New York Renovator

A few months ago, I blogged about a free magazine subscription offer, for Home magazine. I have received three magazines so far, and they are terrific! They are very well done, a lot like the Better Homes and Gardens or Traditional Home magazine, with tips for home design and small home repair, and beautiful photos. I have not been billed and have not gotten spam or junk mail asking for money. So, this magazine deal gets the New York Renovator stamp of approval.

The magazine is offered free to eligible participants by Mercury magazines, and you have to fill out a form. The link for the magazine offer is here. When I filled out the form, I left my phone number blank, and I was still accepted. Here are a few FAQs from their website:

When will my subscription arrive?

Your first issue of your subscription should arrive in 10-12 weeks from the time you completed your survey, provided you are qualified by the publisher. Please keep in mind that delivery time may vary from publisher to publisher.

What’s required to qualify for the subscription?

Publishers have a variety of criteria they use to determine qualification for their publications, and are solely responsible for determining the specific requirements needed for qualification. Unfortunately, Mercury Magazines does not have any influence over this process.

So I am happy with the magazine and I am looking forward to the next one.

I cannot believe that it is already August!! Where did the summer go? I still have to take the kids out to the beach, as I promised, before we get back into the school routine. We homeschool (more like an umbrella school, where the kids learn lessons at home and attend school once a week to take tests), but we stick to a “typical” school schedule, with summer vacation and breaks for holidays. I have four kids with stuff everywhere! It takes me a good four to five days to collect all the books, supplies, backpacks, and other stuff… and then I have to label it all! I label everything mostly for my sake, because I can never remember who has what backpack or pencil box or calculator. My grandmother labeled things for me when I attended elementary school. She used the old DYMO labeling device– it was a mechanical, manual labeler with a dial for letters. When you pressed the handle, letters were embossed onto a colored plastic strip. Remember them? Such technology was amazing to a young gradeschool kid! And those labels were very handy because I tended to lose track of things… :S

I find myself continuing the tradition. But I don’t use those old plastic strips anymore (they always fell off after a while, anyway). Nowadays DYMO uses modern technology, ink and has some beautiful color labels to choose from. Kids love special things with their names on them– I know I did!I love the new little handheld thing– it’s like a mini-printer and you can put labels anywhere. I think it’s perfect for back to school. These labels are also great for clothes hangers, toolboxes, bins, spice jars– anything! And it’s not like using permanent marker, either– if you are like me then you constantly reuse containers (or change your mind about what’s going in them). I have always had lots of black scribbles over the lids. With DYMO labels, you can just print out a new label and place it over the old one. Nice!

I wish I had seen this site when my kids were small! (I wish we had the Internet when my kids were small, lol). Here’s a terrific crayon holder I saw at The Best of DIY.

What a terrific invention! I always hated those flimsy cardboard boxes that held crayons. They never lasted long, and crayons spilled out so easily. I used to keep my crayons in small shoe boxes (well, I still do!) but that’s messy. I just love this idea. The tutorial for crafting this crayon holder is at Skip To My Lou, another great site for ideas.

The Best of DIY is rapidly becoming one of my favorite blogs to peruse. I just love handy little stuff featured there, and it’s all homemade stuff, using old materials you already have around the house. Now if I can only think of a way to recycle all those ostrich feathers and FunFoam bits…

Photo from SkipToMyLou.

I hate paint cans. They are designed to slop paint all over the place when you tip them to get your paint out. GRRR! And dipping a brush into the can is not any neater, because the paint excess dribbles into the lip of the can. This makes resealing the lid a messy task. Here’s a tip I’d read in an old home improvement magazine: Punch holes in the lip of the can, with a nail!

Just take a simple nail and hammer a few holes around the lip. Any paint that pools in the lip will drip through your new holes and back into the can. This makes sealing the lid easy, because there is no more river of wet paint sitting in the lip. Another tip– if you are going to be painting again later in the day and don’t want to hard seal the paint lid back on the can, lay a layer of plastic wrap (Saran Wrap) over the open can. Then, take your can lid and press firmly over the can (don’t hammer it back in). This will keep air out of your paint can for a few hours. Of course, if you intend on leaving your paint job for more then a few hours, it’s best to hammer the lid back on securely, to keep the paint fresh.

I do a lot of gardening during the growing season. I have a property that’s 1.5 acres, and when we bought the place, most of it was overgrown. It’s been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to beat back the weeds and scrubby bushes. And I still don’t know who’s winning yet.
I keep my fingernails short, but dirt still manages to get under the nails. It drives me nuts. I read a tip about keeping dirt from getting under your fingernails– scratch a dry bar of soap and get some soap under your nails before you garden. This will keep your nails dirt-free. When you are done outside and need to wash, you can use the soap under your nails to wash them.

I saw this amazing contraption at one of the blogs I was surfing and WOW I love this idea! It’s called the ShowerBow and it prevents your shower curtain from wrapping you in its chilly grasp during a shower. I have a very drafty house, and my shower curtain gets a mind of its own when that water gets going! I know, I know, it’s all about physics and the heated air reacting with the cooler air, the Bernoulli Principle, or yadda yadda. Explain that to my little kid, who shirks in terror when the shower curtain starts jerking back and forth and finally it envelops him in the ICKY CHILLY shower curtain wrestling grasp! Ack!

I’m exaggerating, but only a little. I don’t think we are the only ones who experience this annoying phenomenon. I like the ShowerBow. It’s just a lightweight counterweight that attaches to your existing rod holder. It curves in and holds that crazy curtain at bay. Easy to install, too!

I don’t know about you, but I am very impressed! It doesn’t jut out into the bathroom, it’s clean, it’s easy! I have hated my flapping shower curtain and am elated to hear that somebody invented such a cool gadget.