Problem: Article: To ensure you have plenty of room to paint, you want to clear as much space away from the walls as possible. In addition, leaving furniture near the walls leaves it susceptible to being stained by paint.  If you can't move the furniture out of the room, move it to the center of the room and cover it with a drop cloth instead. Canvas drop cloths work best, but they are a little more expensive. If you don’t have one, lay down a tarp or another waterproof material. That way, if paint drips, it won’t soak through and stain your floor. It’s also a good idea to remove any light switch plates, curtain rods, or other decorative items that are attached to the walls. As you're wiping the walls down, focus especially on the crevices in the panels, since dirt tends to build up here. Dust, dirt, and other debris will create an uneven surface that will show beneath your paint. Let the wall dry completely before you move to the next step.  A damp microfiber cloth is a good option, since it will trap a lot of dust, but you can use any cleaning cloth you have on hand. Professionals often use a solution made from trisodium phosphate (TSP) and water to wash walls before painting, but this is an extremely toxic chemical. If you choose to use it, wear long sleeves, pants, rubber gloves, protective glasses, and a respiratory mask, and open the windows in the room the ventilate it, then let the walls dry for about a day. If there are any nail holes, chips, or other imperfections, use a putty knife to fill them with a generous amount of joint compound or spackle. After you apply it, scrape away excess compound with the putty knife, but don’t worry about getting it all off the wall, since you’ll address that later.  The compound shrinks when it dries, so it's better to apply it in a thick layer and sand it down later, rather than not to apply enough. If you like, you can use a trowel instead of a putty knife, depending on what you have on hand. If there aren’t any chips or holes in the walls, you can skip this. If you want a smooth wall surface, similar to that of drywall, carefully apply the joint compound to each groove in the paneling. Use the same method you did to fill in any holes in the wall.  This will make it easier to create a smooth surface for the painting. Some people prefer to leave the grooves exposed when painting over wood paneling, giving the painted walls a little additional texture and visual appeal. In that case, there’s no need to fill in the grooves with the compound. Using a relatively coarse sandpaper, such as 100-grit, sand over any grooves or holes where you applied the joint compound. The goal is to create a smooth, even surface, so the compound won't show under your finished paint job. It's a good idea to wear a face mask with a respirator when you're sanding so you don't breathe in any fine particles. Since you’ll be covering a lot of area, it’s best to use a pole sander, sanding block, or orbital sander for this job. Gently scuff the surface of the paneling to remove the shine, working in even, circular motions. However, don't sand all the way back down to the bare wood, since these spots might show through your paint.  Sanding will help to remove any protective coating on the paneling that could interfere with the adherence of the paint. If you’ll be painting the trim, sand it as well. Sanding produces a lot of fine dust, which will leave your paint looking bumpy and rough. After you wipe down the walls, let them dry. If you feel the cloth snag on the wall, you may need to smooth that spot out a little more with sandpaper. Painter’s tape is the trick to getting a perfectly straight line when you’re painting a wall. Pull off a length of tape that’s about 12 in (30 cm) long, then stretch it so it becomes sticky and lay it carefully across the edge you don’t want to be painted. Tape around windows, the ceiling, or baseboards you don’t want to paint.
Summary: Remove any furniture you can and cover the floor with a drop cloth. Wipe down the paneling with a damp rag to remove dust and dirt. Cover any holes or gashes in the wall with joint compound. Apply joint compound if you don't want to see the grooves in the paneling. Allow the joint compound to dry, then sand away any excess. Lightly sand the entire wall using 220-grit paper. Wipe down the walls again with a damp cloth after you sand them. Use painter's tape to cover anything you don't want painted.

Problem: Article: The squares need to be about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) larger than the base of your bottle. Use a ruler to make the squares even. If you are a child making this project, ask an adult to help you with this step. If you need to, trim the dowels down. If you can't find any dowels, glue three wooden skewers together; this counts as one dowel. You will need 12 skewers total. You can use acrylic paint or spray paint. They can all be one color, or even different colors. Make sure that you paint the edges of your cardboard squares as well. Cover the bottom of your sand timer with glue, and press it into the middle of the first cardboard square. Cover the top of your sand timer with glue, and press the other cardboard square on top. You can use any type of thick glue for this: school glue, wood glue, hot glue, or epoxy. Place a drop of glue on the bottom of the first dowel. Press the dowel into the corner of the bottom square. Place a drop of glue on top of the dowel, and slide it under the top square. Make sure that the dowel is as straight as possible. Repeat this step for the other three dowels. You can leave your sand timer plain, or you can decorate it further. Here are some ideas to get you started:  Wrap some ribbon around the dowels. Cover the edges of the cardboard squares with glitter glue. Draw designs on the top and bottom cardboard square using glitter glue. Let the glue dry before you do the other side. Glue one some plastic rhinestones or jewels along the dowels. Add on some glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the top and bottom cardboard squares.
Summary:
Trace two large squares on a sheet of cardboard. Cut the squares out using a box cutter or craft knife. Find four wooden dowels that are the same height as your sand timer. Paint the cardboard and dowels and wait for the paint to dry. Glue the cardboard squares to the top and bottom of your sand timer, and let the glue dry. Glue in the dowels between the cardboard squares. Decorate your finished sand timer further.