HangMan Hanging System

This picture/mirror hanging system is really easy to use. Hangman includes all the hardware you'll need to hang your item, even a level. Helpful tools to have on hand: drill, hammer, screwdriver and pencil.

You put the appropriate piece on the wall and the other piece on the back of the picture or mirror you would like to hang.

Make sure you face them the correct way so the item piece will sit in the piece on the wall. The kits we used hold up to 200 lbs; they were $10.88 per kit at Lowes.

And, it's really that easy. I've messed up a few of our walls while hanging things with screws and wire, but this system was easy and painless.

The mirrors are not completely level, but I'm sure that was my lack of skills and not the product; It's hard to tell that they aren't level.

My only issue was my idea of how low the mirrors were going to hang. Both of them are too high, especially the one above. I measured over and over again and somehow it still ended up too high.

Check out their products here: Hangman

Paint Primer

When we decided to primer our orange bedroom, we chose a 2 gallon, inexpensive primer at Lowes. I honestly can't remember the name, but I remember the name was Bullseye something. So the second time around we chose Kilz... it's supposed to coat better for fewer coats. I don't necessarily agree with that claim.Here is the first bedroom using the cheaper primer:In progress...It ended up taking 3 coats of the cheaper primer. Also note: the Bullseye primer said LOW ODOR...yeah right, our room still stinks and it's been weeks!

Then, onto the pink closet in the orange room. Using Kilz this time... It took 2 coats to cover the pink in the closet; I know it would have taken 3 coats if there was artwork like the rest of the room.

This is the next room to paint:

We still have Kilz to use for this room. I don't think Kilz covers that much better than the cheaper version, but it didn't leave the lingering odor. I'll post an update when we paint this room to compare the coverage over artwork.

Round Up Weed Killer

I really like Round Up. This product is weed and grass killer. We don't have much grass in our back yard, so I spray just about everything. The Pump-n-Go container is great; just pump 25 times and you'll have enough pressure to spray for 5-10 minutes (I don't really count, I just keep pumping until the sides are bulging). The Pump-n-Go container isn't very expensive (under $20) and you can buy a gallon of Round Up liquid refill (under $15) when you run out. It's easy to carry around and use. There is a little safety latch that retracts the nozzle and an easy to press lever to release the weed killer.

This is our before picture:

It didn't kill them completely because I was using the Round Up sparingly; it was almost gone and I was trying to spray as much of the yard as I could. It also rained a couple times, so a few more weeds grew in.Here is a photo of a weed a few days after being sprayed. Last year, I waited until the rainy season was over and had SO many weeds to spray, so this season I thought I would spray them as they come in so it won't be so overwhelming when the rain stops.

Here is a photo of a section of our yard March 2009 - all the green you see are weeds I had to kill last season; not a single plant or patch of grass hiding in there. These and many more weeds were dead a few days after being sprayed.

I'm out of Round Up and plan on buying a refill jug (or two) the next time we go to Lowe's.

Hunter Ceiling Fan

I just threw the box away, so I can't remember the model number of this Hunter fan. We've had these fans installed for about 9 months now and they live up to their name and cost. They are more pricey than a cheapy Wal-Mart fan - which we own as well (its much more noisy and the light occasionally rattles). These Hunter Fans are really quiet, just like they claim to be. I love having a remote for the light and fan as well.

The only issue I have with these fans is we have a second one upstairs and they are on the same frequency. When you turn the switch on - the light comes on and not the fan. They took a little bit to get used to, meaning:

If I had the fan on light on downstairs and wanted to turn the light off upstairs it will turn both off. Or if I want to turn the fan on upstairs, but wanted to leave the light on downstairs, you have to turn the light off downstairs using the remote, then flip the switch upstairs, then push the light button on the remote to turn the light off on one and on for the other. That all probably doesn't make sense.

SO, here's the FUNNY part about these fans. I'm a really light sleeper... At night if I have the fan running while we sleep, I will hear a *click* and then see light. I open my eyes and the light is on and the fan is slowing down. WHAT??!! Why did it just shut itself off and turn the light on!??? One night it did this twice to me (only to me because Doug can sleep through it)...while trying to sleep and being really annoyed with the fan I could hear a train in the distance. Sure enough, a train went by on a 3rd occasion and guess what?? I hear *click* and the light is on again and the fan is slowing down. WAIT, WHAT?? The train runs on that frequency too??? Or it was quite a coincidence. Doug was going to change the frequency it runs on, but that requires taking the fan down from the ceiling, so we're just dealing with it and don't run them at night.

**I even tried to see if the remote would turn lights on in the neighbor's homes to make sure I wasn't crazy thinking a train was turning our fan of and light on.

I really do like these fans. And it makes for a funny train story.