Author Archives: TheDIYGirl

How to remove ball point ink stains from clothing

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Removing Ink Stains - The DIY Girl

I wore a new shirt this morning to go get my drivers license and deftly dropped the black ball point pen when completing the application and put a nice ink mark on the shirt. I was bummed. I got home and tried what I’ve done in the past — hairspray. It doesn’t matter if it’s the cheapest stuff they sell or expensive designer hairspray. Put a towel (that you don’t mind staining) under the ink spot. Have another rag towel ready. Spray the hairspray on the ink spot and directly blot the spot without moving the towels around. Carefully move … Read more…

$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 2

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar

Link to Part 1 of $70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint   As promised by Giani the replacement paints arrived Monday morning. In the meantime I had figured out how to get the appearance I wanted. If you use a large section of sponge (like half of one) you get a blotchy circles look. If you use the edge of a thinner piece of sponge and use it repeatedly you get a speckled, not blotchy look. This is a case where less really is more. After you cover the area with the big splotches using a large piece of sponge, switch to … Read more…

$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 1

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar
$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 1 - The DIY Girl

While I am thrilled with how my Shaker cabinet update looks, ease of cleaning, and durability so far, I had yet to solve the problems of ugly countertops and back splash. As you can see in the image on the right the white cabinets need some color contrast instead of the washed out looking counters. Since this is a house I don’t plan to stay in, I am doing all the improvements at the most frugal cost possible and still look good. After researching I decided to try the Giani Granite paint rather than replace the counters. $70 and a … Read more…

Basement flooding – surprises inside surprises

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar

  Our are had what I would call almost monsoonal rains yesterday. I watched from the window in dismay as the gutters on both the front and the back of the house overflowed and were washing out maple seeds. I was aware the gutters would need to be cleaned in the fall. I didn’t think about cleaning them recently, especially since the roofers had cleaned them out when they did the roof in March. First surprise The basement floor of this house is half finished out and half garage. Late in the morning there was a lull in the storms … Read more…

Cancelling Verizon FiOS

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar

I absolutely, unequivocally adore FiOS. I was in one of the lucky first neighborhoods to get it and it was flawless for the years that I had it. When I decided to move, I was terribly disappointed it wasn’t available in the area to which I was moving. I hope to someday live where it’s available again. That said — beware of the cancelling process. Especially if you’ve made the decision to not spend the money on a Verizon phone line. I had internet only – no TV, no phone.  I was talking a few months ago to someone who … Read more…

Hard Disk Drive Failure – what to do

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar

A little background A few years back I had the operating system drive in the computer then die at an inopportune time. Is there ever a good time? I did what I had done in the past. I’m not sure if this is out of sheer stubbornness or belief that it’s doable, but I tried the drive over and over again using a boot disk until it came on one time so I could get the important data off of it. I replaced that PC since it was outdated and when I shopped for the replacement I wasn’t terribly concerned … Read more…

Gray water outlet for pop up camper

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Gray water outlet for pop up camper - The DIY Girl

I’ve been trying  to figure out a decent way to get my gray water from the kitchen sink in my Rockwood A128S to the Aqua-Tainer I purchased from Amazon. I did a lot of online research and looked at pictures posted by a lot of different picture. I didn’t want to go with a hose attached to the gray water outlet because it would cause the sink to drain so slow, but I also didn’t want it to be complicated or expensive. With the help of a very nice employee at Lowe’s today I think I came up with a … Read more…

Screen for pop up camper door

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Screen for pop up camper door - The DIY Girl

I just bought a Rockwood A128S – one of the little A frame, hard side, pop up campers. Mine has a small screen in the door, but I wanted more air flow when the heat or air wasn’t needed. An open door isn’t an option for me because I’m a mosquito magnet. I kid you not — if there’s a mosquito within a hundred miles it will find me and bite me. I feel like when I walk outside they all communicate to each other gleefully “Dinner is served!” I had some left over solar screen material that I like. … Read more…

Installing electric dog fence

Posted on by September 11, 2013avatar
Installing electric dog fence - The DIY Girl

My dogs are trained for an electric fence. When they were puppies I purchased an Innotek Contain and Train SD-3000. Innotek has come out with much fancier systems now, but I’m still happy with what I have. I like Innotek — they stand behind their products. The collars are the most expensive part and if one fails (and they have) you can do a trade-in at a much lower cost than buying a new collar. This system also comes with an adjustable transmitter. The dog collars beep well before the dogs gets a shock. The width of that area where … Read more…

Touch up paint

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Touch up paint - The DIY Girl

I’ve recently seen some name brand touch up paint containers. They leave me wondering how tightly they seal and how long the paint lasts. I believe in handy to use touch up paint for the rooms you’ve painted in your house. No more trucking out to the garage, maybe having to let the paint warm up. No stirring cans, dealing with possible rusted cans. Just reach under the sink and dab a little paint where you just scraped the wall. I started doing this when my son was little so when he hit the wall with one of his toys … Read more…