Improved! Car Wash Sprinkler for kids!

I have seen several of these "drive through car wash" style sprinklers this year.  The base is always the same .. some PVC some holes some water and FUN!

Mine started pretty much the same way!  Never-mind the extra pieces .. there is a 2nd project coming soon!  To build mine you will need:

7 10" PVC pipes $1.94 each

4 elbows $.46 each 

5 T's $.46 each

4 3-way 90 degree elbows $1.60 each

1 pipe to hose piece thingy .. no name something or other. $.38 each

I found all my stuff at Lowe's and I used 3/4 inch PVC and connectors.

Total cost $24.99 so far

You will also need a pipe cutter .. we already had one but they are about 10 bucks to buy.  Or you could use a hand saw .. but it takes foreveh! 

Cut 6 pieces that are 5 feet tall

Cut 10 that are 40" long

After that its pretty simple .. the car wash is 5 feet tall by 40" wide.  the side panels are 40" on each side with a 5 foot in the middle for support.  There is not a 40" across the middle nor is there a 40" along the ground in the front or back.

Pick the spot where you want your hose to connect.  

Eyeball it and just cut an inch or 2 out of your 40" piece and save it.

Add in your extra T and then the extra inch piece and then your hose connector thingy .. 

Now, at this point make sure all 5 of your children (collect some neighborhood kids if you need extras) are standing behind you .. swim suits on .. waiting for you to finish .. after all you are just "5 minutes away from being done kids .. get ready!" 

Now connect your hose!

I said .. CONNECT YOUR HOSE!

Do you spot the problem??  Apparently I failed anatomy in nursing school because I bought a male PVC end thinking it would fit into my male hose. 

This is the part where I have to tell all my kids that mommy forgot a part and needed to run to Lowe's and that sprinkler time would have to wait .. causing a pretty major melt down .. oh well.

Here are both pieces back to back .. the left is the female end and the right is the male .. do you get why??  Please don't make me draw you a picture!

There .. that's better!  You are now ready for your hose!

I drilled holes every so often to allow water to pour in.

  

Nothing left but to turn on the water and let her rip!  Ok kids .. have fun!

"MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM ... your sprinkler looks like its peeing!"

That's when I thought back to my days living in Phoenix.  Growing up we had a mister system in our back yard .. it gently misted water down on us .. lowering the temperature a good 20 degrees!  It took some calling around but I found misters at a Lowes about 20 minutes away and headed out!

They come in different spray heads, like 90 degree or 180 degree or full 180 degree, they run 3-10 bucks a pack for 12 of them.  I picked up 2 different styles for another 8 bucks. 

See the water now?  You almost can't!  Because its a super fine mist that totally gets the whole inside of the "rectangle" wet .. it may not look like it but the kids ended up soaked once inside! 

In the end it took me several hours and 2 trips to Lowe's .. and a total of $33.00 bucks.

Totally worth it for hours of fun in the hot sun!

I am thinking of gluing it together .. maybe adding some "shammy" wipers and sponges .. painting it .. who knows!  For now the kids love it just as is :)

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors
Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Familyt, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner
Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado
Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage
Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic
Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing
Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

1 Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

My 1 year blogiversary actually came and passed!  Last week!  

I totally missed it!

Its never to late to party!

To celebrate I am giving away a $25.00 gift card to Target!

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Master Bedroom Makeover - my plans!

It was said once in our Young Married Ministry at Church "your wife should love your bedroom, it should be beautiful and decorated the way she likes it .. that way she wants to spend lots of time in there!" 

Well stated Travis. 

Allow me to show you my bedroom.

Yeah NO.  

This room is NONE of the above.  In fact its like an anti-bedroom .. I avoid it!

My husband and I have slept in each of the bedrooms in our house trying to find an arrangement that worked for our family.  In the end we settled in this room. Brief side note: we live in a 3/4 bedroom house with 5 kids.  Right now we have this room (2nd largest), our son has the other bedroom on the first floor (2nd smallest).  All 4 girls share the "master" bedroom upstairs and the smallest "4th" bedroom is a family dressing room for all the girls and all their clothes. 

Years ago this room belonged to our 2 oldest .. which is why the walls are "Pond Water" teal. 

But .. we have been sleeping in here for a good 4 years now and have not done a single thing to it!

