Hide the Electric Meter

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

I finished up a project that I  have been working on for a few weeks now. I have been trying to come up with a way to cover our ugly electric meter. As soon as I put my bench over the sprinkler system, I realized that I wanted to cover that ugly electric box.  Our electric company just switched our box to digital so they don't have to come out every month to read it. They can read it from their office.  Yea! 

A picture of my cool bench.

So I did what I always do, I went to Pinterest.  I found a few things, but did not get excited about any one thing. I took  the ideas that I liked from each picture and  put them all together.   Here are my inspirations.    

    

Via

Via

I found some old fencing out back and cut it to size. Then I got all of the materials that I thought that I might need. I started out with strong glue but I decided to use nails instead. Just in case I didn't like how it turned out.  

I sanded the fence just a bit to give it a fresh look. Then I traced the star fish and the relax template. I decided to do something different with the relax template after I already traced it.

Then I took a piece of rope and nailed it around my star fish. After that, I dusted the front with some white paint and a dry paint brush.

I went back to the shed and got a single piece of fence panel for my relax template. I also got two pieces of scrap wood to attached it to my main piece.  Next, I screwed the two scrap pieces to the back of my piece of fence panel and flipped it back over.  I then traced the relax template and painted the letters white. Then I got some rope and made two square knots (with my husband's help of course!). I put the square knots on my panel using the hot glue gun. The finished panel with attached to the main piece with screws. Here is the front view.

This is what it looked like from the back.

I had to figure out how to put my new creation up without making contact with the electric meter. I needed something that would keep it in place when the wind blows. I sure didn't want it to damage the meter. 

I went back out to the shed to make some braces to attach to the wall. I found some metal things that I got from the Dollar Tree to attach the braces to my creation. I think the metal things were supposed to hold things in the shed or something.  Here is a side view of the braces. There are two at the top and one at the bottom for support.

Here she is from the front.

At last, I can sit on my swing and I don't have to see the electric meter. 

Oh Happy Day!

Recycle Relief

As I continue along my journey to simplify my life, I realize that have been struggling with my kitchen garbage. The first problem is my trash can. When something messy is put in this trash can, it gets all over the lid. The lid also allows smells to linger because it doesn’t close, it swings. 

The next problem is with my recycles. Each time I have something to recycle, I have to take it out the back door, though the pool deck, and around to the side of the house where the recycle bin is. We do not have a garage so the garbage cans are kept on the side of the house.  Sometimes when I am busy, I just stack it by the garbage can until I get a pile. I don’t like this because Bella tries to lick the can for leftovers and I am afraid she will cut her tongue.  

Bella

I have been thinking about this problem for months. I didn’t want the type that opens with your foot. They do not last with kids. While I was in the Keys for the July 4^th holiday, I found my solution. Our friend’s trash can would work perfect. I had never seen this kind before. When I saw it, I was like YES!   

 When I got home, I stood by my current trash can trying to figure out how to fit two of these trash cans in the same corner as our water cooler. After a bit of rearranging, I realized there just wasn’t enough room in that little corner.  I moved the water cooler to the opposite corner. Then all was well.   My new trash cans fit perfectly.

Next, I had to put labels on them so that I wouldn’t have to resort the trash.  I found some free labels on the internet. I copied & pasted them to my computer and just typed in my words. After they were printed out, I cut them and used packing tape to laminate them on the cheap.

  Here are my new trash cans and water cooler in their new home. 

Simplify Life One Step At A Time