Removing Gum from a Dryer

Two weekends ago, as I was taking clothes out of the dryer, I realized that a couple shirts had some sticky substance on them. Although I knew in my heart what it meant, I didn't want to think about the implications of it....

You see, Dan is an EMT. And as such, he wears these pants that have a million and one pockets. Why does he need so many pockets? I'm not sure I'll ever know the answer.... Anyways, I guess Dan didn't check all of his pockets before he loaded up the washing machine. And of course I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when I was transferring all the clothes over to the dryer. But, heat does wonders to a pack of gum hidden in pockets....

Yep. That happened. In our brand new dryer.

(Sorry for the blurry pics. These were taken on my cell phone pretty late at night.)

I tried my best to keep calm. It was only gum. Not the end of the world. What I was more upset about was the fact that three of my newer shirts were ruined. Into the trash they went. I kept reminding myself that it was only three - it could have been much worse. And, ironically enough, none of Dan's work clothes ended up with the green, spearmint substance all over it. Not even residue in the pockets. How does that happen?

Dan felt horrible. The gum was all over the drum of the dryer. We had no idea how to even start removing it all. It was too late to call our parents for their sage advice. Dan decided to read the manual and see if there were any recommendations. Nothing. Then, he decided to call the 1-800 number on the manual. Surprisingly, someone answered on the other end despite it being pretty late at night. Dan fessed up to his mistake and asked if they knew any possible solutions.

Their recommendation? Rub ice on the gum, then use a non-metal object to scrape it off the drum.

We used an old, expired debit card that we still had lying around to do the scrapping with. Took a lot of elbow grease, but worked like a charm! 

Since it was late, we didn't bother to remove all of the gum right away. Instead, we took the clothes that were in the washer and hung them up in our bathroom to line dry (like we did when dryer went kaputs the first time).

Luckily, we weren't in a rush to do any laundry the next couple of days, so we let the dryer sit the way it was until Dan had a day off of work to scrap off all the gunk. He said he used about 8-10 ice cubes to do the entire drum. And that it didn't take quite as long as he thought it would. He was finished removing the gum before the towels finished in the washing machine.

We decided to run a load of towels through first because I figured it would be easier (and cheaper) to replace old towels than it would be to have to shop for, try on, and replace clothes. Results? No sticky, spearmint gum! We both breathed a sigh of relief!

Hopefully, none of you ever have this problem happen to you. But, if it does, keep calm! Nothing a some ice and a little bit of elbow grease won't solve. As for the clothes that may get ruined, remember: they're just clothes.

Anyone else have to scrap gum off of their machine? Or maybe it was something else left behind in the pockets of your loved ones? I'm think crayons would be a beast to remove from a dryer....

Best Pillow Ever

A few months ago, I was out shopping with my mom when she mentioned that she hated her pillow. She was tired of buying a pillow that was nice and firm only to have it become flat and unsupportive in a matter of weeks. Been there. Done that. More times than I care to admit.

Anyways, as we were walking through Bed Bath and Beyond, we came across this pillow:

Mom fell in love with the pillow, but not with the $60 price tag. That was a lot of money down the hole if the pillow didn't work out.

A few weeks later, I decided to pick up that pillow (along with my 20% off coupon) and gift it to mom for Mother's Day. What sealed the deal? A store employee told me that my mom would be allowed to return the pillow if she didn't like it after a week or two. Who ever heard of returning a used pillow?? But, with that reassurance, it was a no brainer to go ahead a pick this up for mom.

At first she was hesitant to accept the gift knowing the price. But after reassuring her that if it didn't work out, she could easily return it, she was very grateful for the gift.

For weeks, she raved about how much she loved her new pillow! Said it was the best pillow she had ever slept on and that she was falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer than she had before. And, she wasn't waking up with kinks in her neck from sleeping in an awkward position.

Fast forward a few months. Mom decided to return the favor and bought the same pillow for me as a birthday gift. Knowing how much she loved her pillow, I couldn't wait to try it out for myself.

Since we bought our Sleep Number bed, my back aches had pretty much disappeared. But, I was still occasionally waking up with neck soreness due to my pillow. That neck soreness sometimes translated into an early morning headache. And, let me tell you, that's a crummy way to start off your day.

