Dividing Perennial Daylilies and Other Plants in the Garden-VIDEO & WRITTEN DIY
Spring and fall are the perfect times to divide your perennials. Today weu2019re dividing daylilies and you can do the same with all kinds of plants. Theyu2019re very easy to divide and for many perennial flowers thatu2019s how you get more plants.
Watch the Video tutorial I made. If you prefer written DIY’s you’ll find that below.
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Daylilies can be cross pollinated pretty easily, so even if you did get seeds, unless youu2019re the only neighbor with them, it probably wonu2019t have true traits of the parent plant. That’s how new varieties are made and they can be pretty amazing. Hard to get plants can be divided.
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They’re very easy to divide and actually looked better if you divide them every few years. Itu2019ll give you more plants to spread around your yard or to share. Perennials are not usually propagated by taking a cutting and putting them in water like tropical houseplants are. (Though many can, but that’s not what this is about.) For most plants you have to divide the roots to make a clone of the plant. Itu2019s really easy.
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Daylilies, meadow sages, lambs ear, yarrow, bee balm, hyssop and more are divided like this.
As a general rule, however large the plant is on top, itu2019s probably got similar sized roots. Well established plants can have massive roots.
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Dig the roots out with a shovel or pitchfork carefully digging all the way around it so you donu2019t break the roots off. Clean the root of dirt just enough so you can see them well and divide them in half.
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If you bought a bare root plant, this is how it would come, with the roots washed of all the soil.
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If I hadnu2019t been able to coax and pull the roots apart apart easily, I would have used a knife or shovel and cut the whole root ball in half.
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Itu2019s really that easy. Make sure that any foliage has plenty of roots to support the new plant. Many of them can be divided several times, as I did here.
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Plant the new plants in the garden with compost for organic nutrients that break down over time and will continue to feed it all year. You can also plant it in a pot to give away as Iu2019m doing. Water them and youu2019re done. Keep them watered until established, then you have a whole new garden plant!
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I hope youu2019ve enjoyed this tutorial on I Breathe I DIY! Please share it with anyone who could use it.
I took this tired looking black cabinet, with beautiful curves in all the right places, and gave it an updated look. This cabinet was so heavy looking, sitting on the floor with solid black paint. This seems to have suffered a bit of water damage at some point, but not so much that it can’t be saved. Now it’s getting a new finish, to go in a much more refined space.
The material it’s made from is not wood, it’s a pressed board wood, similar to masonite, or a hollow-core door. I can tell, because of how swollen it is in a couple places- because of water damage.
If you would prefer to learn by watching check out this short video I made.
If the damage isn’t severe, the surface can be repaired like this:
The very first thing to do, is gently sand the surfaces that are swollen. Make them more level with the rest of the surface. Try not to over-work the Then seal them with a paintable caulk to prevent the material from falling apart more. Make sure to use a product you can paint over, silicone won’t work, but acrylic caulk will. A primer like KILZ was applied over the fixed areas. We’re just smoothing it out, sealing, and preventing damage from painting it later.
Once that’s dry, it’s on to the refinishing. I am not using wood stripper. The pressed wood it’s made from, would be ruined from pulling off the paint, and then soaking it in liquid. Ruined. The steps below, will show you everything you need to know, without stripping anything off of it.
Fill any cracks, or dings with caulk and smooth it out with you finger. Places where wood meets wood and there’s a gap, fill those too. This will give it a polished, professional look when it’s done.
Step 1:
Lightly sand the surface with a fine to medium grit sand paper to scuff up the surface. Do this to everything you’ll be painting. If it’s a glossy surface to begin with, just make sure you scuff it up really well so the paint can stick.
Wipe down the surface with a barely-damp cloth, to remove all the dust from sanding and let it dry.
NOTE: This step is what will make everything stick to the surface. If it has a thick glossy coat of sealer, make sure it’s dull when you’re finished.
