10 Crafts to Make with Cookie Cutters

1. Sun art. Set a cookie cutter on top of solar paper (or even very dark construction paper) and set it in bright sun for a few hours. The cookie cutter will keep the paper from changing color where it sits, and the rest of the paper will darken (for solar paper) or fade (for construction paper).
2. Cinnamon air fresheners. Mix equal parts of sweetened applesauce and cinnamon. Knead and squeeze until a solid dough forms. Press it down to about 1/4″ thickness and cut out with a cookie cutter. Use a drinking straw to poke a hole near the top so that you can thread a ribbon through it after baking. Place the cut outs on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 until they harden. Cool completely, then string a ribbon through the hole and hang.
3. Recycled crayons. Set a metal cookie cutter on a metal baking sheet. Fill the cookie cutter up with broken crayons (wrappers removed) and bake at 350 degrees. Watch it closely, the crayons will melt and form one large, shaped crayon. Allow to cool and pop the crayon out.
4. Stained glass candy. Use Jolly Ranchers (or similar candy) in the same way that you use the crayons in #3 above. Heat the candy until it just melts, allow it to cool, and pop out of the cookie cutter.
5. Garlands or ornaments. For a garland, tie a dozen or so cookie cutters along a velvet ribbon, tying a knot between each. For ornaments, tie 1 to 3 cookie cutters to a loop of thin ribbon. Attach to a wreath, tree, mirror, or almost anywhere. For a personalized ornament, you could attach a picture inside the cookie cutter, and tie it up in the same way. What Grandmother wouldn’t want to decorate her Christmas tree with ornaments of her little cherubs?
6. Stencils. Cookie cutters are perfect stencils. Use them to make coloring pages for small kids, to make shaped cards, to decorate wrapping paper, and about a thousand other things. You can even use the cookie cutters themselves to paint.
7. Dough shapes. Play-Doh, salt dough, homemade Bisquick dough. If you want to play, crumple up and reuse the shapes. If you want to use the shapes to decorate, bake and harden them.
8. Floating candles. I think these are really cute, and they are simple to make. The best part? You can recycle old bits o’ candle that are lying around.
9. Bird feeders. You can cut a piece of bread using a cookie cutter, smear it with peanut butter, and then press the peanut butter into bird seed. It’s like the old pine cone bird feeder but with a piece of bread.
   And in a nice, fun shape.
10. Carve a pumpkin. It is a little tricky, but after you scoop out the seeds of the pumpkin, you can use some sturdy cookie cutters to punch out shapes for your jack-o-lantern.

What crafts do you use cookie cutters for?

Happily submitted to Top Ten Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, and Works for Me Wednesday

Image source

Grace loves her dry erase activity book.

Happily submitted to 5 minutes for Mom, Wordful Wednesday, Go Graham Go, Red Lotus Mama,  Jolly Mom, and Run DMT

We both have claimed this bag.

I received it from the lovely Gussy as part of a review and giveaway. This review and giveaway.

I have big plans for my clutch. We are going to the Savvy Blogging Summit, BlogHer, and Relevant conference. We will enjoy a date with my husband to celebrate our 4-year wedding anniversary this summer.

Grace has big plans for my clutch, too. She intends to carry around books and Polly Pockets and monies.

At the moment, I’ve hidden it. I’m not telling you where it is, lest someone with loose lips tells my child. I don’t want to share my clutch.

About Gussy

Gussy is girl – and a line of ruffled accessories. They’re both cute and original and audacious and wonderful.

Gussy’s ruffles are machine-sewn, free-hand style, making each one unique. Having recently quit her day job to pursue her business full time, Gussy offers zipped pouches of all sizes, laptop bags, netbook/iPad bags, tote/diaper bags, checkbook covers, wristlet/clutches and note cards (all with her signature ruffle).

A Gussy Giveaway

Gussy is offering a $30 credit to www.ShopGussy.com to one lucky Feels Like Home reader. (US residents only, must be 18 or older to enter) The credit can be used on any item in her shop except for baby blankets.

To enter: Visit Gussy and choose your favorite item. Report it in the comments.

Good luck! I’ll use Random.org to choose a winner sometime after 10 pm on June 28. The winner is Rachel, who left comment #25.  Thanks for entering!

Gussy provided me with a clutch and the giveaway credit.

Happily submitted to Things I Love Thursday

A couple weeks ago, I found a dry erase activity book at Simple. Messy. Fun. that I thought Grace would like. I checked out her inspiration at Somewhat Simple, and I decided to make one.

