Yard Spiders

We like to decorate for the holiday's, but Mr. JCrew and I differ on how far to go. He likes to go all out! I like to keep things simple. Part of this is because I know the work that goes into those elaborate scenes.

Mr. JCrew has always wanted to decorate for Halloween. I never celebrated Halloween growing up so it was never a big to-do I was experienced with. But Mr. JCrew got excited when I said I was ready to decorate for Halloween this year. I immediately said we had to have a theme. Our theme... SPIDERS!

We plan to put up cobwebs around our porch and relatively "small" spiders hanging from the porch vine, but the big effort was going to be from our huge spiders in the yard. I found a tutorial and made three! We are on a corner lot, so the main spider is on the corner to grab your attention. Then a second spider is right in front of the house, and a third spider is at the driveway on the side of the house for those that turn the corner, down our street.

No escaping!!

I appreciated the tutorial I found because he laid out exactly what to buy. I am going to change a couple things for my list.

Supplies for 1 Spider:

• 6 – 10’ lengths of ¾ inch PVC pipe
• 8 - ¾ inch PVC caps
• 16 – ¾ inch PVC 45 degree elbows
• 8 – ¾ inch PVC 90 degree elbows
• 2 – ¾ inch PVC 4 way T connectors
• 2 – ¾ inch PVC T connectors
• PVC cement
• Black spray paint
• Bouncy Ball (head)
• Pillow (body)
• Black yard trash bag (body)
• Black duct tape (body)
• Black Zip Ties (body)

He used different parts for the body, but I didn't like how it turned out in his pictures. So, I changed it on the cuff. While in Walmart, I saw pillows and grabbed three. They would be the body. Then I grabbed bouncy balls. They would be the head. I would stick those in a yard trash bag and I'd have my spider body.


I stuck the ball in the center end of the trash bag and tied it off with a zip tie.

I then left the pillow in its protective wrap it was bought in and placed it in the trash bag and tied it off with another zip tie.

This left a tail that I taped flat onto the body.

Mr. JCrew said we could use this technique to make "bodies." :/

The tutorial I found also told you how to cut the PVC pipe into the lengths you need. Having this already planned out made things go much faster. Longest part of a project is the planning!

I cut the PVC pipe and assembled the legs and 'backbone."

 

I glued the legs together and the backbone together. NOT TO EACH OTHER! I want to be able to reuse these, so I can hang the legs and it take up less space. The legs will stay assembled and the backbone assembled while in storage.

TIP! **** I glued the 45 degree elbows to the backbone and if I could change that, I would glue the 45 degree elbows to the legs instead. Gluing the 45 degree elbows to the backbone restricts the movement of the legs. When putting the legs on, you may have to adjust positioning to find balance for the spider and the 45 degree elbow is what helps you.

I used Mister Pfitzer's tricycle to hold the backbone as I attached the legs. You definitely need something to lift the backbone up as you insert the legs.

Now, my list says 2 4-way connectors and 2 T-connectors, but that is not what is shown in the pictures or what was on the tutorial I followed. I bought the materials as the list stated, but those 4-way connectors are expensive and I really only needed 2. The T-connectors can be the ones on the end.

At first, the weight of the pillow would make the legs crumble. I had to make sure the pipes were fully inserted. The boys helped with assembly, and they said it was frustrating. You'd get one leg in and another would fall out.

Once together, I spray painted. Spray paint was much faster than exterior paint I'd have to roll on. I made sure to get the kind with Primer built in. And I didn't sand the PVC pipe before painting. The paint I got said it would adhere to plastic.

With the spider bodies, I also taped the head "up" on the body. I used the black duct tape to make a "collar" that assisted in holding the head up closer to the body. Otherwise, the head would kind of fall down.

The boys then said the spiders were missing eyes, so I took their advice on four red eyes for the spiders. Scary!

This only took one morning to do and the spiders were on display by lunch time. I was so tickled with the results! Come Halloween night, the spiders will move to be closer to the walkways so that the trick-or-treaters have to be brave!

Drip Irrigation

I fully acknowledge I am a plant lady. It’s the first idea Mr. JCrew comes up with for a gift for me. I won’t turn down a plant. You can never have too many. I love to care for plants and talk to them.

I especially love plants in pots. Containers give height to a garden and softens the structure of a porch. 

But with containers, means more attention. Because they don’t have the ground for their roots to spread in search of water, they have to be watered more often than plants in the ground.

My collection of potted plants outside kept growing. I loved the look of a mass of different sized pots. Watering became a chore. I’d refill several watering cans. 

In the window box outside of Mr. Pfitzer’s room, I left a watering can in his bathroom to use. We just took out one of the screens to access the pots. Watering through the screen did not work. 

But it was when I came home from giving birth to Mr. Pfitzer at the hospital that I knew I needed to do something to help water my plants. My short time away, the plants in the windowbox had died. I looked into getting a “Plant Sitter” but it did not work. 

The water was not leaving the reservoir and my plants were dry.

