Sprucing Up The Site :: New Departments

I've been gradually organising Empress of Dirt into various departments for your viewing pleasure. Everything seems to fit nicely into some favourite topics: gardening, making things, frugality, family trips, books, and current favourite obsessions I share in my weekly linky dinks.

Here's some samples:

Make, Eat, & Grow Stuff
Free instructions, tips, and tricks from my home and garden.

• Household tips
• Sew, quilt, and knit
• Recipes
• Garden art how-tos
• Gardening how-tos
• Garden pond how-tos
• Home renovations

Garden
Come have a look around dozens of gardens to get ideas and inspiration.

• Tour my old garden
• Tour my new garden
• Garden art/junk/accent ideas
• Virtual garden tours

Living A Debt-Free Life
How we have lived a debt-free life while being self-employed and living a life we enjoy.

• How We Live Debt-Free :: And Avoid The Man | Our main principles for debt-free (and content!) living
• Ways I Earn Money Without Working | While it's fine to obsess over gas prices and clip coupons, here's some bigger ways to save some money
• Finding money on the walk to school | Walking has unexpected benefits
• 19 Eco-Positive Home and Health Ideas | Being green can be frugal too
• The Scoop On Buying Soil In Bulk--Is It Less Expensive? | Do The Math: Sometimes what seems like a good deal really isn't
• The Tightwad Gazette: The newsletter that launched a whole new generation of frugalityand, ironically, made Amy Dacyczyn very wealthy!
• Toward Simplicity Part One :: Part Two :: Part Three :: Part Four :: Part Five
• Make your own produce bags and hang your laundry to dry |Easy stuff to do that's better for the earth and saves money
• Natural cleaning products and why you might want to switch

There's more, of course, but we mustn't over do it!



PS: You are welcome to download my free eBook How I Turned My Hobby Into A Business. And please join me on FaceBook, Twitter, or subscribe to this blog (it's free).

How To Make A Garden Chandelier :: Bling!

For a girl who wears no makeup or jewelry, I sure enjoy some bling in the garden.

My First Garden Chandelier: Still Dazzling After All These Years

I started making garden chandeliers when I was looking for ways to add interest to my bare, young garden. It's a great way to make use of old items that might otherwise go to landfills.

Of all the garden art I have made, these chandeliers remain my longest lasting and favourite additions throughout the seasons.

Here's the basic parts:

The point of making garden art from old stuff is to use what you have or can find in the garbage or cheap at a thrift shop. Don't get hung up on finding a particular part: let serendipity guide you and adapt to what you find. There's so many possibilities!

Here's some suggestions for finding what you'll need:

Sources  
This is where I find garden art/junk parts:

• My home
• My mom's home
• Garbage day
• Thrift shops
• Dollar stores (for marbles and wire)
• Habitat ReStore
• Yard sales
• Auction sales
• Kijiji and Craigslist ads (you can place your own free want ads too)

Parts

• Metal kitchen colanders and metal lamp shades make an excellent base. I look for anything that has holes already in it and seems sturdy, this way I can thread wire through the holes to hang the beads, marbles and crystals.
• Round and flat-bottom marbles I wrap round marbles in wire to create my own colourful crystals. 
• Beads Often I see bags of glass, plastic, and wooden beads at the thrift stores.
• Old lamp crystals These can really range in price. I found mine in the garbage on an old, ugly lamp but they also show up on eBay for ridiculous (high) prices. If you can't find any, substitute with beads or old necklace parts or anything else that will catch the light and add the colour you want.
• Wire The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire. I use 16-20 gauge wire.Quality can really vary. I try to find something that won't snap when I twist it. You want it strong enough to endure wet and snowy weather.
• Copper Wire Copper has become quite expensive these days, however, sometimes people get rid of things like old copper tubes that were used for water lines to refrigerators. I take them when I see them in the garbage. Copper wire works great for wrapping marbles because it's thick but flexible.
• Adhesive If you want to attach some bling like flat-bottom marbles to your metal colander or lamp shade, get an outdoor all-purpose adhesive. I get a type that requires a caulking gun, but make sure you buy adhesive not caulking.

Tools you may need:

• Needle-nose pliers to twist the wire
• Scissors or wire cutter to snip the wire
• Caulking gun (if you're using adhesive that requires one)
• Electric drill and metal bit if you need to make holes in your metal colander or lamp shade

Much Desired Colour In The Winter Garden

Lamp Crystals Hanging From Marbles Wrapped In Wire

If you make your own garden bling, I'd love to see it.


More:

• How To Make Tipsy Pots
• How To Make A Stone Birdhouse
• A whole bunch of garden art links and ideas

PS: Join me on FaceBook, Twitter, or subscribe to this blog (it's free).