Dry Erase Activity Book for Preschoolers

The first thing I did was to look for a photo album that would hold all of the pages. I didn’t want to spend a ton,  so I was happy to find an 8×8 Disney Princess album kit on clearance for $10.

Dry Erase Activity Book Materials

To make one book, I gathered the following:

• Photo album
• Extra page protectors
• Patterned paper
• Double-sided photo-safe tape
• Lots of printed pages
• Scissors

A Note About the Pages

I scoured the internet for printable preschool activities. I found great ones at the following sites:

• Somewhat Simple – I printed many of the pages from the original book. Some, though, were too advanced for Grace and a few didn’t print nicely. I left those out.
• Somewhat Simple’s Seasons Book – I liked these tree pages, and I thought Grace would like making them into trees based on different seasons.
• Fisher Price Alphabet Coloring Pages – I didn’t use these, but Simple.Messy.Fun suggested them. They’re cute.
• TLS Books – This site has lots of free, printable preschool through first grade worksheets. I printed out a few of these that I thought Grace would like, including the dopey dragon, healthy foods, and tracing activities.
  

  

• Handwriting Worksheets – I put Grace’s name in, and printed out worksheets that she could trace in capital and lower case letters.
  
• LefthandedChildren.org – Grace is a leftie, Joe and I aren’t. I thought some lefthanded-specific writing worksheets would be helpful.

Putting Together the Activity Book

This is a ridiculously easy project. Really.

The hardest part was finding worksheets that I thought would be challenging enough for Grace to learn something, but not so hard as to frustrate her. I wanted things that she’d eventually be able to do for herself, and things that she wouldn’t get bored with after the first time she did them.

When you find a worksheet that you like, print it out.

Because my album was 8×8, I had to print all of the pages scaled down 80% so that they would fit on the page.

Trim the edges of the page so that the worksheet will fit in the page protector.

If the page is smaller than the page protector, use double-sided tape to stick it to scrapbook paper.

When you have enough pages printed, put them in some kind of order.

I chose to put the alphabet activities together, the number activities together, and the coloring activities together. You may chose to have no order at all, but you should make that decision.

Give it to your preschooler. That’s it.

To Use the Dry Erase Activity Book

I bought a package of 4 different colored dry erase markers for Grace. They erase nicely – when they’re fresh.

If she draws in the book and leaves it for a day or two, it dries and becomes next to impossible to wipe away without window cleaner. Rather than spritzing the book with Windex, I use Glass Wipes to wipe away the dry erase markers.

I hope your kids like their book as much as Grace likes hers!

Happily submitted to Transformation Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Get Your Craft On Thursdays, I’m Lovin’ It Fridays,  Just Something I Whipped Up, Motivate Me Monday,  Makes My Monday, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Made By You Mondays,  Get Your Craft On Mondays, Strut Your Stuff Valentines, Talented Tuesday, Toot Your Horn Tuesday, Show & Tell, and Works for Me Wednesday

Because I haven’t written anything.

Gift posts are tricky for me because the recipients invariably frequent my blog.

Including Joe.

So, instead of doing an illustrated tutorial to show you how I made Joe’s gift, I collected ten crafty, handmade gifts that you can make with your kids in the five days between now and Sunday.

Yes, one of them is what Grace and I made for Joe, my dad, and my father-in-law, but my lips are sealed on that issue until after Sunday.

Photo Craft for Father’s Day

Amanda at Impress Your Kids posted a photo puzzle using popsicle sticks.

Painted Crafts for Father’s Day

This one isn’t specifically a Father’s Day craft, but I think any dad would love to have these on his desk. Cathe from Just Something I Made! posted this self portrait project at Skip to My Lou.

Roots and Wings Co. posted an awesome tutorial for this painted canvas last year.

Another Hand Print Craft for Father’s Day

I love that Vanessa at Silly Eagle Books interviewed her young son to make a keepsake for his father.

Shrinky Dink Crafts for Father’s Day

No Time for Flash Cards posted a Shrinky Dinks keychain craft for Father’s Day, but I think the Shrinky Dinks hand craft that Allie posted earlier in the year would make a nice Father’s Day gift, too.

Recycled Father’s Day Crafts

Craft Test Dummies will help you to make a coffee cozy out of an old necktie. That’s a cool twist on the cliche necktie for Father’s Day, in my opinion.

Luvinthemommyhood posted a recycled tie craft last year. She used an old tie to make a case for electronic gadgets like iPods.

All They Need posted a magnetic wristband made out of an old apron. Very crafty, and very useful!