I've been sleeping with my new pillow for about a month now, and let me tell you, it's amazing! I seriously can't explain how much better my sleep is at night. I don't wake up as often to fluff up my pillow. I'm not waking up with aches and pains in my neck. I just wish that I had broken down and paid the money a long time ago to upgrade to a nicer pillow rather than buying cheap pillows over and over again every time they became flat.

So, if you've been hesitant to purchase the more expensive pillow for fear of it not working, let me be the one to encourage you to go for it. I don't think it'll be a purchase that you'll regret.

Disclaimer: I was not paid or perked by Brookstone or Bed Bath & Beyond to write this post. Honestly, I doubt they have any idea who I am or that this little blog exists. My opinions are totally my own and I felt like sharing them in the hopes that it might help someone else making the big decision to purchase a relatively expensive pillow.

Found

I mentioned yesterday that my primary USB that I use for all of my school stuff bit the dust over the weekend.

Wah wah wah.

So, since he wasn't on shift today, I asked Dan to call around to the techie places and see (1) if it was possible to pull the files off of the device and (2) how much it would cost. And in between classes, I got this:

I figured it was going to cost us to get that stuff off of the pen drive, but I never fathomed it'd cost that much!

At that point I pretty much resolved myself to the fact that all of the information that I had accumulated over the past 3 years was gone. I had made peace with it.

Then, I get the next text from Dan telling me to call him after the next class was over. When I was able to call, he told me that I would owe him big time....

He had figured out Sunday night that a small metal piece was broken/loose on the chip inside the device. I had asked him not to fiddle with it for fear of him making it worse. Well, since he assumed we weren't going to be paying Geek Squad to fix it and they were our last resort, that fiddling wouldn't hurt it. He got out his soldering gun and tinkered away.

And he got it to work!

Well, he got it to work long enough to get the information off of it. Which honestly was all I cared about. I can get another USB drive. But the information was what I was most excited about. No longer was everything lost. I breathed the biggest sigh of relief.

Lesson learned. Never, ever, EVER go too long without backing up the information on a USB or even on your computer. I hope I never put myself into this situation again!

Simple Paint Storage

I wanted to share a quick and easy storage solution for any leftover paint you might have lying around your place. 

After the paint crew finished painting my classroom, I was left with two messy looking gallon containers. I didn't feel like leaving them in my classroom storage closet, so I brought them home with me. The only problem is that we have pretty much run out of storage space in our apartment, so finding room for two gallons of paint plus all the supplies we had purchased was proving difficult. Not to mention, it seemed silly to keep such large containers when the majority of the paint was gone. 

So, I turned to Google and Pinterest for ideas on how to store paint.  My favorites were these two:

{pin/original from YoungHouseLove}

{pin/original from IHeart Organizing}

I loved the first because it was simple and streamlined. Plus, it seemed like something Dan would approve of. The second option was my favorite in terms of style - mason jars & pretty color labels. And, the jars would be easier to use for quick touch ups.

The Hubby and I went out shopping to price both options. We found quart sized empty paint cans at our local Lowe's for $2.97 a piece. Although the price was right, I was still holding out for cute mason jars. So, off to Wal-Mart we went. After searching all over, we finally found the canning supply section. For under $10, we could get 12 quart sized mason jars. Can't beat that price!

But, as Dan reminded me, we didn't need twelve - we only needed two. What were we going to do with the other ten? And where were we going to store the rest of them? Sure, it's cheaper per jar, but it doesn't make much sense to spend more on them if we're not going to use them. Besides, when it comes time to move, do we really need to worry about glass jars full of paint? Grrr... I hate it when he uses logic to talk me back to reality.

So.... back to Lowe's we went and picked up two quart sized empty paint cans. Once we got home, I transferred all of the paint to its new home. I also labeled each can so that if we ever needed more of the paint, we'd know what to buy.

The labels were $2 from Wal-Mart. I could have made labels nicer/cuter using the computer, but I didn't feel like fiddling with the printer and getting the settings just right. I wrote down the information from the paint swatch as well as the base paint that was used; we've never had to buy more of the same color before, so we were sure what information would prove useful. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I just used my finger to make the little paint dots on each of the labels. Others recommended using a q-tip, but I didn't mind getting a little paint on me.