Step 2:
Paint the first coat of your base coat, on the surface. I used a brush and painted each section in long strokes to keep it smooth. This technique looks best when the surface is very smooth. You’ll end up with a completely different effect if the surface is bumpy, which we’ve used on other DIY’s. Click here to see the Mirror redo Video DIY I did here.
Note: I tried to use a foam roller first, and it left little bubbles on the surface that I had to smooth out with a brush. It wasn’t worth the expense.
Apply a second coat of paint, keeping it smooth. Let that dry for at least 24 hrs. If you’re painting the inside of your cabinet, like I did, you can do that now too.
I chose the paint color Ocean Storm by Valspar for my base coat. This color will show and I want it to have a very deep, aged look when I’m finished. As it wears and is used, this base coat will show through a bit.
You can see the shiny parts that are covered in leaf adhesive
Step 3
Apply leaf adhesive with a soft brush in small sections. Let it dry for the time it says on the label. It will become clear and tacky to the touch.
NOTE: Only apply adhesive to an area you can cover with leaf in one sitting. Adhesive can dry too much and become non-tacky.
Step 4
Carefully remove a sheet of silver leaf from the pack and cover an area with it. Overlap sheets slightly so it covers your creases. Smooth it out with a soft brush. Continue until the entire area with adhesive is covered with silver leaf.
When an entire area is finished, use the brush to remove any extra from the surface.
NOTE: Hands must be clean and dry or leaf will stick to them.
Step 5
Use glossy polyurethane over the finished silver leaf, so that it’ s easier to do the next steps, without rubbing off the silver leaf. Coat it entirely with the Gloss polyurethane. Let it dry completely.
NOTE: Water based varieties make clean up a breeze. Quick dry products are a lifesaver.
Step 6
Mix your glaze by adding 1:1 latex paint and glaze. Stir it thoroughly. I used a similar grey to my base coat. You can use any color you want for this, I nearly used purple as a pop of color over the silver, but decided on gray for an antique look.
Glaze painted into crevices
Work in small sections like one side at a time. Using a brush, paint any detail and edges with you glaze mixture. You do not want to cover everything because your silver will dull down. Apply it into any detail or trim. Wipe it off with a damp rag, turning/rinsing your rag frequently. Use a light hand, and remove the glaze from areas you don’t want it. If you wipe too much of it from the crevices, just paint more on & wipe more gently.
When you’ve covered it, let it dry. Apply polyurethane if you want. I’m not because I want it to naturally get worn from use, showing some of the base coat.
Step 7
Add decorative door handles to finish it off. I snagged these crystal glass ones at a Home Goods for under $10 for 4 of them.
You’re all done! You’ve created a new life, for you or your client’s piece of furniture. It has a stunningly glamorous high-end look for much less than you would buy it for.
I hope you are inspired to use this technique on something amazing!
Just a pop of color you’ll only see when you open it.
-Betsy
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Spring can’t come any sooner, and I’m dealing with spring fever. This year I want to put in raised garden beds, for planting my vegetables. I put a lot of thought into the type and placement of my new raised beds. I listed the pro’s and con’s between wood and metal, and went with metal.
I’ve always been a big fan of planing directly in the ground, but I’m tired of dealing with a bunny rabbit problem. Last year they munched my blueberry bushes to almost nothing, and nipped the tips of all my vegetable starts in early spring. I’m not one to try to kill the rabbits, I’ve tried to fence them out with no luck, so this is my beyond-frustrated solution. Raised galvanized garden beds! (I’ve heard from a gardening neighbor that she’s putting in raised beds because of the bunnies too…)
Saying I love to garden is an understatement. I’m actually a bit obsessive when it comes to gardening, but it’s a pretty healthy hobby- Not to mention the value it ads to my home– so I don’t really worry about it anymore. I dream of gardening all winter long (let’s be honest, winter doesn’t stop me). Any gardener can tell you, there’s just something that sings to the soul, when you have your fingertips in dirt or get to harvest your crops.
There are many raised bed kits you can buy, with varying materials. You can of course, construct them yourself too. I bought mine as a complete kit. I like the sleek design of the galvanized garden beds. I don’t want to deal with rot from wood, and I don’t have time to cut all the steel, and fabricate a corner.
There is a shorter version of the raised bed, EarthMark Galvanized Low Raised Garden Bed which is 10 in tall, but I chose a 17 inch tall garden because it will deter rabbits more, and it will be easier on my back for years to come. It will need a lot more dirt though.
This one is 40 x 76 and 17 inches tall, which ends up being a square version of the garden bed plus one extension kit. You can attach up to three sections, or extensions together.
Wow! The square 40 x 40 is on sale right now at almost $40 off because it’s mid-winter.
Did you ever want to make something out of resin, but didn’t know where to start? Have you ever wondered how people make custom things out of resin for their art? I’m going to teach you how you can make anything you can imagine, a finished resin piece of your very own creation you can actually hold.
The amount of things you can make are unbelievable. Please share this DIY!
I get a lot of questions about how I make the things that I do, and the crazy things I create, and for the projects that I get myself into. I’ve used this technique to make a lot of things for products, art, props, costuming, and sooo much more.
This year I am very excited to be a designer for the most prestigious and creative of all the wearable arts competitions in the world. I’ve worked my tail off, using these exact same techniques, to produce some of the outfit that I’ll be featuring in the competition. Because of the nature of competition, I can’t show you any of my actual project. Expect photos after September.
In this tutorial we’ll sculpt, mold, and cast little things, so you can try it out for yourself. This is a long DIY, so I will be taking off next week. You can expect another DIY after that.
We’re going to make the dangling feathers on this decorative sun-catcher. This DIY is for beginners, so we’ll be making a fairly easy shape that has one main side with detail, and a back that doesn’t matter, similar to a button or cabochon . This is NOT how you make things with detail on all sides, like a figurine. That’s far too much detail and for this. That’s fun for another time.
We’re going to focus on creating, the whole thing – from start to finish. I chose this DIY, because I want you to know how unbelievable your own ideas are, and how easily you can make them reality!
Start by warming a small amount of clay in your hands or with a hairdryer if you’re using oil clay. Each type will be different, but work a bit around in your hands to soften it. Roll it into a ball then slightly flatten in your hand to get closer to the shape you want to make.
Press the clay to the center of your tray to make it stick slightly. You don’t want it to move around much. The feather we’re making is fairly thick, between 1/4 & 1/8 inch so we can drill a hole and hang them. The clay is even thicker than that at this point.
Use sculpting tools to shape the feather, working on the basic shape and thickness first. Remove material to make your shape. Add a central vein down the middle by carving out the sides and leaving the center strip.
Smooth out the shape and then add the fine detail lines to the feather, starting at the main vein and going out and down, just like a real feather. Anything on the clay will show up, so keep it clean and smooth for the best results. I added additional texture to mine, you can do anything you want.
If you’re familiar with sculpting or clay, use its solvent and a very soft paintbrush to smooth it out more. Otherwise use your fingers or tools to smooth it and remove the little pills (balls of clay) that form from sculpting it.
Place this is the fridge, or outside if it’s cold out to harden the clay a little. You don’t want to try to freeze it, that would be bad in the end, but rather chill it to make it firmer.
Note: You can either do the next step on the tray, or carefully lift the clay from it and press it into the mold (that’s what I did.) Use string to cut it off the tray if needed and smooth the edges.
Mold It
Get out equal parts of mold putty part A and part B using a spoon or other thing that can reach it. Do not touch one to the other. Measure them side by side separately, so you have the same amount of each. You want them to cover your shape, so use your judgement.
Quickly mix both parts together in your hands, until there are no swirls in the color and they are fully mixed. You only have 2-3 mins of working time, so quickly make your mold. Make a ball out of it, then slightly smoosh it and stretch it to closer the size of the clay feather.
Place the silicone on a tray and slowly press the clay shape FACE DOWN into it. Submerge the clay’s detail and press the silicone around the edges of the clay with your fingers to enclose the shape, without covering the back -now top. Lightly push the edges snugly around the shape.
