Restoring An Old Car - Phase 3

Now that we have the car washed and detailed, the hood buffed out and the roof recoated the car is really starting to look good.  My daughter is super excited about how much these simple fixes have improved the look of her car and will prolong the life of it too.  She is totally in love with her little flying toaster.  Plus she is learning a lot and it really gives her a sense of pride as we accomplish each one of these things.

A few days after we finished the roof she was more than ready to tackle the next project.  The headlights!

Over time these polycarbonate headlights lose their clear coat and turn yellow from the UV exposure.  Hers were very oxidized and had turned extremely yellow.  Our biggest concern was how this oxidation would diminish the headlight performance at night.

First sanding removed all of the murky yellow oxidation

I watched a boatload of YouTube videos on this very subject and determined the best method for us to use for this repair.

After the final sanding all the oxidation is gone and it's ready to coat

We used two different grits of wet/dry sandpaper to sand the headlights.  The first sanding removed all of the yellowing.  The second sanding smoothed out the first sanding and then a final sanding with some fine steel wool finished it off.

Taking time to neatly tape around the headlight for best results

We taped off the headlights and protected the front of the car with plastic.

We carefully taped plastic on to protect the car and gave the
headlights a final cleaning with rubbing alcohol

Then we cleaned them and we were ready to recoat them.

Check it out!

We gave them two coats of clear gloss, letting it dry between coats.  Then a light sanding with the fine steel wool followed by a final coat.

The total spent on this project was $4.28 for the clear coat.  The rest of the supplies we used we already had in our garage and the sandpaper we used was the same sheets we used on the roof repair so we were able to get double duty out of that.

Before

Once we were done we stood back and admired our work.  Wow!  What a difference!  My daughter said "we got rid of her cataracts".  I thought that was pretty funny.

After!
They look like new!

Such a quick and easy repair too.  I am so happy with the results and so is my daughter.  If you have foggy headlights on your car I recommend you researching this on YouTube and give it a try.  We couldn't be happier.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Loads of thriftiness this past week, hence the unusually long post.  It turned out to be a pretty busy and productive one as well.  Sunday morning I was up with the chickens again and a pretty decent sized "To Do" list.  The girls and I knocked it out fairly well over the course of the day.  Midway through our day my oldest daughter had a friend come over for a quick auto repair.  I managed to get a big item checked off our list which was to defrost our freezer in the garage and I even cleaned up that side of the garage while I was at it.

The heat has finally hit us and it feels like summer now.  We went ahead and installed the window AC units upstairs in our house Sunday afternoon.  I really do appreciate having the option to cool our house on a hot summer day.

My oldest drove over to the college she is attending to pick up a free book, coffee drink and cookie they were offering to all the incoming freshmen.  She took her friend with her and they gave her a free drink and cookie as well.

Since I still had the hedge trimmers I'd borrowed from my co-worker the girls and I went outside just before supper and quickly trimmed up our bushes in the yard along our house.  I trimmed and they cleaned up.  Took us less than 20 minutes and we were done.  I returned the hedge trimmers the next day when I went back to work.  I'm so glad I was able to borrow this tool.

Later that evening we grilled a rather large rib eye steak and some burger patties on our BBQ.  My oldest made a coleslaw and my youngest shucked and steamed some corn while I manned the grill.  We did our Sunday chores after the dishes were washed and called it a very successful day.  It felt really good to go bed exhausted and knowing we'd had such a productive weekend.

Fortunately Monday arrived and I was able to go back to work and get some rest!  After work I decided I'd earned some fun time and knocked another project off of my list which was to make a throw pillow out of a velvet shirt a friend had given me last summer.  It took no time at all and turned out super cute!

YUM!

Tuesday evening I treated the girls to the $1 movie.  We saw Hustle with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson.  We found it funny and entertaining.  Total spent for family night at the movies - $3!

I've been selling some of our extra eggs to friends this summer.  We earned enough to pay for a bag of feed which the girls picked up for me on Wednesday.  I love that our hens can be self sustaining like that.