Printable Gifts, Cards, and Certificates

Nourish Interactive has ten different printable cards, coupons, and certificates that you can print and let your kids color or construct.

3 More Crafty Father’s Day Resources

• Simple Kids has a list of five projects that kids can do for their dads.
• Make and Takes has a list of five projects that (older) kids would enjoy
• One Pretty Thing featured dozens and  dozens and dozens and dozens of Father’s Day projects

Happily submitted to Top Ten Tuesday

Some of the kids wore their crowns for the entire party. A few more wore their crowns on and off, and a couple of them wanted to take them home to hang on the wall.

Needless to say, the crowns were a big hit.

Before the Princess Party

A few days before the party, I gathered the supplies I’d need to cut out the crowns. I had:

• 12 pieces of foam in various colors
• A crown template – Because boys and girls were going to make crowns, I selected one that was neither feminine nor masculine. I downloaded it, cut it out, and taped the two halves together.
• A marker to trace the template
• Scissors

The night before the party, I traced the template on each sheet of foam.

When I had them all traced, Joe and I started cutting them out. I wish I’d picked something with more angles and less circles, because it was annoying to cut out all of those circles.

At the Princess Party

All the kids had to do at the party was decorate their crowns, and their parents tied elastic to secure them to the kids’ heads. It was simple and easy!

Here are the supplies I had available: (Pretend that I took this picture before the kids used half of the supplies, okay?)

• Foam stickers in a variety of themes – hearts, flowers, animals, ocean creatures
• Stick on jewels
• Sequins
• Googly eyes
• Princess stickers
• Glitter glue
• Elastic

Each child chose their own crown from the colors I had available. I loved that a lot of the boys picked pink and purple and a few of the girls picked blue.

Let the kids decorate their crowns as they see fit.

Let the glitter glue dry.

Poke a small hole in the bottom corners of the crown.

Measure a piece of elastic that’s a two or three inches longer than the distance between the two ends of the crown. Poke a piece of elastic through the holes,

then tie knots in the elastic so that it won’t pull back through.

Put the crown on your favorite little head. Or, if your favorite little head is sleeping, use one of her dolls.

Enjoy your crown!

Happily submitted to Transformation Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Get Your Craft On Thursdays, I’m Lovin’ It Fridays, Tater Tots & Jello, Just Something I Whipped Up, Motivate Me Monday,  Makes My Monday, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Made By You Mondays,  Get Your Craft On Mondays, Strut Your Stuff Valentines, Talented Tuesday, Toot Your Horn Tuesday, Show & Tell, and Works for Me Wednesday

I would think it’s clear by now which group I’m in.

I saw the cake and thought, “I could totally make that.”

I’m ambitious and creative and patient. I thought the cake was totally impressive, I knew Grace would love it, and I was up to the challenge.

If I weren’t pregnant, I think it would have  been a lot easier, but it was tough to finish. I’m thankful that my  sister was here so that I could walk away when my frustration and  morning sickness got the best of me.

A lot of people told me that I was crazy for taking on the princess castle cake, but I was undaunted. My little sister, Amanda, offered to help me, and we planned out 3 weekends in advance of the party to do the flowers, turrets, sugaring, cake baking, and assembly. We had a great plan.

And then the unthinkable happened.

We had to change the date of the party because of a scheduling conflict with some of the grandparents. Our 3 weekends were cut down to one weekend, a busy Saturday (during which Grace and I already had plans), and the morning of the party. It made the preparation a little hectic.

Nonetheless, we made it. The cake was beautiful, and every single person who saw it was duly impressed.

This castle cake did require some special tools, but no special skills to speak of. The instructions on Wilton’s website were very good, and partly illustrated. If you want to tackle the Princess Castle Cake, start there.

Here’s what we did.

Princess Castle Cake – Day One

Everything in this cake was made from scratch (except the fondant). Honestly, I intended to buy a couple of cake mixes, but when it was time to actually do the baking, there weren’t any in my kitchen, and the store was closed.

Our plan for the first day of preparation was to tint the fondant, cut out 350 or so pink daisies, and make royal icing to form the centers of the flowers.

Make Royal Icing

The royal icing was the most complicated, so we started with that.

The recipe provided in the castle kit required 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar, and Grace wanted to help, so I set her up to start sifting.

That would have been really helpful if she had sifted.

Mostly, she tossed powdered sugar around.

When she started eating powdered sugar by the handful, I demoted her from helper to sideline goofball.

