Nothing ruins your garden or yard like weeds, those uninvited guests that rob your plants of space and nutrients. So murder those weeds most foul, but without harmful chemicals that can do you in, too.

Who says you need standard weeding tools to kill weeds? Here are 7 ways to kill weeds with weapons you already have around your house.

How to kill weeds

1. Newspaper: A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold it down, and cover with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old shower curtains and carpet samples: Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn gluten meal: This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar: The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It’s most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.

5. Vodka: Don’t know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but 1 ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. Doesn’t work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.

6. Soap: The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you’ve sprayed.

7. Boiling water: After you’ve made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/landscaping-gardening/how-to-get-rid-of-weeds-naturally/#ixzz1sD4CJHGk

For the record, we love Martha Stewart. She has elevated housekeeping to high art, which protects home values. Martha’s taught us the devil is in the details, and that even mundane chores can be tackled with grace, diligence, and elbow-high rubber gloves.

That said, spring is here, and cleaning is required. But who’s got the time or energy to rip apart every square inch of the house? When we saw a Martha blog that suggested cleaning our kitchen range in only 22 steps, we threw in the towel and shouted, “Get real!”

Then, we created our Anti-Martha Stewart Spring Cleaning Guide, acknowledging that top-to-bottom cleaning is a good idea, but nobody’s idea of a good time.

Except for Martha. Almost 30 years ago, when I was a cub reporter in Westport, Conn., I interviewed Martha at her Turkey Hill estate there. Then, she was a fabulous local caterer about to hit the big time with her book, “Entertaining.” She gave me a tour of her place — the Federal-style house, glorious gardens, chicken coop — and was appalled to hear I had never eaten an egg fresh from a chicken’s butt.

She straightaway gathered powder blue eggs with brown spots, walked them back to the best-appointed kitchen I’d ever seen, and whipped up the best omelet I’d ever eaten.

Lesson learned: Effort bears fruit (or eggs).

But days have only 24 hours, and work, family, and the tyranny of getting in 10,000 steps makes spring cleaning Martha-style merely a fantasy for most of us. So, we created our own get-real guide.

Our guide is all about time-savers and corner-cutters. Our advice:
Don’t scrub when a good soak will do.
Take small bites out of large tasks: If you live long enough, you’ll get it clean.
Invest in white vinegar companies, because vinegar is the one cleaner you can’t do without.
If a machine can clean it better and faster, buy it or rent it.

But seriously, Here’s a little preview of our guide.
Shower heads: A warm white vinegar bath will get rid of mineral deposits.
Windows: Use coffee filters or microfiber cloths instead of paper towels to wash windows and avoid streaks.
Patio furniture: Vacuum wicker furniture with an upholstery attachment.
Primo declutter tip: Get rid of “fat clothes” first, which make you feel bad about your body.

Hey, we’ve got a million of these. Martha, we’re sure, is shaking her head in dismay. But we’re sure our guide will help you get clean in spring and still have time to enjoy the season.

And that’s a good thing.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/blog/home-thoughts/martha-stewart-spring-cleaning/#ixzz1qtTGYD9W

I am so honored and excited to announce that Katie O’Keefe and Dream Realtors, LLC has been selected as a recipient of the 2011 5 Star Top Real Estate agents in Milwaukee Magazine! After sending a poll to all buyers and sellers who have listed and/or bought homes in the past year, Katie has come out on top! She will be listed in May’s issue of Milwaukee Magazine. Please watch for it! Thank you again for letting Dream Realtors, LLC help make your dreams come true.

Still Active?
Not Using Your License?

If you still carry a valid WI realtor’s license and are not actively employed by a broker and are looking to make some extra CASH this may be a great fit for you!

Join the Dream Realtors REFERRAL PROGRAM and we’ll pay you for your referrals!

Refer a buyer or seller and when the transaction closes get paid. It’s that easy!

If you are interested and would like details on how to earn extra CASH….
Just pick up the phone and call Katie O’Keefe at Dream Realtors (414)899-5009.

Let’s work together to make dreams come true!

For all of the excitement of choosing plumbing fixtures, cabinets, and tiles for a remodeling project, the most important decision you make won’t involve color swatches or glossy brochures. It’s the contractor you pick that makes or breaks the job. That choice will determine the quality of the craftsmanship, the timeliness of the work, and the amount of emotional and financial stress the process puts on you. To make sure you’re getting the best contractor for the job, here are five questions to ask the candidates.

1. Would you please itemize your bid?

Many contractors prefer to give you a single, bottom-line price for your project, but this puts you in the dark about what they’re charging for each aspect of the job. For example, let’s say the original plan calls for beadboard wainscot in your bathroom, but you decide not to install it after all. How much should you be credited for eliminating that work? With a single bottom-line price, you have no way to know.

On the other hand, if you get an itemized bid, it’ll show the costs for all of the various elements of the job—demolition, framing, plumbing, electrical, tile, fixtures, and so forth. That makes it easier to compare different contractors’ prices and see where the discrepancies are. If you need to cut the project costs, you can easily assess your options. Plus, an itemized bid becomes valuable documentation about the exact scope of the project, which may eliminate disputes later.

