Vacation!

I'll be soaking up some rays and digging my toes into warn sand for the next week so, posting will be postponed until I get back. Fear not, I have some great post ideas when I return next Tuesday.

See you soon! Have a great week!

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We Can Do It!

Learn about Rosie the Riveter and see the source for this pic here!

This was the image I kept in my mind as I tackled this next project. Inspired by Karen from The Art of Doing Stuff, I had to gather some gumption and a screwdriver.

You see, I have this Roomba. A Dirt Dog to be exact.

I love this little powerhouse device. It makes me feel like something is being accomplished at home, even if I’m just watching TV and stuffing my face. It vacuums my floors with the push of a button. No more effort or supervision than that is required. So, you can imagine my heartbreak when one of the wheels stopped working. It wouldn’t rotate so my little Roomba would just turn in a clockwise motion. Again and again and again. That one spot was immaculate but the rest of the place was pretty damn gross.

Sadly, I was outside of the warranty and S.O.L. on a free replacement. After reading about how Karen fixed her VCR by taking it apart and blowing on it, I decided to try the same method with my busted Roomba. What could it hurt? It’s not like breaking it any further would cost me anything more than time.

I’m good at blowing on things. Hehe. (Sorry Mom)

I got to work taking this bad boy apart. I made sure to place my screws on the floor in the same layout as the Roomba, so as not to get confused about what goes where. After removing some screws and inspecting the device, I noticed the broken wheel had a lot less grease compared to the working wheel. Using my amazing deductive skills *ahem*, I deduced that the wheel mechanisms weren’t broken, just out of oil.

Enter this common kitchen ingredient.

That’s right. Veggie oil.

I had read in a magazine somewhere eons ago (I think Real Simple) that you could use vegetable oil on squeaky door hinges. This is the same kind of thing, right? Just go with me here. Remember, the blasted thing is already broken.

I poured a little veggie oil into a spoon (so as not to dump the whole bottle by accident) and carefully put some oil on the broken wheel. I did my best to coat the wheel parts, without drowning it.

I focused on this area, in the joint. Or whatever you would call it.

Then, I put all of the screws back and let it sit for a few days. Allowing the Roomba to “marinate” for a day or two helps ensure it won’t drip oil all over your floor when you run it, because there will likely be some excess. I also recommend putting a paper towel underneath it to catch the drips. Luckily, I had mine sitting on our dining room tile so it didn’t damage anything. Oil can eat away at the finish on your hardwood floors though. Yee be warned!

After about two days, it was Judgement Day. I took a deep breath and turned it on. Lo and behold, it turned! In multiple directions! Wahoo!!!! I saved my beloved Roomba!! I now have clean floors again!! Well, mostly clean. . . .

If you have a broken Roomba, it may be for different reasons than mine. I’m no expert. I repeat, NO EXPERT. However, if you have something like this that is already broken, why not try and take it apart to see what is the problem? You might surprise yourself. Blow on it, pour a little oil on it, whatever! Although, I only recommend this if you’re already going to have to replace it. If it is still under warranty, by all means, have it fixed by an expert!

Just don’t blow yourself up or anything. I’m totally not responsible for that. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch TV and stuff my face. OOPS I MEAN vacuum my house.

What about you? Have you ever fixed a complicated electronic with vegetable oil? Ever taken on a project because you thought, why not? Let me know! I love hearing from you! I promise, I really do.

PS – Big thanks to Karen for the inspiration!

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Love Birds

Here's a simple art project but it carries so much meaning, for me anyway. I saw this post on tatertotsandjello awhile back and decided to make my own version. The original blogger was dresdencarrie.

Source here.

I thought it was cute and seemed easy enough. However, I don't have a sewing machine or a Silhouette so I improvised. I used scrapbook paper, my printer, and double stick tape instead.

I searched Google Images for "bird outline" and picked my favorite. It's the aerie symbol. If I were selling this on Etsy or something, I would make my own bird outline because I wouldn't want to commit copyright infringement. BUT. This is just for me. No harm done, right? *checking for cops over shoulder*

Source here.

I printed out the outline on regular copy paper and then cut out each bird.

I wanted to make the birds stand out a bit so I used a blue sharpie to color the outline of each bird. The trick is to draw around your image, allowing the sharpie to "bleed" a colored outline. Does that make sense? No? Well, here's a pic then.

Clearer now? I used the bird like a stencil and made sure my marker was right against my cutout.

Next, I searched through my scrapbook paper stash (for the love birds) and settled on this blue pattern.

Make sure the birds are mirror images!

Once I had all my ducks in row (ha! A pun!), I used my trusty double stick tape to attach everything to another sheet of scrapbook paper.

Oh, and I cut out a little heart too.

Ok, time to get sappy. If you're not into that, feel free to skip ahead. The reason this art spoke to me (corny, I know) is because it reminded me of Husband and myself. We're like the two blue birds. No matter how different we are from all of the other birds, he and I are the same bird. Husband understands me better than anyone else. He's my other half. He's my matching blue bird.

Ok. Sappy stuff is done. On to the final picture!!

Now, I just need a place to hang it. I'll probably keep it on my pinboard until I find a suitable frame. This project was completely free to me because I used materials I had on hand. Meaningful and free? Awesomeness!

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