Out with old in with the new!

Well I know there has been a long hiatus with me posting on here. Frankly between work and just enjoying the summer, I have been pretty busy. Recently it has been very obvious that fall is come quickly. My window boxes were getting very seedy and just not looking to hot. I saw this really cute idea where someone used clay pots in the boxes filled with pumpkins, mums and cabbages. I found an incredible deal on clay pots at Blain’s Farm and Fleet. I used the coconut liner to bed the bottom of the window bows and placed 3 clay pots in each. I used small pumpkins and some clearanced pansies to put in the pots. There were some flowers that were still looking good in the window boxes, so I salvaged them and put them in some of the clay pots. The end result was very cute, and I love it. Plus it will be super easy to take down in after the fall passes. I also think it would be cute to put some small trees in them at Christmas time.

These guys were watching me intently.

I plan on posting  a few more things we have been working on soon. So stay tuned ya’ll!

Kitchen floor

We had struggled for a while on whether we wanted to put down hard tile or vinyl in the kitchen. The hard tile would be nice and durable, but it would also have been very expensive. We would have to hire someone to remove the old floor, level it and then place the tile. The vinyl I could put down myself without much effort or cost. The laminate squares I put up in the bathroom have held up extremely well, and I read reviews the good quality vinyl squares are very hardy. Plus if one is damaged you just have to replace that section, not the whole floor.

The tile project begins. We are doing the laundry room along with kitchen. The floor was in rough shape, so it really needed to be replaced. I first started with the laundry room.

Step one: Remove the quarter round molding.

Step two: Clean the floors really well. I first swept, then vacuumed, then steam mopped and then let dry.

Step three: Apply the floor primer. I used Henry Bond Enhancer. That had to dry for 1/2 hr to 1 hr.

Step Four: When the bond enhancer was thoroughly dry, I started applying the tiles. I started in the middle of the room.

Aside from moving the washer and dryer the tiling went great, and I was really pleased with the results. It only took me a day to finish, and made the room look so much nicer.

So onto the kitchen, this project me about 1.5 weeks all together. I think I could have finished with 2 full days of work, but alas life doesn’t work out that way. So i just took my time, and got it down. I used the same method as before, and just took it in sections. The hardest part was moving the appliances, but other than that it went pretty smoothly. I can’t believe what a difference it makes!  I also love that you can’t see every  bit of dirt or hair the dogs bring in.

I also put new rubber baseboard along the cabinets, it definitely gives it a finished look.

The kitchen mid-tile installation…what a mess!

Wine Bottle Tiki Torch

I found this really great tutorial on how to make your wine bottles into tiki torches @ Design Sponge. I thought it would look great in the pergola, plus I am up-cycling wine bottles.

Step one:

I went to Lowes and had the guys in the plumbing department help me find everything. I didn’t use everything they listed in the above site. I did not need to use the hexnuts. I also used a longer rod so I wouldn’t have to worry about smoke damaging the side of the pergola.

These are the supplies I bought:

1. Empty Wine Bottle (You can use any bottle you like as long as it’s glass and the neck is 1” in diameter. Be clever!)
2. Teflon Tape 1/2”
3. Ceiling flange (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
4. 1” Split Ring Hanger (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
5. 1/2” x 3/8” Copper Coupling
6. 1/2” Copper Cap
7. Two #10 x 1” Zinc Plated Wood Screws (if your mounting it to wood)
8. 3/8”-16 Zinc Plated Threaded Rod
10. Tiki Replacement Wick
11. Torch Fuel (For safety reasons, only use fuel made specifically for outdoor torches. i.e. Tiki brand)

I also bought copper spray paint to spray the pieces that were not copper colored.

Step 2:

Wind the Teflon tape around the copper coupling so that it will fit snugly in the top of the wine bottle. It took a few times to figure out the right thickness, but I was able to get it to fit snugly, just don’t fit it so tightly that you can’t take it back out.

Step 3:

Take the ceiling flange and place where you want outside, be sure to use appropriate outside screws. Then thread the threaded rod onto flange, tighten with channel lock wrench.

This is the pic from the websidte, I did not apply the hexnuts.

Step 4:

Put the split ring hanger on the threaded rod, make sure everything is sturdy enough to support the bottle.

Step 5:

Fill the wine bottle with citronella and then put the wick through the copper coupling.

Step 6:

Hang the bottle by the neck (I know it sounds morbid) in the ring hanger. Make sure you tighen the screws so that the bottle won’t move.

Tada!! Now you have a tiki torch! Use the copper cap to cover the wick when not using. I did light them afterward, but it was so windy they wouldn’t stay lit.