After I had the sifting all done, Amanda made the royal icing with my KitchenAid stand mixer.

Tint Fondant

With Grace safely outside with Joe and Amanda working on royal icing, I got to work on the fondant. I bought some, not sure if I’d be able to make it myself. It comes in white; I used gel-style food coloring to dye it pink.

The instructions online said to use food safe rubber gloves to dye the fondant. That’s not a joke. My hands were streaked hot pink for four days.

Prepare the Fondant Daisies

After getting the fondant the color I wanted, Amanda used a teeny tiny cookie cutter to cut out the flowers.

And I piped a royal icing center onto each flower.

It took all day, but finally, we had 350 or so little flowers finished.

We didn’t realize ahead of time that the flowers would fade while they waited to be attached to the cake. They did fade, some dramatically, but it gave them a neat, almost tie dyed look.

Princess Castle Cake – Day Two

Our plan for the second full day of cake preparation was to frost the tower peaks and then to decorate the towers.

We were working really hard, so we didn’t take as many pictures.

Frost the Tower Peaks

I dyed the royal icing using purple gel-style food coloring and my KitchenAid stand mixer, and I used that purple icing to frost the peaks. While the icing was still wet, I sprinkled it with cake sparkles.

After the first two peaks were finished, I thought there had to be a better way.

I asked Joe to make me a drying rack for the peaks. He took a cardboard box, stuck 12 wooden skewers in the top, and set it up on our dining room table. I forgot to take a picture, but that drying rack made it so much easier to frost and decorate the peaks.

Decorate the Towers

There wasn’t a lot we could do at this point to decorate the towers.

We weren’t sure how the royal icing would keep over the course of two weeks, and we didn’t want to make the green royal icing just yet.

It turns out that the icing kept nicely, so we could’ve made the green on Day Two and gotten a little more of the decorating done early on.

Amanda outlined the towers’ windows with purple royal icing.

She quickly handed them off to me, and I sprinkled them with cake sparkles. The icing dried too much if she did both windows before handing it to me, so we worked on one window at a time.

Make Fondant Flags

I was exhausted, and I needed to take a nap. While I was napping, Amanda decided to make some pretty pink  flags out of fondant to attach to the tops of the tower peaks.

And then, she had to put little balls of fondant on top of the peaks to stick the flags into. If we were starting over, I think I’d try to talk her out of the flags next time. They were a real pain.

Princess Castle Cake – Day Three

My mom insisted that I make the cake three days before I needed to assemble it.

Except, three days before I wanted to assemble it was the night we went to the circus. And the night after that, I was just. too. tired. to do it.

That meant I was making the cake the day before I needed to assemble it. Not ideal, but I didn’t have any other options.

Bake the Cake

Because he’s wonderful, Joe measured the ingredients out and had everything ready for me to put the cake together when I got up in the morning.

Mixing the cake was a family affair. Grace had fun helping me to dump the ingredients into the mixer.

And then, of course, helping me to lick the beater.

The cake batter was delicious, but I think the finished cake was a little too heavy for this particular design. I think a boxed cake mix would have worked a little better.

I poured the cake into two 6-inch cake pans and (what I thought were) two 10-inch cake pans and baked it. (They were actually 8-inch cake pans, which made the final assembly a little more difficult.)

When the cakes were done, I cooled them on a wire cooling rack and wrapped them in kitchen towels, as my mother suggested.

Assemble the Cake Layers

I thought it would be nice to have a layer of white chocolate in between the cake layers, so I spread some melted white chocolate between the layers as I placed them on the cake board. I wrapped the stacked cake in kitchen towels again when I was finished.

It was a good idea, but that layer of chocolate in the middle of the cake made the finished cake too rich.

Assemble the Towers

In order to make the final assembly a little easier, I cut plastic dowel rods to the correct size, a half-inch shorter than the cake layer they would sit on top of. Then, I attached the plastic dowels to the towers using melted white chocolate.

The instructions said to refrigerate the assembled towers, but I thought they’d be okay since they were going to sit over night.

Princess Castle Cake – Day Four

This was party day, and I was exhausted. We’d been swimming all day the day before, and I took Grace to a birthday party. I woke up feeling like I needed to take a nap.

Make Green Royal Icing

This happened in the same way as before, except that Amanda dyed it green when she first got started.

Make Buttercream Frosting

Amanda made this, too, according to the recipe in the cake kit. The KitchenAid made quick work of it.

Frost the Cake

Self explanatory, no?

Assemble the Cake Towers

This was the hardest step of the whole process, in my opinion.

