Archive for November, 2010
Tanks For The Memories
Surprise! This was the scene at our house yesterday:
Allow me to explain. We decided to test the soil around our home’s underground oil tank (we have oil heat) a few weeks back to assure any interested buyer that it’s in tip top shape. Much to our horror, it wasn’t. Soil tests came back indicating that we had a small leak. We felt like somebody punched us in the face. Here we are with our rain barrel and our compost bin along with all of our energy star appliances and our cloth diapers in an effort to be green while our oil tank has been oozing nastiness underground without our knowledge. Shudder.
Luckily we learned that it’s something that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality feels so strongly about fixing that they actually offer a credit to homeowners in our situation, so we only had to pay a $500 deductible for the removal of the old leaky underground tank (and the gross oil-riddled soil around it – hence the excavator pictured above) while the government covers the rest of the usually-around-$2,000 project. Nice right? But we did have to kick in about $1300 to install a new above ground tank (which will never secretly leak since it’ll be visible instead of buried). The good news is that it’s kind of like we’re paying it forward since we’re leaving a new tank for our home’s next owners and our new house actually also just got a new above ground tank (so we’ll inherit one that’s just as new and shiny). Ain’t she pretty all tucked quietly behind our azalea bushes?
Especially when you compare her to ol’ Rusty. They estimated that our tank was about 30 years old after unearthing it. Here’s hoping 30 is kinder to me when I hit it next year.
The funny thing is that as gross as that sucker looks, they could only find this dime-sized hole at the bottom (though they said others might be too dirt-clogged to see).
The good news of the whole oil-leakage incident is that since oil doesn’t move very much through compacted dirt like ours, it’s not believed to have traveled very far underground. So the Virginia DEQ just requires the removal of the tank and a bit of surrounding soil to rectify the situation. Okay, maybe a “bit of soil” is an understatement. This was the hole they dug:
They had to dig up two azalea bushes to make that hole but luckily the process didn’t disturb the driveway or any large trees. And they replanted the pristinely removed azaleas after filling the gorge with gravel and topsoil (though they were the first to say that they make no guarantees about their future survival). Cross your fingers, I guess?
Even though it’s bittersweet to have sunk money into unsinking this leaky tank for our buyers (yay environment, boo spending) we’re definitely comforted by the fact that we’re getting a new shiny tank at our new house (how funny is it that the current owners ran into a similar situation with their underground tank and just upgraded to an above ground version too?). So I guess we could call it good house karma paying off. If you can count following government orders as karma.
Have you guys had oil issues? Or other appallingly ungreen discoveries in general? Nothing like a little unplanned spending around the holidays to get your blood pumping.
Psst- Holy amazingness. Check out this sweet DIY play kitchen that was made from an old TV unit over on BabyCenter.
DIY Gift Idea: Titillating Tumblers
That’s right. I said titillating. Who doesn’t love a good set of small glass cups that can be anything from charming votive candle holders to drinking glasses or even holiday candy serving dishes grouped en masse on a coffee table? I’ve always wanted to try my hand at glass paint (the kind that you apply with a pen and bake on in the oven) so I figured using it to create a cute little DIY holiday gift would be just the thing. Or it could be another epic fail- you never know when you start these things…
For this project I originally planned to go to a thrift store for cheap $1 glasses to paint, but when I stumbled across this matched set of four tumblers at Target for $2.50 (less than 65 cents a pop) I couldn’t resist grabbing it. Oh and I got the paint pen – called Vitrea 160 in Scandalwood Green – from Michael’s for just a few bucks (around $3 I think).
When it came to application, I just followed the directions and freehanded some seasonal designs on the outside of each tumbler (feathery spruce trees line one cup, pine needles are the chosen scheme for another glass, and wavy lines and straight stripes round out the other two cups). After allowing the cups to dry for 24 hours (according to the instructions on the ol’ paint pen) it was time to bake them in the oven for 40 minutes at 325 degrees (instructions probably vary, so be sure to follow the ones on your pen when it’s time to get your cook on). Tip: we didn’t preheat the oven and we left them in there to cool for a while before removing them, which seemed to help keep the glass from cracking since major changes in temperature can cause that).
The result was a gorgeously sweet and subtle design that feels festive without looking too over the top. In other words, we figure as far as gifts go, these cups could probably live in nearly any house without feeling too out of place (since we opted for a pretty subtle season-appropriate color scheme, and avoided more kitchy illustrations like colorful snowmen or santas- although those could be really cute if you’re sure your giftee would like them).
