DiY Recycled and Cheap Rain Barrel

Taking on the responsibility of gardening this year brought about several financial questions that Biceps and I had to discuss.

One-How can I garden with my cost being minimal while also yielding the best produce?

Two-What kind of cute garden accoutrements can a girl justify buying in order to really enjoy the gardening experience, i.e. pea green garden clogs, flowery leather gloves, etc.?

Our first experiment was making our very own and very cheap “DIY Spinning Composter”.

It took a couple of hours and a couple of bucks, and voila-rich, lovely compost. Mmmm….

 

Our next experiment was making our very own DiY Rain Barrel.
Did you know that with only ONE INCH of rain, a 1,000 sq. ft. roof will produce 600 gallons of water? What the heck! We decided to make two rain barrels for the back of our house. If I had my way, they’d be surrounding the house….
(Of course, there are many stores that sell rain barrels-but that seemed too easy. Plus the price tag of $80-$300+, made most of them outside of our “cheap” budget.)
We started off by buying a recycled pepper barrel from Atwoods for $35.

 

It came complete with a spigot…

 

…a lid that screwed on and a bonus-it’s very own peppery smell.

 

And the rest of the necessary items needed we purchased for less than $10.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own rain barrel:
Drill and drill bits
Hammer
Metal Cutting Shears
Jig Saw with wood blade
Phillips & Flathead Screwdrivers
2′ or 4′ Level
Old window screen
Hose (Buy a new one, recycle an old one)
Flex-A-Spout (Lowe’s, Atwoods, Home Depot)
(4 ish) White sheet metal screws for gutters (Lowe’s, Atwoods, Home Depot)

 

…1″ Bolts with washers and nuts (we have a coffee can full of these, but if you must purchase them, you might spend $1-2)

 

…and a Hand Saw with metal blade

 

We raised our rain barrel up 6″ in order to have gravity take control of the water flow. If you are placing your rain barrel on a slope and watering below, you can skip this step. I would recommend raising it as high as you can safely-(NOTE:1 gallon of water weighs about 8.35 lbs, so a 55 gallon barrel full of water weighs approximately 460 lbs.).

 

Level the barrel to avoid any topsy-turvy action.

 

The first step was to trace where I would cut a hole (I used my coffee can) in the lid to allow the water to flow from the downspout and into the barrel.

 

Using my jig saw, I cut out the traced circle.

 

Next, I cut out a circle of screen with my metal cutting sheers to cover the entire top of the lid. The screen will catch tree limbs, nuts, and roof debris before it enters the barrel.

 

I pre-drilled five holes around the top of the lid. This is where the bolts will go to hold down the screen.

 

I laid the cut screen on the top of the lid and pierced through the screen with a hammer and a nail, into the pre-drilled holes. This will allow the bolts to go through easily.

 

The bolts and washers came next. I pounded the bolts through the pierced and pre-drilled holes in the screen. On the underside of the lid, I tightened the bolts by adding nuts.

 

Here’s what my finished lid looked like.

 

Next, I determined where my Flex-A-Spout would need to attach to my gutters while still reaching my barrel.

 

After marking on my existing downspout where the cut would be made, I got to work with the hand saw.
To be honest, Biceps is cutting so that I can take the picture.

 

I pre-drilled through my Flex-A-Spout and into the existing downspout before adding the white sheet metal screws on all four sides, cinching the two spouts together in perfect harmony.

 

For good measure, I screwed the end of the downspout into the rain barrel lid with a 3″ exterior screw. I didn’t want it to be flopping around during a high wind and embarrassing itself.

I would recommend drilling out a large hole at the top of the barrel for overflow. I even attached a hose to this in order to feed the overflowing water into another barrel or trashcan during an intense rain.
Attach the hose to the spigot, and voila-you are done!

Now you don’t have to freak out each time you want to water your garden or fill up your bird bath. Or maybe you weren’t freaking out, but still would like to have a rain barrel.

Either way, it’s win-win.

The Master Bathroom Remodel-Part Uno

While Bicep’s was away on tour, I got a wild hair to remodel our Master Bedroom and Bathroom. We’ve never lived in one of our houses long enough to want to “remodel our remodel”. After only 3 years of living in our “Current Remodel“, it seemed a little ridiculous to remodel, but the green we chose for both the Master Bed and the Master Bath had to go.

In the beginning, we loved the green. Then I began to loathe it.

Nothing matched it. Nothing. Notice how bare this room is of any accessories? This is after 3 years of living in this house. No rugs, no paintings on the wall, no warmth.

