diy |

Mopping up pennies, or Swiffer magic

May 14, 2013 8:19 am \ Leave a Comment \ Mac

Much like most of you DIY-ers, I like being able to save money where I can. I also like a clean house. Contrary to what my mother may tell you.

Anyway, I was perusing Pinterest the other day and I came across this bad boy:

Now see, not only do I like saving money, and having a clean house…but I also like my Swiffer wet jet A LOT. And in other (slightly) related news, I enjoy knitting. The pattern looked pretty simple and I figured I could whip up a test cover while watching some odd movie (Absentia – i do not recommend it).

The cotton yarn I had in mind is pretty cheap at $1.77 per ball (which could technically yield 2 covers) and when you compare that to brand-name pad refills (12 for $6.69), which you cannot throw in the washing machine to clean, I think that’s a pretty good deal.

Getting the pattern started was a test of patience. I’m not sure if it was because I was impatient to get the cover finished, or if it just took a while to get the hang of the pattern…all i know is that there are some not-so-happy stitches in the first pattern repeat that are just lucky they got hidden in the seam. Once the first pattern repeat was done, I was able to look back and see how it all worked – that certainly made the second half of the project a lot quicker to come together.

I would say, all told, this pattern would take 1-2 hours to knit. It is really simple to follow, but you have to pay attention to your knitting because of all the yarn overs that go in different directions. It tends to slow you down a little bit. But, it was very easy to watch a movie and knit this at the same time.

When I was seaming the edges of the cover together I kind of guessed at how far in to pull the ends. While I would recommend not being as lazy as me, I knew that the cotton would have a little bit of give to it and should stretch over the swiffer head.

Ta-da! It fits! I won’t show you how it looks after I gave it a run around the kitchen. Let’s just say it works really, REALLY well. All the ridges and dips in the pattern grab up and hold a lot of dirt. In my mind (trust me, it’s fun in there) this kind of cover works better than the pads you can buy – there’s more scrubbing friction created between the swiffer and the floor, which helps to grab up (what little) dirt is available.

I also had a go at doing this and it really works.

You can thank me later

Posted in: Crafty, diy, home \ Tagged: knitting pattern, swiffer, swiffer refill, swiffer wet jet

Covering up (gross) Wall paneling

February 28, 2013 8:32 am \ 2 Comments \ Mac

We have been living in our little home for almost three years now. When we first moved in, I was kind of concerned about the quantity of white carpet throughout, but figured we might be able to keep it clean.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

Yeah. Three dogs, copious amounts of foster cats, and one surly teenager means we don’t really have white carpets any more. They are more of a beigey-gross tone. Nasty. We already ripped up the carpet in the Living Room and replaced that with laminate flooring and now the next room on my list is the Den. While I would like to run the laminate flooring throughout the rest of the bedrooms, Brian and I thought that the Den needed something a little softer and rather than add an area rug, we decided to go with carpet tiles.

they are actually a little darker in real life

So here’s where our Den project begins…before we can rip up the carpet and put in the new tiles, we have to paint the walls. Before we can paint the walls we need to cover up the (gross) wall paneling. Luckily the previous owners decided to not only add wall paneling to the rear wall of the den, they also decided to add it to the ceiling. AWESOME!

not the greatest photo – den actually looks worse in real life

Instead of pulling down all the paneling and perhaps facing a larger problem that we may not be able to handle by ourselves, we have opted to paint over the panelling. First I get to go through the arduous task of patching all the paneling with a great product called Patch-N-Paint. The plan is to patch, sand, patch again, and then prime the walls before painting. Ultimately, this could turn out to be a massive disaster….but what would be the fun in that, unless I shared pictures along the way?

Posted in: diy, home \ Tagged: carpet tiles, covering, den, diy, paint, Wall paneling

Operation: Bad Carpet Bye Bye

January 24, 2013 8:53 am \ 4 Comments \ Mac

Getting back in to the swing of things at the Strewth house. First up in 2013 is a den re-do. I picked up the first lot of supplies on the weekend, but then the den was taken over by a very sick Brian…so that has been put on the backburner for the moment. In the works, we have a coverup of the GORGEOUS wood panelling that is not only on one of the walls, but also lovingly applied to the ceiling as well. Also see: New paint and new flooring.