$13! 😍

After work the girls and I grabbed an ad that came in the mail with the $10 OFF $30 Purchase coupon and headed off to Bed Bath & Beyond to shop for bedding for my oldest daughter's dorm room.  We were able to find her a comforter set on clearance for $39.99 a good mattress cover for $19.99 and a darling little waterproof shower bag for $9.99.  I used the coupon and a $50 gift card I'd earned from doing a health challenge through my work.  Total out of pocket ended up being $13.57 after tax.  I'd say we did okay!

My youngest used a $30 Amazon gift card she'd earned from the orthodontist (her prize for good brushing and no broken brackets) to purchase a new cell phone.  She had dropped her old one a few too many times.  She found one she liked on sale on Prime Day and only had to pay $6 out of pocket.  She decided to spend another $5 for a protective case for the phone, also on sale on Amazon.  She and I are very like minded in that we don't like to spend much on a cell phone, but we always manage to get a good quality one that does a decent enough job.  We just watch the sales and since neither one of us feels the need for the "latest and greatest" we can usually find an older(less than a year in most cases) phone for next to nothing.

Chorizo, scrambled eggs, queso fresco, sour cream & salsa

Thursday and Friday evenings we began the big purge of my oldest daughter's bedroom in preparation of her moving into the dorms next month.  We were able to give  a few clothing items to my youngest, sent A LOT of paper to the recycling bin and shred pile, filled up three trash bags with donations and figured out pretty much what she is taking and what is going to be stored.  As it stands she needs no new clothing or shoes and we have plenty of toiletries and school supplies on hand.  Hurray!

In between projects last week we binge watched Stranger Things on Netflix.  We really like this show and I am glad we decided to try it out.  The girls also talked me into watching Mega Mind.  I'm not a big fan of animated movies, but they seemed to really enjoy it.

I worked a fair bit of overtime last week.  I've decided I am going to use some of my overtime pay from my latest paycheck for restocking our freezer and pantry for winter.  The girl and I headed off to Albertson's (they are having an amazing sale!) Saturday morning on our bikes and with the cargo trailer for a grocery haul.  Check back on Wednesday for more details about that adventure.

I found a small hole on one of my trouser socks so I grabbed a needle and black thread and stitched it closed real quick.

We washed out several Ziploc bags to reuse.

I trimmed my bangs and my youngest's too saving us both a trip to the salon.

I dropped off a bill payment at the doctor's office on my way home from work saving me a stamp.

I stirred up another batch of foaming hand soap refill solution and refilled the dispenser we use in our upstairs bathroom.  In the past two weeks I've filled up three Bath & Body Works hand soap dispensers for mere pennies compared to replacing them at $2.95 a piece on sale.  That is a big savings!

I used up the bag of briquettes I'd bought for my daughter's graduation party.  I am also using up the partial bag of mesquite briquettes that came with the BBQ by sprinkling some in with the plain ones.  I personally think they add too strong of a flavor to the meat to use them alone so I add just a handful or two each time we grill.

Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - cleaned sink & toilet.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed & mopped floor.

Kitchen -  vacuumed & mopped floor, cleaned microwave, coffeemaker, range hood & stove.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  My oldest cleaned the bathroom.  Daily swish & swipe.

Other - three large loads of laundry, vacuumed living room, hallway & entry, mopped the entry ways.  Swept front porch & back deck.  Defrosted & cleaned the chest freezer, swept & vacuumed garage.

Sorry this post was so long.  How was your thrifty week?

An Upcycled Pillow Project

I have had this project sitting on my sewing table waiting for me since last summer!  A friend gave my girls a boat load of clothes last summer and this velvet top was in that pile.  I grabbed it knowing it would be perfect to make a throw pillow out of.  I'd even gone to Wal-Mart to pick up the travel pillow I wanted to use.  And then it sat.  Some projects just do, I'm afraid.