So, that was our quick and easy solution to storing our paint. Now, the cans fit nicely inside of a copy paper box with all of the other quart size cans we've collected (chalkboard paint, primer, etc.).

How do you store your leftover paint? Do you transfer them all into smaller containers or leave them in the originals?

Quick Update

We made it safely back to Florida after our weekend trip to Atlanta to help my brother in law move into his first home. If you follow along on Instagram, you got to see some of our adventures from this weekend.

Anyhoo, I wanted to stop in quickly and share another quick blog update with you guys. I've been dying to revamp my blog design, but I don't really know much HTML, nor do I want to shell out the cash for someone else to do it right now. But, I came across this pin for free social media icons from Carrie Loves, and I decided I'd  change things up a little bit and swap out my old icons for some nice, dark gray icons. I used the same steps for installing them that I used the last time (which you can check out here).

So, if you're in the market for new social media buttons, be sure to check out these cute options!

I'll try be back later with a photo of the new homeowners sometime this week.

Quick Fix: Raising a Light Fixture

So I mentioned in my last post that I had done another little project in the dining room besides our little gallery wall. Well, this little project had to do with the lighting fixture hanging above our dining room table. You see, this thing hung pretty low. Even with the table beneath it, I would still bonk my head on it from time to time. It was becoming pretty annoying.

Probably the most annoying part though was the fact that once we hung up the gallery wall of picture frames, when you sat in our living room, the top frames were being blocked. Something had to be done to fix this problem.

See what I mean?

Living in an apartment our fix had to be something that we could easily undo whenever we moved. At first the hubby used these rings that we had lying around the apartment. I think he was hoping to be able to close them, but the weight of the chains and light fixture didn't make that possible. I loved the fact that the light was higher so that we could admire our gallery wall better from the living room. But, I was not a fan of those silver rings.

So, we headed out to the store and picked up these little guys.

We also picked up a can of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. Although we didn't like having to buy a brand new bottle of spray paint for such a little project, we knew we'd end up using this stuff in future projects.

I took the little s-hooks outside on the balcony and gave them a couple coats each. I wasn't sure if we'd need two hooks or just one, but we bought two to be on the safe side.

Once everything dried, the hubby took out the old silver rings and replaced them with the hooks.

It looks sooo much better now! Granted, you still see the jumbled mess at the top of the chain, but at least now you aren't looking at the random bit of silver sticking out like a sore thumb. From the living room point of view, you can't even see the small hook that we used.

And I love the fact that you can see the new gallery wall without the light fixture obstructing the view. Too bad that pile of paper clutter is ruining the shot, huh? Oh well. No one's house is 100% spotless, 100% of the time, right?

Anyone else out there have issues with low-hanging lighting fixtures? How did you fix it?

A Little Pop of Yellow

I wanted to stop by quickly and wish everyone a Happy Easter before the weekend goes by too quickly. The hubby and I have spent the last two days cleaning our apartment in preparation for a guest who will be staying with us next weekend. Next weekend is our friends wedding, and we offered to allow one of their out-of-town guests stay with us for a night so that they didn't have to get a hotel room. And tomorrow we plan on relaxing and enjoying a lazy Sunday around the apartment.

But you didn't think I was just going to tell you about our weekend plans did you? I want to show you my new wreath!

I have been eyeing this wreath for over a month now. I've seen similar wreaths on other doors across the blogosphere and I've waited patiently to find one in my price range. These things are normally $40 at the big chain craft stores. Their typical sales bring them down to maybe $20. But last night, I saw a sticker that said 2 for $24 and I knew I had to get one while I could.

I had to talk the hubby into it at first. One, he's not the biggest fan of wreaths or the color yellow. And two, we're already going to be shelling out some major dough this weekend for our friends nuptials, so any extra spending is like pulling teeth for the both of us right now. But once I explained that this would be the best deal we'd come across (I had watched them go on sale last year and they never went this low), he agreed. Not to mention that I told him this wreath would probably stay on our door all Spring and Summer, which meant that I wouldn't have to spend any money on another wreath for another season.

