Saturday, April 27, 2013

Spring in the Front Yard and a Ramsign Giveaway!

 
 
 
 
A few weeks ago I removed a boxwood hedge that was blocking off an area by our front door.  Although they were healthy, they had gotten way too big and it was time for them to go!

 
 
Luckily, I have a friend who wanted them.  I was so glad.  They were huge and would be a nice addition to their yard.
 
So out with the old....

 
 
And in with new perennials and annuals.  And in with the Weeping Cherry (that was there all along) blooming like crazy!  :)
 
 
 
I am very excited to watch this area grow this summer. 
 
Now on to the Giveaway!





 
Ramsign has offered one of my readers one of their amazing enamel house number signs!  If you win, you'll get your choice of one of their five signs with 1-5 numbers on it.
 
 
 
 


You must be a follower of my blog to enter. If you don't have a blog, please put your email address in the comments so I can get in touch with you if you win.
 
 
 
You can get two entries.  Here's how:
 
**Visit Ramsign's Website and come back here and leave a comment as to which sign you would choose if you are the winner.
 
 
**For a second entry, LIKE Ramsign on Facebook and come back here and leave a second comment that you did.


That's it!  GOOD LUCK!

HeatherF1 is the winner of the Ramsign Giveaway. Congratulations!



 
I will be choosing the winner via Random Number Generator on Friday, May 3, 2013.
 
Thank you for your visit!
 
Pam
 
I am linking to the following parties:
 
 

 
 
 


DIY Show Off
Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home

Friday, April 19, 2013

New Carpet Brings on a Table Makeover

 
 
 
 
 
I bought a pine table a few years ago to put in my office. I collect typewriters and adding machines and wanted a place to display them. This table wasn't the perfect size, but it was $30 and I figured we could make it work. So we 'made-do' with it until a couple of weeks ago when we had to clear the room out for new carpet. 
 
Here it is right before my husband started working on it...  It was all this color and quite large.  (I looked and looked for a 'before' picture, but I guess I always knew it wasn't right and didn't take any pictures!)

 



After he cut off 12" from the width, he routed the edges and sanded everything down.

 
 
 
He primed all of the lower pieces.


Then several coats of white paint were applied.



The top got stained.



 Then everything got put back together.
 
 
 
Bailey had to be right in the middle of the action...




 
 
 
The new size works so much better in this room.  I love the dark top too!
 




Thanks for your visit!
 
 
 
Pam


I am linking to the following parties:




Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Birthday Bucket Birdhouse and an Evapo-Rust Giveaway!

 
 
 
Last month I found this ice cream bucket at a sale.  I was thrilled to find one as I had been wanting to make a birdhouse out of one for years.  My husband loves to make gifts for birthdays, and the timing was perfect to make this for mine.  :)
 
 
And not only did I get a birdhouse out of it, my friend Heather got one for her birthday out of other parts of it!  Talk about Reuse and Recycle!
 



 
He started by reinforcing it with glue, caulk and some extra pieces of wood inside.  Our winters get very cold and our summers get very hot, so it needs to stand up to the elements.
 








The top was made out of aromatic cedar.  OMG, while he was working with it, it sure was aromatic!!  



It's a good thing he's an engineer to make sure all of the angles worked.




More internal structural improvements...

 
We put it out in the yard last Saturday and there's already a bird family checking it out.  I'll be so happy if one takes up residence!
 




Now on to the Giveaway!  The makers of Evapo-Rust sent me a sample of their products and asked if I would review them.  

 
 
I started with these rusty, dirty yard tools.
  These loppers were left outside one time when we lived in Oregon...  Lots of rust  and an unhappy wife!
 

Evapo-Rust is water soluble, Biodegradable, Non-toxic and non-corrosive.  There are no acids, VOC's or fumes.  

 The directions say that you can soak the products or if they're really big, treat them with the product and wrap them.  I decided to put it all in a tub and see what happened.  I left these for about an hour.  (on the upper part of the Fiskars that didn't fit in the tub, I rubbed the product on with "0" steel wool)



MAGIC! 
Look at how well the rust came off!

 
After using the Evapo-Rust, rinsing the item and wiping them clean, I applied the Rust-Block.
They are now back to looking clean and new!
 
 
I have a new 1 gallon Evapo-Rust and 16 oz. Rust-Block to give away to one lucky follower.
 
The only rules are:
 
Leave a comment on how you would use Evapo-Rust.
You must be a follower of my blog.
(Make sure I can get in touch with you if you don't have a blog.)
This giveaway is open only to US addresses.

 
 
 
I will use Random Number Generator to pick a winner on Friday, April 12th. 
 
My opinions are my own on Evapo-Rust and Rust-Block.
 
The winner of the Evapo-Rust Giveaway is  Dawn @ Creative Cain Cabin.  Congratulations Dawn!

 
Thanks for your visit!
 
Pam
 
 
 
I am linking to the following parties:
 
 
 
 

Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home