text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

There's something magical in my garage! All I have to do is say "Alexa, garage on" and all the fans and lights just turn on! It's magic, I say, magical!

Really, its just smart home technology at its best! With only two different Leviton smart home products, we've been able to automate four fans, and 8 lights in the garage. These of course can be individually turned on, but Alexa gets the job done fast and the garage starts to cool off almost before we've closed the door.

Read on to see how we used them, and then think about what you might want to automate in your home. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

When it comes to upcycle or repurposing projects, this drum table lamp was a pretty straight forward transformation. You only need a couple of power tools for this project. A  jig saw, which is one of the least intimidating and inexpensive saws out there, as well as a drill and a hole saw bit. 

You may have seen our previous drum upcycle. It was a small tom made into a table/lamp. We liked that one so much that when we saw this drum on the curb on trash day, we knew we had to rescue it!

The drum we used is a floor tom, which means it already has legs. Because of this we didn't have to build something for it to stand on. That step alone eliminated a lot of work and need for additional power tools. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

We have had a small drum in Steph's garage for quite some time. We bought it at a thrift store a while back for $5. It never made it to the top of the to-do list for use in a project until now! 

As part of the #smarthome campaign with The Home Depot, we received two types of WiZ smart light bulbs to review. We didn't just want to review them for you, but wanted to use them in a project. What better use than to put them into some kind of lighting fixture!

That's where the drum comes in. We decided to make a little lamp/end table with one of the new bulbs. We have been using the lighted log end table for some time and love the way light is incorporated into that table, and wanted to do the same with our little drum.

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

We are continuing to bring you reviews of smart home products as part of The Home Depot SmartHome Campaign. Today's post is all about smart light switches. 

We got to try out two different switches by Leviton. You may not know the name Leviton, but you may have their products in your home and not know it! When we had electrical work done in the garage earlier this year, the electricians used all Leviton products. It's a company that's been around for a long time and they know their stuff! They have now entered the smart home market with a variety of products including these two switches. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

We want to thank The Home Depot for sponsoring this post!

Earlier this year, we made over an underused closet at Steph's house into a highly organized and functional craft storage space. The last step in the makeover was to add lighting. We decided Philips Hue lightstrips. With these we could get the bright light we wanted, as well as the ability to control them remotely or to set them up to turn on with motion. 

Both Steph and I have been using Phillip Hue lighting for many years now and have been impressed with the simple setup and long term ease of use. These lightstrips are no exception--they're easy to install and require no attention once they are setup to active with motion. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

We want to thank The Home Depot for sponsoring this post!

The install for this Ring wired security camera is as simple as plug in and go! There's a little more to it than that, but not much more. The most difficult part of the install was deciding where to place it. Watch the end of the video to see who's placement wisdom won out!

This is the second Ring product we've installed. We've been using it for a few weeks now and couldn't be more pleased with its features and ease of use. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

Smart home technology has been a part of Steph's home pretty much since she became a homeowner in 2013. For example, Phillips Hue light bulbs went in almost as soon as she closed on the house! So, partnering with The Home Depot on their Smart Home campaign is a natural fit. Over the next year, we will be reviewing and installing a variety of smart home devices.

​Up first is the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. The Ring comes with almost everything you need for installation. We only needed to provide a drill and a small bit. It comes with a screwdriver as well as a drill bit for drilling anchor holes if needed. 

The front of my house faces east so it gets a lot of direct sunlight. The door had faded to the point that it needed new paint so we decided to give it a new coat of paint. 

Once the door was finished it was apparent that the lock and handset were looking a little dull and worn. We discussed several options and decided that we should look into installing a smart lock. We talked with The Home Depot and they offered to send us a lock and handset to try out in the brand and style we wanted!

My husband uses the front door 99% of the time. He usually has his hands full making it hard to use the key without having to set things down. With the smart lock, all he has to do is tap the code into the screen (or use his iPhone) and the door opens. Easy Peasy! 

