Condo Blues

Sunday, June 7, 2020

How to Strip Paint the Non Toxic Way

I have a love – hate relationship with spray paint. I love that spray paint will cover almost every surface (if you use the right formula) and easily paint hard to paint areas like indentations and intricate moulding. I hate that many of my spray paint projects en up with paint bubbles and drips.

how to strip paint from wood
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The best way to avoid spray paint bubbles and dripping paint is to hold the can further away from object you are painting and use several light and even coats of spray paint rather than blasting a thick coat of spray paint from close up. Using a spray paint handle (you can find several types of spray paint trigger handles here) will help you paint with even coats of paint and not kill your fingers from pressing the can’s spray nozzle. 

Spray paint bubbles are also caused by painting a second coat of paint on an object when the first coat is not completely dry. I know this because 9 times out of 10 I get spray paint bubbles because I thought my last coat of paint was dry after 24 hours and it was not. The joys of living in a humid area!

 

2 Ways to Repair Spray Paint Bubbles and Drips

 

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Easy DIY Small Space Under Sink Water Filter Friday Favorites Linky Party 532

My mini DIY project for the week was decided for me by my old water filtration system because it started to leak after I changed the filter. After some tinkering, some Googling, and tinkering some more, the only solution was to replace the whole thing. Which lead to more Googling and researching for the best under sink water filter for small spaces like our condo. 

Since our water tests at a good quality, we don't need a super duper reverse osmosis water filter system. Good thing because there isn't room under the kitchen sink for one. I didn't look at whole house water filter systems because I have even less room to install one of those on the water main and frankly all of our drinking and cooking water comes from the kitchen sink.


easy DIY undersink water filter installation
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Sunday, May 31, 2020

How to Hang a Hook on a Hollow Core Door

I want to add a robe hook to my guest bathroom.  The logical place to hang it is on the bathroom door.

Unfortunately it, like all of the doors in my condo is a hollow core door. Can you hang towel bars and hooks on a hollow core door?

Yes you can!

The secret to hanging towel bars and hooks on hollow door without them crashing to the ground is all in the type of wall anchor you use – in this case Molly Bolts!

 Save this easy tutorial to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Growing Vegetables from Scraps and Friday Favorites Linky Party 531

Last year my patio container garden "plan" was Hey, this looks new and interesting. This year I was happily surprised that five pots out of the ten containers grew back since most herb plants don't survive the winter and turn into annuals no matter what. 

Normally when I'm stumped as to what to plants to grow, I just wander through the garden center and see what catches my eye. This year that isn't possible so other than taking our chances on a packet of free basil seeds I had in a drawer, I had no idea until we got a box of vegetables delivered from a local restaurant. Is Pinterest right or wrong? Can you really regrow vegetables from their scraps? We decided to give it a whirl.

how to grow vegetables from scraps
This is what passes for entertainment when you are self distancing from the world.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Red, White, and Blue Face Masks and Friday Favorites 530

 I've been doing  a deep dive into my fabric stash and sewing reusable cloth face masks for family and friends who do not sew. I've been sitting on some white and blue star fabric someone gave me and figured with the Memorial Day and the Fourth of July just around the corner, it would make a cute mask.


I made this one with ties but I can also make masks with elastic if you like.

After all that sewing, I had to take my workhorse sewing machine in for repair and  my backup sewing machine when it decided it wanted to break too. Oh no!

Monday, May 18, 2020

How to Clean Caulk Off Clothing

I had a quick little caulking project I needed to do and didn’t bother changing into paint clothes because I didn’t think I’d get messy.

 Which of course meant I got several big smears of caulk on one of my few pairs of good jeans.

 It. Never. Fails. Why won’t I learn?

 How to remove caulk from clothing

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Can these jeans be saved? Yes they can! It is very easy to remove caulk spills from clothing. here’s how.

 

How to Remove Caulk From Clothing