A DIY Way to Renovate Your Old Bicycle

Renovating an old bicycle is a perfect DIY project. It is useful, it saves money and it is as fun as it gets. The entire bicycle is mechanic with no electrical parts which means that it can easily be tackled by a layperson. If you are interested in refurbishing your old bicycle, here is what you can do.

How much work will it require?

Start your renovation process by assessing the damage done to the bicycle over the years. A good thing about a bicycle is that you can easily put it apart. When you start renovating, it is very helpful to make sure that at least the frame is still in a good shape. Otherwise, this project is not a renovation, but assembling a whole new bike. If you are purposely purchasing a vintage bike, check the frame first and make sure that it is not broken, and if possible, not too corroded. However, even with some cracks, it is still not the end of the world. What you will surely need are new tubes and tires, as well as a comfortable seat. As with many other projects, it won’t hurt you to put together a list of all parts you will need to replace. Check bicycle stores for prices. Alternatively, you can visit auctions, landfills, flea markets or any other place you know which sell old bicycles. The alternatives to a modern store are particularly useful if you have a vintage bike to repair as you may find parts that resemble the original ones.

Gather the tools and materials

Gather everything before you start so you do not have to interrupt the process because you are missing something. You will need several sizes of wrenches and sockets so it doesn’t hurt if you have a set. You never know the exact size of the screws you will come across. You will also need a pipe wrench and some screwdrivers, pliers, angle grinder and tire levers. The prep for the paint job will require Brass wire brush and some sandpaper. Once that is done you will need a paint primer, some spray paint, and a clear coat. WD-40 is your best friend when repairing anything old and mechanical. You need a solvent to clean the small parts, as well as several different containers to soak them in. The last two items on this list are the new parts you are going to use and a bike pump.

Start disassembling

The greatest challenge of disassembling must be assembling. Try to think while you set the bicycle apart and figure out the mechanics behind each of them. This will help you remember how to assemble them and target any issues that may occur once the bike is ready. If you find it difficult, it does not hurt to take pictures of the original state so you know what goes where once you are done. To avoid damaging the bicycle or your tools, soak any stubborn parts with WD-40 and wait for it to become looser. Take the parts one by one, and make sure you sort them into “piles” so you do not lose or mix up any tiny parts such as screws. 

A fresh coat of paint

Once your frame is loose of all extra parts, it is time to start prepping it. Start by stripping it of old paint. You can send it, use sandpaper or chemicals designed for this purpose, or the grinder which is probably the quickest way but it also requires the most skill. You should do the same for the chain guard if you have one, crank, fenders, handlebars and wheels that is if there is paint to remove. Use the brush to get the rust off. If you decide not to paint some of these parts, coat them in clear coat to prevent further corrosion. Those that you will paint, first coat with primer. Read the instructions provided to get this part of the job done well as it will ensure you get a good base for the paint and consequently a durable paint job. The paint should be applied as equally as possible. Be patient and apply several thin coats to avoid dripping. Leva it all to dry and once you are sure you are done, clear coat it to get a nice finish and protect the paint.

Put it together again

Remember that when deciding on the parts, you will have a variety of products within a great price range. Purchase whatever you think is the best for your bicycle and your pocket. Make sure that everything is clean, nice, and dry at this point. Start with the seat and the handlebars and place the bike upside down. This will make it easier to work with. Grease up the bearings and put them back along with the crank and move onto adding the kickstand, fenders and the chain. Once you install the tires on the wheels and inflate them, add them to the frame. Set up and tighten the chain and reattach the breaks. Reattach the pedals, though it may be somewhat easier if you turn the bike around and place it upright.

Accessories and gadgets

We are so lucky that this industry is also following the modern trends of producing a variety of gadgets and accessories. I was about to say that these were unessential items, however, a bell, reflectors and a light are a must. You can search the web for these, e.g., find a website of a lighting wholesale company and see where they deliver that is local to you so you can buy the headlight and the taillight you prefer and which match the style of your bicycle. There are plenty of gadgets available including phone stands and devices able to control your phone and read your messages for you, radios etc.

Once you are done, you will get an amazing feeling of accomplishment! Don’t forget to inspect and test-ride your bicycle before you set off on a longer trip. A second test-ride may also be a good idea, give it about 5-10 km to see whether any parts will start coming off. If everything is still in its place, you are good to go on your new bicycle.

Move Like a Pro With These Moving Hacks

While moving into a new home can be an exciting experience, the actual "moving" part can be a drag. While many people hire professional movers they can get expensive and can require a lot of oversight.

What if you knew their tips and trick of the trade yourself?

These moving hacks from our friends at Simply Self Storage will help you move like a pro. They cover 50 of the best moving tips, tricks and hacks to help you pack and move efficiently. Here are some of the best ones:

Moving Tips for Your Kitchen

Use plastic wrap to keep utensils in their organizer. It makes unpacking super fast!

Fill a pot with spices when you are packing. It saves space and makes it easier to transport them.

Wrap your stemware and glasses in clean socks to keep them from cracking.

Moving Tips for Your Bedroom

Use wine box dividers to keep shoes organized while moving!

Slide clothing on hangers directly into garbage bags, then secure them with the ties. It will keep them together and you can simply rehang them in the new house!

Stuff small items in your shoes instead of having them loose in boxes.

Moving Hacks for Your Living Room

Pipe insulation can be used to protect the edge of large picture or mirror frames. Pool noodles are another great way!

Wrap a rubber band around the end of a hammer to prevent scuffing the wall when removing nails.

Keep pesky cords from tangling with toilet paper rolls. Label them and arrange them by room for ultimate organization.

Moving Tips for Your Bathroom

Put your earrings, necklaces and bracelets in egg cartons so that they don’t tangle.

Keep bottles of liquid from leaking by opening them, putting a piece of saran wrap over the opening, then screwing the cap back on. You can also do this while traveling!

Use a binder clip as a blade guard on razors to avoid unwanted cuts while unpacking.

Moving Hacks for Your Home Office

Pack smaller things around heavier items to fill the empty space in boxes.

Pack books or other heavy items in suitcases with wheels for easy mobility.

Put your important documents in plastic bags to keep them safe.

Happy moving!

Starting a small business? What you should know!

I began a new business venture recently and I have learned some new tricks and hints that I figured I should share. There are a million and one different sites that will take you through the entire cycle of the "legal stuff" that is super boring but very necessary for starting your new venture. But what about the stuff they don't tell you? Like market research, pricing, budget, gaining clients, etc. I have found some fun techniques that will save you time and money when getting started.

Research

I have a sweet tooth like you would not believe. I have been a sugar addict ever since I could talk and it has followed me straight through to adulthood. So why is this important? Because I researched how big the market is for other sugar addicts and it is phenomenal. People love sweets and treats and they make people happy! I researched how much is spent each year on confections and how much people enjoy hosting parties with unique treats and tasty favors and once again the numbers were outstanding. So do your research on whatever business your trying to get into to see if it will pan out first.

My new business:

Budget & Pricing

When you get started price out how much things are going to cost before you will see a return. Figure out what types of materials, equipment, and labour is needed and make sure it is not an impossible dream. For my venture all I needed was high quality cookware, raw materials, and lots of time. Then you need to calculate what your time is worth but sadly you won't amount to much in the beginning.

Clients

The best way to gain new clients is to do work for free. Show people what you can do and they will share your talents with their friends. You can't walk down the street and tell people your an amazing painter if they have never heard of you or seen your work. Same goes for any type of business, so throw yourself out there and give it your all.

Advertising

There are tons of ways to advertise a business these days. My favorites are my blog, Facebook, Instagram, and word of mouth. You can also use car decals, yard signs, banner ads online, and your local newspaper sites and print. Another great way to advertise is to host a giveaway on Facebook or your website for some of your products or services. People then share your business to gain entries and get to try it as well which gains word of mouth.

The Educational Benefits Of Hatching Ducks

Many teachers are bringing incubators into the classroom to give the children they teach an excellent hands-on educational opportunity. Taking care of an egg all the way through the hatching and early life of the duck is a wonderful way to learn important life skills and natural science. Of course, it is also very fun! Learning about the different changes a baby animal goes through and being able to see it happen is quite amazing.

Children learn about:

• Lifecycles
• Nutrition
• Circulatory system
• Data measurement, collection, and analysis
• Biological Concepts
• Develop a deeper understanding of the life sciences 

I have been doing duck hatches with my daycare for over 5 years now and each year we learn something new. We get to bond with these adorable animals and then they get to go and live long happy lives at local farms. The duck breed I hatch is called a Welsh Harlequin. To learn more and to see our ducklings check out our Facebook page!

Did you know that you can see the embryo change within the shell by shining a candler or flashlight through the egg? This is called candling.

 

Did you know you can see the duckling moving within the shell when it is candled?

Did you know that you can hear them chirping right before they break through the shell?

Tips to help protect your home on social media this March Break

With March Break around the corner, Weiser is sharing six easy tips to protect yourself and your home on social media.

“Social media has almost completely erased any notion of privacy. This March Break, when folks go on vacation, it will not only be the five people in their office who know about it – it’s their entire Twitter following.” says Steve Kolobaric of Weiser, one of Canada’s most trusted lockset manufacturers. “People often forget that a simple status update about their trip can act as a feeding frenzy for thieves, and can actually create a vulnerable and dangerous situation for their home, belongings, and also any family that they may leave behind.”

Check out these simple tips for protecting your home on social media this March Break:

1.     Don’t update any statuses or tweet the dates that you are going to be away. Also, be sure to utilize the privacy settings on social media sites to ensure that strangers don’t see anything you don't intend for them to see.

2.     Be careful when using the “check-in” feature on Facebook or tweeting about where you are, and be weary of apps that share your location to others. The new generation of apps broadcast your location at all times to friends -- and in many cases to people you don't even know. Unlike the previous generations of applications that required you to check in to a venue, these apps are persistent unless you pause them or turn them off.

3.     Don’t post about how frustrated you are because your back door doesn’t shut properly, or about how you’re getting new windows installed next week. Snaps, Vines and other videos taken inside your house can also give potential burglars an idea of your home’s layout and possible entry points. 

4.     Don’t Snap or Instagram photos of the new 4K TV in your living room or the vintage Harley Davidson in your garage. If you really want to show your followers your fancy new gadget or gift, make sure your front and back doors are locked when you leave your house. Its important that both front and back doors have a lockset that has a working deadbolt lock as most burglaries happen through an unlocked door!

5.     Be careful to monitor what your children are posting i.e.: “Parents gone all week! House to myself for all of March Break!”.

6.     DO post updates or tweet about the great new security system or lockset that you just had installed.

For more information on home security, please visit www.weiserlock.com.

Win $10,000 on Monday playing Swag IQ!

On Monday, February 26th, Swagbucks is putting up over $10,000 that you can win playing fun trivia games! SwagIQ (available for iPhone and. Android) is a live, multiplayer trivia game show you play from your phone!

Each weekday, Swag IQ broadcasts a live game. Simply tune-in at the appointed time by launching the SwagIQ app and log-in with your Swagbucks account credentials. If you don't have a Swagbucks account, you can sign up for one here and then download the app!

In celebration of Swagbucks's 10th Birthday, they're going to broadcast 4 shows throughout the day and give away at least $10,000! It will likely be more since the more people who sign-up via SwagIQ prior to each game, the bigger the grand prize! 

1st Game Show: 1:00 PM Eastern Time/10:00 AM Pacific Time. Grand Prize: at least $1500. 
2nd Game Show: 4:00 PM Eastern Time/1:00 PM Pacific Time. Grand Prize: at least $2000. 
3rd Game Show: 7:00 PM Eastern Time/4:00 PM Pacific Time. Grand Prize: at least $2500 
4th Game Show: 10:00 PM Eastern Time/7:00 PM Pacific Time. Grand Prize: at least $4000 

To play SwagIQ, download the app to your iPhone and Android today.

It's really easy to play, too:
The game show host will ask a series of multiple-choice trivia questions. You’ll have 10 seconds to answer each one. Get it right; you get SB and move on. Answer them all correctly and you can win a grand prize! If more than one player wins, the winners split the grand prize.  

Get it wrong; still play along. Some questions have a bonus SB award attached to them. If you answer those questions correctly, you get those SB, even if you’re out of the running for the big money. And, if you’re in a groove but miss a question, you’ll have the option to rejoin a game by redeeming a few SB.  When you get to the end of the game, you can claim all of the SB that you've earned.

You can use all the SB points you earn playing SwagIQ to get PayPal cash or gift cards to places like Amazon, Target, Starbucks, and more!

Kitchen queens: simple tips for moms to master the home’s most important room

It may seem like a big statement to suggest that the kitchen is the most significant room in your home. But it is a place where you prepare (and potentially eat) meals, complete various cleaning duties, and generally spend many hours. Furthermore, it’s one of the few spaces that will be utilized by every member of the household.   

 

As such, a happy kitchen provides the foundations for a happy home. Consequently, getting more out of this crucial part of the home should be top of your homemaking agenda for the weeks and months ahead. Here’s how to become queen of the kitchen with minimal fuss.

Credit:

 

Safety First

 

Safety should be the priority in all parts of the home. However, this is especially pertinent in the modern kitchen as it is a room that holds many potential dangers. First and foremost, you need to install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms. Frankly, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this could potentially be a matter of life and death.

 

Parents will also want to childproof the kitchen. Simply telling them not to touch the oven or knives isn’t enough. Turning stoves off at the mains is a great habit to adopt while keeping sharp objects, medicines, and cleaning materials out of reach is also key. A safe kitchen is a far happier kitchen. For the sake of peace of mind alone, this is one aspect where no stone can be left unturned.

 

Invest In Gadgets

 

In truth, the majority of gadgets used in other parts of the home serve very little purpose. With regards to the kitchen, though, they can transform everything. From saving valuable time to enjoying the best quality food, the incentives to make those investments are huge. Even if your budget only allows you to make those upgrades one gadget at a time, you will see a big impact.

 

Check out Eurohome appliances for a wide range of items ready to improve your cooking and cleaning duties. From the morning coffee to the evening meal and dish cleaning, those simple upgrades won’t just improve the kitchen. They will inevitably improve your entire lives too. In many cases, those tools can additionally reduce the running costs.   

 

Focus On Efficiency

 

We live in an era where green living is a very hot topic. The kitchen is one place where you can make a huge difference by making investments built for a more efficient lifestyle. Once again, those kitchen appliances like dishwashers and cooking materials can be very useful. Then again, adapting your habits relating to food storage and water usage are where you can see the biggest change. Financially, you’ll see a noticeable difference in no time.

 

On a separate note, growing some herbs by the window is a great way to reduce ongoing food bills while ensuring you don’t run out of key ingredients. This is also the perfect way to encourage the kids to embrace their green fingers before moving them onto outdoors gardening tasks. Once they make this transition, getting them interested in nature and nutrition is easy.

Credit:

 

Brighten Up The Mood

 

Even with time-saving gadgets, you’ll naturally spend many hours in the kitchen. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that the surroundings leave you smiling. Increasing the natural lighting can be a little more difficult than in some rooms, but it largely depends on the layout. If the kitchen leads out to the garden, patio doors or a glass roof can work wonders. Meanwhile, HGTV can help you discover the best color scheme for the room. This is a huge step for smaller spaces.

 

Adding a little personality to the room through quirky and sentimental ornaments is a great option. Likewise, the refrigeration door can become a canvas for family photos, child drawings and achievements. Those simple gestures go a long way to creating a happier environment and when you love the room you’re in, you’ll actively want to spend more time there.

 

Embrace The Space

 

Storage is a word that no parent ever forgets, and the kitchen is one place where it’s an endless battle. Things do become easier when you have a larger space to work with, but even those with limited room can make it work. Simply designing the layout of the drawers

in an efficient manner can make things look a lot different. Meanwhile, under-shelf baskets are great additions.

 

When you have a bigger kitchen, adding an island can completely transform the appearance and feel of the room. Alternatively, going open plan with the dining room may be an option for some families to consider. Either way, the need for space will feel even greater as the kids grow bigger. There are many online guides available for little tricks like making a DIY pegboard. Use them to your advantage, and you will not regret it.

 

Increase Your Repertoire

 

Building the perfect surroundings is one thing. But no mom should overlook the importance of nutritious and delicious meals. Getting kids to eat healthily isn’t always easy, which is why you need an eclectic selection of dishes. Fish is proven to be one source of protein that is very beneficial for kids. With a little research into child-friendly recipes, you’ll see great results in no time.

 

Aside from getting children (and adults) to eat the right foods, cooking can become a fun activity. Creating pizzas or baking cakes can be a fun activity to bring parents and kids together. Meanwhile, you can use games as a great way to monitor their development. Given that this will tick virtually all the boxes on the parenting agenda, your place as queen of the kitchen will be assured.

 

Credit:

The Final Word

 

A winning kitchen goes a long way to creating the perfect home environment, and every mom should consider it to be a priority. Apart from the improvements to this room, it‘ll create more time for you to enjoy other parts of the home with your nearest and dearest. And that’s when a mom’s dreams really do come true.