00:00Are your gutters just spewing water everywhere when it rains, turning your flower beds into a
00:05muddy mess? Well, the solution might just be a bag of rocks, and I'm going to show you exactly how
00:10I
00:10fix this problem at my own house. So I put on some gloves and cleared out as much of that
00:15gunk as I
00:16could. Honestly, just doing that step made a noticeable difference. I basically just dumped
00:22the entire bag of river rocks right onto the spot where the water flows the hardest. I remembered I
00:27actually had a bunch of old landscaping rocks scattered around different parts of my property
00:31from previous projects. I used those extra rocks to line the edges of the river rock cascade,
00:37which gave the whole area a lot more definition and made it look more deliberate like a design
00:42feature instead of just a pile of rocks. I also let the stones taper off gradually into the surrounding
00:48wood chips so there's really no harsh line where the rocks stop and the mulch begins. And that's
00:53really it. This might be one of the simplest projects I've done, but it made a massive
00:57difference. It costs next to nothing and takes almost no time, but it'll save you from redoing
01:03that flower bed every single season. So I'm going to take a measurement from the end of this fascia
01:10board down to the ground. I headed off to my local dollar store and picked up terracotta pots,
01:16and my husband picked up chain for me at the hardware store. The design I opted for was a pot,
01:22and then four wood beads hanging below. To prepare the wires for the beads, use a pair of needle nose
01:29pliers and create a little circle. The chain is going to loop through the circle, so don't make it too
01:36tight. How you are going to determine the spacing is you're going to take the distance of where you
01:42want the rain chain to start all the way to the ground. You will have to determine how far into
01:48the pot
01:49you want them to connect, and add that extra distance to come up with the amount of chain you
01:55will need. It's time for assembly. Take one piece of wire and put the smallest bead on first, not the
02:02largest like I started to do. Then add the other beads. Next, put the wire through the bottom of the
02:09pot
02:09and bend it over slightly. Add a piece of chain and secure the wire so the chain won't slip off.
02:16Repeat
02:16until you have all the pots in place. Now it's time to hang your rain chains. They look so cute
02:24and add so
02:25much charm to my greenhouse. Look at that! They are working perfectly, and listen to how nice they sound.
02:40You won't believe what I do with this rhubarb. First, I made a small pile of dirt and placed a
02:45garbage bag on top of it. I grabbed a fresh rhubarb leaf and placed it with the vein sides up
02:50on top of
02:51the garbage bag. Next, I mixed a bag of ready-mix concrete as per the directions on the box. You
02:58want
02:58it to be a peanut butter-like consistency, and then you know it's ready to use. I brushed canola oil
03:04onto the rhubarb leaf and then placed concrete on top. I used a trowel to move the concrete mixture
03:09all over the leaf so the concrete was about one inch thick. Then I cut up some wire mesh and
03:15I
03:15placed it on top. This adds strength to the concrete once it's dry. I added about another three quarters of
03:21an inch of concrete on top. I used a piece of scrap wood to tamper it down, and it smoothed
03:27it all out
03:28with a trowel. This is also a great time to add initials if you wish. And then I lifted the
03:34edge
03:34of the garbage bag and moved the dirt all around the edges to create a form. I let them dry
03:41for 12
03:41hours and then flipped it over and let it dry in the sun with the rhubarb leaf up. I've tried
03:47many
03:48different ways to remove the leaves, but I have found the best is just letting the sun dry it out
03:53on its own. I carefully place them below my gutter so that the rainwater will now flow down the rhubarb
03:59leaves. Isn't this the most beautiful downspout you've ever seen? We are going to start this craft
04:05off with decorative metal shower rings, paper clips, wooden beads, and pliers. Connect all the shower
04:16rings. I have about 10 for this craft, but you can use more if you want a longer rain chain.
04:26Take a paper clip and center it on a ring. This will be for the longest piece that will be
04:32at the bottom.
04:34Bend the end of the paper clip out. Choose some beads, whatever you think will look best. I don't
04:42really like this bead so I'm going to go with one small and one large red. Place the beads and
04:48grab
04:49your pliers. Start at the end of the clip and twist the metal to create a swirl. Take the large
04:59piece
04:59off and grab another paper clip. Center the paper clip and bend out the end. Cut the clip slightly.
05:14Take the inner portion of the clip and bend it down and inwards. Make sure the clip stays. If it
05:22looks
05:22like it will slip out, use the pliers to press the clip into place. Place one small bead and one
05:33large
05:33bead. Twist the end into a swirl starting out at the end and moving inwards. Repeat this for every ring,
05:42minus the bottom one. Place the long clip that you made before and center it on the last ring.
06:04Get all of the shower rings lined up into the right position. This will make it a lot easier when
06:11you
06:11bring this rain chain outside. Hang up your rain chain. When it rains your
06:28chain will look a little something like this. A really great way to conserve water usage and
06:38maximize the rain is to collect it in a rain barrel. So today let's make one using a lidded trash
06:43can.
06:44From there I headed over to the plumbing department and found an inexpensive spigot along with a nut to
06:49secure it. Over in the hardware department I grabbed a rubber washer. I first planned for where the spigot
06:55was going to go. Ideally place it as low as possible on the trash can so as much water as
07:01possible can
07:02drain out when you go to use it and not leave too much standing. Attach the spade bit to the
07:07drill and
07:07carefully drill out the hole. Once that was done it was time to grab a pair of scissors and enlarge
07:12the
07:12hole of the rubber washer. Just trim away a little bit at a time until it fits snugly on the
07:17spigot.
07:19Okay now let's attach the spigot to the trash can. Dab a bit of waterproof silicone around on the spigot
07:26where we'll eventually meet the side of the trash can. Then push the spigot through the hole. Dab a
07:32little bit more silicone on the inside for added security. Squeeze on the rubber washer then screw
07:38on the nut to attach everything. You might need a wrench here as I did to ensure things are nice
07:43and
07:43tight to prevent any leaks. Let's move on to the lid. Depending on your water source you can drill as
07:49many or as few holes as you'd like. I opted to keep things minimal and drill only four. There's no
07:55rhyme or reason for how many I made or where I placed them other than how I was setting the
08:00can
08:00under the water source. Using the same size spade bit since it was already handy I drilled out the
08:05holes. Once you've got your holes drilled flip over the lid and now we'll stick on a scrap piece of
08:10door screen. The screen will catch leaves and other debris so the spigot doesn't get clogged.
08:16While not necessarily a glue, the silicone will hold the screen in place and as it's waterproof for outdoors
08:23it will also handle temperature variations. Dab some silicone around then set the piece of screen into
08:30it pressing it into the silicone. Dab a bit more around the top to make a silicone screen sandwich and
08:36let
08:36all this set up for that same 24 hours as the trash can with the spigot. So now it's time
08:41to test out my
08:42new lidded rain barrel. Outside on the deck I set the can down with the holes oriented to where the
08:47rain
08:47drips down. Since it wasn't raining I poured some water on top and it dripped right in. Testing the
08:54spigot I added some more water and everything drained out perfectly with absolutely no leaks.
08:59All that's left is to get a small hose for the spigot and wait for the rain to fall. So
09:04for around 30
09:05dollars in supplies creating this lidded trash can rain barrel in a size that works for me is a total
09:10winner. I'll save on gallons of water this summer not using my hose and my plants will all be happy.
09:17I hope you'll head on out to the store today and make your own.
09:40I'll see you next time.
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