Home repair tips & tricks

I like doing things around the house that make me feel independent and save money.  I’ve hung ceiling fans, replaced porch lights, and recently replaced a kitchen faucet.  I’ve refinished lots of furniture, painted rooms, and even ceramic-tiled a kitchen floor while pregnant with my daughter.  Girls, I actually know how to re-string my weed whacker – and those who know me well know how much I hate yard work and secretly wish for a yard boy who looks like John Travolta!

I love to go to Lowes!  Every time I go in there, I transform into this superhero fix-it-chick and buy stuff that I have no business buying, like hacksaws with extra blades, and propane torches - all on the same trip!  I have discovered a few super cool products that every single woman needs in her pretty little pink tool belt: Liquid Nails, JB Weld, Duck Tape (duh!), clamps, WD40, blue tarps, and a nice neighbor with lots of tools.  For the Liquid Nails you will also need a caulk gun to apply it.  Liquid Nails is good for replacing trim, re-gluing floor boards, fixing furniture, and other such repairs.  Now JB Weld is some really cool stuff!  It is for metal things that you would otherwise weld if you knew how to use the propane torch that you bought.  JB Weld is a 2-part epoxy type gooey concoction that dries silvery.  I used it to secure some brass couplings to the bottoms of silver trays that I used for birdbaths in my flower garden held up by 3 foot pieces of rebar.  (I’ll share that craft project this spring.)  Duck tape is handy for just about anything.  Clamps are like extra hands.  Get the kind that look like giant silver clothespins with rubber ends.   WD40 is great for squeaky door hinges, loosening things that you cannot unscrew, and to lubricate your garage door rollers.  FYI – the gunk on your garage door rollers can freeze in the winter, and it may prevent your garage door from going up and down.  WD40 will keep that gunk slippery so your door will function smoothly.  WD40 can also be used to remove dried-on bugs from your front bumper PLUS it smells really good.  Blue tarps are a must for yard work as they allow you to drag heavy things all over the yard like yard debris in the spring and leaves in the fall.  As for my nice neighbor, he loves my gingersnaps so I do try to keep him happy with those in exchange for borrowing his tools.

Wait… I hear her now… its Helen Reddy… let's sing altogether now…., “I am woman, hear me roar – in numbers too big to ignore…if I have to, I can do anything.  I am strong.  I am invincible.  I am woman.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmifO2sKT7g

I'm diggin' on her halter top!