They’re nearly impossible to take photos of (but are very charming and even semi “professional looking” in person):
Wouldn’t those look cute filled with candy and grouped on a table or even paired with small votive candles on someone’s mantel? They could also be used to serve warm cider to guests on Christmas or even New Years (since once the ink is baked onto the outside of the glass, it’s ready to use and can even be popped into the dishwasher). So I thought they made nice little versatile homemade gifts for around $5.50 (including the pen and all four glasses). And of course they could be personalized instead of seasonally decorated (with a scripty monogram, each family member’s name, a favorite icon like a horseshoe or a heart, etc). Have any of you guys tried your hand at glass paint? Do you have any other cheap DIY gifts on your to-do list? Tell me all about it.
Fab Freebie: Merry Maxx-mas
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – scroll down to see who won!***
You know we love a deal. Especially around the holidays when it’s so easy to bleed money. Which is why we’re psyched to have two of our favorite discount stores, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, here to help us kick off the whole holiday shopping scene by handing over two $50 gift cards that can be spent on gifts, festive seasonal decor, or whatever else tickles your fancy.
We’ve always loved snagging cheap finds for our house at both stores – like the nailhead trimmed ottoman in our bedroom (from T.J. Maxx) and just about every pillow in our den (from Marshalls).
But enough about us. Here’s how you can enter to win one of the two gift cards that are up for grabs:
- PRIZE: A $50 gift card good at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “MAXX ME!” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: …let’s talk about holiday shopping lists. What’s on the top of your list for yourself? And what are you most excited to be giving?
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, December 1st at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: Two
- PRIZE SHIPS: The 48 contiguous United States
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winners will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday as an update to this post. That’s right, come right back here Thursday morning for the announcement of our winner. Good luck…
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And our two very lucky winners (as selected by random.org) are… Anna (who’s got her eye on boots for herself and a globe for her bro) and Kellie C (who’s looking forward to the painting and wainscoting being gifted by her husband) Congrats you two!
Note: We weren’t paid or perk’d for hosting this giveaway, we just take them on to reward our lovely readers! See our Giveaway FAQs page for more info. Pics from T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
Forced Feedings
We’re buckling down and making ourselves eat as much of the remaining food in our fridge as possible. We haven’t gone grocery shopping for at least three weeks (except for the occasional under $30 run for milk, cereal, and some fresh fruits & veggies) and we don’t plan to go at all for the next two weeks (since there’s still plenty to nosh on before we move). We’re concentrating mostly on eating things in the freezer and the fridge since there will be at least five hours between handing over the keys to our current house and getting the keys to our new one (we were luckily able to coordinate both closings on the same day, but the bank still needs a few hours to transfer funds in between). So we don’t want to worry about keeping a bunch of things refrigerated or frozen in a cooler in the moving van (or over in John’s sister’s fridge) if we can help it. Here’s what we’re dealing with (MTV Cribs style):
So I devised a little look-how-type-A-I-am system to keep us focused when it comes to strategically stuffing our faces. I’m a sucker for a list, what can I say? It actually took a little while to get the whole list thing figured out. I knew we needed a reminder about what we should eat, so first I made a list of all the random ingredients and items that we ideally should scarf before moving day. But it seemed like a chaotic little crammed piece of paper with too many things to actually absorb. So I decided to compartmentalize, grouping items that we could eat together and listing things in these categories: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack/dessert. Worked like a charm. We now have this list staring us in the face every time we glance at the fridge:
- Breakfast:
- eggs
- oatmeal
- waffles
- smoothies
- Lunch:
- peas and carrot sides (J)
- broccoli soup (S)
- grilled cheese (J & S)
- turkey, cheese, & deli flats (J & S)
- tuna on wasa crackers (S)
- laughing cow cheese or almond butter on wasa crackers (S)
- Dinner:
- breakfast for dinner omelette w/ frozen veggies
- pot stickers with frozen veggies
- burritos and frozen veggies
- pancakes with mixed berries
- spaghetti
- frozen amy’s pizza and alexa fries
- sides to eat asap: brown rice & cous cous
- Snack/Dessert:
- pumpkin bread
- ice cream
- tea
- mixed nuts & pistachios
We just cross things off when we finish them and then move onto other meals in that category. So far we’re on track to eat right up until moving day (since we have a few servings of a few of the things on the list- like pasta, pot stickers, a truckload of wasa crackers, etc). Here’s hoping we can get ‘er done. Have you guys ever strategically planned meals (for moving or just money management or organizational purposes?). Do you have weekly meal plans (Macaroni Monday? Taco Tuesday?). Growing up we had a pretty predictable rotation but there was something strangely comforting about it. I still miss Wednesday night pizza dinners…
Psst- I know the last few posts haven’t been very DIY focused (we blame our turkey coma) but soon we’ll be sharing some fun homemade holiday gift ideas along with a free downloadable calendar for 2011 and another home-related video. So as they say on SNL, stick around…
Second pssst- Holy bananas. Who watched Dexter last night? Was it not the single best episode ever? John and I couldn’t sleep from all the adrenaline rushing through our veins. Love that show.
