Dirty Little Secrets – Behind the Scenes of a DIY Blog

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Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of all the beautiful blogs out there? Me too 😉 So along with a few awesomely talented bloggers we thought it would be fun (and useful) to share some of our dirty little secrets and the behind the scenes of a DIY blog.

 

Warning – this post involves ass creeping pajamas and doggy doo-doo that may not be safe for sensitive viewers 😉

Behind the Scenes of a DIY Blog

Okay now that the disclaimers and wot nots are out of the way. I’m passionate about creating things and inspiring others to try do it yourself. But I always go into a flat spin when it comes to taking those beauty shots that will either make or break the whole post. Those ones where everyone goes WOW, I want to try that so I’m gonna pin it for later. Yeah those ones. UGH. If you don’t have pretty doctored photos, pinning is so not going to happen. The competition is brutal.

In the days before the internet we were perfectly okay just competing with the Joneses or the Smiths. You know, the family next door who drove a swanky red car and held loud parties every weekend that you never got invited to. And if you wanted to feel really crap about your house you just had to subscribe to a glossy magazine. How I miss those days. Now all you need to do is surf the net to find out that you live in a hovel with mismatching tiles and that your super comfy couch is as out as Justin Beiber’s hairstyle. Does he still have hair? I haven’t checked in a while. Anyways this blog hop is all about going behind the scenes and seeing how the Joneses really live, dirty little secrets and all.

To set the scene (no pun intended it just helps my SEO if I use my chosen keyword lots – google likes that apparently), here’s an after photo of a little Steampunk Balloon we made.

 

Cute hey? We hung the balloon inside the house but the lighting is really yucky. We don’t have any fancy equipment to take a good indoor shots. Yet 😉 Plus I’m not a big one for dusting and most of the time our house looks like a crafty bomb went off inside.

 My lack of dusting skills will finally pay off when it's Halloween  Click to Tweet

I’m not going to bore you with how we made it, that’s a post for another day. Let me rather bore entertain you with what normally happens behind the scenes to get a photo like this. Because of the bad lighting situation inside the house, most of our craft and DIY photos are taken outside. We live in a sunshine-filled country and the harsh African sun doesn’t only play havoc with our skins, it can ruin a photo too. The magic hour is usually early in the morning or just before sunset but we’ve learned that sunset doesn’t really work for us. That’s beer time you guys and no one messes with our beer time.

When life gets blurry, adjust your focus Click to Tweet

So early morning it is, which means there’s no time to get dressed or pick up the doggy doo-doo. Most weekends you’ll find me wandering aimlessly around in the garden like a banshee on a mission, still in my PJ’s, trying to find the perfect spot to take a photo.

 

Either my ass has gone AWOL in the last few years or those PJ’s have become crack fillers while I wasn’t looking. Did you see my slippers?

 

Those are my hubby’s anti doggy doo-doo weapons 😉 I do have my own elf styled weapons of mass doo-doo destruction, but they were in the wash that day. Plus the hubby’s slippers match my outfit so perfectly 😀

Are you wondering why the aimless banshee has a rake in her hand in the previous photo? We needed a way to suspend the balloon in thin air so I could take photos from different angles. The rake was the best plan we could come up with.

 

See the fishing gut? We often use fishing gut and double sided tape to make things work. I had visions in my head of creating a photo where the balloon seems to be drifting through the air. A little bit of fishing gut tied to a rake worked perfectly.

 

A rake is an awesome photography tool. You can swing that baby around until you get the best lighting and angle without trying to PhotoShop out an arm that’s lost the war against gravity. Talking about Photoshop, we can’t afford it. Sad I know, but beer money is way more important 😉 The only editing software we use is Paint.Net. It’s free and there are loads of people developing little plugins that will mimic about 87.639124% of what PhotoShop does. The other thing we can’t afford is a REAL camera. All the photos on the blog are taken with my Samsung Galaxy S something or other.

 

Except for this one. Hubby used his LG something or other to take this one. I love using our mobiles to take photos. Mobiles are just easier. They’re always there. All we need to worry about is the green and red button and how many MegaPixels the camera has. Once we’ve taken a gazillion photos from all angles and the banshee has calmed down to a slight panic, hubby is there clearing up the destruction left in my wake. Love you, baby. Thank you.

 

Doesn’t he look like a grown up Tom Sawyer? Wanna see some real destruction? This is our workshop area and there’s just no ways hubby will ever be able to tidy this up.

 

It’s a chaotic, messy, DIY heaven. Our creative zone. Everything is in it’s place waiting to be turned into something. It’s full of useless crap awesome stuff that may or may not become a new thing.

Want a Quick Recap of Our Dirty Little Secrets?

• The best lighting is natural lighting. So if the lighting inside sucks take it outside
• If you have big dogs, always exercise caution when taking photos in the garden and remember to wear your anti doo-doo weapons
• Find a way to shoot from different angles to see what works best. This may involve using a rake or other garden implements
• Always have some fishing gut and double sided tape ready. When you can’t make holes in walls, double sided tape and fishing gut are your go to tools.
• Free editing software works almost as well as the top of the range stuff. And if it works for you, please remember to give the authors a good rating
• Most mobiles have great cameras. Use what you’ve got
• Behind the scenes helpers deserve a medal and lots of loving
• Chaos and madness are okay. We’re not all meant to be a Jones or a Smith. We are unique and I never wanted to go to their silly parties anyway. I still want that red swanky car though 😉

Are you keen to see more behind the scenes stuff? Oh good, then hop on over to these amazing blogs to get the low down of what really happens in their creative world. Just click on the photo. Trust me it’s worth it.

Let’s kick off with all the behind the scenes staging from a foodie blogger.

And a dive into another DIY blogger’s world.

 

A small apartment in Greece poses some unique challenges, but Mary from The Boondocks Blog has them all under control 😉

 

And then there’s The Navage Patch. Their beauty shots are amazing but you have to see what’s happening behind the scenes.

 

And if you enjoyed seeing what happens behind the scenes of a DIY Blog don’t forget to pin.

 

Do you have any little secrets you want to share? I love to hear about them and if you’ve got some tips on how we can improve our photography, that would be awesome. We’ve still got so much to learn.

BTW, I thought I’d include my wish list of stuff I’d love to get for the blog. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and maybe I’ll be able to afford a real camera one day 😉

And as always, here’s wishing you all a blessed and creative week.

Last update on 2026-10-03 / Source Amazon Affiliates