 

I then tried the plant sitter on a larger scale and bought apple juice in glass bottles (instead of buying empty glass bottles). Once we drank the apple juice, I’d fill the glass bottle with water and put a tube in it. The tubing was not long enough, but it also was just too slow.

I even tried braiding scrap fabric and stuck it in the dirt for the water to travel up and into the dirt. This also did not work.

I finally researched drip irrigation. One of my friends from church had explained how her husband hooked up a system to water her plants in her window box. It sounded so cool!

I started saving things to my Amazon Wish List. I started the planning/design process and calculating the cost of all that I would need.

I then looked at HomeDepot and saw that they carried a lot of what I needed. I bought my tubing and sprinkler heads from them.

I used many types of sprinkler heads. I had many different size pots that would be on the same system. My larger pots had two sprinkler heads in them, and the water would need to be on longer in order for them to receive enough water. But a smaller pot would be on the same amount of time as the larger one, but I could use a lower-flow sprinkler head to make sure it was not over-watered. 

The smaller pots use a drip sprinkler head. 

The larger pots use a fan sprinkler head. There are many types of fan heads.

There is one main line that runs from the faucet. But off the large tube, a smaller tube is connected that runs to the pot.

I use elbow connectors to get my large tubing to take corners.

I use T-shape connectors to split tubing to go two different directions. When the big tubing coming from the faucet reaches the ground, I have some of it go to the front porch and some of it go to the back porch.

I buried my tubing in flowerbeds. 

I tried to make it minimal what tubing was showing, but it's not bad. I have gotten use to it and don't notice the tubing.

I checked the connections of tubing and sprayed it with the flex seal stuff to seal any little holes.

The large tubing connects to the faucet using a fancy adapter.

I tried to get fancy and use a timer on my faucets, but I just couldn’t get those to work right. I’d love for it to run itself!

Right now, all I have to do is go outside; turn on two faucets; sit on the porch for ten minutes; then turn the water faucets off.

Watering is done!

Now, there is one change I wish could be made to the sprinkler heads. I wish they would rotate while spraying. They currently are stationary. The water then goes in the same spot. I’m not certain but I think water is wasted this way. I turn on my faucet for ten minutes, but within 3 minutes, I am already seeing a flood of water leaving the bottom of my pots. Once that little area where the tiny spot of water goes down, there is extra water just going right through the pot instead of reaching the spaces in between.

At first, I only had two sprinkler heads for the large pots. But like I mentioned, they don’t rotate, so some plants were not getting water. About once a week, I would take the hose out and give the pots a good watering. The drip irrigation was a time saver for in between the hose watering. I really wanted to make the drip irrigation work for me fully, so I bought more sprinkler heads and designated one sprinkler per plant. You can change the flow on the heads, so that helped. 

In my large pots out back, there are three plants per pot.

In my large pots up front, I have five plants per pot.

I was nervous to put too many heads on the line because it would impact the flow. Having one head per plant, the flow did not matter as much. But I am happy to report, adding more sprinklers, the impact to the flow was minimal.

It is a time saver and I’m so glad I did it. I turn on the faucet, sit on the porch for a couple minutes, then turn the faucet off. So easy! 

When I saw my new sprinkler controller had an option to handle drip irrigation, it got me considering connecting my drip irrigation as a new zone to my sprinkler system and letting the controller handle it! That research is ongoing and I will let you know when I tackle it!

Items I used:

bubbler

drip

thin tubing (1/4")

thick tubing (1/2")

elbow

T-joint

Tube Cutter

End Closure 

Your sprinkler head comes with a coupler attached, so you do not need to purchase those separately.

Drawer Organization

I’m definitely going through a phase of wanting to organize everything! It started with the pantry and then went to the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom.

I did not pay the cabinet maker for custom dividers in the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and I am glad I did not. When we built the house, I did not have an idea of how I was going to store things. I had a plan that was very top level and helped me decide how many drawers, but it was not detailed enough to know what I actually needed.

For the last three years, we used containers we found at the dollar store and Walmart to divide things up and keep it less like a junk drawer. This worked, but I still wasn’t happy. When I’d pull a drawer open, the organizers would shift and move around inside the drawer.

I then started researching inspiration. Something were very custom in using high-end parts, but I was not willing to spend hat much money. I then went to Lowes to see what my wood options were. I found some thin and narrow pieces of wood that I thought would be perfect. I used two different sizes. All were ¼ inch thick but some were 3” and some were 4” wide.

I started with the silverware drawer. It was my main goal to get done with the drawers.

We have two silverware drawers. One has a set of my childhood silverware and the other has my set I bought when I moved out on my own.

I then went to town with the remaining drawers.

I was most excited to tackle my baking drawer.

There was even a true junk drawer that I cleaned out/organized.

That was part of the process. I took everything out of the drawer and slowly added things back in. Somethings found new homes in other drawers and some things were thrown away or donated.

But as I laid items back in the drawer, I put it all together as a puzzle.

