How To: Patch holes in your drywall

This week's Tuesday post is less Tuesday Talent and more How To's-day.  Believe me, there is no talent involved in patching small holes in your drywall.  Patching large holes?  That takes talent.  Small holes?  No talent required!

So for starters, you need a hole or two to patch.  If you're reading this, you probably have one.  Our bathroom had several.  There were six from our numerous attempts to hang the shower curtain rod.  There were also divets from my failed attempt at priming, gaps around the light switchplates (from apparently buying smaller "standard size" switchplates than the older "standard size" switchplates they used to have), and holes and weird lines from the old shelf and toilet paper holder that I just painted over about three years ago (and that have driven me nuts ever since).  So we've established that I had lots of touch up work to do.

Supplies:
Some sort of spackling compound, a putty knife, sand-paper

Seriously, that's it.  This was a poorly thought out plan for me, so I just picked up everything at Lowe's while I was there picking up something else.  It's all located in the paint section, and would likely be in that general location in any hardware store. I've used DAP in the past, but I really liked the "lightweight" and "non-shrink" labels on this one.  I also just grabbed the super cheap plastic putty knife and sanding block.  All together, maybe $10.  Also, you can tell from the picture that I got the small container.  I second-guessed that decision until I actually started using it.  I'm pretty sure that every hole in the MP has been patched now, and I've still got more than half a container.

How To:
1.  Clean your wall.  Just wipe it down so there is no dust/grease/random bits to get in the way.


Outline of shelf, before patch


2.  Fill holes with spackling compound.  Load you putty knife and swipe across the hole at a 45-degree angle to press the compound into the hole.  Smooth over with another swipe of the putty knife.


Four of the six 'wrong' holes.  After taking this picture, I realized I needed to do that area in the bottom center, too.


3.  Let dry.  I wandered around the house looking for more holes to fill while the bathroom patches dried.  Give it 30 minutes or so.  If you have a thick area of coverage, you might need to wait longer.


The lighter white/blue area has been sanded.  
The rough part will be covered by the switchplate (and is pretty hard to sand).


4.  Sand.  No need for further explanation on that...


Awesome, right?


5.  Paint.  No need for further explanation there, either.

It's that easy!  I'm linking up with Beth at The Stories of A to Z this week.  Head on over to check out the other fabulous How To posts showcased there!