Seven Tools to Remove Shower Tile Grout

The grout in between the tiles in the Master Bathroom is cracking and pitting.  I patched the tile grout when I found an issue, knowing that eventually, I would have to remove all of the shower caulk and tile grout and regrout the shower.

I wasn’t looking forward to removing all of the grout in my bathroom and replacing it. Not because removing grout is hard but because removing bathroom grout is time consuming and messy.   Putting grout in between the tiles is easy and the clean up is well, as difficult as cleaning up usually is after a big project – better if you can get someone else to do it. If you can’t rope someone else into cleaning up your mess for you, a wet/dry vaccum makes the job easier. I mentioned dust flying everywhere, yes?

Two Recommended Power Tools for Removing Tile Grout and Three that Aren’t so Great

How to Purge and Recycle Old Electronics

I swear our house is shrinking. Once upon a time, had storage space to burn. (Don’t. It wastes a perfectly good space and might catch the rest of your house on fire.)

It didn’t take any great detective work to determine why our house is shrinking. The answer is easy.

We have stuff we don’t think/aren’t sure if there is a place to recycle or responsibly dispose of it. The last time I checked this wasn't the case, or if there was such an animal, it was only accepted those things on that one day during a full moon when cows do backward sneezes kind of thing. Hello hazardous household waste collection, I’m talking to you.

Aluminum Can Barn Star Wreath

For some reason, I have barn stars on the brain. I notice them everywhere!

Except on wreaths.

Until now.

 I painted my stars red, white, and blue but you can paint your stars whatever color you like!

Husband and I don’t drink a lot of soda, usually as a treat or for some special occasion. Luckily, I came  into a bunch of empty pop cans that I didn’t have to drink by throwing my mom a surprise birthday party. You don’t have to acquire your aluminum cans that way. Call a buddy, ask a friend, or heck, treat yourself to a beverage all in the name of making a Fourth of July wreath.

Who knew patriotism could be so tasty?

How to Make Soda Pop Can Stars

How to Paint a Wavy Side Table

This post brought to you by FrogTape. All opinions are 100% mine.

I needed  to repaint the side tables on my porch. I didn't want to paint them a solid color (again) and call it a day. I wanted to jazz them up with some decorative painting.

DIY Personalized Insulated Wine Glass Tumblers

Husband’s family likes to get together in the summer for a family reunion. Grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles gather for good times and good food. Every night the adults open a bottle of wine start a round of Euchre. Playing cards is our excuse to stay up way too late telling stories and busting a gut laughing at each other’s jokes. I’m so glad I married into this family.

I bought a reusable BPA free insulated wine glass tumbler to use instead of a disposable cup for the reunion. I want to personalize my insulated tumbler so I know which one is mine at the party.


Decorated insulated wine glass tumblers: Mommy’s Special Lemonade, Oh No! My glass is empty! It’s an Emergency! Quick, call WINE-ONE-ONE!, Mommy’s Sippy Cup, and If you met my family you’d understand.

Vintage Train Toy Box Nightstand

My grandfather made me this train toy box when I was a little girl. As you can see, he made it with a lot of love.

And skill. My grandfather had mad carpentry skills he learned from his father the carpenter.

My train toy box has tremendous sentimental value. It was also the most difficult item to keep and make work in the new guest room/craft room. This is the only place we have room for my toy box. Husband suggested I repaint it to go with the color scheme I first wanted for the room.

I quickly vetoed that idea.

Every ding bump and scratch on my toy box came from two little girls having a good time pushing each other around their playroom in this train.

This vintage toy box on wheels probably horrifies some kid safety expert because the wheels and vehicle aren’t incased in bubble wrap and the children riding in it didn’t wear safety suits and helmets made from organic feather pillows. Thank goodness we survived!

16 Easy DIY Projects for Beginners

I think the best gift you can give someone lacking self confidence is a hammer.

No. Not to make themselves feel better by hitting other people with it, but to use it to build or fix something.
Completing a project is a shot in the arm to the self esteem.