I. CAN’T. WAIT.

Posted in: diy, home \ Tagged: den redo 2013, digby

Pall-ay!

November 6, 2012 8:56 am \ 7 Comments \ Mac

Apparently i am on a backwards pinterest loving kick. After last weekends success with the string garden, I decided to have another attempt at making my pallet fantasy come true.

I have my eye on you number 3!

On Saturday morning we hit up the Big HD again (we’re the regulars your mothers warned you about) and went shopping for stain. I was looking for a light grey colour to mimic the weathered look that was on the back of the pallet.

I was leaning towards my regular go to of Minwax, but I noticed a new (to my store) product called Varathane. Little did i know at the time, but it is produced by my one true love (Rustoleum, duh)…it was fate.

a2b1275d-db90-4df8-b717-3fdf850091f7_300

I love you little can

This stain is the bomb. After giving the pallet a light sand to remove the nasties, I gave the tin a good shake and got to work. It probably took me about an hour and a half to stain the entire piece. After I was done, I took an old rag and rubbed off the additional stain and then left the whole piece overnight to finish drying before I brought it inside.

by the power of greystain!

I am actually super pleased with how it all turned out. On Sunday I dragged it into the house and walked around holding it up against different walls. I had originally wanted to hang it on the wall in the Dining Room, but it didn’t look so happy there. The other thought was putting it up on a side wall in the living room. Unfortunately the gray stain and the gray walls didn’t quite have the finished look we were aiming for.

In the end, I held it up on a wall in the hallway which is kind of nakey at the moment. Both Brian and I agreed that it was the perfect home and after a lot of drilling (and subsequent putty-ing), yelling, swearing and attaching…we managed to get it to stay where we wanted it.

Finished shelf = beer time

Now it’s time to start decorating. I have some photos ready to go up…and some other secret surprises. I’m hoping to get everything finished before Friday so that I can show you the AWESOME!

Posted in: Crafty, diy, pinterest \ Tagged: hallway, pallet, pinterest

Fall Pinterest Challenge: Green and Yellow and White and Leafy

October 28, 2012 5:51 pm \ 4 Comments \ Mac

For the record, I had something totally different planned for the pinterest challenge. Originally I was going to forge ahead with the Pallet Shelving pin, but after surveying the pallet I have had living outside for the last 12 months I noticed that the side I love the most (all grey and weathered) was the side that would be against the wall. So that pin is shelved for another weekend when Lady Sandy is not headed our way and I can spend some time outdoors sanding and staining.

Instead I decided to have a go at making my own version of a hanging kokedama garden. I mean seriously…how could you not?

First stop – the big Orange for some indoor shade loving plants. This is necessary due to the outer layer of the Kokedama balls being moss. Moss does not do well in bright light…so be kind and go slim (shady). I managed to grab a little fern, as well as another greenish whitish yellowey leafy (that’s a technical plant term) one.

As I’m sure you can guess, I didn’t buy them this way. When I got them home I took them to the backyard and very sternly smacked each of them and told them how disappointed I was. This was the end result. They were suitable shamed and naked. Perfect.

This is the Sphagnum moss i bought. The ~~biggest~~ smallest bag they had, but I’m sure this will now be passed down many generations in my family. I grabbed out a small amount and popped it in a bowl of water. You can also just use a mist spray, but get it a little wet as it is much easier to work with.

Here we are, all 50 shades of moss up in here. Bondage is our specialty. What what!

So the next part is the fun, messy part. Try to channel your inner three year old for this. Truth be told, i didn’t have to try very hard…but at least this time I managed to put the glue out of reach before she came out to play.