I just love the little yellow flowers! And the pop of color on our door makes me smile when we get home. A wreath is one of the few ways we can add a little "curb appeal" to our apartment.

Anyone else out there splurge on a new Spring wreath? Or maybe your adding some pops of color throughout your house to welcome in the new season?

Follow Up: Social Media Buttons

So, after some fiddling around, the social media buttons finally look like they are suppose to look - small, petite and cute!

I must say a big "Thank You!" to Isa and Kira who quickly replied to my comments asking for help.

First, I tried to make things work through Flickr, by resizing the images using their built in software. However, no matter what I did, the buttons still came up rather large in my sidebar.

Then, Kira suggested that it was perhaps the image hosting site that was causing the problem. So, per her advice, I opened up a Photobucket account and uploaded the images onto there.

I did have a little problem uploading the RSS button; for whatever reason, only half of the image would load. But, Photobucket has a neat little feature called Auto-Fix which filled out the rest of the button. The only downside is that the feature changed the original color of the button. Since I didn't want to fool around anymore with the editing, I saved it as is. Then, I went to the Pinterest button and auto-fixed it, hoping it would save it in the same new color, which it did!

It's been a bit of a learning curve, but I'm happy that I've finally figured this one all out. Maybe one of these days I'll graduate into the big leagues of HTML. But for now, I'm happy with my really basic knowledge :)

So what do you guys think? Any of you head over to Isa's page and snag a set of buttons for your page?

Social Media Buttons

I've been dying to add some little features to this blog for a while now, but considering I'm pretty computer illiterate when it comes to coding and what not, it seemed like a daunting task. But recently, I became determined that I would add some of those cute little social media buttons to the side bar, even if it was going to consume way too much time to figure it out.

After a quick Google search, I came across The Academy, written by Isa Maria, and her super cute (not to mention FREE!) downloadable buttons.

Aren't those amazing?! I seriously wish I knew how to create my own digital design stuff. Maybe one of these days when I have tons of time to devote to it. Or maybe I'll make the hubby learn for me... :)

I loved that her set of buttons included a Pinterest button. A lot of the buttons that I found on other sites failed to include a Pinterest button, which is one of the main sites I wanted to link up to. Plus, the fact that the Turquoise 201 set practically matches with the background of this blog, I think it was meant to be!

Anyhoo, it took me a the better part of an hour to figure out how to set it all up, but with the help of Kira's tutorial she linked to, at Her New Leaf, it made the process a whole lot easier. The only thing I seem to have a problem with is the size the images are coming out at... can't figure out how to make them cute and petite. But, it's still a giant step forward.

So far I've only linked to my Pinterest account and an RSS feed. Hopefully I got the whole RSS feed thing right; it isn't something that I personally use to follow blogs since I have my blogger dashboard. But, I figured enough people must use it if I see it on everyone else's blogs, right?

I'm still hesitant to link to my personal Facebook account. If you've noticed, we don't mention our last name anywhere within this blog, for two reasons. First of all, we still feel like it gives us a slight sense of privacy. And secondly, being that I'm a teacher, I know my students google my name at the start of every school year. I'd like to try to keep my personal and professional life as separate as possible. I'm sure they'll come across this thing eventually, and when they do, I don't want them having access to my Facebook account. I've been thinking about creating a separate Facebook account specifically for this blog, but I was going to wait until I felt like there were enough readers to warrant making one.

As for Twitter, I tried it, and I simply just don't get it. Sorry folks! And I do have a Flickr account, but there really isn't anything on it except for odds and ends that end up right here on the blog anyways.

But for now, I'm really excited about my progress on this little blog. Its the simple things, you know? If you're new to this whole blogging thing, I hope the links in this post help you out as much as they did me. These girls are excellent at making it super simple to understand.

Any other blogging technical tips/advice you've found to be really helpful? What are some things you like to see when you read your favorite blogs? Let's chat!

Quick Fix: Coat Rack

So, as I was typing up the last post, I suddenly realized that I never shared what I did with the hooks in our entry hallway once Christmas was over. And since the hubby is waiting on me to finish up online so that I can help him make dinner, I'm going to make this quick and simple.

