Swiffer Magic

Back in the day Swiffer came out with that nifty sweeper, you know the pole with the disposable pads that pick up dust and hair off the floor.  Well I used mine until I got the Shark which vacuums up everything and then steams the floor clean (LOVE IT).  I still had those cloth like rags left, which work great in the car for cleaning the dash dust and the pole had made it to the garbage bin.  That is until my brilliant idea came to light.  

I was in the kitchen scrubbing the cupboards and had worked my way up to the ceiling, which was in dire need of a bath.  I tried using the counters, but a person can only stretch so far, and who wants to climb up and down a ladder a thousand times.  I grabbed the mop, but that was a dripping mess, and that's when itt hit me - the Swiffer pole.  I rescued it for the garbage bin and grabbed one of the cloths.  I filled the sink with  cleaning solution and dipped the cloth in and  rung it out.  I then attached it back on the pole and scrubbed down the ceiling.  When the cloth got to dirty I rinsed and reused.

This came in handy when preparing the walls for a new paint job too. So remember just because it's old and out dated doesn't mean it's lost its usefulness. Also, if you run out of their cleaning clothes you can use an old wash rag, which work great on really tough spots.

A New Light For The Bathroom

The other day we said good by the old single bulb fixture from the dinosaur age in the bathroom.  I originally  bought a three part track light for the bathroom, but after showering the day after the new paint job we noticed a ton of condensation.  Being freaked by the water droplets and worried that it would quickly ruin the paint, we bought a bathroom fan light combo.  

It was a 50 dollar investment that really wasn't that hard to install.  We shut off the power to the bathroom, took down the old fixture and pushed the junction box out, which made it easy to find when we made our way up into the rafters of the house.  We are fortunate enough to have a very large area up there which made moving around nice.  However, we both had to come back down to get long sleeves on to avoid the itches from insulation.  

After clearing away the insulation form our work area I traced the fan box, and began cutting.  We used our trusty jigsaw and almost had calamity on our hands.  The fan box is supposed to screw right into the support beam, so I traced the fan box as if it were going to be screwed right into place.  As I was cutting we realized the kick plate on the jigsaw wouldn't allow the blade to go right up to the beam,  first thought OMG what now! Second thought,get a two by four, yep that worked, screwed that into the support beam and the fan right into the two by four.

Wiring the box was as easy as the instructions indicated, as was screwing in the light bulb and putting on the light cover.  It truly  does make a difference having a fan in the bathroom, and it is an investment worth every cent.  As for the three part track light we put that in the hallway by the washer and dryer. 

The Picture Frame

The picture frame is not just a fancy boarder to encase your precious photos.  It's is an extension of the photo and a piece of art to show off to your friends and family.  I very rarely hang a picture frame in it's original condition. Here are some ideas to spruce up your frames.

1. DON'T BUY NEW.  Check out your local thrift stores and yard sales, they have the best distressed frames that can be manipulated to perfection.  With a light sanding and various paint applications you can make unique frames that will perfectly compliment your photos.

2. DOUBLE UP. Frame the frame, take a large frame-minus the glass- and hang it on the wall.  Now hang a smaller framed picture inside of that frame,  this will give that picture more presence on the wall.

3.SCRAPBOOK IT.  Scrapbooks are wonderful, but how often do you open them up and look at the wonderful work we've done? Find yourself a frame to hang a page from your book.  The frame should be white or black (neutral) so that it will go with a larger variety of pages.

4. NO GLASS? NO WORRIES.  Don't toss the frame because it is still user friendly.  My daughter loves to hang stuff on the walls, a lot.  To save the wall for a thousand pin holes I hung a couple of glass-less frames with a cork board centers, this gave her a designated area to hang her goodies and saved the walls.

      My mom has a frame that she stretched some lacy fabric over and then hinged it to a shallow box.  In the box she screwed in some tea cup hooks to hang necklaces and on the fabric frame she has her earrings hanging.

5. IT'S GEOMETRIC.  Frames can be painted and collaged together to create unique geometric patterns.

I love frames and their multi-functionality. What have you framed lately?