 It might have taken me all afternoon, but I held my head a little higher for the rest of the day after completing my first DIY project. Who knew changing a deadbolt door lock can change your world? (Beyond the added security that no one can come in your house uninvited and take your stuff.)

12 Natural Gardening Tips for Beginners

Now that I have a house with a yard, I’ve been forced into this gardening thing. Some days I like it. Other days, my fails remind me why I named this blog Condo Blues!

I want to keep our gardening habits as green and eco-friendly as possible because Lacey likes to run into our flower beds even though she knows she shouldn’t. The last thing I want is for her to be covered with or ingest some chemical concoction of unknown origin we put on our plants or in our soil. Frankly, I’m not crazy about Husband and I doing that either.

Husband and I need to rework the front yard a bit after a series of windstorms pelted our bushes and plants. I asked a bunch of blogger friends if they had any green gardening tips that I can learn from and share with you.

Down and Dirty DIY Spray Paint Booth

Happy May Day!

And Beltane!

Or as I like to call it Spray Paint Weather!

Whoo hoo! Back flips and the happy dance!

My leg hasn't healed and I'm still in a boot, so the the back flips and happy dance are only happening in my mind right now.

But now that it is over 40 degrees (F) and even with my foot in a boot,  the spray painting will commence!

I like to spray paint outside because of the fumes. The paint dries more quickly too. I can't do that if it is a windy day. Spray painting in the wind is just as successful as spitting into the wind. Guess how I know?

A windy day was just another factor in this hot mess of a painted headboard.

I fixed it by resanding the bumpy, uneven, crackled areas smooth and repainting the headboard inside the garage.

Craft Supply Wall Storage and Room Tour

My craft room is starting to look like a real studio!

I painted the craft room/guest room last summer. Then I lost steam on this room and let DIY fear take over when it came to making  over the current furniture. That fear stalled the project until I got a little help from a friend.

 Pin these craft room storage ideas on your Pinterest boards for later!

$500 Spring Cash Giveaway! *closeed*

This weekend I spent quality time at my home away from home - the home improvement store. I needed supplies to start the projects I planned to do when it was warm to get me through the Cabin Fever Winter of  Our Discontent.

Besides supplies, time, and warm weather to work outside, you do know what else helps when you want to start a project?

MONEY.

And I hope to give it TO YOU.

11 Painted Desk Makeovers

 I’m finally on a roll when it comes to decorating the craft room guest room. The general color scheme is falling into place. The decorating style is gelling into Whimsy Retro Fun.

I don’t know if Whimsy Retro Fun is a real world legitimate design style but it is in LisaLand and that’s what counts.

A friend gave me her childhood student desk when she moved. I took it to use as a sewing table until I was ready to buy a real sewing machine cabinet. One of the surprising of being pint size, is I later realized that the student desk fits me better than a big girl sewing table. Instead of replacing the desk, I put that money towards bigger and better and not sewing machine table things.

Years later the desk doesn’t need replacing but it could use a redo. I poked around for furniture makeover inspiration and found a bunch. Do you want to take a look? Of course you do!

Wraparound Recycled Fence Wall Shelves

I don’t have the floor space in the craft room/guest room to add storage shelves for my mountain of craft, art, and DIY supplies. What is a girl to do?

If you can’t build out build up.

Instead of adding artwork to the wall above my craft and sewing tables, I put that wall to work with a set of shelves that wrap around the walls.

Pin this wall storage idea to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

What Happens When Any Home Improvement May Over Improve Your Home?

A few years after we bought our condo, the value went up. You know, just like it is supposed to do when you invest your money in buying a home. I'm sure my half bathroom remodel with its granite counter top helped.

Then the economy went south taking property values with it - including ours. The only consolation is that all of our friends who bought homes around the same time are under water too.

Since we are living here and will be for the foreseeable future, I wasn't shy about improving our house with basic cosmetic changes like painting the walls or DIY projects that would benefit us in some way like insulating the garage and insulating the garage door. You have to differentiate a bit if you live in a neighborhood of similar houses, right?

Decoupage Bed Makeover

I’m decorating and making over the Room Where Old Furniture Goes to Die. Some people call it the guest/craft room but not many.