Give yourself at least 1/4 inch around the outside edge of the clay shape and be careful not to press it too deep because you don’t want the mold to be thin where your detail is.
Give the mold 15 minutes and check if the silicone is cured by lightly touching the mold. If it indents, it’s not done. If it’s hard to the touch it’s finished.
When it’s finished, it’s time to de-mold, or take it out of the mold. Gently remove the clay feather from the mold, getting all the clay debris out. Be careful not to stretch it too far, which will cause rips.
Note: The mold putty comes in two tubes, part A & part B. When you remove the amount you need from one, used a different utensil to get the other one out. Unused parts can’t touch each other at all. Like not even a little.
Interesting Note: Advanced users will know that if the mold ends up with smeared chunks of clay in it that you just can’t get out no matter how much you try or scream at it, you will need to do a first pull, or cast resin in it, just to get the clay out. A fast curing resin, like what’s used for model cars, is usually used for this. Keep it simple so you can try out the materials, not test their limits.
Cast It
Always spray your mold with mold release suitable for what you’re going to dump into it. You may get one good pull out of it, but resin and other materials will dry out your mold and stick to it, ripping it when you try to de-mold. It’s worth crying over (or at least losing a lot of time and money). This isn’t a mold for chocolate. Just spray it!
Measure out your resin by weight or volume, whichever it needs. I’m using a clear resin with Castin’ Craft’s green translucent pigment. I also poured one of the feathers with fine gold glitter, added to the clear.
Be sure not to over-pour resin into the mold. It dries VERY hard & you will have to sand down the extra.
Let the resin cure for the recommended amount of time, per instructions. Mine is about 24 hours. Every time you pour the mold, it takes that long before you can get it out and do it again. Now you see why I chose three lovely feathers for this tutorial.
Carefully de-mold your resin treasure! I drilled holes in the sides, added gold embroidery floss, and hung them on a small branch. TADA!
You can reuse your new mold around 10+ times before it deteriorates as long as you spray it with release.
I hope you liked this tutorial. I would love to see what this inspires you to make. Email me a photo with a short description of your project @ ibreatheidiy@gmail.com. Your project may be chosen to be featured on my website.
Some cats need space to run around and climb. If you have a kitty, that climbs your cabinets, and looks down on you from bookcases, then this tutorial is for you. I’ll show you how you can easily install shelves on a wall to create a cat climbing paradise using inexpensive IKEA shelf brackets and shelves. You can create modern shelves that are strong enough for a cat to leap onto, while easy enough anyone with some simple tools can install it.
Resin painting is a lot of fun, and this project is a great way for you to jump into it, especially if you have little or no experience with resin. It didn’t take much convincing for me to come up with a small resin project perfect for this time of year, that lets you try colors, metallics, and the opportunity to create your own handcrafted gift for loved ones. Sure you could just mix it up, and pour it into a mold, but this will be so much more exciting and more like a mad scientist experiment.
Making gift coasters is such a simple way to make highly-customized art gifts. You can also play with different colors, since your canvas will be small, then create another one that matches or is completely different. The possibilities of what you can use to color your resin are limitless, but for this tutorial, we are going to focus on using store-bought pigments, glitter, and dyes.
We’re using clear resin so that our coasters are filled with depth and dimension. The brand you choose to use isn’t that important, just carefully read the instructions on mixing and curing times. Resin is either measured by volume or by weight, so read the instructions carefully. We will only be using a small amount of resin, so this is the perfect try-me resin project. If you are purchasing dye for this project, ensure you use translucent dyes.
I was lucky enough to have found some old coasters at a thrift store to reuse for this project today. They are paperboard with cork on the back.
Not having old coasters doesn’t mean you can’t make these for yourself. In the past, I have used cut pieces of masonite board that I coated in resin and then when they were cured, I glued a piece of felt to the back to protect the surface it will be used on. I’ve also recycled fence wood- just cut out a circle or square a little bigger than needed to fit a mug. Sand any rough edges. It’s my experience that fence wood is too thick, but if that’s what you have, go for it!