Pergola and Pallet Garden

Pergola:

We laid down mulch under the pergola to help even it out and to cut down on the weeds. This will be a temporary thing until we can either lay stone or build a deck, that is way down the road though. It looks great, and really made the area looked finished.

I also finished staining the picnic table sage green, so it looks more finished. I can’t believe how great the stain works, I wish I would have used that a long time ago on different projects.

BJ’s (sorta like Sam’s club) had a great deal on hanging baskets, I got 2 large geraniums to hang. I needed something hardy, and something that could handle a lot of sun.

The most exciting thing was to make homemade tiki torches with wine bottles. I just hung 2 for right now, but I might add more in the future. I will post a separate blog on that process.

We ate dinner last night outside, in the pergola and it was lovely. I am so glad we are actually getting to enjoy it this year.

Pallet Garden:

So I know you all have been wondering how the pallet garden is doing. It is growing quite well. The sections are staying moist, and the lettuce, spinach, and parsley seem to enjoy their spot. I will continue to update the progress.

Pallet Garden

So I finally started my pallet garden that I saw at Life on a Balcony, check it out. I was super excited to get a free pallet from Hewett’s Garden Center. I had read there was some concern about getting a pallet that may have chemicals on it. I chose to get it from a garden center rather than a home improvement place, I thought the chance of chemical issues would be less. I power washed the pallet, and then let it dry out in the garage for a few days.

I wanted to add a little color outside, so I bought some yellow spray paint, and painted just the outside slats. The paint soaked right up, it was crazy on how fast is absorbed. It did gave it just enough color, and it still looks worn.(I know I mentioned chemicals earlier, but I only sprayed the outside.)

Next step: Use landscaping material to hold the back. This is where I change what I did from the instructions on Life on Balcony. I stapled it on the back and the bottom to hold the soil in. Since I was using seeds and not plants that would root as quickly. I also thought it would hold moisture in better. I also put a final large piece on the back.

Stapled landscaping material on backs and bottom.

Stapling large panels on the back in addition.

Pallet upside down.

When I do my window boxes I put sponges on the bottom to hold in more moisture. I found that it makes a huge difference in the amount of watering I need to do. I get the sponges in an 8 pk from the dollar store, so nothing fancy. I lined the bottom of each layer with sponges. I added the soil and packed it in pretty tightly.

Final step was to add the seeds and water. So far I planted 3 types of lettuce, spinach, parsley, and oregano. I then soaked it with the hose. I will be posting pics as the garden progresses. I am crossing my fingers and toes it works out.

Garden Time

I just don’t know where to start about my gardening and planting adventures. I have the raised bed garden from an earlier post finally planted. I have summer squash, yellow squash, onions, peas, carrots, and cucumbers planted. I have been battling squirrels and a small pug (we won’t mention any names) from walking and digging up some of the seedlings. If this continues I think I am going to have to buy more mature plants. I definitely need to buy some tomato and pepper plants to plant in containers.  I am going to wait another couple days to be sure I am out of any frost issues. I also can’t wait to start on another project on the raised bed, and hopefully that will be done in the next week or so, stayed tuned.

The vegetable flags I made in preparation for the garden.

Some of the peas are coming already...yay!

Another thing I have been working on is mulching around the house. Considering it has been about 2 years since fresh mulch has been put down, it was definitely time.  We had 2 yards of pine mulch delivered. I also edged out some of the beds with old brick around the house, and new grey stones from Home Depot. The edge stones were only $0.99 a piece, so it didn’t cost me too much. It is hard to adjust thought having a plethora of free rocks in Virginia. It looks really nice. I also want to stain some left over pressure treated rails to edge some of the garden, but that project is still in the works

My final project that I am super excited about is the pallet garden, I am going to write a separate post on that.

So thank goodness spring is finally here and I can now just spend my days off in the sun and hands dirty.

Trouble we get into when raining

So since it has been raining for 2 weeks straight, we are a little stir crazy. Well we were bored, and decided to see what the wiring for our stove hood looked like. The hood hasn’t been working well, and we had toyed with the idea putting a microwave/fan combo.

Well we figured out the hood was hard wired in. Off to Home Depot we went, and bought stuff to put in an outlet and look at microwaves.

We settled on a GE model due to cost, and we like GE products.

First, we installed an outlet. We were sure to shut off the breaker. I was glad to rewire because it looked a little scary. We were not able to put a vent in because of the layout of the house. We put the outlet in the above cabinet. This was suggested in the installation manual.

Then it was time to lug the microwave on the wall. That was a challenge, but we got it up there.

I promise I was helping him lug this up. )

It looks great!! We have so much more counter space. I installed a charcoal filter in the top fan, and that has really helped with airing out cooking smells. I also love the microwave is bigger, and has an extra rack in it.

All in all, it was the perfect project for a rainy Sunday.