The reason there are no in between photos, is that it’s hard to take shots while you are doing this (there are plenty of detailed images at the original source though!). It’s messy, fiddly and a little too much fun. Also, the soil mixture I had was not quite clayey (another technical term) enough, so instead of forming a ball first, I found it worked better if I just formed a ball around the root system I had so cleverly wrapped up.

I had some moss left over from my terrarium project which I soaked in a little water for a while to make it a little more pliable. Just shove that stuff all over and push it into place. Here is where I used some deeply ingrained macrame skills to make a little net for my new balls (heh, balls). I actually ended up using a big fat needle threaded with jute twine to wrap the kokedama around the middle as well – just to give them a little more support. Also, to try and stave off the idea in my brain that involved me coming home from work to find a puddle of soil under the spot the kokedama used to hang

And the end result? Happy at home with Dawn and Rufus in our mini dining room.

All told it probably took about an hour and a half to make these bad boys. But most of that was figuring out how to create the first one. The second was much speedier. Unfortunately, I have now located several other areas of our house that need hanging kokedama gardens.

Posted in: Crafty, diy, pinterest \ Tagged: diy, fall pinterest challenge, hanging gardenm, kokedama, pinterest

Pinterest Challenge – Fall Edition

October 24, 2012 9:59 am \ 4 Comments \ Mac

So i’m going to do it. This weekend I will dedicate some of my off time to getting one of these projects finished. I have an pretty good idea of which one it will be as I have all the materials I need ready to go. But i guess you’ll have to wait until next week to see what magic i pulled out of my rear

Posted in: Crafty, diy, pinterest \ Tagged: diy, pinterest fall challenge

A spoonful of sugar..

October 15, 2012 9:51 am \ Leave a Comment \ Mac

I’m not going to lie. I hate cleaning as much as the next person…but for some reason, if it involves pinterest, it’s just easier to swallow. So this weekend i tried out a couple of pins i had had my eye on.

Source: fabulesslyfrugal.com via Leanne on Pinterest

Okay…seriously? Home made kitchen wipes? Sign me up. I love the idea of clorox wipes, but i hate the smell and i absolutely loathe having to buy them. The only thing that i had to purchase to make these wipes, was the paper towel. Luckily i have no problems wasting time or money in my local Target. Pee Ess dot com, why is the halloween section so seriously lacking this year?

Making these was simple dog easy. Dump ingredients in container (I had an old potato salad container from the grocery store laying around that was the perfect size), pretend to be a serial killer while whacking apart a paper towel roll (even more fun when your husband is watching a tv show about killer aussie women), then throw everything in the container and get to work.

I think i managed to clean the entire kitchen three times with these wipes. They are awesome AND easy to use. I will be making these over and over and over again.

Source: behindthestudio.com via Leanne on Pinterest

I love our glass stove top. I really do not like how messy it gets after using it just once. I mean, i may not be the worlds most awesome chef…but i can fake it with a good looking stove top.

This tip on pinterest REALLY worked. Normally i attack some of the more stubborn messes with a glass scraper…but this was a lot easier and the 15 minute wait time allowed me to drink ~~a cup of~~ several cups of coffee and ding my alt twice. (*) Don’t be jelly…you too can nerd like me, it just takes a little baking soda and a very understanding partner.

So yeah. Thank you pinterest! And now I just have to decide what to work on next…perhaps a cleaning outfit…macrame shorts?

Posted in: diy, home \ Tagged: cleaning, household, kitchen, pinterest

The right side of the table

June 20, 2012 8:41 am \ 2 Comments \ Mac

Sometimes you just have to start the week off right.

For the first time in months, the B and I had an actual relaxing weekend. No anxiety, no stress, no shadows. It was just…relaxing.

We spent a lot of time annoying the animals, watching the ID channel (B is convinced that all women are deadly now) and reworking my coasters. I even managed to (somewhat) surprise the B with a Digby-day trip to Krispy Kreme on Sunday, to celebrate. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend long and while I spent some time in the garden, Digby spent some time learning how not to play with a frisbee.