I trimmed it to size and pinned together with right sides together

I used 1/4" seams and left an opening at one end to stuff the pillow inside

Then I stitched the opening closed and added this vintage
rhinestone button I had in my button jar

Totally crazy too, because I was able to whip this up in no time flat.  It was super quick and easy to make and if you are at all interested in how I did it check out this post I did about four years ago when I turned a couple of my daughter's favorite sweaters into throw pillows for their rooms.

Super cute!  Don't you think?

I don't know why some projects get put on the back burner while others seem to get done right away.  But this one if finally done and I'm super happy with the end results.  One more item off the list!  That feels pretty good.

My Date With A Hedge Hog

This past Saturday I was up and out early to tackle another project.  I wanted to get at it before the heat of the day hit as we were supposed to be encroaching on the century mark temperature wise.  We'd had a bit of a thunderstorm the night before so by the time I got out there it was really muggy and humid.

This one on the end is a big fat one!

My neighbors have a HUGE row of hedges along our property line.  Over the years they have slowly been creeping their way over and are now encroaching on our driveway space.

We live on a cul de sac so on-street parking can be tricky making our driveways very necessary.  Several years ago I had put down gravel next to our driveway in order to control weeds and add on to our driveway.  It made the perfect place to park our camp trailer and my truck.

You get way too close backing out past the fat one

Parking on the gravel has been increasingly difficult.  My neighbor has the hedges trimmed every spring and this year and the year before he asked the guy to be a little more aggressive on our side and cut them back.  It never happened.  The guy just gave them a light trim and needless to say we were both very disappointed.

Not only are they overgrown, but also full of wasps and spiders.  They also stink.  If you brush up against them you smell like cat pee.  I don't know why these types of shrubs smell like that, especially in hot weather, but they do.  I've never been a fan of these things.

Three down, two to go

I borrowed a hedge trimmer from a co-worker last week and Saturday morning I got to work.  I used a tarp to collect the majority of the trimmings.  It made clean up super quick and easy.

Much closer to the property line now

I did a fair bit of trimming without going overboard as I didn't want a lot of the interior dead wood showing.  Plus I don't want to do damage and make the hedges get sick.  But I did need to cut back enough to safely park our cars without worry of getting scratches on them.  Plus it was getting really hard to get out of our vehicles once we parked.

I gained back quite a bit of space and most of the hedges are now back toward the property line.  The one at the end is the largest and most problematic.  It will need to be gradually trimmed back overtime to get it back to where I want it.

I didn't want to go much further due to the dead wood inside
This will fill back in now that it is exposed

I'll probably trim it again in the fall and next spring before his guy comes out to do them.  Hopefully we can get it closer to the property line and open up the driveway more making it safer to park and give us more space.

This one is still hogging space, but it is an improvement

By the time I got finished and put everything away I was a hot sticky mess.  I headed straight to the shower and found my bra was full of little bitty hedge trimmings.  What a messy job!

More space for my truck and I can get in and out much easier

But it is done for now and I can park much better in that space along our driveway. I still think they look nice after their big haircut.  They still stink and there isn't much I can do about that.  

Before

After - I think we can make this work

The wasps were none too happy with me either.  Oh well, can't please everybody.

Freezer Is Done!

Finally!  The chest freezer in the garage has been defrosted and cleaned!  Whoo hooooo!

See all that ice cream? 
The girls weren't eating it so I sent it all home with a friend of my oldest daughter.

I am so glad to finally have that checked off my "To Do" list.  It seemed like it took me forever to get to this point.  Holy cow!

I put the frozen food into our cooler with some ice blocks

Sunday morning I moved everything that was left inside the chest freezer into our big cooler along with some ice blocks with the exception of two turkey breasts that wouldn't fit.  Those ended up in the fridge.

This was the frost that I was most concerned with, 
See how it is starting to curl up over the edge?

This particular freezer has wheels so I unplugged it and moved it right outside onto the driveway and into the sun.  Then I lifted the lid and let nature do its thing.

The driveway is the best place to defrost a freezer, didn't take long at all!

