Adventures in Building An Outdoor Pond

This weekend, my husband and I went to Home Depot with the intention of buying a few plants for the yard.  However, on a whim, my husband and I decided that we needed a little more water in our lives (as we live in a desert), and bought the necessary materials to construct a small pond in the backyard, complete with fountain and waterfall.

Here is a picture of the finished product at night and in the day. Please ignore the unfinished landscaping surrounding the pond, we are working on that.

So here is the process... y'all, this is so simple to do. This is a one day project!

You need:

                        Pre-made Pond Form
         This is the one we used. Available at Home Depot                                 Filter box and pump

 

We used Total pond filter box because it had the bio-balls which are basically a substrate for which bacteria grow. These helpful bacteria (nitrobacter and nitrosomonas) help to convert toxic ammonia (excreted by the fish themselves in their poo) to nitrites and then again to nitrates. Toxicity levels decrease with each conversion. Large debris are filtered via the filter pads.

You can purchase the filter box separate which I would strongly recommend if you are using Total Pond brand, this is because that pump that they include with the kit is not worth a darn.  I would instead get the filter box and either the Total Pond 330 GPH Pond Pump or the 560.  GPH = gallons per hour.  The box set comes with a 300, it filters fine, it just doesn't run the fountain like it is supposed to. Spend the money, get a better pump would be my recommendation. If you are using the box, make sure the pump will fit inside (which it should if you use Total Pond). If not the larger pumps with out the bio box will have UV filters. 

A fountain is easily attached to the pump and the box. The attachments look something like this:

Take my advice though, don't bother with this if you don't get a better pump.

To make a waterfall we bought this preformed waterfall to make things easier (and it did).  otherwise you can build up the ground and use the pond liner to establish your own.

We also bought a second pump (get a good one so that there is enough pressure to pump the water uphill to the top of the fall), and some tubing (most is going to be 3/8 of an inch which is what we used and we bought  a clear version in the plumbing section because it was significantly cheaper than the Total Pond tubing). You may need to get creative to get a perfect fit, but it worked for us.

                                                                    

     

We purchased cinder blocks to support the waterfall, after trial and error with just dirt to elevate it, this ended up being the easiest option.  We ended up using 4 cinder blocks and 1 small brick.  If you are placing your pond somwhere where the back will be visible you will want a retaining wall behind the entire thing. We bought 20 of the bricks shown below and made do with that. If you want a more polished look you will need more than 20 bricks (30-40), if you did what we did, rocks help to camouflage the whole thing. A drill and some wire or small rope string are also needed to secure the waterfall.

                                                                   

For further aesthetic effects, you will need a truck load of rocks. We were able to get these (see below) out in the middle of the desert where people dump their torn down rock walls, etc. So we got this for free. Otherwise rock companies,especially ones that build rock walls will have the right kind. A large variety of medium and large are needed.

Lastly, if you want lights you can get a small submergible light set. You will also need a good outdoor cord and some type of extender that will allow you to plug in about 3 devices.

                                                                     

                                                                          

1. Dig a hole to fit the form you purchased. This will take awhile as you are going to want it to sit firmly, not shift, and you will want it to be level. 

2. Place the form and ensure it is snug.

3. Decide placement for waterfall (if you will have one). Stack the Cinder blocks 2 and 2 with 1 small brick towards the back end between the two layers of cinder block. (If you are using the pre-formed fall). We found this gave it just the right amount of tilt to make an impression and a soothing noise.  (Ignore the water and already hooked up fountain... I got excited in the process and wanted to see it working - you want to secure the pre-form first!)

4.  Secure the waterfall to the cinder blocks with small gauge wire or rope. We drilled two holes on each side of the outer layer and ran wire through the cinderblocks. It may look flimsy, but it was very secure. 

5. Fill the pond with water (if you haven't already). Attach the tubing to your waterfall pump. Drill a hole in the side of the preform to fit the tubing so that the water will exit out the top.

6. Assemble the pump following the directions, the fountain will come out of the top of the box. And will look something like this when you are done and the fountain is plugged in. 