He’s got the chasing and catching down pat….somewhat. We’re still working on the whole ‘don’t-chew-bring-it-back-let-it-go-good-boy’ side of things. At one point he was running after the frisbee, catching it and launching himself up onto the retaining wall and running for the back of the garden to chew in peace. Goofy Goober #2.

Monday was back to work…but it started off on the right foot again with a parcel from Nana Margie!

Yum! A book on mod podge (my whole house is going to be mod-podged soon….i wonder if i can mod podge the dog to the cat?), a knitting mag and the latest gossip on the dingo from back home (he definitely ate the baby, just in case you were wondering). No lollies this time though…perhaps the postie ate them? You sent lollies, right mum? Hmm…

Headed back home after work to clean up and watch the B cook a delicious meal for Mr Jordan and Maniha. As with every nerd-meal, dinner was followed with a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity. I am pretty sure we are all going to end up in a handbasket at the end of our days for playing this game…but its just too much fun…right Poppy Jack? Don’t worry – we’ll bring the cards at Christmas!

Posted in: Crafty, diy, home, mac-time \ Tagged: coasters, digby-day, garden, nerding, weekend

Lack-Map

March 5, 2012 7:10 am \ 6 Comments \ Mac

After my self-noted success with making coffee coasters, I decided to go a little LARGER and have a go at giving an old LACK table a new outlook on life.

Enter some AWESOME paper from Paper Source (there’s a store right near my office…don’t be jealous ), a LACK table that has seen better days, some mod podge, a pair of scissors and some sort of junk to watch on TV.

I added my first layer of mod podge and smoothed the paper out….i said SMOOTHED the paper out.

ACK! The more i tried to smooth, the worse it seemed to get. I actually ended up walking out of the room and switching the lights off in order to teach that paper A LESSON!

Well..apparently my threatening techniques worked. The next night after i got home from work, i checked on the table and low and behold it actually looked good.The paper, overnight, had settled down

I added a couple of layers of mod podge…let it sit overnight again (just in case the table was having naughty thoughts) and Bob’s your uncle!

Lesson to all DIY-ers – if a project doesn’t work out right the first time, switch the light off and come back later. You know…after said project has thought about what it did wrong.

Posted in: Crafty, diy \ Tagged: Crafty, lack table, mod podge

Purrkour wall

February 1, 2012 7:56 am \ 7 Comments \ Mac

The B and I have been talking about making some sort of minimalist-ish cat climbing wall for a while now. We didn’t want to have something that would take over the entire house and announce to any visitors

WARNING! CRAZY CAT PEOPLE!

Source: elitechoice.org via Leanne on Pinterest
That would be STUPID.

So we came up with a plan that would utilize our existing furniture with the addition of a few pieces. Something more along these lines..

Source: moderncat.net via Leanne on PinterestSo. Materials…i had broken down some shelving at work the week before and saved one of the side walls. We also had an old rug rolled up under one of the beds that we were no longer using, that was perfect for the job.

Place and hold…juuuuust right. We grabbed the staple gun and hit the center of all four sides.

The corners were a little tricky, but we just pulled and added more staples. It was like a fever, but instead of more cowbell we just added more staples. There can never be enough staples…am i right?

Cat wall! Fancy. We hit up lowes and picked up a package of these bad boys, which were designed to hold up to 265lbs (which is just a little more than Sterling weighs) and the screws were 2.25″long, which was plenty of length to go through the cat wall and the dry wall.

(fast forward a few days of us teasing the cats by placing their food on top of the shelving unit)

BAM! Please ignore the fuzziness…contrary to popular belief it is actually quite difficult to capture a cat in motion.

Luckily our cats didn’t take too long to figure it out, even though Lady Georgia spent most of the first night jumping from the ground to a certain shelf over and over again in the hopes that something would change.

We still have more plans to add some shelves to the other side of the wall unit to give them some space around the window, and act as an easier way to access the top. But we figured we’d start with the hard stuff

At least we haven’t had this happen…