DIY – Page 7 – Can Can Dancer

#throwback DIY (your own in-ground pool)

Hello World!

Boy, am I excited to share today’s DIY project with you! Back when I was 16, my family built our own in-ground pool, and my mom documented the entire process. (You could say I come from a DIY type of family.)

My parents bought a premium in-ground pool kit for $7,309 in 2006, and the website they bought it from still has similar prices in 2014. The total project came to $13,929 for the kit, installation, the patio, and the fence. Making this DIY $16,000 cheaper than having someone else do it for us for $30,000. (Final price breakdown at the end of this post.)

The pool kit arrived in a huge box so big, I could stand up in it. It was a fort as is. Sadly, my mom didn’t get a picture of this magnificent box. She did get photos of almost everything else though, so check out the process below:

We had a family friend dig the hole for the pool $200. My dad followed the instructions that came with the pool and assembled part of it in the ground. Next, $400 worth of cement was delivered and poured around the pool footings and walls. One of my dad’s friends helped him that day to level out the poured cement.

My dad rented a ditch digger ($70) to put in the natural gas and electric power lines. These lines were used to heat the pool, power the filters, and the lighters. Always call your local utility company before you dig. My parents paid about $400 for: the electric wire, ground grid, and feed wires.

Next, all the sand arrived for the bottom of the pool. #Throwback to my natural brunette, 16 year old self.

For the bottom of the pool, we borrowed a cement mixer from a friend and created a cement-sand mixture and spread it evenly on the floor of the pool.

My brother and I took turns mixing the sand/cement, and shoveling it into the pool.

Next, we installed the pool liner and the stairs. We also poured level cement to hold the stairs in place.

We suctioned the pool liner to the pool, but it still had wrinkles in it.

We filled the pool with water and checked for leaks.

My mom removed the leftover wrinkles with a plunger. She did this gently to the pool liner, as otherwise she could have caused uneven bumps in the sand under the liner.

The trench around the pool was then back filled, and leveled. My parents paid a local company $2,200 to build the patio frame, add the rebar grid, and pour aggregate cement around the pool yard.

My parents added a temporary safety fence around the pool, and bought a safety cover.

Some of the leftover pool sand was used to make a sandbox for my little sister.

My mom bought two aluminum pergolas at Costco for $699 each for the pool area. My dad installed the black aluminum fence above himself, and paid $2400 for the materials.

The pool kit we ordered included a solar heating cover, so we can reduce our natural gas costs for the warmer months in Idaho.

It took an entire summer for us to DIY it, but eight years later, it still works like new!

Price breakdown:

$7309 – premium in-ground pool kit (with heater and solar cover)
$200 – to a family friend to dig the hole for our pool with his own equipment
$400 – cement for pool walls and footings
$400 – electric wires, ground grid, and feed wires
$250 – piping for the natural gas
$70 – ditch digger rental
$250 – permits for the pool
$150 – miscellaneous wood for the structure and stairs
$200 – temporary safety fence
$100 – water to fill the pool
$2200 – aggregate patio supplies and installation
$2400 – black aluminum fence
free – borrowed cement mixer, previously owned wheelbarrow and shovels

Cheers!

April 16, 2014April 16, 2014

Hand Painted Sunflower Stool

Hello World,

I went thrifting recently and found this solid wood stool for only $4! If you are sensing a pattern here, I like to buy thrift shop items and give them makeovers. The stool I bought had dents and wear on it. Instead of just sanding it and staining the wood, I decided to give it a cheery update.

I started by sanding the stool by hand to remove the shine and painted the entire stool with white primer. Next, I applied two coats of periwinkle interior latex paint. At this point I thought the stool looked too perfect, so I took a fine grit sand paper and started sanding the edges of the stool. Some parts I sanded more than others, so the white or original wood would peek through.

I next used acrylic paint and painted my sunflower. I did a base of white first, as yellow paint always seems to be slightly transparent. I used black for the center, and used a fan brush to texturize dark grey paint over it.

After painting my sunflower, I sanded it (going with the grain of the wood) as well to give it some wear. I then sealed it with some clear spray paint.

My mom loves sunflowers, so *spoiler MOM* I might give it to her. If I find another stool at that low of a price, I might make another with a daisy painted on it. Do you like to makeover thrift store items as well?

Happy Crafting!

April 10, 2014April 10, 2014

DIY Oversized Dreamcatcher

Hello World,

I usually don’t post about my personal life on here, but today’s tutorial is different. It holds a deeper meaning to me. My grandma (I called her Granny) passed away almost two years ago, and my family was given some of her things. Granny was very bright, loved to read, collected quirky cat figurines, and had doilies all around her home. I have had one of her doilies, and finally found a symbolic way to use it.

Granny liked to focus on the positive, and didn’t let negativity get to her. I find this attitude towards life similar to a dreamcatcher. In some Native American cultures, dreamcatchers are believed to filter out bad dreams, letting only the good dreams through. So I used one of her doilies to make an oversized dreamcatcher, as a happy reminder of her, and to remind me focus on the positive, no matter what life throws at me.

Check out the tutorial below:

1. Gather your supplies: a small hula-hoop (mine was from the dollar store), a doily, twine, scissors, various lace trimmings (I found mine at thrift shops), beads, buttons, and fabric glue (not pictured).

2. Pop in your favorite movie, and start wrapping your twine around your hula hoop. Continue until you have completely covered it.

3. Take note of how many points your doily has. Mine had 12.

4. Start by tying a tail end of twine to your hoop. 1/12 along the way of my hoop, I pulled tightly, and looped my twine around my hoop. I repeated this until I had a 12 sided polygon inside my hoop.

5. I continued around a second time, this time looping my twine through the center point of each previously-created polygon side. My doily was large, so I didn’t continue working around the twine spiral. If yours is smaller, continue working your way around. Tie a knot when you reach your stopping point.

6. To attach my doily, instead of working it into the twine spiral, I just looped twine through one of the corners, and tied it to the hoop. I hid my tail ends my wrapping them around the hoop a bit.

7. Attach your various lace trims to your hoop. Either knot them onto it, or fold them over and glue in place.

8. Add any other trimmings to your dreamcatcher. I tied on pearl strands, twine braids, and other beaded strands.

9. To hang it, I looped a piece of trim around the top of my hoop and glued the tail ends together to create a loop. I also added a vintage brooch to the doily of my dreamcatcher.

I haven’t added feathers to mine just yet, as I haven’t stumbled across the perfect feathers yet.

Happy crafting! Be happy!

April 4, 2014April 4, 2014