7. Build a wall behind the cinder blocks (if necessary) to hide the unsightliness of it all.  Our pond is in the middle of the yard, so this was very necessary.  In this photo we used 20 of the bricks that are shown in the supplies section.  They are much larger than normal bricks and they have a ledge on the bottom so that they are very stable and easy to stack without mortar or cement. Available at Home Depot.

8. Place in light system, attach everything to the connecter cord and bury the cords underground.

9. Begin outlining the edges of the pond with larger rocks leaving areas to plant layers of plants around the edges.  Reserve smaller rocks to line the water edges, they will have support once dirt and other rocks are in place.  

10. Add floating plants, water plants, floating logs (available at petsmart).

11. Do not add fish without allowing the pond to cycle for at least 1 week or more, or use a pond accelerator to jump start the bacteria cycles in your pond. Use test strips to ensure your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels and de-chlorinate the water BEFORE adding fish.  When you do add fish, take my advice and get cheap feeder fish to test out before you go and spend lots of money on larger coy or goldfish.

That's it! I'll post information on different plants that help oxygenate the water and how to troubleshoot the pond. I've lost several tester fish, so I'm going to tackle water quality today!

DIY large scale faux frame for stretched canvas

I've been wanting to attempt this project for awhile. I paint on a the side (just for fun) and have a large number of unframed stretched canvas paintings. Two in particular were in my living room and their lack of frame has been bothering me for months.  I've already spent literally hundreds of dollars this year framing artwork that my husband and I got on our honeymoon.  Even with the 1/2 of framing at Hobby Lobby and Michael's, it can get expensive to get a big frame for artwork.  So I came up with this idea. I didn't know if it would work or not, but today I went to Home Depot, gathered the supplies, and gave it a shot.  I'm very pleased with the results, though there are a few kinks to work out.

Here are the unframed paintings.  Pretty blah.

Ok, So then I picked up some supplies from home depot.  I had them cut some lightweight board to fit the size I wanted.  One of the paintings is 30x40 and the other is 36x48.  I decided it would be easiest to make a 5 inch frame, so I had the man cut the boards to 40x50 inches for the smaller painting and 46x58 inches for the larger painting.  I also picked up some door molding which is about $1.15 per foot.  I had them cut that into smaller pieces because the large pieces were 14 feet long. I also purchased some screws (about 1 inch long), hanging wire, adhesive for the wood, plastic drop cloth, cheap paint brushes, spray paint, and decorative wood embellishments for the corners of the frames (so as to avoid having to cut precise 45 degree angles).  I purchased some fabric and Modge Podge (mat) from Hobby Lobby as well. You may or may not need this depending on your preference (see below). You could use paint instead, but I really liked the effect.

drop cloth, screws, paint brushes, contact cement, spray paint, and wooden embellishments.

door molding.

Next you will want to place the embellishments on the corners of the board, and mark where you need to cut the door molding (if it was not already cut to size). Make sure to place all the pieces on the board to make sure they line up appropriately. 

Then lay out all the pieces on your drop cloth and spray them ( or paint them with regular paint) whatever color you want. I did two coats. Don't forget the long edges.

Next I cut strips of fabric to place where the wood would be exposed once the molding and painting is in place.  I chose to do it this way so that I wouldn't have to buy so much fabric. I used a small subtle pattern which looks like a solid from far away.  This is the part where you could use paint or decorative paper, or whatever you want.  Then I put matte Modge Podge under and over the fabric, careful to work out all the wrinkles.  

Next lay the dried molding on the edges to make sure you don't need to add anymore strips of fabric.  If it is a good fit.  Place the painting on it as well to make sure the inner margins are good. 

Then use the contact cement to glue the molding and embellishment pieces in place.  Here is where I would have changed what I did - get some clothes pins to help keep the molding in place as it dries.  I used free weights and other heavy things to help with this because I didn't have any clothes pins.  Also - make sure your board is the straightest one available.  Otherwise, it is really hard to get the molding to stick as it is not flexible and does not want to bend with the board.

When that is dry ( I'd give it at least 24 hours with the weights/clothespins).  I didn't have the patience to wait this long and I had to re-glue.  Just don't do it.  Anyway, carefully stand up the frame and measure the desired distance to place the screws into the back.  I did 5 1/2 inches down  and towards the middle because I used the screw that was then pointing through to the front of the frame to hold on the actual canvas.  