I put the towers into the cake. Some of the towers broke off of the dowels I’d attached the day before. (Would cooling or freezing them have made a difference? I don’t know since I didn’t do it.) I got very frustrated with them. I had pillars propped up with bowls and stuck to things with frosting.

Remember that my cakes were smaller than they were supposed to be? Some of the towers were too close to the edge of the cake. They made the cake crumble around themselves.

Fortunately, Amanda rescued me because I was ready to walk away at this point. She helped me to build the cake back up with frosting and white chocolate.

Once they were stable, I cemented the peaks on top of the towers with white chocolate.

And then I really did walk away. I couldn’t take any more. I was tired and cranky, and I went to clean the living room for the party and Amanda mercifully finished the cake.

Attach the Fondant Daisies

Amanda piped green leaves all around the cake. On top of each leaf, she added a daisy.

Because we’d done things slightly out of order, it was tough for her to reach some of the places on the cake that were supposed to have leaves and flowers.

A resourceful girl, she used a pair of scissors and later, a hemostat, to get the flowers into their spots.

The towers were easy to decorate, and they turned out nicely when loaded with flowers.

At long last, it was party time!

The cake was impressive sitting on the table.

Princess Castle Cake – At the Party

There was no place on the cake to put candles. I considered sticking them in the side, and then decided instead, to make a candle holder from a mound of leftover buttercream. It had been sitting long enough to be slightly stiff. It worked to hold the candles upright for the 5 minutes I needed them.

Did I mention that Grace adored her cake?

Of course she did.

But I don’t know if we’ll be making another one.

It was an insane amount of work, even with two of us working on it.

Happily submitted to Mouthwatering Mondays, Homemaking Monday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tackle It Tuesday, Tater Tots & Jello, Just Something I Whipped Up, Motivate Me Monday,  Makes My Monday, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Made By You Mondays,  Get Your Craft On Mondays, DIY Day, Strut Your Stuff Valentines, Talented Tuesday, Toot Your Horn Tuesday, Show & Tell, Works for Me Wednesday, Transformation Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff,  Get Your Craft On Thursdays, PhotoStory Friday, Give Me Your Best Shot, Finer Things Friday, Just for the Joy of It, The Inspired Room, Friday Feasts, Foodie Friday, and Food on Friday

I think there are 3 possible responses to Wilton’s Romantic Castle Cake Set.

• “Wow, that’s nice. I wonder if the bakery could do that.”
• “Wow, that’s nice. I wonder if I could get it printed on the cake at the grocery store.”
• “Wow, that’s nice. I bet I could make it.”

Which group are you in? What do you think I did?

Stop by tomorrow to find out.

I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t rather receive a present that Grace made over a new trinket or book or blouse.

Not even my dad, who would like to pretend otherwise.

Grace and I are in the middle of making some awesome Mother’s Day presents for the most important women in Grace’s life.

Martha Stewart’s website has 50 different suggestions for Mother’s Day crafts, and many of them are quick and easy. I found this project on that site.

Homemade Mother’s Day Gift – Colored Totes

1. I bought some cloth tote bags, iron-on letters, and some iron-on transfers at the craft store.
2. I downloaded the image file from Martha’s website and printed it on the iron-on transfers.
3. I placed the iron-on letters that I wanted on the tote bag.
4. According to the iron-on transfer instructions, you’re supposed to trim the paper close to the design, place it where you want it to be on the fabric, and then iron it. I covered mine with a cheap pillowcase to protect the tote bag fabric, and then I ironed the design and the letters to attach them to the tote bag.
   
5. Again, according to the directions, I peeled off the paper and had a gorgeous outline. Except where I botched the transfer, but that became a lot less important.
   
6. Before Grace got started, I outlined the design with Sharpie marker just in case the transfer peeled off later, and I colored the branch brown for contrast.
7. Just before I let Grace loose with a big box of multi-colored Sharpie markers, I asked her to finish this sentence, “I love ___ (insert recipient’s name here) because?” and I wrote her answer at the top.
   The answers she gave me were priceless! The one she’s working on below, for Joe’s mother, says “I love you because you give me toys.”
   
8. While Grace was coloring, I wrote “Grace, May 2010″ somewhere on the tote bag, and I colored the flower’s centers.

I love how Grace’s almost-3-year-old brain works. We had a blast coloring the totes.

