DIY Friday-Water Saver

In honor of the upcoming weekend, I wanted to highlight two little projects I completed about a month ago.  They are super easy and need approximately 1 tool, a wrench.

Our water bill was $100 last month which got me moving on these two projects.  I'd been hearing the toilet run, but what was once a minor annoyance became money down the drain.  There's a simple test to tell if your tank water is leaking into the bowl.  Take of the lid and drop some food coloring in.  If the bowl water becomes colored, you're leaking.  (I told you this was easy!)

A trip to Home Depot had me looking for a new stopper.  It was about $5, and I was on my way to pay when I noticed this.  For $20, who wouldn't want a two way flusher?  I believed them when they said it was easy to install.  And get this, they were right!  I needed the wrench to remove the old handle, but everything else just slid into place.

The second DIY project I did was to replace the shower head.  Our old one was pouring out water in copious amounts.  I love a long shower, so something had to be done.  I found a low flow shower head at Home Depot, but then on the way out I found a super low flow at 1-1.5 gallons a minute.  This shower head is for the long showerer and those who suffer green guilt.  Most shower heads let 2.5 gallons out per minute and they are great water savers compared to the old shower heads.  I needed a wrench to remove the old one and the new one screwed on just with my weak hands twisting it.  Easy Peasy.

Both of these projects are super easy no brainer water savers.  They are relatively cheap, and as a renter, I can actually take them with me to wherever we go next.  I kept the old parts for both the shower and the toilet.

Now I can't wait to get the next water bill.  I'm dying to see if we've cut down on our water consumption significantly.  It will probably take awhile to make my money back on these improvements, but I think it's worth it.

Photo Books

It's 12:30 here.  I haven't taken a shower yet.  I've been working on a project.  Three photo books for the price of one on Snapfish, code1Book2Free at checkout and you can have buggy eyes, too. 

Compiling all the good photos from the last two years into three separate folders.  I'm about 2/3 of the way done.  I still need to go through all the pictures from Yosemite and pick out a few there.  Then lay everything out.  Busy, but fun.  (the coupon is only good until Nov 4)  Will you make photo books, too?

Send me an email if you'd like me to forward you the email I got. 

Photog Answers

For all my non family readers (I think there are a few of you!), go look at my brother-in-law Adam's blog.  He is an amazing wedding photographer.  And his last two posts are about buying a camera and taking great wedding shots.  Also, you can download this picture or tomorrow's (or the day after's) at this link for your wallpaper.  Plus he does amazing family photos, and he's super cool. 

Chore Chart

This is the embarrassingly easy job chart I created for the kids.  Being a stay at home mom to two kids means that they think I'm in charge of their lives.  This chart is slowly weaning them off of me, I hope.  They don't have daily chores, but this way I can get some work out of them before they can go play with the neighbors.  Anything from putting toys away, or clothes, or taking out the recycling.  Also, I don't have to keep reminding them that homework needs to be done, etc.  They put a clip next to the job they've finished.

I love my kids.  I also love a simple system.  It may not last long, but we might learn something from it.

TeleQuest Graham Phone

I found this lovely piece of design at the Goodwill last week.  We just need a land line and a few cords and we're set.  I love how the numbers are in two rows.  I hope it works!


I'm a big fan of corded, non electric phones.  Because sometimes it's great just to sit down in one place and talk on the phone. 

My original thought was to sell it on ebay, but I'm smitten.  And I can't find a comparable, just on this Japanese website from the Space Age Design Museum. 

Is it just me that loves thriftstore design?

The Secret Awesomeness of PBS

I've been looking for a new tv show that's on PBS or BBC about a detective.  It got good reviews, but now I can't remember what it's called or where it's showing. (if you know, comment)

What I did find is this hilarious series, The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers.  I wish I had seen it when I was a kid.  My favorites are Rachel Collins the microbiologist/professional wrestler, Mollie Woodworth the neuroscientist/MIT cheerleader (yes, they exist), and Erika Ebbel the biochemist/beauty queen. 

Hallowen 2010

Mermaid and Monkey had free access to the dress up box this year.  They also made some purchases at the dollar store.  I got a Cleopatra costume and spent an hour putting the make up on both Friday and Saturday.  It took an hour to take the stuff off, as well.  How do you do it you make up wearing people? 

We were invited to a pre-trick or treating party on Saturday.  I thought, "I'm usually so boring.  I'm going to dress up this year!  That will be fun!"  After the makeup and  Jesse's last minute ninja costume, we were late arriving.  Only to find a house full of people I've never met and not one adult in costume.  J quickly removed his mask and looked normal.  I was so uncomfortable I didn't know what to do.  I made an effort to dress down by taking off my headpiece, but I still had 1 hours worth of makeup around my eyes.  It's just hard to fit in when you're the queen of the Nile, y'know?

We had fun trick or treating on main street along with the rest of the town.  We brought over our extra candy to one of Jesse's colleauge's homes to give out, then made our way to another friend's home where all the adults were dressed up.  I could really get into Halloween here.