Todo:

- Paint the walls!  I am thinking a soft green/gray color

- Paint the trim white (all the trim in the house is "almond") 

- Window treatments

- Um .. Bedding! 

- Something on the walls!

- A headboard

- New Dresser

- Small sitting area?  1 chair and small table??

- Accessories!

- New lamp shades

- Paint the night stands

Here is what I am thinking!

source 

I LOVE this frame wall!  I have already started collecting! 

And I might just put it over my dresser like this too!

source

A canopy over our bed?  Yes! 

source

The purple bed set is Anthropology at almost 300 bucks! 

This is an Anthropology knock off that I hope to tackle! In all white even!

A soft green/gray paint, this is Rain Tree by Benjamin Moore

source

I want a dark walnut stained headboard .. maybe from pallets?  I have some already!

source

I already have a dresser .. but I want to stand it and paint it two toned like this!  White paint and a dark walnut stain to match the headboard!  I will paint the night stands white since they are not real wood. 

I cant wait to start!

And my budget?  Well I had these two HUGE dressers in our room that were given to me years ago before I was even married .. but they were just to big for our room and half empty.  So I sold them on Craigs List for $200 bucks!

I am hoping to pull off the WHOLE room make over .. floor to ceiling for just $200 bucks!

How to clean your Crock Pot

I love my crock pot!  It gets used at least weekly in my house!  Just this week I made 3 crock pot meals because it was 90+ degrees here and just to hot to run my oven!  Our last meal this week, Crock Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken (amazing by the way!) Left burnt sauce in my crock.  My sweet 12 year old who is in charge of dishes used a spoon to scrap out the burnt stuff .. leaving silver scratch marks all over.  The inside of the crock pot was pretty dirty as well .. I am pretty sure this is burnt pulled pork from last summer ... don't judge. The problem was the stuff inside the crock pot was hard as a rock and the stuff in the crock had already gone through the dish washer and had not come off. 

I sprayed some oven cleaner into my crock pot, Easy Off Fume Free (but I still opened a window) and just let it sit. 

For the crock I went with my old stand by Bar Keepers Friend!  The same stuff used to clean my kitchen sink and even my daughters shoes!  See the burnt food and scratch marks? 

You need to wet the surface you want to clean and then sprinkle on the BKF. 

I also like to sprinkle it on my scrubber .. you want a "paste"

It took no elbow grease and about 5 minutes to scrub it clean!  Tada! 

Mean while .. the crock pot has been sitting now for 5 minutes with oven cleaner on it.

Again, no elbow grease and about 5 minutes and all the gunk just wiped off! 

Gave it a good rinse inside and out and tada!

Here, some side by side action of the before and after! 

Please don't panic about my miss-matched crock and pot .. we support interracial relationships :)  The truth is I am rather hard on crock pots .. I broke the "crock" on my black one and the "pot" on my white one and thanks to my sweet husbands hording tendencies .. I ended up with a new crock pot :) 

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Familyt, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

Easiest Pillows Ever! - Basement progress!

As you know our basement flooded .. after we completed the demo it was clear we had no idea how to put it back together!  I had planned on blogged about how to put in a sump pump .. but we hired someone.  Then I was going to blog about how to hang drywall, but we hired someone. Hanging new doors?  Yep, hired someone.  New carpet .. hired someone. 

I will admit that we painted it ourselves though!!

There are times in life when you have to weigh your options .. AND your level of experience and make a choice to DIY or DI-dont!  

I am not ready to show you the finished basement .. because its not finished!  It is usable .. but there is still a lot to be done!

I did want to show you today how I sew the easiest pillows in the world! Start with pillow "forms" from the craft store .. or find yourself some UGLY thrift store pillows for dirt cheap! Like a buck a piece!  The striped fabric is a yard sale shower curtain for just 2 bucks, the rest was clearance fabric from Joanns the other day and I paid a 2 bucks a yard for 3 different ones. 

When I buy thrift store pillows (never for my bed, just throw pillows) I make sure to buy ones with a lining in them.  You can check by pinching the outer fabric and feeling under it to see if there is a second layer and not just fluff.  I also stuck all 5 pillows in my deep freezer for 3 days to kill anything living .. it works, I swear! 

Here you can see my 5 stripped pillows and my pile of ugly covers!  I was surprised to fine the lining on one orange .. good thing my fabric was thick and you can see the orange!

