Rock Glue

I didn't believe it either when I was told about it.  I went to YouTube to find out what I could. After watching several videos and hearing favorable reviews, I decided to try it.

The product is a little pricey ($34/32oz.) but, I was lucky enough to have an Amazon gift card. 

I'd also need a sprayer

(something else I'd never used)

I once again went to YouTube for instructions. After watching  an exhausting amount of videos I decided to try it.

Here's the problem .  Along the side of the house, grass had died and didn't grow back leaving a rocky  area that the yard man didn't want to weed with his weeder for fear that he'd break a window.  I was offered suggestions as to what I might do.

 Glued pea gravel was my choice. It would match the pea gravel I have in the flower bed.

The glue needs 24-48 hours to cure. Fortunately, I was able to get 24 hours without rain. The next few days were periodic rainstorms and I was afraid things might not stick.

As you will see below everything is still in place. I'd count this as a success. 

I'm waiting for lawn edging I ordered from Amazon to neaten up the edges.  (Yes, I waited until Prime Day before ordering.) According to users the glue lasted for about a year in low traffic areas. After a year they resprayed the area with the glue. 

That's it ***

 

DIY Lawn Mower Retreads

Mowing the lawn is something I find invigorating from time to time. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I've had my Wal-Mart Yard Pro since 2008. So far it has given good service. When it comes to maintenance namely, changing the tires because of tread wear, it takes some work. Work that I am not willing to pay for and something I have no idea how to do. 

Right now I have an excellent yard man who does my postage stamp of a lawn.  He fertilizes, weeds and clips the shrubs.

I would like to have it done every two weeks but, that can get into money I'd like to spend elsewhere so, he comes once a month. If I can get my mower running, I can cut in between times. Mowing the lawn has always given me a feeling of accomplishment and releases my endorphins.

I found this YouTube video to be helpful. I changed things up just a bit to fit my circumstance. Some of  the videos I viewed instructed getting an old bicycle tire, cutting the circumference and gluing it on the tire with rubber cement or silicone glue. Since the stair tread below had an adhesive backing, I chose it instead.

I bought the adhesive stair tread from Harbor Freight.

Measured and cut tread.

Following is what I meant by "my circumstance." The tutorial tells you how to retread a tire but not a BALD tire. I'm adventurous in this respect so I'm willing to experiment and see what happens. After all, it couldn't get worse.

Since the adhesive wouldn't stick, I used a heavy duty stapler.  This will hold it in place until I can get the 1/2 in. sheet metal screws.

Each stair tread is about 17 in. long and  4 inches wide.  The width of my tire was 1 1/2 inches.  You can see where I've cut it to width in  picture #  one. The length would not cover the entire circumference of the wheel so I had to cut a shorter strip to fill in the gap. If you look closely at picture # three you can see where I abutted the second piece to the first.

It's important that you join the two ends together as close as possible.

I'll be following this up with the screws and removing the staples.  I'll give you an update in a future post.

That's it***

Beads, glass, keys, trinkets????

What do you do with all of the beads, broken jewelry and other trinkets in your craft stash? This is what I did.The inspiration(below) came from Crafts by Amanda   to which I subscribed for future inspirational ideas.

Copied from Crafts by Amanda

Just about all of the "stuff" I have was given to me. Once friends and acquaintances know that you enjoy crafting from "junque" (that's the fancy spelling) you will get all kinds of goodies whether you want them or not. Below is a sample of some of those goodies.

There's broken jewelry, plastic beads, glass marbles, keys, lenses from glasses,earrings.

Those paper clips are good for keeping beads in place.

The cascades are done and ready to be attached to the pitcher. I didn't want to use my store bought jump rings so I made my own from wire I already had.

I really wanted a metal tea pot or coffee pot for the cascades to hang from. Thrift stores are not as thrifty as they once were. What I wanted cost $6.99. I bought the pitcher you see for $2.99 and also got a seniors discount since it was seniors day.

The paint was left over from a 75 cent vase I'd sprayed to look like mercury glass. 

I had to sand it a bit so that the paint would adhere.

I'm pleased with the paint job though it didn't come out with a mirrored finish. I realized afterwards that the mirrored finish would only work on glass. (Duh?)

It reminds me of a vintage milk pitcher. I sprayed a top coat of lacquer on it also. I expect it to rust and age after being out in the weather and that will only add to the character of it.

Time to put in the holes. I probably didn't have the right bit for the drill, so I made pilot holes and then finished by using a long screw, screwing it in until  I had a decent hole and then unscrewing it counter clockwise. Thank goodness for cordless drills. I didn't soften the holes so anyone touching it may get a cut. But, no one is supposed to be examining it anyway.

I have five  holes but seven bead cascades. This is where you ask me, "How do you spell lazy?"


Yes, I know the bed needs to be weeded but that's not the focus right now.

 VOILA'

I expect  the neighborhood cats to tear it down. It will have lasted for a short while.
That's it ***