The install was a breeze and went without a hitch. Take a look at the process. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

There is nothing more annoying than decorating with Christmas lights and then having to plug them in to turn them on! I’ve had an outlet switch for years that I keep just to control the lights on my tree. All the lights are plugged in end to end and then the last one is plugged into the switch which is plugged into the outlet. I can toggle it on and off to control the lights. 

That’s a very low tech way to control the lights but these days there are so many ways to control those lights. There are so many options from low to high tech!

Take a look at some of the ways to control your holiday lighting. 

​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot as a part of The Home Depot’s ProSpective Campaign. THD provided the Diablo Hole Saw used in this post.

We've designed and created alternative Christmas trees for the last couple of years as we like the look and the creative challenge. We set out to create something new for Steph's house. I don't remember if Steph had an idea, but if she did, I ignored it and lobbied for MY idea.

A few years ago I saw a basic wood tree in a mall window display. It had shelves for merchandise but it was basically a tall skinny wood triangle. We decided to create our own version of the display tree.

Ours would have no shelves and would be supported by a concrete base. I really liked the concrete bases we made for Steph's nightstand and thought it would be a great idea to hold the tree up. Also, we designed the tree so that it could easily be taken apart for storage. 

​Take a look at how it all came together!

​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

After the completion of our first EL Wire project we were hooked on the unique lights and wanted to use them in additional projects. When Apple announced their new phones would have wireless charging capabilities, we knew we had found our newest project! We could combine this new technology into a table with EL Wire lighting. 

We decided to make two end tables for Steph’s bedroom, one with the charger and one with the EL Wire only. Take a look at how it all came together.

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot as a part of The Home Depot’s ProSpective Campaign.

We have pretty good lighting in the garage- with the exception of one dark corner. Bright light is essential in a workshop for safety and accuracy when working. We needed a solution to this corner and the Milwaukee LED Site Light seemed the perfect solution! 

The light is app enabled which means it can be controlled remotely via a phone which is convenient since we hung it from the ceiling. With the One-Key app we can turn it off and on without having to touch it.

​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

Both Steph and I really like our app supported smart home devices. I only have a few--some Hue lights and my Ecobee smart thermostat. Some smart devices must be hardwired, like the thermostat, but many others can be retrofitted into existing fixtures, like using smart bulbs in current lamps and overhead lighting. 

Some things, like lamps that use speciality bulbs that don't have a smart bulb equivalent, can be made to operate as a smart device with simple adaptations like the switchmate that turns switches into smart ones and using smart plugs in outlets to control whatever is plugged into it. The best thing, is nothing is hardwired--it's simply plug and go! Watch the video above to learn all about smart plugs!

​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

After a storm here in Tallahassee in September 2016, we picked up a bunch of cut up logs from the neighbor across from my house. The logs have been drying all this time in Steph’s garage and are now ready for projects. We’ve already used two in a previous project.

The most interesting of the salvaged stumps was the one with a hole partially through it. We knew it would make some kind of cool project and thought a lamp would be interesting to try. 

text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot as a part of The Home Depot’s ProSpective Campaign.

We here at Mother Daughter Projects like technology, so the new Tick from Milwaukee is something we've been wanting to try out. The Tick is an app based, bluetooth enabled device that helps you keep track of your stuff! 

Here's what you need to know:

• The Tick is a small plastic device, powered by a replaceable battery that you attach to stuff you want to keep up with (think inventory control). It attaches to the item with epoxy, screws, rivets, or cable ties.
• The One Key app is a free dowload and each individual Tick is activated and registered within the app.
• When the app is opened and you are within 100 feet of your Tick enabled item, it will tell you if your item is within range or the last place the app "saw" it.  If your item is not where you left it, you can mark it as "lost."
• Once something is marked as "lost" that's when the community of other One Key app users takes over. If the signal from your "lost" item is picked up by another One key app user a location of that "lost" item will be sent to your phone helping you to track its location. 
• The ability to find an item is directly related to the number of people adopting this technology. The more folks that use it, the larger the coverage, the more likely your "lost" item will be located. ​