I took lots of pictures of our finished totes, but I am not posting those until after the recipients have received them. I hope you understand!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happily submitted to Things I Love Thursday, Show & Tell, Transformation Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Get Your Craft On Thursdays,  PhotoStory Friday, Give Me Your Best Shot, Finer Things Friday and Just for the Joy of It

He spent last weekend building 3 raised garden beds. The space he’s always used for a garden has fairly poor soil and lacks the bright sunlight to really produce.

To remedy those problems, he decided to build 3 raised garden beds. He placed them in a sunny spot in our yard, and he filled them with high-quality top soil.

He says he’s building more raised beds next year if these work out like he hopes.

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Materials for one 4-foot by 8-foot raised garden bed

• For the sides – The hardware store sold pressure-treated 2x12s in 16-foot and 12-foot lengths. Joe asked them to cut the 16-foot planks in half, and the 12-foot planks into three 4-foot sections. (This was necessary, as he couldn’t have gotten the full length boards home in his little car.)
• For the joints – One pressure-treated 8-foot 2×4 that Joe cut himself into four 17-inch pieces (with some leftover).
• Circular saw
• Drill with 7/64″ drill bit
• Square
• 3-inch drywall screws

To Assemble a Raised Garden Bed

1. For each of the 17-inch sections of 2×4, use the square and the circular saw to mark and cut a 45-degree angle on one end. These will be attached to the corners of the raised bed, and they will anchor the bed into the ground.

2. In order to prevent the wood splitting during construction, pre-drill holes into the sides and anchors.

3. Match up the 2×4 so that its longest side is even with the cut end of one of the 4-foot 2×12 segments. Using a 7/64″ drill bit, pre-drill pilot holes roughly one inch from the top and one inch from the bottom.

(I hope Joe didn’t pre-drill holes into our deck. Tell your husband to do the drilling in the yard or something.)

4. After the holes are pre-drilled, put the screws into the holes. You will need 2 screws for each corner.

5. Repeat at both ends of both 4-foot 2×12 segments.

You’re almost done! The last step is to put the box together.

6. Line up one 8-foot segment with one 4-foot segment. Pre-drill two holes from the 8-foot segment into the end of the 4-foot segment, roughly two inches from the top and bottom of the board. (Make sure they are at a different level than your earlier screws; you don’t want one to run into the other.)

7. Drill the screws into the holes.

8. Once you have the long pieces attached to the short piece, pre-drill 2 more holes from the long piece into the vertical anchors to add more support to the whole thing. So that the holes don’t run into screws you’ve already placed, drill them 3 inches up and 3 inches down from the ends of the 2×12.

9. Put the screws into the holes.

10. Repeat the same procedure at the other end of the 2×12.

11. Next, Joe stood the whole thing up with the 8-foot 2×12 on the ground and the short pieces sticking up in the air. Repeat steps 6 through 10 to attach the second long piece.

That’s it! Your raised bed is finished!

To Place the Raised Bed

1. Decide where you want the bed to sit. Joe wanted ours at the highest in our yard so that it would get full sun almost all of the day.
2. Dig holes to sink the anchors down into the ground. You don’t want your masterpiece to blow away in strong summer winds.
3. Level the ground as needed.
4. If there are weeds or grass under the bed, cover it with non-glossy cardboard and a couple of layers of newspaper to kill the vegetation.
5. Fill with soil. Each of Joe’s beds took about 1 1/3 cubic yards of screened top soil to fill. He probably could have used a bit more, maybe 1 1/2 cubic yards.

Raised Garden Bed Cost Estimate

In the interest of full disclosure, this was an anti-frugal project.

The wood for 3 raised garden boxes cost about $150, and the 4 cubic yards of top soil they required to fill cost another $150. That’s before we bought seeds and plants.

On the other hand, these will last a long, long time, and they will improve the quality of our Joe’s garden bounty dramatically.

Joe’s Money Saving Tip

If your soil is decent (ours isn’t), you could use something less than 12-inch-wide planks. Depending on your soil, you may be happy with 2x10s or 2x6s or even smaller. He used 2x12s because he wanted to add a full foot of good soil on top of our not-so-great clay.

Happily submitted to Tater Tots & Jello, Just Something I Whipped Up, Motivate Me Monday,  It’s So Very Creative, Make Your Monday, Makes My Monday, Make It For Monday, Made It Mondays, Metamorphosis Monday, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Made By You Mondays,  Get Your Craft On Mondays, DIY Day, Strut Your Stuff Valentines, Talented Tuesday, Toot Your Horn Tuesday, Show & Tell, Works for Me Wednesday, Transformation Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, and Get Your Craft On Thursdays