I made over an old bed frame with Mod Page and paint!

The guest bed frame was a freebie from my old boss. It needed a little DIY love. Scratch that. The bed needed A LOT of DIY love. I knew the stain was chipped and scratched but I didn’t realize there were small cracks in the head and foot boards. The side rails were pretty beat up too.

How to Make Bone Meal from Turkey Bones

The soil in my yard is so bad it makes me sing the Condo Blues. The builder sold the lovely topsoil that should be surrounding my house before they built the neighborhood.

The thing is, they didn’t put it back after building our condo. We are stuck with thick clay soil that kills almost everything I try to grow in it.

Cue up the blues. Whoomp. whoomp. Sad trombone.

We added compost and new top soil to the front yard. Our soil can use some bone meal too. Bone meal is an excellent source of phosphorous and helps plants grow a healthy root system.

 This also keeps poultry bones from stinking up the kitchen trash. 

Would You Paint a Room With Scented Wall Paint?

If there is one thing blogging has taught me about people, it is that smells and scents are an individual and highly opinionated thing.  It makes sense (har!) Scientists proved smell is the most powerful mnemonic trigger there is.

Trust me I get this. There are smells that I love such as lavender. There are other smells that make me gag. Wall paint is one of them. The scent of conventional paint reminds me of my parents in progress fixer upper house that I swore was such a pit when I first saw it I wasn't going to live there. Of course since I was a kid I had no choice and my parents and grandparents worked their butts off to transform the house into something I was proud to call home.

How to Hang a Floating Shelf

In a small house, you have to be creative when it comes to storage and display space. This goes double for my craft room/guest room. I built a wall of wrap around shelves to go with the new decor and had to use every bit of it to hold my craft and sewing supplies. I don't have room on them to display some of the creations that inspire my DIY madness.

The wall space over doors is often forgotten although you can make it work for you with a simple shelf or by hanging artwork. Making an over the door fence board shelf works well in the guest bathroom, why not hang a floating shelf over the door in the guest bedroom and use it to display my doodads?

This is project sounds harder than it really is, I promise.

13 Things to Have in Your Car for Winter Snow and Ice Emergencies

Growing up on the Ohio North Coast, stocking a car and being prepared for winter driving is engrained in you from an early age. It is right up there with knowing your name, address, and telephone number. Even little kids know you are supposed to have jumper cables and a blanket in the trunk of your car. You also know you are supposed to hang your head in shame when you don’t.

After I moved from the Cleveland area I thought it was weird this stuff isn't common knowledge. In fact, I still kind do.

I realized why when I saw the weather people completely freak out about the first winter snow and for every snow thereafter. They didn’t offer any of the winter driving tips I grew up expecting to hear on the news. No wonder folks panic around here and forget to how drive in snow every. single. year.

Guys, we did the same thing last year, remember?

Sigh. Guess not.

Last week, I wrote about the basic things you should carry in your car for winter snow emergencies. Most of the items in that post 14 Basic Things to Have in Your Car in Winter Part 1 live in our car full time because they are useful to have for summer too.





Part 2 of my winter snow emergency prep kit goes beyond the basic list (you can review the basic snow emergency car checklist here.) Again, this is not a list supplies to get you through any type of doomsday scenario. This list is to help you in a winter driving or snow emergency and especially if you drive long distances or frequent country roads where it might be awhile before help will reach you. (Been there. Done that. On Christmas Day no less. Not fun.)

13 Things to Carry in Your Car for Snow Emergencies if You Travel Long Distances or Country Roads

7 Tips for Shoveling Snow

This winter there’s no business! Like snow business! Like snow business I know!

Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood since we we broke snow and cold records this winter. It is warmer in Alaska than it is in the Lower 48 right now. Crazy!

Tonight they predicted we will get more snow. You know what that means.

Shoveling.

And lots of it.

If you can't find a kid wanting to make a quick buck on a snow day, you’ll have to shovel it yourself. If that’s the case, here are some snow removal tips to keep in mind and to prepare you for what lies ahead.