(Sorry for the quality of the photo-this picture was taken with my phone and I forget to up the anty and pull out the fancy camera).
I taped off all the areas I knew I would slop paint on, vacuumed all cobwebs, rolled up my shirt sleeves and got to work. I chose a deep gray paint that would compliment the purple I had just painted in the adjoining Master Bedroom.

We had spent an arm and a leg “staining” our concrete. The staining process didn’t work and we aren’t sure why. The stain did take in another bathroom in our house. Just not this one. And the “stain” would stick to our feet, our shoes and our kitty cat paws anytime we would walk through the bathroom.
The stain was a pain.
It, much like the green paint color, needed to go.

Using a wall scraper, elbow grease and a few choice words, the concrete “stain” was removed.

The stain on the sink vanity and my makeup area was removed with a very technical procedure of placing packing tape on the surface of the vanity and removing the tape-along with most of the stain. I had to scrape the stubborn areas with the wall scraper, too.

Next came El Diablo-Muriatic Acid-to clean the newly scraped concrete. Diluting the acid with water, I scrubbed the floor armed with chemical safe rubber gloves and eye protection. I don’t mess about. I taped off and saran wrapped anything the acid might touch-including, don’t laugh, my shoes. Probably overkill, but again…I don’t mess about.

With the concrete clean and dry, the next phase of the remodel was to paint the vanities. And it was about to get kuh-razy.

I chose a canary yellow concrete paint-made for garage floors, porches and patios-to brighten the lives of my two vanities.

I used a foamy brush and applied four coats of the concrete paint, allowing it to dry according to what the can told me to do.

I was a little shocked at first with how bright the yellow was. However, I had a plan. I will be adding accessories to compliment the gray and yellow motif going on here. It’s all part of my master plan. I will soon post Master Bathroom Remodel-Part Deux-don’t you worry.

Maxwell and his Tongue

This is Maxwell. He is all boy. He goes 100 miles per hour, or none at all.
He may look innocent, but if you are perhaps wearing a swishy skirt while preparing dinner, he may just try to climb aforementioned swishy skirt to get to you, the chicken or whatever else has caught his interest at the moment.

He may do a drive-by “catting”, which requires his paw, your leg and a lot of speed. Or he may just decide to meow incessantly while winding his way in and out of your feet up until the point you accidentally step on his already broken tail. That is our Maxwell.

 

This is also Maxwell, but at 0 miles per hour. He fell asleep apparently mid-lick. He has no clue my shutter is snapping millimeters away from his fuzzy and slightly orange face.

 

I must have taken 15 shots of this scene, never awakening “0 m.p.h Max”. This moment in time was such a reprieve from his normal antics that I dared not awaken him.

 

Bianca, sunning herself quietly, thanked me profusely-as any cat does with a tiny flick of her tail and squinty eyes.
The house was quiet for almost five minutes.

Sesame Almond Chicken

One of my very favorite dinners I must attribute to my mother’s geniusness. She is the brain behind many of the meals I prepare for Biceps. In all seriousness, my mom pretty much wrote the book on being awesome.

Sesame Almond Chicken is so simple–both in preparation and in the ingredients needed–that anyone, even your sweet husband when you don’t feel like cooking, can make it.
Or your teenage son that’s recently been grounded for being late for his curfew (I don’t have one of these, just remembering what my brother’s used to do).
Or your friend that says, “I don’t know how to cook!” with a voice that emulates Grover from Sesame Street.

But don’t confuse this meal’s simplicity for tastelessness. The chicken is tender and moist because it’s encrusted with bread crumbs, it’s flavorful due to the slightly cooked almonds and sesame seeds and it’s just oh so stinkin’ tasty.

 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Sesame Almond Chicken:
(Serves 4-Preheat oven to 350, grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish)
4 Chicken Breast, remove any fat
1 Package of Whole Wheat or Plain Ritz crackers
1 TBsp Sesame Seeds
1 Cup of Sliced Almonds
1/2 Cup, or one stick, of melted Butter

Gently crush your crackers while they are still in the package. Don’t get too crazy, lest you burst the package and crackers go everywhere.

Measure one cup of sliced almonds.

 

Pour both the almonds and crackers in a large mixing bowl. Add the 1 TBsp of Sesame Seeds.

 

Pour the melted butter in the bowl.

 

Stir the cracker crumb mixture completely.

 

Place one breast of chicken at a time in the mixing bowl and completely cover each breast with the cracker crumb mixture.

 

I usually cover one side, place the breast in the casserole dish and then cover the other side with more cracker crumb mixture using my fingers.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until the center is no longer pink. There is no need to cover the chicken or to flip it during cooking. Just leave it alone and go read a book.
Or hug your husband. Or take your dog for a walk….come back and enjoy!