Always use resin in a heated space, it has to have around 74 degrees F to cure at a normal speed. Cooler spaces will slow it way down.
Step 1 Paint/Prime
Paint your chosen coasters white before beginning. Paint the top and sides. This step makes the colors richer, dimensional, and vibrant. Any white paint will do, since it’s going to be covered. Do two coats of this, so the pattern or wood doesn’t show through.
When it’s dry, use masking tape, or blue tape on bottom edges so you can peel off the resin drips.
Step 2 Protect Surfaces
Lay plastic down on your work surface and lay out all your supplies you’ll need. Resin is a very runny liquid and is very hard to clean off surfaces you don’t want it. If you need a scale, put a small paper towel on it. This stuff loves to drip and can end up on floors, cover it up. Pull your hair back, wear crappy clothes, and have a trash nearby.
Get out all your things to mix and stir and set them easily within reach. Throw away used stir sticks, gloves, etc, as you use them to minimize a resin mess.
Remember to wipe up any spills, drips, or oops as they happen.
Step 3 Measure Resin
Using gloves, follow the instructions for your resin. They’re all different, so carefully measure out the part A and then the part B, into separate containers. Pour the thickest one into a medium cup and the other into a smaller cup. If it’s measured by volume, use two medium cups so you can visually tell that their the same. Don’t mix it quite yet.
Don’t use anything that touches one, on the other. You can even label your lids with which one they go on. Keep the containers clean and wipe up drips with a clean paper towel.
Note: Usually part A or B will be a lot thicker than the other. If you can pour/measure the thick liquid into a large cup, you can add the harder/catalyst (other part) to it and stir in that cup. You don’t want to transfer the very thick one from a cup to another cup because you will struggle to get it out & it will be miss-measured. Especially resin measured by weight.
Step 4 Mix Resin and Dyes
Mix your 2 parts together in a cup big enough to hold both. Stir well, making sure you scrape the sides and bottom in the process. I prefer using wood craft sticks to stir (for less waste), but I use plastic disposable spoons too.
Pour smaller amounts (1/2 to 1 inch) of the mixed resin into small cups for different colors. Give each their own stir stick. Add colors to individual cups and stir. Make them all a little different. We’ll cover other things you can use to color resin, in another tutorial.
Note: Specialty pigments for resin can be found at artists/sculpting suppliers. If you’re in the Northern Colorado area, check out The Sculpture Depot in Loveland.
Step 5 Paint with Resin
Set your first coaster on a small upside-down cup to elevate it off the table in a spot it can drip and cure. You don’t want to move these again. Place a few of these so you are ready to go!
Pick a first color and use a spoon to pour or drip the color onto the coaster. You can pour directional lines, circles, spots, or whatever. Just a little though.
Use your next color and add a spoonful or resin on a different place, in whatever design your heart tells you to. Play with changing directions or adding a few big spots.
Continue on like this, adding layers of colors until the whole surface is mostly covered. It will be dripping off the edges and that’s fine. Use a spoon or stick to smooth resin over the edges too. Here’s several examples.
Step 6 Use a Torch
Use a torch on the surface and watch your colors dance and blend in unexpected ways. This is an optional step, if you don’t have a torch, but my favorite color combos come to life doing this. You don’t want to ignite anything, but lightly run the flame over the surface of the liquid resin on the coasters. I’ve seen people try butane lighters, but I haven’t. This is especially neat on metallics.
Step 7 Cure
Let everything cure undisturbed for usually 24 hours before attempting to touch it. Some resins cure faster, or slower. Give it time to finish and they will be amazing!
Step 7 Remove Tape
Peel the tape off the back, removing all the extra drips. This can be tricky and you may need to use a butter knife or fingernails to help lift the spots that have resin, it really wants to stick. If you didn’t bother taping yours, you will need to sand them now to remove the drips.
If there are any sharp spots, which there usually are, use fine sand paper right around the bottom edge to eliminate cuts or scratches on tables.