Ok, easiest pillows ever!  I laid the pillow on top of my fabric and eye balled it (yep, no measuring!) about an inch outside the top and bottom my pillow.  Then I wrapped the fabric around my pillow tightly and cut it about 5 inches larger on the 2 sides.  You end up with a large rectangle that fits the top and bottom and wraps around the pillow with room to spare.   You then hem to two short sides of the rectangle.

Then turn it right sides in and over lap the two ends to the size of your pillow, they should cross each other with a few inches of overlap.  Then just sew the open sides together!  You will only dew 2 sides of the pillow, the other 2 sides are folds!  Once you are down turn it right sides out and push out your corners and iron flat!  You just made a pocket pillow!

See the pocket?  Then you stuff one side in. 

 Then you reach in and pull the inner pocket out and tuck the pillow into the 2nd half of the cover. 

This is the top of my finished pillow! 

This is the underside.  These cases are washable!  Require no zipper!  And take about 5 minutes each!  

My children styled our new couch first!  Notice the 4 remotes, lots of toys and some clean laundry??

Then it was my turn!  My new couch with 5 awesome new pillows!!  I think the couch needs more pillows!  I will have to keep checking goodwill! 

It cost me around $10 bucks for these 5 pillows and I have fabric to spare!  

I only have glass block windows in the basement so no curtains are needed .. so the couch is one of the only ways to bring in color!  

I cant wait to finish the whole basement!  Enjoy your sneak peak!! 

Update: My pillows were featured on We like to learn as we go AND Live Laugh Rowe Check it out! 

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Familyt, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

Thrifty Friday

I was excited to garage sale today ... if you remember 2 weeks ago our basement flooded .. and for 2 weeks now my house has been a total disaster!  So to get out and shop today was awesome .. AND .. our new sump pump is being installed today!  And if you dont know .. that means about 3 hours of a jack hammer in your concrete, nice and echo-y, basement.  See ya house!

I only went to 2 "sales" today.  One was a street sale close to my house and one was a fund raiser at a local Church.

I scored a NEW, never used bread maker for my friend!  Its an Oyster, older but never used.  I would guess it was close to $40 bucks new ... I paid just $10 bucks!  (Hey Jen.. how do you like it?!?!)

My son picked up that guitar .. for 2 bucks from his "spend" jar.

Oh, my 3 year old models for Fisher Price (she goes in, plays with a toy, they take pictures, she ends up on the box!)  Recently she modeled some snap on roller blades.  She was a natural at skating!  And wanted to keep them .. but they are not on the market yet!  I found this pink pair for 2 bucks! 

My son loves to buy his own things now.  Today he picked up a box of legos and offered the lady .25 cents, she happily said yes!  He did the same for an iron man puzzle that was still sealed in plastic.

One of my favorite scores today were 2 Melissa and Doug magnet puzzles.  I love these!  We have several of them. One is a Bride and Groom and one is a King and Queen!  These are $30 each on Amazon!  I paid just 2 buck each!

The sale also had clothing and shoes, fill a bag for 2 bucks!  HOLY HOT DEAL!

I packed 2 bags!  One of was full of clothing for my younger girls and a pair of shoes .. the other bag was for  my older girls, I will show you that soon (watch for details on back to school shopping on a budget!) 

Not pictured are a new bike for my son and a super cute HUGE art easel!  Both are getting a make over!

I spent $42 bucks.  $10 I will get back when I deliver the bread maker :) 

The yard sale at the Church was to raise money for a group called "Let Them LOL" and they are raising money to dig wells in Africa to provide fresh water.  What could be better then fresh water??  My total at their sale was just 10 bucks .. but I paid $20.  Think of all the sources of fresh water you have in your house, we have 5 (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, toilet (cleaner then people in Africa!) our hose) There are thousands around the world who walk MILES and carry 40+ pounds of water miles back .. daily!  

Did you score any deals today?? 

Thrifty Friday

I went to 1 yard sale today ... 1 quick one!  June is a very  busy month for me .. this might be the only one I stop at all month!

She had BINS of amazing clothing.  Gap, Carters, Old Navy and Gymboree, great condition ..

just a buck a piece! 