I didn’t stop in the kitchen. I moved to the master bathroom!

Mr. JCrew had some drawers that were a mess. Those are now cleared and he can find things!

One of my drawers had my hair ties and clips that were always tangled. They are now separated and I love it! It feels so custom!

After laying items in the drawers, I starting measuring the wood and cut the pieces. Making sure they fit, I started using wood glue and my nail gun to secure it all in place.

I’m pretty excited and am willing to show off what is in my drawers! Not ready to show what it behind my closet doors, but this is a big step! Another step in the process of making sure everything has a home!

Pantry Organization

There is nothing that excited me more than plants than organization. It comes natural to me, but Mr. JCrew views it as a super-power! I’ve come to the conclusion that my drive to organize comes from the feeling of not being able to find something. I don’t like that feeling! The pictures I have are not going to do this space justice. The next picture is my inspiration picture.

I found a lot of inspiration out there!

So, I organize things… everything! And my boys love it. I’ve trained them well. If a space is empty, they know something is missing from its home. Time to look for it! At least this is my vision. Mr. Pfitzer definitely gets it!

Now, organizing is hard if not everyone is on board. I can organize a space, but then it has to be re-organized a while later because things are not put back into place. When I am the one organizing, I know the thought process it took to make the decision on where something goes. I try to explain the thought process so that others understand and maybe will remember.

With pantry organization, it is a different type of organizing. The types of food we have always change! I recently organized the pantry, so I thought I’d share the process. I realized that the first thing I like to do with organizing is to take the item out of the box it came in and store it in something else. This helps make the pantry look unified. Instead of many different colored boxes of cereal, the containers are the same.

I also did this with oatmeal. We buy in bulk when it goes on sale and Mr. Pfitzer still eats it daily. I bought baskets to empty the instant oatmeal packets into. Looks SO MUCH BETTER than all the oatmeal boxes crammed on a shelf.

I also emptied the macaroni quick cups into a crate so I don’t have to look at the ugly box, but I can also see when I am running low.

That basket is currently at Target and is metal. I am trying to find reasons to buy more, I love them!

My first basket I did in the pantry years ago was a basket for Mr. JCrew’s popcorn. He loves popcorn, so we buy it in bulk at Costco. I didn’t like the box, but the basket makes it more presentable.

Now, the next part of organizing is grouping by category. I buy a larger basket to group items. There is a basket for nuts.

A basket for pasta/rice.

A baking basket.

An applesauce basket that Mr. Brigglesworth doesn't like to get low.

A basket for snack items that the kids are allowed to access when told they can grab a snack. Items in this basket rotate, but the kids like knowing they can pick anything in that basket after they have been told they can grab a snack. They know permission has been granted for anything in that basket.

After grouping items, I also have categories for shelves. There is a juice shelf that houses all the extra juices (for when bought in bulk). We use to buy Juicy Juicy when it went on sale and would buy 12 at a time. We needed a shelf for all of that!

There is a breakfast shelf.

The top shelves of our pantry are so high, that I have to pull out the full size ladder to access the stuff. But up on those tall shelves are items not used often. Coolers, cupcake tins, extra utensils, extra cups and extra tins. Because we buy things in bulk, I need a place to store the extra items. I keep a small quantity of disposable utensils, plates and cups on a shelf to grab in a pinch, but the bulk is stored on the top shelf.

My favorite part of the pantry is the Lazy Susan I used for the bottles. This was always my least favorite shelf in the pantry, because I could not figure out the right way to organize this. It just never looked good. I'd try to make use of the depth of the shelf, but would always have to move a container to get to the one I need. No more! This Lazy Susan was perfect (well, two Lazy Susans!).

The fridge is just as organized. I use containers in the fridge to group like items. I have a container for cheese and a container for juice boxes.

A container for bread. (We keep it in the fridge to last longer. Dave's Bread can go bad quick if it is not refrigerated!)

A container for yogurt, cottage cheese and Jell-O, and containers for carrots and grapes.

This type of organizing helps me look to see what I am low on. I either go into the pantry to the bulk storage (juice) or I put it on my grocery list. There is even a spare bin that I use as needed. It doesn’t have a defined category, but it’s there when needed. I recently used it to store the salad ingredients that came from a kit from Costco. Their salad kits usually are enough for two occasions and they supply the dressing in two packets. So, I stored the salad ingredients in the spare bin to keep them all together until the next use.

There are some things that are not on normal rotation that don't have specified storage. Pistachios were one thing we were trying and I will say, they are being added to our rotation, so I am going to get a container to store them. They will have a home here!

I will say, that I think we do a better job of eating the ingredients we have and there is less waste when the fridge and pantry are organized. People can clearly see what is available to choose from. I can say I want a piece of bread and open the bread bin to choose the type. Or I can say that I have a sweet tooth and want to bake something and go to my baking bin to choose an item. Plus, it just makes me happy knowing I can go into a room behind closed doors and not be scared of something falling on me or worse… not being able to find something!