If you’ve used a cut board, you can now cut out and glue felt onto the bottom.
What great artistic coasters these are! The possibilities are endless. I hope you have fun trying out this project and we would love to see what you did. Email us pictures of your projects at Ibreatheidiy@gmail.com.
Did you ever wish you could change the color of your upholstered furniture? We have a great solution for giving old furniture a face-lift. You can use this chalk painting technique on chair cushions, sofas, wing chairs, and so much more! This can give your thrifty finds or a dining set a whole new look in just a weekend! Finish your project up with sealing wax. Watch our video tutorial to learn how you can do it too.
Halloween is an especially creative time of year for us. It’s usually a really busy time of year for us too. This video tutorial is quick and easy to add some spooky to your indoor areas. There are so many variations you could try out, or you could carry the idea onto other holidays too. If you can imagine it, you can create it.
When choosing flooring materials it’s important to choose a material that will worked well with the space. For this artist’s studio, I chose luxury vinyl plank flooring because it won’t be ruined when it gets wet. It was an obvious choice because it will be able to handle spills, splatters, snow, and anything else I throw at it. The planks are made pretty much of PVC, coated in a top layer that looks like wood. I need a flooring that is going to be easy to maintain as well as something that is going to be very easy to install and to put into place myself.
The first step was to lay an underlament down on the sub-floor. The one I chose was a dense foam that rolled out and covered the floor in two rows. This is considered a floating floor which means that it’s not glued or nailed down in any way it just sets on top of it underlamanent. Molding around the bottom of the wall is what holds it down.
Next I figured out which direction the wood grain on the planks should run. Because this building is 8×10, I wanted to visually maximize the square footage. The proper direction to lay the floor would be the direction the sun comes in the windows or running planks through a doorway. While the direction the sun comes in would look nice, I chose to run the boards following the door entrance creating a long line for the eye to follow, making it look much deeper. I figured out which wall would be the starting edge and where the finished cutting edge would be. I used the full (uncut) strips directly in front of the door where I walk into the building, with the partial pieces along the wall under my work bench where no one’s going to see it.
I took planks out of the box and connected the first row end to end which creates a stronger seam. I laid an entire row on the floor and marked where to cut the end plank with a dry erase marker. I took advantage of the doorway when I did this so that I was able to run my boards past the wall and mark it.
I then used a straight edge and a utility knife to gently score the top layer of the vinyl plank. You don’t need a press very hard. Use the utility knife and go over it a few times. Then you turn it over, on the back, and snap back along the line you created. It really is that simple and it really does work that well. I used my jigsaw for a couple of irregular shapes around my doorway, but overall working with the vinyl planks was extremely easy.
Once the first row was in, I worked on the second row. You want a staggered floor, so that the seams don’t line up with another row. This was very easy because you have to cut a length off one plank, and then it in turn becomes the beginning of your next row which naturally makes it staggered. I put the pieces end to end for the row, marked, and cut the end plank to fit. The rows fit snugly into little grooves on the previous row. Be careful to pay attention to which side has which kind of groves because they all need to run the exact same direction. It was easier to have two people putting the long row into place. I laid it by myself too, but it was easier with a little help, just sayin.
Continue to lay each row, until you come to the last edge. Mark where the plank needs to be cut and cut the pieces for your last row to fit. Carefully fit them into the groves as a whole row. As long as that fits snugly into the previous row, you can lay it down and step on it to get it into place.
I was actually very shocked by how easily I installed this floor. It was very inexpensive as far as flooring is concerned, and my underlayment was about a third of the price because this is just an 8 x 10 area.
I hope that this tutorial has helped you understand just how easily you could lay your own luxury vinyl plank flooring yourself. We would love to see the results of your projects. Email us at Ibreatheidiy@gmail.com.
This easy video tutorial shows you how to make your own pattern and replace some old fabric liners with newly sewn jacquard tablecloth liners. This is a sewing project perfectly suited for the beginner/intermediate.
, but any non-drying clay works 
, oil clay, 
all work
