Can You Prune Trees In The Spring?

As you’ve been admiring all the fresh green growth in your yard this spring, perhaps you’ve noticed something else, too. Like excessive growth of a tree or shrub that you want to cut.

Generally, the best time to prune most trees is when they’re leafless in winter. But as you know, with each rule of thumb, there are exceptions.

Read on to learn more about spring tree pruning.
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Restoring Rusty Cast Iron Cookware

You see a flower pot, I see a bean pot.


Cast iron cookware is often misunderstood in it’s purpose and misused in application. It is intimidating in weight, care and maintenance vs the much lighter off the shelf and into the dishwasher stainless and stickfree options. The truth is, cast iron is very versatile will outlive most owners with just nominal care, but it needs to maintain it’s seasoning, that layer of oil that keeps the surface smooth and protected. Without it, food burns, sticks and builds up and the inevitable begins-rust.

I won’t blind you with science, there are a lot of methods to restore rusted, flea market, discarded, scrap pile cast iron. Soaking in vinegar, treating with molasses, exposure to extreme heat and lye. The method I’ll cover here, using electrolysis is a simple method that isn’t labor intensive yet very effective.  Continue reading

Board And Batten DIY Accent Walls

Board and Batten 1

Do you have a certain area of your home that you’d really like to highlight? I certainly did. For quite some time, I’ve really struggled with how or what to use in order to dress up our entry way in the living room. I could tell that it needed more than just an updated baseboard or trim. After doing some research I decided that I wanted to add that craftsman-style touch, but on a budget. Creating that board & batten look myself was just what it needed!




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Product Review: Mussel Bound Adhesive Tile Mat

Muscle Bound 1

Tile: if only the installation were as simple as the customization process. It’s so easy to walk into any home improvement store and distract yourself with the endless possibilities among tile choices. Hundreds and hundreds of colors, sizes and combinations to choose from, as well as a large selection of grout color options. While style choices have continuously changed over the years, one thing has remained same: the installation process. Continue reading

Beautiful DIY Plank Wall On The Cheap

Adding Texture to a Room: DIY Plank Wall

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Spring is right around the corner and I have quite the honey-do list ready for our backyard, which means we need to wrap up indoor projects quickly! I want to be able to work on outdoor things soon when the weather is consistently warm; but for now, I’m excited that we have been blessed with two wonderfully warm weekends here in the Midwest. I have spent them working on updating a shared wall within our main living space using plank panels and wanted to share just how easy this project really was as well as its cost effectiveness. Continue reading