Fixing up my sweet bike

Here's another random post coming at ya.  I noticed that my Trek was looking a little rusty when we hauled out the bikes this past Sunday.  It was an 80-degree day that gave way to freezing rain and general crappiness for the rest of this week, a classic Wisconsin move.  Anyway, I digress....the rust was on the metal parts, obviously:

I read somewhere that regular foil crumpled up (shiny side out) and dipped in water would remove the rust.  A tip was also given to rub the chrome with straight motions, not circular.

I decided to give it a shot. Please don't look at my grown-out highlights!!

When you start rubbing the metal with the foil, you will see this black 'bubbly' thing happen.  I think that means it's working.  Or, it's the foil breaking down.  Whatever. 

Here is that top piece after a good scrub, a rinse, and a wipe with an old t- shirt.  

Amazeballs!  It actually worked and it was FREE!

My bike looks brand new!  Too bad I forgot to take a full picture of it.  I had places to go, ya know? 

ps - with summer quickly approaching, I feel it necessary to warn all concerned parties that Mike's 'Harder' Lemonade has 400 ridiculous calories in ONE CAN.  I almost convulsed when I read that, mid-can.  You have been warned!  Drop the Mike's, pick up a Lite, and have some chips with it instead!

http://www.mikeshard.com/faq.php

Wonky window wells

They were wonky, but they are a lot better now.  Observe the nasty before:

There is a mate to this one, on the other side of our kitchen bump-out (which I realize badly needs a scrape, sand, prime and paint itself) that was also fugly.  I had to use a wire brush on the really bad rust spots.

It does a great job of getting all the tough rust off the metal.  My rule of thumb, keep brushing until there isn't anything flying off into your eyeballs.  And of course, never wear goggles.  Now everything is much smoother! 

Next up, my most favorite product for priming any item around our house...'rusty metal' primer that is ironically, the color of rust.

It goes on so quickly and dries in no time.  I love it so much! 

Yes, some lilies (and mulch) were painted in the process.  It's their fault for growing too close and inside the stupid frame. 

And the finale, Glidden Sweet Tea.  This is the exterior flat latex paint I have used all over the outside of the house.  I love this color with our brick.

Not bad, if I do say so myself.  Although, it only makes the peeling white paint look even worse. 

The wells are looking pretty, but in just a short while they will be completely covered with the daylilies. 

I can't say I'll complain about all my hard work being covered by those beauties! 

Now I just have to take care of that rotted siding.  Bah. 

Xyron is the bomb

I just had to share what I've been up to with DIY wedding stuff.  I still have SO MUCH to do and just a month (from today!) to get it all done.  Tonight, I decided to pretty-up some 50 cent votive holders I scored at Hob Lob with the same ribbon that I used on our invites.  I wasn't sure about the best way to attach ribbon to glass, so I turned to the web and was immediately intrigued by this strange contraption:

It is a 'sticker-maker' and will put an even, adhesive backing on anything 1.5 inches wide or less, and thinner than a nickel.  I was able to take two (pre-cut) strips of ribbon, put them through the upper right side of the 'x' together, and pull them out the other end. 

It comes out on this strip with clear plastic on top, you are supposed to give it all a good rub to make sure the adhesive is attached fully and evenly.  Then, simply peel off the clear plastic...

and lift up your ribbon to see the tacky underside. 

This is so sweet I can't even stand it!  It was a breeze to stick it onto my votive holder.  The hardest part is making sure the ribbon is straight, but it is initially repositionable. 

Walah!  Even the seam looks good, no ends will lift up with the full-adhesive back.   

It took me like a minute to do both of these. 

Thank goodness for the Xyron Create-a-Sticker machine!  I got mine at Joann Fabrics with a 40% off coupon, it was $15 regular price so I paid $9 plus tax.  Worth every penny! 

btw - you can get it a little cheaper on Amazon, if you're willing to wait. With the coupon, I only spent a couple bucks more and got to have it immediately.  I love getting things immediately!  (You hearing me, IRS??  Gimme that refund!)

We hung something

Last year, I bought a cool wood art piece on clearance from Pier 1. 

And it sat on the landing, in the hallway, or wherever I moved it, for the next several months.  I hate hanging things.  And, I'm lazy.  We finally hung it up last week in this blank space at the top of the stairs. 

For some reason, the person who rang me up told me I needed to attach heavy duty picture hangers to get this thing on the wall.  So I bought this.

Then, I looked at the back of it, and saw this. 

Of course there are hangers on the thing, why would they sell it any other way?  Pier 1 chick, you are loco.  Anywhoooo, we got out the drill and had a couple trials (and errors) before the end result was realized.  

We used anchors and big screws, so it's not going anywhere.  I think it fills up that super tall space really nicely.  The only problem is that the bottom is quite bowed from months of standing up against the wall. 

Boo!  Hiss!  Oh well, it looks good from the front door. 

And that will teach me to procrastinate.  The end.

Scott's Liquid Gold is great

Recently, I was contacted by a representative of Scott's Liquid Gold to review their products.  I was more than happy to oblige, so I chose two items and squealed when they arrived!  First up was their wood wash:

This product is formulated to clean wood surfaces, from furniture to floors.  I gave it a quick little test drive on our stairs today.  Our stairs are almost always messy, whether from dust, cat hair, or dirt from our shoes. 

It's rather hard to capture, but trust me, they are dirty!  A couple sprays on each tread are all I used.

I was immediately struck with the scent.  It's delicious, like a fresh perfume....definitely not a typical 'cleaner' smell!  I dabbed some behind my ears, because you can never be too clean behind your ears.  And it smells that good.  And....here is a fabulous shot of me wiping up the cleaner with a towel!

Wooooo!  Amazing!  It cleaned my stairs!  Since it does, in fact, clean well...I think I love it.

Normally we use Bona cleaner on our floors and stairs, but I think we may have to pick this product up occasionally.  Pluses: It's cheaper than my Chanel the smell is good, the spray bottle is much nicer (the Bona one is really weird - you never get a full spray) and it seems to do a great job cleaning the wood.   

Looks good to me!  Next week I will review the other product I received, Mold Control.  

I know what you're thinking, "Sara cannot have mold in her house!"  Well, I probably do.  Somewhere around this horrible pit general area.    

ps - the laundry area doesn't look like this anymore, but this photo from our first walk-through is much more dramatic and moldy-looking.  And I'm still about two years away from an 'after' post.  So there. 

pps - under those rubber mats was wet latex paint in every color of the rainbow.  Can I get a 'BOOZIE' shout-out up in here?  (Kim already did hers)

Apartment Therapy, the love is mutual!!

I was told by a helpful reader that my coat closet redo landed on Apartment Therapy today.  What an awesome surprise!  Since this feature is so soon after the veggie bin makeover feature, I think it's safe to say that Apartment Therapy and I are officially 'going steady.'  Check out their lovely post here!

Snowy anger

Pretty much the day after I cleaned out the backyard and unearthed all my plants, this happened. 

You gotta be kidding me.   

We held up newly-shorn Lucius to check out the scene.   

And he was just as upset about the snow as I was.  Or maybe he was pissed that he's cold all the time.

I must say, I'm loving having only one cat's worth of hair on my bed at the end of the day.

And he looks REAL CUTE, of course.