The Home Depot Do-It-Herself Workshop #DIHworkshop

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Our family visits The Home Depot at least once each week. If you’re a homeowner or just a crafty do-it-yourselfer, then you probably spend quite a bit of time there too.

Despite our family’s frequent visits to The Home Depot, I had no idea what an amazing resource I have in my own community. Whether you need to update your 80’s fixtures, tile your bathroom, fix cabinets, build some sort of contraption for a science project, or remodel your entire house, the staff at The Home Depot is there to help. When I mentioned some of the projects I needed to tackle at home (like replacing a bathtub faucet), the team at The Home Depot Store #6948 told me they would walk me through the whole process. I rarely see that kind of customer service anywhere anymore!

Did you know The Home Depot offers free workshops for do-it-yourselfers of all ages and experience levels? I participated in a Do-It-Herself Workshop at The Home Depot Store #6948 in the Tramonto area of North Phoenix to create a holiday monogram.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, because I found out that we would be using power tools to make a Christmas decoration. We learned about these power tools from Ryobi and Dremel.

Power tools scare me (and I wasn’t alone).

But I was worried for nothing. The instructors, Jerry and Toni, were so thorough and very safety conscious. They were hands on with us the entire evening.

During the workshop, Jerry and Toni taught us how to make a monogram garland wreath, but everyone who attended said they would rather paint their monogram rather than wrap it with a garland. If you’d like to see the details on how to make the monogram garland wreath, you can watch a project guide video or download step-by-step instructions.

We had lots of fun taking turns cutting our letters out of plywood with a jigsaw. And it was even more fun using a belt sander. Watch out world!

The Home Depot has a huge assortment of paints to choose from, but for this project a few good bets to finish your monogram are Martha Stewart Specialty Finish paints, Rust-Oleum spray paints and Martha Stewart Living ribbons (not pictured).

Here’s a finished monogram for my friend Emily that was painted and decorated with a Martha Stewart Living ribbon. You could hang this monogram on the front door, in a tree, or wherever you choose. And depending upon how it’s decorated, you might be able to display the monogram year-round, not only during the holiday season.

Whether you want to go alone or make it a girls’ DIY night out, The Home Depot Do-It-Herself workshop is an amazingly fun evening, complete with swag bag!

You can sign up online for Do-It Yourself Workshops, Do-It Herself Workshops and Kid Workshops. You can also visit HomeDepot.com for project guides, buying guides, how-to advice, how-to videos, project calculators, workshops and so much more. And don’t forget to ask your local Home Depot staff any questions about your home improvement or craft projects. They are an amazing resource!

I’d personally like to thank the team at The Home Depot Store #6948 (especially Jerry, Toni, Nina, Maria and assistant manager Tony Fiore) for all your help with the Do-It-Herself Workshop and for offering your assistance to help us learn other home improvement skills. Our community is very fortunate to have such a caring, knowledgeable and helpful team at our local Home Depot store!

Charmin Calamaris

Charmin is a wife, mom of two boys and creator of the Momiverse. The Momiverse is an online magazine for busy moms (is there any other kind?) dedicated to helping moms make time – and take time – for themselves. She traded in her career in land use planning and environmental policy to become Chief Executive Navigator of the Momiverse. You can connect with Charmin in her "online office" on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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