Because I normally keep this thing stuffed to the gills there wasn't a lot of frost accumulation.  Just near the top on each side.  My big concern was how the frost was building up and wrapping itself over the edge.  I knew it wouldn't be too long before it encroached the seal and hampered my ability to properly close the lid.

While the freezer defrosted I got busy cleaning up the corner where it sits

I was anxious to get this project completed before the end of the month so I could start restocking the freezer in time for winter.  I always prefer to have a nice stockpile of meats before the cold weather hits and our heat bills go up.

That's better and Stella gave her approval as well.
She then promptly wanted back in the house.  She is not a fan of the heat.

While the freezer defrosted I got busy and cleaned up that entire side of the garage and did a little reorganizing.  It was a pretty hot day so after an hour of sitting in the driveway all the ice had loosened enough that I was able to pull it off and toss it into the yard.  I got a bucket of soapy water and a rag and thoroughly scrubbed it inside and out.  With a towel I dried it all off and it was ready to move back into place.

I washed the rack that came in the freezer along with two other plastic containers I like to use to organize the items I keep inside.  It helps me a lot so I don't "lose" items in the bottom of the freezer as well as with moving items around when I need to.

All scrubbed clean!

I plugged the freezer back in and let it run for a good hour and a half before I put the frozen food back inside.  It really feels good to have this little freezer all defrosted, clean and organized.  Now I am sufficiently ready to stock up for the winter ahead.

I am so very happy to finally have this done!

Hard to believe, as it hit 94° by noon that day, that I'm even thinking about winter.  But, I am and now I'll be working to restock this puppy.

Restoring An Old Car - Phase 2

The roof of my daughter's car was heavily oxidized and damaged by the sun.  There were a couple small spots above the windshield that had just begun to rust.  We wanted to address those rust spots right away and do something to protect the roof from further damage.  We also wanted to make it look better.

Before

After - no more rust

After taping along the upper edge of the windshield I used wet/dry sandpaper to remove the rust which was easy enough to do as it was just barely on the surface.  Once dry and clean I sprayed it with a coat of automotive primer and let that dry while we prepared the roof for the next step.

She did one half of the roof and I worked on the other

First we gave it a light sanding to remove the oxidation and smooth out the surface.  We were careful not to sand any areas outside of the roof area we were going to repair.

Smooth as a baby's bottom

Then my daughter washed the roof and we let it air dry.  It was a warm sunny day so that happened rather quickly.

I taped along the edges of the roof with painter's tape to make sure we had good clean lines.

My daughter used paper towels and acetone to do a final cleaning of the roof.

All wrapped to protect what we don't want painted

While she did that I draped and taped off the rest of her car with plastic creating a protective shroud all around the car.  I didn't want to risk any overspray.  I also moved the rest of our vehicles far away from our work area.

We opted to coat the top of the car with truck bed liner instead of going through the whole process of repainting.  The top of the car had some pretty significant gouges in it from hauling cargo along with the oxidation issue so it made sense to us to do it this way.

First coat

We did three good coats of the spray on coating, allowing it to dry in between each coat.  Not only did it do a nice job covering up the roof it will protect it now so we won't need to worry about rust becoming a problem in the future.

Shroud of plastic removed

It will also provide a much more durable layer of protection should she decide to add a roof rack later on and place cargo on top.  I think it looks pretty good too, which is every bit as important as maintaining the integrity of the car.  Kind of adds a little bit of a sporty look to it.  Total spent on three cans of bed liner and a roll of tape = $29.20 + tax.  All of the other supplies she needed I already had on hand.  That made it very affordable for us to fix the roof.

The light filtering through the trees makes it looks spotty, but it really isn't

As far as projects go this one wasn't too terribly difficult.  We took our time to make sure we got all of the prep work done that needed doing and I truly do think that makes all the difference with how well these things turn out.  Good prep work is everything.

She is looking really good!

My daughter is quite pleased with the final results.  That in itself makes it all worth it.  Now onto the next phase.