September 2018 - Slave to DIY

What the heck is a demijohn anyway? Well, it’s a big bottle. It’s the old version of our current jug- used to transport oils, wine, etc. In its “natural” form it often has a wicker encasing. It’s thought to possibly be a corruption of the French word dame-jeanne… but whatever they are AWESOME. They are a perfect foundation piece to style around for lots of different holidays.

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I’ve been dying to get one of these for a while but didn’t want to get a knock off with a seam down the side (that’s how you can tell the real deal from the reproductions). I ended up ordering one from pottery barn (here’s a link) when they had a good sale and free shipping (you can find good ones on Etsy, but the shipping almost doubles the price). It’s hard to give up the control, but you don’t get to choose your color, just the relative size.

I recently found another similar Demijohn from Amazon, recycled, with no seams. It’s pretty awesome, too, and about $50 less.

This beauty was clear (I was sort of hoping for a colored one but it’s really gorgeous) with some bubbles seeded in the glass. Very nice. Absolutely authentic. I think it is cool they tell you where it comes from. Mine was from 1950s Hungary.

Large Demijohn from Pottery Barn, 1950s Hungary

I currently have a Spring/Summer scene styled with cherry blossoms and a burlap runner.

The cherry blossoms are silk (the curse of having cats, everything real is poisonous to them), but the pricier ones are quite passable. You can get them here from Amazon. I have a set of these pink ones, also.

You can see the nice detail on the silk blossoms here.

The burlap runner, which had to be hemmed, I purchased here. It came with three (which I have on my piano and other entry table).

The mirror I got from Hobby Lobby on sale (just google a coupon). You can buy it here. I really wanted to check it out in person because I didn’t want one that felt cheap or like rubber/plastic. These run REALLY pricey from RH or Pottery Barn and I don’t have an extra grand to drop on a mirror. Just be patient, they often have 40 or 50% off at Hobby Lobby.

The lantern is from Pottery Barn and can be purchased here. They are nice and solid (I’ve had that lantern for years). The Stress Relief candle is my FAVORITE from Bath & Bodyworks, available here from Amazon.

Thanks for checking out one of our awesome decor scenes. Read more about our home project wins and fails here.

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We live in an awesome neighborhood, way at the back on a very private cul-de-sac. We love having people over and they often stay until the sun has gone down. One thing that comes with seclusion is DARKNESS. It turns out, backing out of the driveway in the dark gets pretty sporty in our neck of the woods. It amazes me how many people are lousy at backing out of a driveway even in the daylight, but without streetlights or yard floods, our driveway was ink black at night. After a friend almost backed into a giant tree in the garden, I decided it was time for action.

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We came up with the idea to do solar LED road pucks. They are rated up to 20 tons, so it doesn’t matter if you back over them on a daily basis. They were $25 each at Lowe’s but we found them for about half online. The road pucks are available on Amazon (which gets me 5% back on my card!!).

Close Up of the Lights. Pretty cool, huh?

So, here’s the easiest installation you’ll ever do:

We let them charge for a day and laid them out at night to make sure:

they were all working
we liked the direction the light was shining
and we were happy with the spacing.

We bought two tubes of Liquid Nails Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive (for use with a caulk gun), precleaned the spots where we wanted them on the drive, applied liberally, set in place, and let them dry. I recommend wearing rubber gloves because it’s easiest to smear the liquid nails around with your finger (unless you just like picking glue out of your nail beds).

It was a super easy and fast project, and our new runway lights really help people stay on the driveway when they’re backing out in the early morning or late at night. There’s nothing I love more than a project you can knock out in under two hours and for under a hundred bucks. Instant gratification.

Now I’m just worried about aircraft mistaking it for a runway.

Thanks for hanging with us and good luck with the lights!

Check out some of our other simple projects here. Cheers!

*Legal stuff:

I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it. I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.

Slavetodiy.com is also a VigLink affiliate advertiser which works similarly.

Month: September 2018

Mastering the Scene: Demijohn And Classic Black, Round Mirror

How to Install Driveway Lights You Can Run Over