Garage Door Dining Room Table

It is no secret that I am not in love with my dining room table. It needs refinishing or repainting or hacked to pieces with an ax to fit my design aesthetic.

But I don't own an ax.

Husband won't let me replace it because he spent his kid life eating around that very table. I respect that and  use a table cloth instead. It looks much better and is way cheaper than buying a new table. It is less work than refinishing or repainting it too - for now.

I use this tablecloth all the time.

My mom embroidered this tablecloth before I was born. 

That doesn't stop me from window drooling shopping over new tables. Especially when they are made from repurposed materials.

Washi Tape Dog Treat Box

Introducing the newest must have accessory for spring – the washi tape dog training treat box!

Husband said he was surprised I waited two whole days after we adopted Lacey to make her something. What can I say? I’m a maker.

I asked Lisa to reuse this photo of me because I am sometimes a little shy when she pulls out her camera.
You can read my story here.

Finally Curbside Recycling!

Hey, waitaminute Ms. Green Blogger I thought you already recycled?

Yep. We do.

We bagged our paper, glass, metal, and plastic, stuck it in the car trunk, and drove it to a city dumpster because the paid subscription service was so unreliable even die hard greenies gave up on it. The freebie dumpster option worked OK unless we got busy and the recycling piled up or I forgot to drop it off at the dumpster while running errands. I can't tell you how many times I drove around town with trash in my trunk until I remembered I had trash in my trunk.

Not to mention the other items we collect and drop off for recycling at local stores:

1. Plastic cosmetic tubes can be recycled at any Origins store or counter
2. Hard plastic bottle caps can be recycled at any Aveda store
3. Batteries can be recycled at Easton Town Center (local folks) and any Batteries Plus store
4. CFLs can be recycled at any Home Depot store
5. Lithium ion batteries (for tools) can be recycled at any Home Depot store
6. Eyeglasses can be recycled through the Lion's Club (your eye doctor may have a bin in their office.) The Lion's Club regrinds the lens and gives the glasses to needy people.
7. Number 5 plastic can be recycled at Whole Foods through Preserve's Gimmie 5 Program

This isn't as crazy as it sounds (I hope) because I combine trips to a city dumpster with recycling items one through three at the mall and do a little window shopping while I'm at it (I leave my debit card at home to make sure it is just window shopping and not buying out Celebrate Local.) I don't often have items four through six, item seven is new for us. The city recycling program takes #5 bottles but not #5 tubs.

Meet Lacey

Pitter patter pitter patter romp romp romp.

“BARK!”

Say hello to our new dog Lacey!

Hello, my name is Lacey. 

She’s recycled :)

Lacey is an 11 month old fearful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Dachshund mix. Look at the long and luscious legs on this girl!

Cooking Carrot Soup with Power Tools!

I believe power tool projects are cheaper than therapy.

Some of you tell me your fear of chopping off a body part is why you do not try using tools, you have a husband/son/brother/father to do it for you, or the garage is a foreign land because it is dirtier and unheated unlike your kitchen. I can totally relate. I’d rather spend more time in my heated kitchen than my unheated garage during the winter too.

Although I have secretly grabbed and sterilized a power tool from the garage to help me with a cooking project.

True confessions time. When I bake and puree fall pumpkins (read how on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef here) the rind is so hard to cut I usually grab my rotary tool from the garage and use it to cut the pumpkin in half. It was my dirty little secret until now because every cook I know can cut a pumpkin in half with a standard chef’s knife. I had a case of Really Stupid Lazy Budget Chef over it.

How to Install a Toilet

We have a little Water War waging in our otherwise happy family. I bring up switching to a more water efficient toilet and Husband shoots me down on principal. In his mind water efficient toilets don’t work. If we had a toilet that flushed like one of those giant barrels at the water park that tip over and drench everyone with a bazillion gallons of water that might just satisfy him.

Before we go any further let’s do a little toilet water usage history lesson: