistakes lol. Have a great day/night what ever it is on your end of the world. 

-Debora