Then attach hanging wire and make sure the wire measures so that if it is pulled taught in the middle as if it were hanging, the wire doesn't stick up over the frame. 

Then flip the frame over and carefully place the canvas where it needs to be positioned. Measure all the way around to make sure the painting is centered. If you placed your screws correctly, the pointy end should be positioned so that the wood of the canvas will be over the screw tips.  Then use a mallet (or anything blunt that won't damage the canvas) to hammer the canvas into the screw tips.  This is all you need to hold the canvas up.  Lastly, after this, make sure to paint the sides of the big board so that it is not still wood color.  

I made two giant frames.  Or faux frames, I guess.  Each cost less than $50, and I still have extra molding that I can take back to Home Depot.  The difference in the living room is drastic.  I think I will keep using this technique in the future. 

Here are some comparison shots of before and after. 

That's all for today.

Hola! Welcome to my new blog!

I'm not sure how to start this whole "blogging" thing, but I have been wanting to do this for awhile.  I feel like I have tons of creative projects and ideas that I can share. Also, I'm an army wife.  Now, while I expected that I would have to face time without my husband during deployments, what I did not sign up for or expect was that even when they are home for a year and a half between deployments (only a year and a half between 9 month and 1 year deployments!) ... they aren't actually home all the time.  My husband is currently on a month long training exercise, this is probably the 3rd or 4th time he has had to leave.  While I should be grateful that I don't have to worry about him the way that I do when he is overseas, I can't help but feel selfish and slightly irked.  I just want him home.  (Sorry about the complaining, I needed to vent about that for a second). The plus side? Lots of time for projects... sort of... I am also a veterinarian full time.  I still find some time to get creative at home, and so can you!

Here is one of my original projects.  My husband and I purchased our first home this year.  In haste, we bought a brand new home that was not entirely to our liking. We promptly ripped out all the carpet (which was brand new - yea I know we are crazy), and put down our own hardwood floors.  We also knocked down some walls to expand the loft area into a 4th bedroom that we didn't need to make a very large entertainment area (or as my husband likes to call it - his "man room").  We also built a wall to expand our kitchen and installed cabinets and counters.  Let's just say that if we can feasibly do it ourselves, we aren't hiring anyone else to do it for us.  It has been quite an adventure.

Anyway - back to the point.  For this "man room," we needed an area to display bottles, glasses, etc. We wanted a rustic type theme for the room and we had a bunch of pallets sitting outdoors.  Pallet projects seem to be all the rave, so I made my own.

While I didn't have the foresight to do a step by step photo set. The project was very simple.  

1.  Orient the pallet the way that you want it. All pallets are different so find one that has the wood panels spaced the way that you prefer for your purposes, that way you don't have to do any cutting or nailing to do. 

2. I used a dark wood stain and an old cloth and I rubbed the stain all over the pallet. I did not paint it and I was not going for full coverage. You can see areas where the stain is not quite even giving it an aged appearance.

3.  The last step: For the lighting, I used rope lights and placed them so that they were positioned down the slats in the back.  I used nails and bent them with a hammer so that they curved over the rope without piercing it.  Aaaannnnd.....that is it! Simple!

Here it is hung on the wall.

Some detail shots.

A second project for the same room was turning three doors that I had laying around into a background for our bar. Two of the doors were closet doors and one was a door to a room. My husband knocked down the walls of the former bedroom to which these doors belonged to expand the upstairs loft for the "man room."  

Basically I took plain white doors and painted them a base color unevenly (I chose blue), I then went over this with a red color I had laying around, the brush I used was old and therefore made very uneven strokes.  I did the same with white in certain areas.  Lastly, I took some spray paint and darkened some of the already existent grooves of the doors.  I did all 3 doors in less than 1 hour.

I added lighting to the doors by simply attaching a clip on desk lamp ($9.97 at Walmart).  To the bottom of each of the doors. I tucked the cords behind to doors to hide them.  Here is a close up of the light.

So, that's it for today.  You really can create a cool space on a small budget.