How to Weather Strip Windows and Doors the Easy Way!

All of the windows on my house are considered energy efficient. However, even the most highly rated doors and windows will still leak air a little bit due to the fact that windows are made to open and close and the builder had to cut a hole in the wall to install it. Not to mention, most usually have thin brush weatherstripping ( brush pile weather strip looks like this ) which in my opinion is utterly useless. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

Or at least the stuff on my windows and sliding patio door proved to be when the candle flame I carefully ran along them danced a crazy samba indicating there was air leaking through the brush weather stripping instead of stopping the air from escaping which is what weatherstripping is supposed to do. 

Tip: If you do not feel comfortable putting an open flame next to your windows and doors due to the potential fire risk, you can check for air leaks by running a stick of incense (you can buy incenses sticks here) or a smoke pen (learn more about air leak detecting smoke pens here) around the area where the door or window and the wall meet. If the flame/smoke moves in the slight breeze it is leaking air.

I also had air leaking around my sliding patio doors, exterior doors, and surprisingly under the doors to the closets on exterior walls. This is something you really want to fix because warm heated indoor air is drawn to cold outside air (and vice versa during the summer months) which means your heating or air conditioning system needs to use more energy and work harder to maintain the indoor temperature you set on your thermostat – which is why your heating or cooling bill is so high. 

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How to Fix a Ripped Screen in a Door or Window the Quick and Easy Way

Lacey is a good watch dog.

She watches out the patio door as cars go down the street.

She watches out the patio door as kids play in their yard across the street.

She watches out the patio door as the next door neighbor’s cat struts outside.

And she barks at them.

A lot.

While trying to tear through the screen door.

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Not only do I have a big ol’ rip in the screen in my sliding patio door but also the upstairs window screen where Lacey’s good for digging dog nails have ripped it too.

How to Make Awesome DIY Christmas Outdoor Projector Decorations!

I like to keep my Christmas decorations fresh by mixing and matching the decorations we already have sprinkled with a healthy dollop of DIY if I want to decorate with a new outdoor Christmas theme. Condo living means I don’t have the storage space for moving inflatables or  the life size animatronic Santas we see when we idea shop at the Christmas store.

Which is perfectly fine because this year I’m decorating my house with a life size live action Santa Claus and I’m repurposing my Halloween decorations to do it. It will be SO! FREAKING! COOL!

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How to Make Awesome DIY Halloween Outdoor Projector Decorations!

Over the years my husband and I have developed a good reputation for displaying awesome outdoor Halloween decorations.

Our favorite Halloween decorations are the kind that move. Unfortunately condo living means we don’t have the storage space for moving inflatables or the life size animatronic ghosts we see when we idea shop at the Halloween store. Bummer, I know.

We generally keep things fresh by mixing and matching the decorations we already have sprinkled and I add a healthy dollop of DIY props if we want to decorate with a new outdoor Halloween theme.

This year my husband and I are going BIG with our DIY Halloween decorations and haunting  the windows of our house with animated ghosts - just like the kind you see in a haunted house or on the dance floor of The Haunted Mason! (my favorite part of the ride, by the way) using  AtmosFX Digital Decorations who provided samples for this tutorial. That’s right, friends we are using projection Halloween decorations this year and they look so. freaking. cool!

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How to Project Animated Halloween Ghost Decorations

How to Fix Rear View Mirror

The rear view mirror came off my car windshield. Luckily I wasn’t driving at the time.
I’ll admit it was odd to get into the car and see the mirror was sitting on the front seat like it expected me to drive it somewhere after it popped off.

Replacing the car would be a fun way to repair the rear view mirror until I remembered that as much as I love cars (and I really do) I hate car shopping.

I despise the haggling, the fake let-me-talk-to-my-manager dance (seriously. they are salespeople who know how, when, and where they can go only so low on the pricing,) and worse how I’m often treated like I am an idiot who doesn’t know anything about cars (my father worked in the industry.)

That may not be an exclusively female customer thing because a male friend who is a car nut also gets treated like he can barely put the key in the ignition when he goes to a car dealership.

Besides, the car is paid for. Fix instead of replace it is!

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How to Hang an Old Window From the Ceiling

On sunny afternoons, the sun hits the kitchen window just right to make a prism on the ceiling.
Lacey thinks this dazzling array of luck and science is a formidable threat to our house and home. She barks her head off all. afternoon. long. no matter how many times we try and fail to shush her.
Apparently light theory is lost on dogs.

A window treatment will solve the nefarious prism problem. I want something that lets in light, is easy to clean, and won’t wrinkle like my DIY cardboard corner window cornice and curtains I made that brought out the haters on Hometalk.

Call it shabby chic, Fixer Upper, or my own Mid-Century Modern-Bauhaus-Contemporary-Found-and-Funkified-Retro-DaDa-Danish decorating style. I repurposed an old flea market window as a kitchen window treatment.
 

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Here’s how.

DIY Old Window Window Treatment