Compost Bin from Pallets

So our house used to actually be a landscaping business. That means we have a ton of random trash in our backyard, but some of that trash is helpful. For example, when you want to build a compost bin but you don't want to spend money because you're broke right after moving and buying unexpected appliances and expensive paint. Hypothetically speaking here of course. Haha.

Jake's mom suggested we make a compost bin out of some of the many rotting pallets we have lying around. So Jake gathered up 4 of the less rotten ones and screwed them together. Super easy. Then (per some research we have done) we gathered up some dead branches/rotting logs we had lying around and threw them in there along with newspapers we had accumulated from packing fragile things with our move, random leaves, and the kitchen compost.

Now, let me say a word about kitchen compost. This is the Hippie Homestead after all. We ARE going to recycle, and part of that includes your food leftovers. So I bought this exciting little treasure at Target for $29.99 and it now abides on my kitchen counter. "GROSS!" you may say. Well, no. I do line it with a plastic bag (which immediately hits the trash can once emptied), and the lid has a charcoal lining so you can't smell ANYTHING...until you open it up to dump stuff inside of course. All that to say, I highly recommend this product. You could find it at World Market or probably Bed Bath and Beyond (and use a 20% off coupon) but I just picked mine up while at Target.
Here's the link:
http://www.target.com/p/natural-home-1-3-gallon-stainless-steel-compost-bin-with-filter-silver/-/A-14494018#prodSlot=medium_1_5&term=compost

Happy Composting!

Our beautiful and crazy backyard.

He's pretty handsome I think. =)

Sorting through to find useable pallets.

Standing them up and screwing them together.

First layer—branches/logs/newspaper

Gathering leaves

How to Patch Ceiling Holes

When we bought the house, it came with 2 holes in the ceilings—one in the living room where someone had stepped through it while in the attic, and one in the master bedroom where there was a pipe for a wood-burning stove. Both were pretty large and couldn't be ignored. This past week, Jake and our friend, Matt worked on getting those fixed up.

Patching drywall:
Cut out a squared-off section that includes all the damaged area.
Cut a piece of drywall to fit.
Add wood supports to hold the new piece of drywall.
Put in the new piece of drywall and anchor it to the supports with drywall screws.
Tape and mud it.
Sand.
Paint.

Patching bead-board:
Square off the hole.
Cut out bead-board to fit the hole.
Add wood supports.
Nail the new bead-board to the supports.
Paint.

Not as bad as it sounds is it?

Before in the Living Room

Squaring it off

They both make funny faces.

Squaring it off in the master bedroom.

Cutting the Bead-board

Adding supports

It fits!

And sometimes there are casualties along the way.

Moving Day!

Today was the day. We finally moved into our new home. Even though it was rainy, the rain held off during the times that we were moving the bulk of our stuff from the apartment to the truck, and the truck to the apartment.
This is our home.
That excites me and Jake a whole lot.
We had some fabulous friends come and help us a whole lot. Without them, we couldn't have done this move. Also, my mom came and cleaned our whole apartment after we moved out. So thankful for her. And then to add a cherry to the top of this special day, my dad went out and bought and then installed a dishwasher for us. I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. A lot.

P.S. Yes, we have done some painting, but I'm thinking I'm just going to do one really long post on all the painting stuff. Can't wait to show you all that!

Our moving crew—Ashley, Joshua, Lauren, me, Jake, and Matthew

Jake explaining something. Lauren's face is the best. Haha.

My wonderful parents

Yard Work

The weather was so beautiful today! This morning, I was doing a show for my upcycling company, so I wasn't there for the vast majority of the work that Mom2, Dad2, Jacob, and my dad put in this morning. They tore down the ugly fence by the house, pulled apart all the potted plants (saved the few live ones) that had been behind the fence (the house used to be a landscaping company), picked up a whole lot of trash, installed a back porch light, and tuned up the AC system. Also, my dad started mowing our front yard and our new neighbor came over and offered to use his riding lawn mower and do it for us....what a blessing!! My dad ended up doing a whole lot of weed-eating though.

Another blessing God showed us recently—Jacob had always wanted a Japanese maple in our yard. When we bought the house, we had no idea what the tree next to the house was. As you can see in the before picture, it looked dead. Well, just in the past week or 2 it suddenly sprouted its leaves to show us that it's a Japanese maple. God is just too good.

Also, Jake's parents wanted to bring us a present only they could give us. Since they own a tree farm, a tree was appropriate. They brought a weeping willow, not knowing that I'd always wanted one since I was a little girl. So thankful.

Our beautiful front yard

Lots of trash picked up

Fencing taken down

Before and after fencing

The only live plants left standing.

Planting the maple we found.

Weeping willow present from Jake's parents

Planting a Crape Myrtle we found.

Planting the willow

Fixing some plumbing

New back porch light

Helpful in-laws

The In-Laws Come to Town

Some of you may think this post is off to a bad start with that title. But this is not true in my case. Jake's parents drove down from Ohio for a few days just to help us fix up some things in our house. And then my dad took off work today to help as well. Could I have a better family? I think not.

Here are some of the things that our parents have done today and yesterday:
-Traced down wiring
-Powered up outlet branches
-Brought electrical up to code (almost...) ;)
-Got all the lights and fans working in the house
-Scrubbed tile floors
-Installed programmable thermostat
-Washed and scrubbed down the front of the house/porch area
-New fridge installed (stove was put in a couple weeks ago)

And guess what? We are having another work day tomorrow! So I will hopefully be posting again soon. And if the rain holds off, it will be more of an outdoor work day.

It was hard to get pictures of the extremely hard work that our dads did with all the electrical stuff, but I have a couple just to give a taste. And please, enjoy those lovely before/after shots of all the cleaning Mom2 did!

The dads hard at work.

My new stove!!

In case you can't tell, the new fridge is DRASTICALLY bigger and I love it!!

My dad figured out a set up for our meals using some furniture I'd found on Craigslist and a thrift store plus a door found in the attic and some sawhorses.
(There will be a future post on re-upholstering these beautiful chairs.)

Tools of the trade.