8 pairs of zip-up feetie jammies (all Carters)

3 pairs of pants

2 pairs of shorts

5 shirts

2 skirts

6 dresses

1 pair of cute white snow boots

It was about 1:45 and her sale was sent to end at 2.  I offered her 20 bucks for the bag and she said yes!

I ended up paying just $.74 cents an item!  WOW!  

The apple peeler in the back I picked up last week for 5 bucks and forgot about it!  As with the navy blue and white stripped shower curtain for just 2 bucks.  Shower curtains are great for fabric because they are large.  This fabric will be an accent color in my master bedroom make over! 

Row Row Row your boat .. gently through our basement.

I wish I was joking.  Our basement flooded.  Our finished family room / play room / husbands office flooded.  

Judging by the water mark on the wall I am guessing around 3 inches of water entered our basement at some point Saturday night while we slept .. while a storm raged on outside.  Sunday morning when I stepped off the last step into the basement and the water squished between my toes I knew it was all over.. 

We spent the better part of 8 hours moving everything up stairs.  EVERYTHING.  800 sqft of living space worth of stuff .. crammed into my tiny living room! 

The best news is that I was a good mama the night of the flood .. and I had picked up the basement!  So the loss was minimal!!

The carpet and walls are a total loss, way to much water damage.  If this ever happens to you ... relax, dont panic.  Pick up anything off the floor that is being damaged!  Remember plastic, tubs and things safely on shelves ARE NOT BEING DAMAGED, look for wooden, paper, stray items on the floor, electronics .. that sort of thing!

Once the first wave of panic is over ... call your insurance company!  We use Nationwide and they have always been super helpful! (No they did not ask me to say anything nice about them .. my opinions are mine)  We were told we could remove everything from the house and huck it in the yard and they would take pictures the following day.  

After the adjuster came to measure, snap pictures and talk to us we were given the green light for demo.

Our basement was nothing special .. Berber carpet and paneling on the walls. See the water line?  Lucky you this is not a smelling blog .. because trust me, it was bad.  

(this is rain water back up that flooded, NOT dukie water. Yes I said dukie.) 

When you file an insurance claim you are given x amount for the damage to your house and x amount for damaged stuff.   We already know we will receive $5000 for the house damage, that's the carpet and walls.  Our insurance guy will cap the house repairs at 5k because over that and our mortgage holder would need to do their own inspection to check the structural integrity of our house .. which is totally not needed.  Oh-. and this only works if you have homeowners insurance!  And if you carry "storm sewer back up" insurance!  And if you actually carry enough insurance!!  So check your policy!  We were smart .. we are, maybe even slightly over insured. 

Lets talk demo.  I had never removed carpet before .. and its not that hard!  I picked up a carpet knife (basically a box cutter with a special angel to the handle and a blade that is sharp on all sides) a roll of duct tape and some PINK work gloves!  Or glubs as my daughter calls them. 

Check with your local trash removal company for how they want you to throw away carpet.  Ours wants us in no less then 4 feet wide sections, tightly rolled and taped or tied shut.  Stacked on the curb for trash day. Easy peasy!  The carpet knife made short work of the carpet!  I just sliced down the carpet at around the 4 foot mark from wall to wall.  I went IN the direction of the grain of the carpet.  Once it was cut I peeled back the edge and started to roll.  

Once I had a roll I taped it together and my sweet husband threw them outside!  They were water logged and heavy .. HEAVY .. and drippy.. and they smelled .. UGH.  I removed the carpet pad in the same way.  We were soooooooooo lucky .. the guys who installed this carpet before we bought the house .. they were kind enough to use about 20 staples to hold down the carpet pad.  That's it, just 20.  In the whole 20x15 foot basement .. 20 staples!  It took me about 3 hours to move all the carpet and stack it on the curb!  

We were also lucky to find this fabulous tile under our carpet!  Gorgeous I know!  Really though .. its ugly asbestos tile, glued to the concrete sub-floor .. but handles water VERY well .. so this tile was able to dry and we don't have to mess with the sub-floor or any other sort of vapor barrier!  Which means we can re-carpet right over the top! See what piece of wood next to the wall?  That's a carpet tac strip, it held the carpet in place!  I used a crow bar to pry it up and in about 10 minutes the whole room was smooth and clean and ready for new flooring! 

Next step - removing the wet paneling!

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty