Installing a Dimmer

After reading this post by Sara at Russet Street Reno, Peter and I decided that we were qualified enough to install a dimmer switch on our own. Overall the process was pretty simple, but it did involve a fair amount of muscle and cursing.

We opted to buy the type of dimmer switch that wouldn’t require us to purchase a new wall plate. Ours looked like this:

The first thing that you need to do is turn off the the circuit breaker that corresponds to the room that you will be installing the dimmer in. Then unscrew the wall plate from the wall.

Then unscrew the metal plate that corresponds to the light switch. (Don’t do what I did and get part way through this and realize that you’re removing the switch that actually controls the fan.) I decided to take on this project at night while Peter was cooking dinner.  After only a few minutes of trying to balance the flashlight and unscrew the plates, I knew I was going to need more hands.

Remove the screws that hold the side wires in place. Be sure to remember which wire was on top and which wire was on bottom. This took a lot of muscle and tugging to straighten out the wires enough to pull the metal part out of the wall.

Reattach the wires to the dimmer in the same way that they were attached to the old metal box. For some reason I opted not to take a picture of this. I’m not sure why.

When both wires are attached, tighten the screws so that there is a solid connection between the metal of the box and the metal of the screws.

Screw the new metal box into the wall and wonder why its not exactly parallel with the fan switch. Watch your fiance as he curses at the switch and pulls and pushes on it until he is able to manipulate both switches into the wall plate.

Now admire your work and think about how much your life has improved now that you can read in bed without feeling blinded by the ceiling light! The one thing that I don’t like about the dimmer switch is that now when the light is on there is an almost imperceptible buzzing sounds. Has anyone else noticed this?

For better photos visit Russet Street Reno. Sara managed to do this project during the day, so her photos are infinitely better than ours.

*Note: Peter and I are not qualified electricians. We’re just too crazy kids who got tired of a really bright light.*

Righting Wrongs

I just got back from a business trip in Chicago. Is it just me or does work become a million times crazier around the holiday? Either way, in this time of sparse writing I’ve managed to fix a few of my mistakes. Do you remember about a month ago when I got really excited about spray painting and forgot to clean the wine rack before I painted it and got spray paint all over my jeans?

I’m happy to say that I remedied both of these situations without spending any extra money. The wine rack was really easy. I simply sanded down the surfaces to ensure that I removed any dust. After sanding, I wiped it down to ensure that I wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes. In case you forgot, here’s what it looked like before:

Pretty gross, huh? And here it is now:

And just so you can admire how wonderfully dust free this really is, here are a few more:

Secondly, I managed to remove almost all of the spray paint from my jeans!! Before I give you the details, I’d like to make the disclaimer that I don’t know very much about stain removal so I’d only try this with clothing that you would otherwise be forced to throw away (or condemn to a life of “painting clothes”). After staring at my jeans in disbelief for a good twenty minutes, I brought them inside and began to route through the laundry cupboard. I realized that Shout wasn’t going to cut it for this job so I turned to the internet.  A quick Google search later, I was sitting in the bathroom with hairspray and hand sanitizer. Several people on various websites swore it would get spray paint out of clothes. So I applied, rubbed and rinsed, and applied, rubbed and rinsed some more. I just knew that this was some fabulous little secret that would shock Peter with its dramatic results but after trying again and again, I still had bright red jeans. I slumped down in the bathroom, sure that my jeans were ruined forever when my eyes met the nail polish remover. This was an act of desperation but as I poured (with a heavy hand) the nail polish remover on to my jeans and scrubbed, I saw a difference. I knew they’d improved but honestly I was too afraid to wash them because it seemed like the final step that could set the stain and officially banish my jeans from the outside world. So they sat on the washer, got pushed onto the floor, and finally weeks later I put tons of Shout onto them and threw them into the wash. And guess what? They’re near perfect. There is one tiny red spot where there had originally been a quarter size stain but they’re completely work appropriate again! (Yes, we have a very casual dress code.)

The Tutu Tutorial

For Halloween this year Peter and I decided to dress as ballerinas. We searched for affordable tutus in adult sizes until finally–thanks to some encouragement from my friends at work–I decided to make one. Someone told me, “You just need it to stay together for one night! Go buy some tulle and staple it!” Peter and I are supposed to be crafty so I knew we could do better than staples! Charged with new found encouragement, I headed to the store and bought six yards of tulle. Follow along to make your own no-sew tutu.

Materials:

• One piece of ribbon long enough to tie around the hips of the tutu wearer
• Six yards of tulle (you can use more or less depending on your desired fluffiness of the tutu and the size of the person that it will outfit.)
• A pair of scissors–we used fabric scissors for good measure

1. Set the ribbon aside and cut the fixed width of the fabric in half. If you’d like a longer tutu, then you might want to leave the fixed width as is.

2. Next, cut the tulle into strips. I varied the width of the strips anywhere between two to four inches to make it more visually interesting. This is not an exact science. You don’t even have to cut in straight lines.

3. When you finish cutting your tulle into strips, tie your ribbon between two chairs or doorknobs. This will help keep the ribbon in a stable.

4. Fold each strip in half, creating a loop at the top. Then, connect each strip to the ribbon by bringing the loose ends of the tulle strip through the loop.

5. Continue tying knots in this fashion until the tutu is filled out enough to wrap around your waist.

You can also use an elastic band instead of using the ribbon. My experience was that the ribbon twisted a lot throughout this process. With a ribbon that doesn’t matter, but if I had used an elastic band, then I may have ended up with a twisted mess. See the picture below to get an idea.

Here is how the tutu turned out. I have to say that I sort of wish that I was five years old again so that it would be socially acceptable to wear it EVERYWHERE!!

My whole costume ended up costing a little under six dollars. I already had some spare ribbon, shoes, tights, and a black leotard, so the only expense was the tulle.

Did anyone else make their own costume? I’d love to hear about how it turned out.

How to Make Candles

We’ve written about our dogs before (see here) so you probably won’t be surprised to know that a couple weeks ago Peter and I decided to embark on Operation Make the House Smell Better. When my best friend, Clay, came to visit we decided to really spring into action by making our own candles. Our project didn’t turn out perfectly, but the house smelled great for awhile and we learned that making candles really isn’t that hard. We’ll walk you through it below.

You’ll need:

• soy wax
• a double boiler
• a funnel
• a box of crayons
• essential oils
• bleached wicks
• containers for the candles
• a candle thermometer
• pencils

Step One: Melt the wax in your double boiler. We created our own double boiler by using an inexpensive pot from Target along with a wok. Clay and I bought this pot particularly for making candles because we did not want to ruin any of our nicer cookware.

Step Two: Stir the wax regularly, keeping an eye on the temperature. Never leave hot wax unattended.

Step Three: When the wax reaches a temperature of 180 degrees add crayons to dye it to your desired color. Remember that the wax will dry lighter than it looks when it is melted. For the first batch, Clay and I wanted to try to create a lavender. We originally had the idea that we could make the candles and give them out as favors at Peter’s and my wedding next year. The color turned out great. I’m not sure if we’ll end up doing this but it is a fun idea.

Step Four: Turn off the heat and let the wax cool to 140 degrees. When the wax has cooled you will add your scent. Clay and I used 1/4 oz. per two pounds of wax. Neither of us wanted overpoweringly strong candles. The scent ended up very subtle which was nice for us but may not be potent enough for other people. We also used inexpensive oils from the craft store but a higher grade oil would probably enhance the smell.

Step Five: Right after you add the scent to your wax use your funnel to pour the wax into the containers that you will use for your candles. When we were shopping for things for candles we forgot to buy a funnel so Clay created one out of cardboard and aluminum foil. If you’re afraid of ruining your funnel then you can make one like ours.

Step Six: Lay a pencil across the top of your container and wrap the wick around the pencil. This, in combination with the anchor at the bottom of the wick, stabilizes the wick, ensuring that when the candle hardens the wick will stay in the middle of the candle.

Once your candle hardens, the process is done! We used a four pound package of soy wax and only made eight 6 oz. candles. We’re hoping to try again sometime soon and improve the size of the flame. For some reason our candles have an itty-bitty flame that is easily put out. It could have something to do with the size of the wick. Based on the measurements of our containers we opted to use medium sized wicks but perhaps larger wicks would burn better. This is all speculation.

Have you ever made candles?

Fresh Bread

A simple way to keep your bread from going stale is to seal it in a Ziploc bag with a napkin or paper towel. This is actually a family trick so I don’t know why it works–but it does. It doesn’t matter if you wrap the bread in the paper towel or just toss it in there, somehow your bread stays fresher for longer.

Apparently my lovely fiance ate what was going to be used in my example photo so just use your imagination on this one.

What family tips do you swear by?

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Image credit Momsradar.com