The contractor shouldn’t give you a hard time about itemizing his bid. He has to figure out his total price line by line anyway, so you’re not asking him to do more work, only to share the details. If he resists, it means he wants to withhold important information about his bid—a red flag for sure.

2. Is your bid an estimate or a fixed price?

Homeowners generally assume that the bid they’re seeing is a fixed price, but some contractors treat their proposals as estimates, meaning bills could wind up being higher in the end. If he calls it an estimate, request a fixed price bid instead. If he says he can’t offer a fixed price because there are too many unknowns about the job, then eliminate the unknowns.

“Have him open up a wall to check the structure he’s unsure about or go back to your architect and solidify the design plans,” says Tampa, Fla., attorney George Meyer, who is chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry. If you simply cannot resolve the unknowns he’s concerned about, have the project specs describe what he expects to do—and if he needs to do additional work later, you can do a change order (a written mini-bid for new work).

3. How long have you been doing business in this town?

A contractor who’s been plying his trade locally for 5 or 10 years has an established network of subcontractors and suppliers in the area and a local reputation to uphold. That makes him a safer bet than a contractor who’s either new to the business or new to the area—or who’s planning to commute to your job from 50 miles away.

You want to see a nearby address (not a PO box) on his business card—and should ask him to include one or two of his earliest clients on your list of references. This will help you verify that he hasn’t just recently hung his shingle—and will give you perspective from a homeowner who has lived with the contractor’s work for years. After all, the test of a quality job, whether it’s a bluestone patio or a family room addition, is how well it stands the test of time.

4. Who are your main suppliers?

You’ve found a few potential contractors, you’ve talked to the happy former clients on each of their reference lists, now it’s time for one additional bit of homework: talking to their primary suppliers. There’s no better reference for a tile setter, for example, than his preferred tile shop; for a general contractor than his favorite lumberyard or home center pro desk; for a plumber than the kitchen and bath showroom where he’s on a first name basis.

The proprietors of these shops know a contractor’s professional reputation, whether he has left a trail of unhappy customers in his wake, if he’s reliable about paying his bills—and whether he’s someone you’ll want to hire. The contractor should have absolutely no qualms about telling you where he gets his materials, as long as he’s an upstanding customer.

5. I’d like to meet the job foreman—can you take me to a project he’s running?

Many contractors don’t actually swing hammers. They spend their days bidding new work and managing their various jobs and workers. In some cases, the contractor you hire may not visit the jobsite every day—or may not even show himself again after you’ve signed the contract. So the job foreman—the one who’s working on your project every day—is actually the most important member of your team.

Meeting him in person and seeing a job that he’s running should give you a feel for whether he’s someone you want managing your project. Plus, it gives the general contractor an incentive to assign you one of his better crews since you’re more likely to hire him if you see his A Team. If the contractor says he’ll be running the job himself, ask whether he’ll be there every day. Again, he’ll want to give you a positive response—something you can hold him to later on.

The subtleties of how to hire a contractor

It’s not only the answers to these questions that will help you judge potential contractors—it’s the way they answer them. Were they easy to talk to and forthcoming with details or did they hem and haw and make you ask more than once? Difficulty communicating now means difficulty communicating on the job later. But clear, timely and thoughtful responses—combined with terrific references, great completed work that you’ve seen, and a smart take on your project—may mean you’ve found the right pro for your job.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/contracting/five-essential-questions-ask-before-hiring-contractor/#ixzz1kJgF5Q7x

Are you dreaming of a home like no other? Maybe one with walls made of foam? How about a spaceship? Every home buyer wants to find the perfect home, one that fits all of their personal quirks and dreams, and not everyone is hoping for four walls, a foundation, and a picket fence. We’ve identified some of the most unique homes in the world and imagined who the perfect home owners would be. Which one would you choose to live in?

Upside Down House

This charming, two-story home in Szymbark, Poland, is perfect for sailors, ship captains, and other people with strong stomachs and a solid set of sea legs. Direct entrance to the second floor and ceiling-mounted furniture and appliances offer limitless floor space.

Pod House

Want to save 100% on your energy bill and your mortgage? This egg-shaped, fully solar-powered home in Beijing has close proximity to parking and is ideal for any frugal individual who stands under 6 feet tall.

Foam House

Aspiring cave-dwellers will love this curvilinear, two-bedroom, three-bath house made of polyurethane. Set in rural Minnesota, its lack of right angles is perfect for fans of 1970s chic. Exact square footage: too hard to calculate.

Futuro Flying Saucer

For those who never felt at home on this planet but still love earthly amenities, this sci-fi home has a fireplace to keep cozy in every “room.” Use its Texas location or move it to your back yard.

Still a Traditionalist?

Did none of these fit your fancy? You can give your existing property eye-catching flair without going so far as to move into a spaceship, just as there are ways to save money on energy without living in a one-room house on a Beijing street. With a little time and elbow grease, any home can become a standout.

