Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my ... Yard

Honestly, we were starting to wonder if we were supposed to start building an ark. We had a lot of rain. Well, first we had a lot of late winter snow, then rain, then a break, then a lot more rain. We also had hard clay which doesn't absorb water very quickly.

Spring has pretty much sucked around these parts.

This was our back yard.

Incremental changes that neighbors have made over the years means that all the water runoff pools in our yard. This year was the worst it has been.

Luckily we did not have water in the basement, but the boys took to calling the yard a lake.

Mateo hooked up a couple pond pumps to hoses and we just steadily pumped water out to the storm drains in the street. But we need to start investigating more permanent options.

Today, while doing some yard clean up, I snapped some pictures of the garden path.

The sand base completely washed away and the the wood disks floated up.

Some floated clean out of the garden. I'm so annoyed because it had wintered well. When the snow first melted and I check it, it was in good shape. And now this.

I'm honestly just not sure right now if I am going to fix it or scrap it.        

Pinterest to the rescue!

So, I really thought we were going to need to go out and buy a new dishwasher. My first clue was the fact that after a cleaning cycle, the dishes were coming out completely dirty.

I was not happy about this. We plan to upgrade our appliances someday, but it was a bit down on the list. And, we just bought Karl (our sofa). I didn't need another big expense. Grr.

But, after seeing a bunch of "fix your dishwasher" pins on Pinterest, I looked up a couple of the sites and figured it was worth a shot. We mainly went by The Family Handyman.

Apparently, the filters, float, and spray nozzles all get clogged. Did you know this? 

I have never before cleaned a dishwasher like this. Okay, let's be honest. I don't like gunk. I made Matt clean it. :) Pretty sure there was something about gross gunk cleaning in his vows.

It's like magic. I kid you not. My dishes are coming clean again! Having Matt clean all that out is going on the spring cleaning list. So, if you dishwasher is not cleaning well, seriously, try cleaning it first.

I wonder, now, how many people throw out their dishwasher without ever realizing it just needed to be cleaned? 

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH)   Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Kid's craft: Tissue paper "stained glass" eggs

So, here's a kid's craft idea that they can really do, unlike the egg bunnies. :) 

So, you need wax paper, a permanent marker, tissue paper cut or torn into small pieces, school glue and a paint brush.

Mix glue (eyeball it, a couple tablespoons if it's just one or two, more if you have the whole Brady Bunch) and water. I just add some and stir until I have a runny consistency. You can go half and half if you want.

Use the marker to draw your shape on the wax paper. Go as big or small as you want. Ideas other than an egg shape: flowers, chicks, bunnies. Then FLIP IT OVER! You want the marker on the back, if it is painted with the glue/water it will run.

Use the brush to paint the glue/water inside your shape and start putting on the tissue paper. You can be meticulous, or random. I was working with a three year old, so we went random.

  

Let your pieces overlap the edge of your shape. 

When it's all filled in, dab over the whole thing with the glue mix. This will make sure all is glued down and sealed in. 

Now, there's nothing left to do but wait, wait, wait.

Once it's dry, grab a pair of scissors and trim out your shape.

Supposedly, you can now peel off the wax paper. Your tissue paper would totally stick together, but I found that my tissue paper was firmly glued to the wax paper. It really doesn't matter much. When you put it in the window, the light still shines through.

Even on a dreary day. (But, hey, no snow so I'll take it!) 

Linking to these great parties:
Blue Cricket Design

 

Want Spring; Must Organize

Ugh! Spring is taking too long to get here this year. We still have snow on the ground and it snowed a bit early this week. Double grrr. But I know spring is around the corner. I've got the itch to throw open the windows and clean, clean, clean.

I devised a way to organize the mail, the bills, the bits of things I know I want to keep for now, but just kind of pile up. I went to Lowe's and picked up three metal buckets from the paint department. They were pretty cheap, but look nice.

I used a label maker to mark one PAY, one FILE, and one MISC. I know I should be good and file the paid bills right away, but I'm not, so this minimizes clutter. When the bucket fills up, then I can file away. I like the Miscellaneous bucket because then I have somewhere to stick the summer camp brochures and coupons and such. I think the Pay bucket is obvious. :)

I tend to be clutter-y. I don't really have a problem throwing things out, but the stuff I need for awhile tends to just get stacked, usually somewhere inconvenient. I like to keep my piles organized. 

Linking to: