Friday, January 31, 2014

Cleaning Carpets

Here is the key to cheap and easy carpet cleaning: ELBOW GREASE!

Seriously, I rented a carpet cleaner for $30 hoping it would do a decent job with ease. Let me tell you, my fingers hurt and came close to blistering from having to hold the trigger down the ENTIRE TIME, and moving the machine around is a work out.

Worst part: it didn't do a good job!

 
The photo above was my carpet in our rental apartment after living there a year. It was brand new when we moved in. They were thrashed from my 3 children who always had to eat the messiest food on the carpet. Here's my method from getting carpets cleaned:
Supplies:
  • Bowl
  • Hot water
  • Dish soap
  • Scrub brush
  • White towel (I don't know if colored towels will spread their colors onto carpet)

Procedure:
1. Locate test subject. (Nasty stain that occurred sometime in the last few months)
 
2. Fill bowl with HOT water, add a small squirt of dish soap (Seriously, like one small squirt per 2 cups water).
 
 
3. Scrub stained area up and down, then side to side.
 
 
4. Use towel to scrub off excess moisture
 
 
 
5. Allow spot to dry. Admire the results. Resist urge to clean entire carpet.  
 
 
Seriously. The hardest part of this method, besides some simple scrubbing, is keeping enough white towels in stock to do the entire floor at once. I had to do the living room floor in 4 days.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

January Feature: Snowmen

This year I am starting a new post series on my blog. I want to feature, each month, a few crochet patterns that match a theme I've chosen. This month's theme, is SNOW! I live in the San Diego area, and let me tell you, there is NO snow here. In fact, the heat has me slightly missing snowy landscapes.

One of my favorite things about snow is being able to make snowmen! Enjoy these super duper cute snowmen patterns I've located and love!




By Brian Sauls of BBQ Crochets


http://whiskersandwool.blogspot.com/2011/11/snowman-ring-ornamant.html
By Doni Speigle of Whiskers and Wool
 
Now go ahead and make some!
 
Disclaimer: I have received no compensation for posting this entry neither for featuring these specific patterns. I just like them. Enjoy.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

It's amazing what paint can do

Title says it all. Like I had mentioned before, we purchased our first home, and boy, does it need a lot of work. Pretty much all of the work needed is cosmetic, which means we can boost value very easily! Check out this dated, pink bathroom. The hideous over the toilet shelf held very little for how bulky it looked.
Some horrific pink color
 I had been playing with a bunch of different colors to see what color scheme I want in my home. I really liked this color, Crepe by Behr.

Behr: Crepe
It looks beautiful and tan in the sunlight, but a bit peachy with the incandescent light and dim lighting. I think I will be able to remove a lot of the peachy tone by throwing on a second coat. It will take two maybe three coats to abolish that nasty pink.

I love the bathroom 100 times more now that it is not pink. I will love it 100 times more when I get the second coat and the over the toilet shelf (small one sitting on the toilet, awaiting installation).

What do you think? New favorite color? Maybe something more tan for the rest of the house?