UPDATE: See how we did when it came to cleaning out the fridge before our big move here.
I’ve Got One Hand In My Pocket Door…
… and the other is prying off trim.
Okay, so I’m no lyricist (I’ll leave that up to Alanis) but here’s an example of our scrappy, learn-as-we-go, figure-this-out-if-it-kills-us approach to home improvement. We usually don’t know what the heck we’re doing, but diving in and giving things the ol’ college try is usually the road to success (and that way we get to gain experience as we go, so we might have a smidge of know-how the next time something needs work).
This is our half bath. It has a pocket door.
The pocket door has been jammed for, oh, about six months. So long that the phrase “Don’t look, I’m peeing” stopped sounding odd and gross. That’s right, it became the normal courtesy warning around here when one of us was too lazy to walk across the house to the full bath (with a functional door to block the view). Yup, we don’t pee in front of each other like nearly all of our married friends who think we’re weird for being so shy. Gotta keep some mystery around here.
Anyway, we knew we had to remedy the door issue before moving in the next few weeks, but why we decided to start it one random Wednesday night at 8:30pm I’ll never know. But we did. Even though we didn’t have the first clue what needed to be done. Thank goodness for Google.
The all-knowing Internet gave us an assortment of potential attack plans. Many of them involved cutting large holes in the wall to diagnose the problem. Sigh. We really wanted to avoid having to re-drywall anything. So we decided to start slower. Like maybe-some-grease-will-do-the-trick slower:
The WD-40 helped, but mostly because it helped us better understand the issue. The wheels seemed to keep popping off of the track because the door wasn’t hanging level anymore. It looked like it sat lower at the back, meaning when you slid it into the wall the bottom corner would catch on the floor, jamming the door and causing the wheels to jump the track.
We noticed there was an adjustable screw on the front set of wheels that could raise/lower that end of the door, helping with our it’s-not-level issue. Only problem was that we had to pry off the trim on the top of the door to access it.
This is where the project started to go crazy and we got tunnel vision when it came to the task at hand (thereby forgetting to take good photos or make any attempt at containing our mess).
We ended up having to take off the side trim too. Just so we could remove the door entirely from the track so that I could walk it out to the garage (in a rainstorm) and saw off about an inch of door on the bottom. Apologies to our neighbors for using a circular saw at 10pm (hopefully the rain and the closed garage door drowned me out).
With the slightly shorter door back inside, we popped it back on the track and… voila! No more sticking. No more jamming into the floor. No more falling off the track. Now we just had to reinstall the trim, caulk some nail holes, and touch up some paint. Our reaction was as follows: did we really just fix it? Without even waking the baby?
Well, I’d say it’s 95% better than it was. If you get all Arnold Scwartzeneger on it and push or pull it too hard/quickly it still jumps off of the track. BUT, now that the door is shorter it’s a zero-tool, three-second fix to lift it up slightly and place it back on track. No trim removal necessary. And the baby didn’t wake up once during deconstruction or reconstruction (even though we were prying and hammering our hearts out). Why didn’t we discover that she’d sleep through noise like that sooner? Either way, good to know.
It’s so nice to have the ol’ pocket door back in business after months of broken-ness (so we can now close the door instead of screaming the ol’ “Don’t look, I’m peeing!” refrain across the house).
And that, my friends, is no small victory.
So that’s really how we problem solve around here. Googling, trial and error, and crossed fingers. Here’s another post about gaining DIY confidence with zero experience as you go. Have you guys had success with the same fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method? Any other pocket door issues or coups going on? Any other couples who don’t pee in front of each other, or are we the only ones?
