Category Archives: Home Improvement

Homemade Weed Killer

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I HATE weeds!!

Last year we placed rocks around the front of the house to help with our out of control, kill everything weeds.  The rose bushes have really grown since we moved in the rocks.  Unfortunately some of the weeds are already back and I am tired of weeding again.  Since the temps are in the 90’s this week I decided to have a little weed killing party today.

In a home filled with outdoor loving children I wanted to give something homemade a try.  I am not looking to control weeds in my yard, just my rock beds.  After a little searching on ye olde Pinterst I located a vinegar weed killer.  I decided to give it a try.

Let’s just say it is AWESOME!!!  Within 30 minutes I could already see the weeds dying and as of 6 hours later the weeds easily pull from the ground. Now it isn’t a long term solution, I am sure I will be reapplying but it did the trick with very, very little work.  I will be using this recipe again!!  It even killed the stubborn weeds that are growing out of my asphalt driveway.

Weed Killer Recipe:

1 quart vinegar
1 tsp liquid dish soap
1/4 c salt

It’s important to apply weed killer on a sunny day after morning dew has evaporated and with no rain in the forecast for at least 24 hour.   As with any other weed killer try to choose a time with no breeze or little breeze to avoid floating spray that could land on wanted vegetation, like grass or flowers, since the weed killer can kill more than the intended weed. For better control you could use a fine stream from the sprayer so there is no mist floating around.  Completely coat the visible foliage.  Wait and see the results.

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Stripes in the Laundry Room

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One of my long time items on my project list has been to paint our laundry room.  We have lived in our home for 4 years and that room, and a few others, still has the original flat primer it was built with.  So after too much time on Pinterest I found my idea…stripes.  So after I completed the base satin finish paint I moved on to taping.

Taping the lines

I would be lying if I said this was the fun part.  I decided on a smaller 4 inch stripe.  This meant a lot of measuring and  lot of tape.  This was the progress I made in about 30 minutes.  Thank goodness it is a small room.

Mommy’s Helpers

 

That’s right, Mommy has 2 little helpers.  I went off to look to the intertubes for advice on taping only to return to a closed laundry room door.  To my horror my 18m old and 33m old had removed the tape and even drew me a few lines.  While my husband thought it was hilarious I thought about crying.  The little ones said, “We are helping Mommy.  Pres is doing tape and I am making lines.”  So cute!

Painting

Painting was the easy part.  I was smart this time and waited for the kids to go to bed which meant for continuous, distraction free painting.  Once the painting was complete I requested the help of my husband to remove the tape before the paint dried.

The finished product

I finally got to hang up my Mother’s Day gift!  I love this phrase because in a home full of kids…it is so true!!!  I think once the paint has dried I will hang up a little clothes line under the quote, add some clothes pins, and a few things.  I was thinking maybe a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee, a sock or 2, and a stained up baby shirt.

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Operation Take Back the Basement

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Since I began staying home full time I have found clutter to be my worst enemy.  Pregnancy also has a way with making me get project happy.  Of course Christmas came and although this year didn’t include the insane number of gifts it has in the past, it did bring new, exciting toys that need to be put away.  So this weeks project included cleaning, sorting, pitching, donating, and selling old toys to make room for the new, cool ones.

This was the organization that started 6 years ago in my apartment, when we had just 2 little boys, and has never really been revised.  A couple of bins and those plastic 3 drawer carts were perfect.  The kids could easily see what was in the drawer and with pictures on the front ideally they would put the toys back in the correct drawer.  Yeah right!  As our boys have grown and more have been born I have recognized the need to revamp my approach.  Another reason to change… the is a bigger selection of toys.  No longer is it just Lego’s and Transformers, but a collection of 2 different size Lego’s, 2 different difficultly levels of Transformers, balls, action figures, baby toys, superhero costumes, ect.

As the years have passed the older boys have used and abused many of their toys as well.  Transformers are NOT made like they were 20yrs ago.  These piles of plastic break with every bend.  Granted, many times legs can be snapped back on but after the kids have asked dozens of times in an hour for you to fix them, they often just quit playing with it.  This creates a fun game of match the piece to the transformer.  I call it an expensive puzzle that usually doesn’t get solved.  In this cleanup alone I have half of an 18gal tote of broken transformers and their pieces waiting for Dad and boys to match.  I would love to dd them to the “toys I won’t purchase”  list but my husband and boys would be upset.

After seeing a friends “cubby” system and finding something similar on Pinterst, I decided to go with that.  My biggest idea came when I decided to build my own.  Okay so I have big plans, little budget, little time, and a pregnant belly.  After careful thought and crunching numbers it was decided it was less money, time, and hassle to buy the preboxed kind from Menards.  I apparently picked the right week to do this project too.  Menards had the shelving on sale as well as the fabric bins which meant no searching for the correct sized bin to fit the cubby.

Anyway… so the finished project looks great!

The little boys love it.  They have already dumped out a bin or 2 but cleanup is so much easier, I think anyway.  I got the pleasure of pitching 2 garbage bags of junk into the garbage and 2 bags for donation.  The corner where all the totes were is now a place for the TaeKwonDo bag where hopefully no one will get hurt.  Nevermind I have 4 boys, someone will get hurt it is just a matter of when…right?!?!

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