We're in hot water now!

We limped along for 3 months on our crusty water heater, but when it started smelling funny and it became black with char, it was time to go!
 We put in a service request on our home warranty for a plumber to come out. They were out the next day and he was amazed that it was still producing hot water! As we figured, he said there was no saving it. Unfortunately our warranty wouldn't cover anything besides the tank and labor (of course), and our water heater would not pass code, which is a requirement for gas water heaters. The price tag on the whole lot was around $1500. Our portion was $861 + $60 service fee. That means we just broke even on our warranty which we paid $499 for. Oh well! I'm sure something else will break down in the next 9 months!

Crusty

Before: Black char of DOOM!

After: Shiny and up to code!

 

 

Barstool Upgrade

Our barstools from Target needed a little upgrade! They become a little butt-numbing if you sit on them too long, so we wanted to add padding. Of course someone on Pinterest has already done it, so I followed along from their blog: a Lo and behold life. Here's how our stools transformed!

Stool: Before

 

 We bought one package of 2"x22"x22" foam which was enough to cover both stools. Using a utility knife we cut out two pieces 9"x17.5".

 

We covered the foam with quilt batting (the package contained 36"x45" and was enough for both stools) and flipped it upside down. Using a staple gun (ours is the PowerShot, love it!) with 5/16" staples we tacked down the batting, starting with the long sides.

 

After securing all sides we trimmed the batting.

 

Next we took the duck cloth fabric (wash & iron it first!) and made sure we had the pattern we wanted squarely on top, tacked it to the foam with a few pins and flipped it upside down again.

 

 We tucked in the raw edges and used the staple gun to secure it, starting with the long sides first. On the short sides, we used a kind of gift wrapping tuck in order to make it look tidy and cover all the raw edges.

 

Finished!

 Much more comfy! Maybe next we can upgrade our ill-colored counter!

 

 

 

Burlap Wreath

 

After taking down my holiday wreath the front door looked sad, so I made a new wreath. It's a total pinterest cliché with burlap, chevron, and a letter- but I think it's cute!

Another lesson of home owning: Furry Invaders

After a 2 week respite in the great white north, we were happy to come back home. I left our house spotless so that we could come back from Christmas and just chill out before heading back to work/ life. Our drive south took an extra 4 hours because of a blizzard and Husband, Dog and I were happy to get home safely. Upon entering our house it was pungent apparent that we had some guests while we were gone. Furry little invaders took over our kitchen. Mouse poo and pee everywhere! It took hours to take everything out of drawers, cupboards, and counters and wash/bleach it all. Not what I wanted to come home to but we learned a valuable lesson: when the temperature drops mice WILL find a way in. Next year we will leave a 1000 mouse traps out to kill the suckers be prepared.

Oh, and we got a new rug. Now Dog has a warm place to set her booty while she keeps an eye on the neighborhood :)