This is what our entry way looked like at Christmas:

And this is what it looks like now:

Yep. I converted our stocking holders into coat holders. This past year, we had an unseasonably warm winter. Then again this is Florida... But whenever we did have a burst of cold, our coats would be laying around all over the apartment. Half the time we couldn't remember where we had last placed them.

But now that they are all in one spot, it makes it easy to just grab and go. And the hooks have held up pretty well. The one closest to the door has fallen a couple of times, but only when the hubby tried to hang both of his heavy winter coats on it at the same time. I guess he saw me doubling up on my hooks and thought he could get away with the same. But, I was only able to double up on my lighter weight hoodie and cardigans. Otherwise, only one coat per hook.

I love when one thing can serve two purposes! Anyone else out there have a love of command hooks? I'm slowly thinking mine is turning into an obsession. But they are the only things that I know won't damage the walls when we take them down when it comes time to move. I'd love to see your creative uses for command hooks.

Soap & Suds

I've been really stressed with work lately and the hubby's new lack of a job. Yeah, a lot has happened in the past few days. As soon as the dust settles, I'll fill you in with all the details.

Anyways, to help get rid of some stress, I've decided to work on our little laundry room. I always find having a little project to do helps to take my mind off of things. The problem? With the uncertainty of when the hubby will be paid again, I've got to do this little project with little to no money.

This is what our laundry room looked like when we first moved in:

As you can see, we had the perfect little spot to fit a washer and dryer. Too bad we didn't have one yet. We had shoved some stuff up onto the shelves with the intention of organizing it later. Our toolbox and extra paper towels also found a home in our little laundry room. And we placed a wire shelving unit in there to house our cookbooks and some of our cleaning supplies.

Then we were gifted a washer/dryer set from my uncle, and made a little trip to St. Petersburg to go pick them up.

Nothing fancy. But they do their job. And they were free! So who can complain?

Then we decided to take the door to the laundry room off of its hinges (it was getting in the way of our pantry door) and replace it with a long brown curtain.

So that pretty much catches you up on what we had done previously to the laundry room. Since then, it's pretty much sat untouched.

A couple of months ago, right around Christmas, we added some major function to our laundry room with some a very cheap and minor fix.

The hubby wears a lot of dress shirts. And I hate to iron. My solution? To hang them up as soon as they come out of the dryer so that they don't have the chance to wrinkle. The problem? I had no where to hang them up once they were on the hangers.

I've seen lots of pictures of laundry hanging solutions on Pinterest, but considering we are renters, we can't exactly drill holes into the walls. So whatever solution we came up with had to be something that could be taken down easily when we move.

Then it came to me! I sat there looking at my Christmas stockings and realized that I could use Command Hooks to do the job.

We stuck one hook on either side of the door frame. The curtain completely hides them from the kitchen. The only time you see them is when the curtain is open. Plus, since they are white, like our trim, they aren't that noticeable.

 So far they have been working like a charm!

I can usually get about 5 or so metal hangers on each hook before I have to take the clothes back to the bedroom closet. If we use plastic hangers, we can get 3 or 4 on there. And so far, the weight of the clothes hasn't affected the hooks at all.

Last weekend, I did a few quick updates to the laundry room as well to make it look a little more "pretty," as the hubby likes to say.

I added a rug to the laundry room. It's actually the rug we use to have in our master bathroom before we updated to the blue/gray color scheme. We had moved it to our guest bathroom for a little while, but our cats thought that it was their new "potty spot." So after we washed it multiple times and realized that it just wasn't going to work out in our guest bath, I figured I'd try it in our laundry room. And so far, we've not had any kitty accidents yet. But I love the fact that I'm not standing on cold tile while trying to fold and hang laundry.

I also added a couple of pictures to the washer side of the laundry room.

The frames are simple plastic frames that I've had since high school. They've been sitting in a box for a while now. 

I found this image on pinterest. It decodes all of those little symbols that are on the tags of your clothes. From how hot the water should be to the type of drying cycle you should use. When the hubby had gotten all of his new uniforms, we were having a tough time deciphering all of those symbols. What better art work to put in the laundry room! The only downfall is that all of the temperatures are in Celsius, but it's enough to get us by.

To fill out the rest of the frame, I used two pieces of cardstock that I had on hand. No glue. No tape. Just laid the image on the glass, then laid the two pieces of cardstock on top of it, then popped the glass back into the frame. Easy!

In the yellow frame was a picture that I purchased a year or two ago. I wish I could remember the online store that I purchased this from... All I remember is that they were featured on YHL, and they were getting rid of their old inventory to bring in their new line of products, so I got it at a really good discount. I don't know why, but I fell in love with the piece instantly. I find it silly, but cute. It always brings a smile to my face.

All of that brings us to what the laundry room currently looks like - a total mess!

As you can see, the shelving above our washer and dryer hasn't changed much since we first moved in. Heck, I think there is a lot more junk up there now.

On the dryer's side, we've got our new iron, supplies for my steam mop, paper towels, and the toolbox on one side. The laundry soap sits right on top of the dryer. And there's our little trash can for our lint & dryer sheets. Not to mention the un-mentionables sitting on top of the dryer waiting to be hand washed... Oh, and let's not forget all of the leftover dishes from our wedding that we don' t know where to put.

The shelf above the washer is a lost cause. More hand-wash only clothing is tossed up there. We've got the lid to one of litter boxes. Some spray paint, light bulbs, and bungee cords to round it all out.

The wall is probably the only thing that looks semi-organized. We used push pins and more command hooks to hang up our dusters, brooms, and Swiffer mop. But the things that are hung up on push pins fall all of the time.

So what is the plan?

Well, first of all, I'd like to bring down everything off the shelves, toss out what we don't need anymore, and figure out a new organizing system to house the rest of it. Then, I'd liked to figure out a way to move all of the stuff off the top of our dryer and find it a new home - I'd like to be able to use the top of the dryer as my folding station. Lastly, I'd like to rearranged the stuff hanging on the wall by taking out the push pins and replacing them with more command hooks. And, I'd like to find a better storage system for our ironing board and iron.

I'm looking forward to having a little project to work on. I know it's going to be tough not to spend a lot of money on the project. I haven't really set a budget, but the lower the costs, the better. Besides, it's not like we're going to be living in this place forever, so why bother with a major overhaul with bookoo bucks?

Anyone else out there recently redo a laundry room? Any advice on how to do it on the cheap? Maybe some quick and easy DIY projects? Would love to hear your stories!

Quick Fix: Shower Liner

This past weekend, the hubby and I were starting our weekly shopping adventure at Wal-Mart. We were grabbing a shower curtain liner before we went to the grocery section. While in the aisle, the following conversation happened:

          Stranger: Hey, do you guys know much about shower curtains?

          Us: Uh... [a little weirded out] Not really.

          Stranger: Well, do you know if all shower liners have 12 holes?

          Us: Every shower liner we've ever bought has. It's pretty standard.

          Stranger: Great, thanks!

          Us: No problem [as we grab a liner and place it in our cart]

Little did we know that we had just given the guy faulty advice.... But first let me remind you what our master bathroom looks like.

Later that day the hubby went to hang up our new shower liner, and this happened:

Yeah... so apparently not all shower liners come with 12 holes in them... So what happened?

Turns out that a "stall" shower isn't the same as a standard shower. Don't know how we missed that while we were talking to Stranger... but the liner was 3 holes too short. And it was about 2-3 inches too long.

The whole point of buying a new liner was because our old one was falling victim to hard water stains and mold. Last thing we needed was for this liner to sit soaking in water at the bottom of the tub.

My solution? Take the scissors to it! At first the hubby didn't want to - he wanted to keep the magnets. But  when I cut it just under the magnets, it still touched the bottom. But after a few more snips, it is now the perfect length.

So, we'll work with our too narrow liner until it too falls victim to hard water and mold. It still functions like any other liner. The only thing we made sure to do was to leave the three empty holes towards the end of the curtain farthest from the shower head. So far, everything has worked out well.

And next time we'll read the labels before buying another liner.

Anyone else ever do this? Come on, I can't be the only person who has ever had this happen to them, can I ?