With spring right around the corner, adding plants to your home is always a good idea. They’re a great way to brighten up any space and easy to match with any style and decor. Houseplants have incredible air purifying benefits and many varieties are known to help people with allergies – like the Marginata or Chinese Evergreen. With that in mind, I thought I’d share this beautiful yet easy DIY hanging planter from our friends at Shutterfly. Hang in your kitchen or living room for some added texture and color. You can even have your kids help decorate their own planter to hang in their room! All you need is some colorful paint, a paint brush, jute twine, scissors, a frame and your favorite potted plant to get you started.
Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Monday, 18 February 2019
Small Business Owner Hurdles and How to Overcome Them
In a survey of 1,000 small business owners, Valpak found some common themes between business owners. Out of those surveyed, 1 in 4 people considers money to be the biggest business obstacle. Secondly, the survey revealed that running a business doesn’t come easily to everyone. More women see a lack of knowledge on how to run a business as a challenge than men. For the full business hurdle survey results and actionable tips on overcoming small business challenges, check out the visual below.
Sunday, 17 February 2019
Mommy's Challenge: How To De-Clutter After Your Move To Your New House
Curl up and embroider the winter away with two great needlework books!
I Love My Dog Embroidery is a collection of 380 adorable dog-themed stitch motifs for pooch parents and their beloved fur babies, with project ideas, how-tos, and templates.
Created by embroidery artist MakikoArt and six other amazing embroidery artists, this “dog fanciful” collection of stitch motifs celebrates all things canine. With this lovely embroidery guide, you can create all manner of pups, including:
You’ll also find guidance on how to customize a motif to fit your favorite Fido, plus a gallery of project ideas for showcasing your stitches. So grab a needle and floss and take everything in your home and wardrobe from drab to double-dog fabulous!
With designs contributed by: Chloe Redfern Embroidery / Chloe Redfern How Could You? Clothing / Mia Alexi Insanitynice / Valentina Castillo Mora Miho Starling / mipomipo handmade Solipandi / Anja Lehmann Stitch People / Elizabeth Dabczynski |
The author
Oksana Kokovkina—better known to her fans as MakikoArt—is a textile artist and jewelry designer noted for her naive and whimsical animal embroidery motifs, especially her hand-stitched custom pet portrait brooches. Born in St. Petersburg, she currently lives in Vienna, Austria.
The author
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Great Movies To Give This Easter & A Chance To Win Them!
Friday, 15 February 2019
Water saving plumbing fixtures to update your bathroom with
Low-flow fixtures are mandated by certain government entities for a reason: these allow a homeowner to save water, thus resulting in significant monetary savings each month, not to mention contribute to saving the environment. There are many models of low-flow versions of toilets, taps, and shower heads, as well as aerators for taps. These models vary on the type of technology used in their creation. However, they provide just the same benefits.
More details on low-flow bathroom fixtures are highlighted below.
Low-Flow Shower Heads
A low-flow shower head is one that usually has a flow rate that is less than 2.5 GPM at a pressure of 80 psi or pounds per square inch. Newer low-flow shower heads, however, provide flow rates less than the amount mentioned above.
The following are the two basic kinds of low flow shower heads:
- Laminar-flow: This type of shower head forms water streams and provides higher temperature accuracy
- Aerating: This particular low flow shower head type mixes water and air together so that a misty kind of air spray is formed. It creates a significant amount of both moisture and steam, and thus isn’t advised in places known for humid climates.
A low-flow shower head is the perfect replacement for an older shower head that has been designed to have a 5.5 GPM flow rate.
Low-Flow Toilets
This type of toilet, as well as the newer ultra low-flow toilet, is a type of toilet designed to utilise half the water that the traditional toilet consumes. While the traditional toilet consumes 3.5 gallons each flush, the low flow type consumes an average of just 1.6 gallons each flush. This design has led to the belief that there are low-flow toilet models that can’t flush efficiently.
Fortunately, the coming of newer technologies served as remedies to these supposed problems. But that’s not all: majority now have half-flush options, suitable for the removal of liquid wastes, together with the full-flush option that’s suitable for the disposal of solid wastes.
Numerous low-flow toilets also are designed capable of reducing clog problems since they have wider drainage passages.
- Gravity-Fed Low-Flow Toilets: The said type of low-flow toilet makes use of the weight of the water to push it down. These options are cheaper and not that noisy compared to the pressure-assisted type of low flow toilet.
- Pressure-Assisted Low-Flow Toilets: The said kind of toilet usually is noisier. But on the upside, it is able to lessen water consumption by almost half unlike the above type of low-flow toilet. This particular system makes use of air pressure that’s built up in the tank to push water down.
Low-Flow Taps
Old sink taps waste lots of water, which leads to money getting tossed down the drain. As such, they need to be replaced as soon as they are found. Old taps use 2.5GPM and beyond, and that’s a lot.
As for replacement options, you have two ideas you can go with. A new tap, particularly one that uses 1.5GPM water or less, can replace the old tap. Another option, one that does not involve the complete replacement of the old tap, is the installation of an aerator. Also called a flow restrictor, an aerator may be set up on almost all taps, allowing for cheap and easy modification. Setting one up also helps you save money over the years.
The Exact Cost Benefits of Low-Flow Fixtures
As mentioned above, low-flow fixtures help in saving money since they prevent the overuse of water, especially if connected to a water tank with back-flow prevention device at home. But these fixtures cost more compared to the traditional fixtures, hence making them an investment. The thing is, because numerous building codes in different places demand that you incorporate low-flow fixtures to your home, you really will need to spend on them. Fortunately, the returns—the savings—can be quickly acquired, therefore making these fixtures a worthwhile investment.