Hazardous Waste Disposal = Happy Homeowner

It took me awhile to figure out how easy it is to rid our garage of used paint thinner, crusty cans of oil paints and such. The Snohomish County Hazardous Waste Drop Off Station is simple to find on 3434 McDougall in Everett. Just a block east of Broadway. Check their website for the hours and days of operation since it isn’t every day. Also find out all the things they will accept – yes on used batteries and no on electronics, for example.

As the sign says, they no longer accept latex paints. But I was lucky finding a home for lots of mine. Deb and Bob of Retreat rescued lots of mine, and are putting it to work lickety-split. I had a couple of partial cans of latex paint that were unusable. I was a bit skeptical that adding kitty litter would dry them out in a reasonable amount of time, but it was sort of fun to do and worked quickly. Then those cans could be put in with our regular garbage.

Here’s an action shot of a happy homeowner!

Art Party Giveaway

The Art Party, our all day art retreat on September 19 is getting closer! And there are still openings left, so it isn’t too late to register. As a little preview of the door prizes that we will be sharing at our future day of fun and frolic, is this extra clever package of art supplies. Our Art Party partner, Cindy, assembled these nifty items, and rounded them up with a vintage pants hanger. You have a chance to win this now. Just leave a comment below. We’ll announce the lucky winner next Friday, July 24.

Please click on the Art Party logo on our sidebar for more info. Lots of goodies will be waiting for you there!

Refresh with Paint

Another way of creating more simplicity in my life is embracing more neutral shades of color in our home decor. Creamy whites, that burlap color and maybe a touch of aquamarine here and there are very appealing to me these days. I found this can of antique white paint out in the garage. It was left by the previous owners 12 years ago, and I was really surprised that once it was stirred up, it was in great shape. I covered up some of those “1980s country” colors still lurking on a few things here and there with a light coat of the white. One coat did the trick on a few things. Gone was some brick red, with mustard right behind! And this took no time at all. Now this little side table will be a two-coater.

Two coats of paint, some sanding and a coat of paste wax really didn’t take that much more time.

I’m not missing the former brick red tops on these!

Rug Flipping

Here’s an idea I came up with a couple of days ago. I wanted to put a rug in my girly bedroom with subdued colors. I had this Oriental rug that needed a new home.

I decided to see what the back side of it looked like, and I found the perfect rug! The softer colors were exactly what I was looking for, and the texture was rougher and more worn looking, which was a bonus. One rug equals two looks!

Can this jacket be saved?

Has this ever happened to you – you are out and about, and you realize right then and there that you can’t stand what you are wearing? I hadn’t worn this floral jacket for a while. I wore it quite recently and half way into my day of appointments, I was over it. Too loud. Not the fashion look I’m after. BUT it fits perfectly!

Once I got home I decided to try fading it. I had run across a box of something from Rit Dye that was for fading jeans. (So many bonuses of purging and reorganizing – the bounty of items you forgot you had and now have again.) Into the washer – even read the directions – and the jacket still was too bright. Let’s move on to chlorine bleach. Back into the washer with a large dose of bleach and a long soak. I even threw in our kitchen bar towels to freshen them up at the same time. There was some progress, but not enough, and this is the current state of the jacket.

Should I cut bait and donate the jacket to the Goodwill? I could rescue the mother of pearl buttons first, since they are quite spiffy. Or as a last resort, what about dying it black to cover up some of that color?

Donate Seattle

I am so glad our friend, Cindy, shared this ultra useful website with us.

It tells you about all sorts of worthwhile organizations that accept your donations, and it is organized by categories. It is time to part with my son's bikes, since they outgrew them ages ago. The hard part is deciding which good cause more than the next good cause to select!

Georgetown Arts and Garden Tour

We will be selling our handmade garden art at the Georgetown Arts and Garden Tour is this Sunday, July 12 from 10 am to 5 pm in Seattle. Come visit us as we hang out on the stylish porch of Karalee, a favorite customer friend of ours. This garden tour is known for including innovative and untraditional garden designs, and it is free! Maps available on day of tour at the Bank of America parking lot located at 1112 S. Bailey Street, Seattle. For more information, call Jon Dove at 206-763-9895 or jonbdove@gmail.com.

We are thrilled to be a part of it.