Raking leaves 2
Our backyard was blanketed with leaves. That’s way too many to bag! So what’s a person to do?? Well, pile them all around the kid’s play house, that’s what. ? A kid’s leaf pile dream:
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What to do with that old pumpkin after Halloween
Feed your backyard nature! ? When we made our three jack o lanterns, we tried to get as much out of it as possible. I made three kinds of baked pumpkin seeds. And we decorated our porch for Halloween. But why just leave them rotting after the sugar buzz has worn off? We moved ours to the backyard, sprinkled bird seed inside, and watched the nature enjoy. It turns out the deer liked it even more than the birds! think…
Patio power washing therapy
Ah, the power of power washing! I knew the patio needed to be cleaned, but I had no idea how badly. My in-laws let me borrow their power washer and I set to work spraying it down this morning. Once I got everything hooked up correctly and figured out how to turn it on, things went smoothly. Well, as long as you don’t mind getting dirty. By the time I finished power washing the patio, I was covered in a…
Best picture hanging tip
Newspaper. Cut newspaper to the size of every frame you plan to hang on the wall. Then tape them where you think you want them on the wall. Take pictures, move, measure spacing, align, and review until you are happy with the groupings and look of the newspaper shapes on the wall. Then nail away! This saves a lot of heart ache and provides good results every time. I forgot to take photos of the newspaper when I hung these…
Add edging to a shelf for fancier look
The projector shelf was doing its job, but it was very plain. I added edging (leftover from our wood flooring install last year) that I spray painted white. This was the first time I had to cut 45 degree angles and it was a learning experience. It was really tough and I splintered the wood and scraped up the paint a lot. But I discovered that it was easily touched up with a bit of white out. Then I used…
When hand sewing is worth it
Sometimes it’s worth it to fix up an item rather than trashing it. When you’re able to use things longer, you naturally are able to buy fewer things. With clothes, bedding, and fabrics, that’s when a little hand sewing comes in “handy!” I am not a seamstress by any means. In fact, I’m not great at sewing in general. But it only takes a couple of hours to learn a few simple hand stitches. I know this because I took…
Old sock = simple rag
My husband is really hard on his socks. When they get a hole, they get a new life as a rag at our house. I love keeping these handy in the kitchen and bathrooms for wiping counters and cleaning up messes. It cuts down on how many paper towels we’re using. I used to just leave the sock as us to use as a rag, but my daughter refused to use them because they looked like socks and that did…
Shelf for projector
I’m finally getting around to making this and I’m so excited! The projector has just been sitting on the back of our couch in the basement, and it is not stable at all. Our “couch” is made from old mattresses and box springs. The back is quite wobbly and any movement would make the movie projection jump all over. Not the best viewing experience. I bought a shelf from the hardware store, and we already had everything else we needed…
DIY basement flooring for next to nothing
The carpet in our basement was getting really gross. We keep the litter box down there and so litter was always getting into it, plus that’s where one of our cats likes to run to throw up. And his food is really good at staining. (He doesn’t throw up as often anymore now that we’ve got him on a special diet and hairball meds, but that’s a whole nother post.) So I decided that the carpet just had to go.…
Cheap upgrade for air vents
Ever since we replaced our cream colored carpeting for honey strand bamboo flooring, my husband has hated our white air vents. To him, they stick out like sore thumbs around the rooms. But at that time, we researched the price of new wood air vents-and we stopped looking. It was definitely cost prohibitive, and that was how we felt when I was still working. ($20-40 per air vent) So, in keeping with my plan to show my husband that we…