During the season of giving, Dream Realtors, LLC is inviting you to be a part of our team as we team up with Hunger Task Force of America to help those in need. Hunger Task Force has been feeding Milwaukee since 1974. They deliver food free of charge to over 80 local food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters. Many families receive emergency food with dignity, on the day they need it and right to the neighborhood they live in.

On Tuesday January 17th from 1-4pm we will be building emergency food boxes and sorting thousands of pounds of donated food at the Hunger Task Force Warehouse. If you would like to take part with us and volunteer please e-mail Katie, Katie@dream-realtors.com or call the office (414)899-5009. We have a limited number of spots open so please let us know as soon as possible and we will send more information your way.

We are proud to support Hunger Task Force and look forward to working together with them in their mission of providing free food to hungry families and ending hunger.

Last year the economic forecasting firm Fiserv predicted that home values would sink around 5% in 2011, and that prices in three-quarters of the nation’s major metro areas would fall. The bad news is, the firm wasn’t that far off the mark. The good news: In the coming year, Fiserv thinks 95% of the 384 metro areas it tracks will see prices rise.

Don’t expect the market to move much beyond first gear, though. The median expectation among more than 100 economists and real estate pros surveyed by MacroMarkets is that home values will inch ahead by a mere 0.25%, compared to their 2011 median forecast decline of 2.8%. They also foresee annualized gains through 2015 of just 1.1%, as the real estate market slowly works its way through a mountain of foreclosures.

Those foreclosures will continue to weigh on the market. According to Core- Logic, there are 5.4 million homes that are for sale or part of the market’s “shadow inventory” — which includes bank-owned properties, homes in the foreclosure pipeline that haven’t hit the market yet, or properties where owners are seriously behind on payments.

To put that in perspective, Freddie Mac forecasts that only 4.8 million homes will be purchased in all of 2012. A market with six months of inventory is considered healthy. That there’s more than a year’s worth of housing stock now tells you what a tough slog this will still be. “It’s analogous to a flood,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “The water is very deep in the living room, but it’s no longer getting deeper and is starting to recede.

Helping that process along will be low-interest-rate mortgages that are expected to remain cheap. Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, says the 4.2% rate on a 30-year fixed rate in late October might not last long. Still, he expects the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to stay below 5% throughout 2012.

The action plan: It will pay to think small — as in reduce your mortgage bills and focus on modest homes.

Before you take the plunge, remember that the price you pay matters, as does your ability to easily resell that home down the road.
This means it’s best to focus on smaller properties in your area near restaurants and retail. McMansions of at least 2,600 square feet, which were the ideal in the boom years, are coveted by a mere 18% of households today, according to a recent survey by Trulia. And that figure could fall even more.

A separate survey by the National Association of Home Builders found that home-construction firms expect U.S. houses to average 2,152 square feet in 2015 — down 10% from last year.

Some of this is attributable to the lingering effects of the past recession, which has eaten into housing budgets. But there’s also a permanent change at play. “Baby boomers are trading down. They don’t need the McMansion, and they don’t want to drive as much,” says Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko.

Sellers: Price it right.The trick will be to price your home correctly out of the gate.

According to a recent national survey of real estate agents, 75% of homeowners believe their house is worth more than what agents put the fair market value at, and nearly one in two homeowners still overestimate their home’s value by more than 10%.

Meanwhile, Trulia reports that about one in four homes in its database has gone through at least one price reduction, and the average price cut for those homes is 8%.

Joe Magdziarz, president of the Appraisal Institute, says you and your agent should stick with comparable sales data just within the past 90 days, as that’s what lenders expect appraisers to use.
~Money Magazine

New Berlin Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 3, 2011. 3 pm. The Prospect Lions Club, in partnership with the City of New Berlin and the Holiday Inn Express and La Quinta hotels will be sponsoring the 16th annual Christmas parade.The parade will step off at 3 pm from the intersection of Moorland Road and National Avenue. Featured in the parade will be Santa riding in a sleigh pulled by live reindeer, three wise men with live camels, a live nativity scene

West Allis Community Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 3, 2011. 4:45 pm. Dreams Come True on the Avenue…Where the Magic of Christmas Begins! Downtown West Allis, Greenfield Avenue.Between the hours of 1:30 -3:30 p.m. the businesses between 70th to 76th street will have activities for the children. Activities include: artwork of WA/WM school children, ice sculpting, music, games, visit with Santa, Veterans’ giving tree, in-store specials and surprises. Free family fun.

Main Street Memories
Saturday, December 3, 2011. 10 am to 5 pm. Kick off your Holidays with our Holiday traditions in Historic Downtown Sheboygan Falls with complimentary wagon rides, photos with Santa, pony rides, live family entertainment featuring The Magic of Bruce Hetzler, grand holiday raffle, carolers, in-store specials and complimentary treats. Wrap up the day with our Holiday Parade beginning at 4:30pm. See the colorful floats, hear the Christmas music, and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Clause will be here to greet the crowds.

Chritmas Tree Lighting
Located at the Oak Creek Community Center / City Hall
Sunday, December 4th from 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Tree Lighting and Caroling
Saturday – December 3, 5:00pm, Sussex Village Hall Front Lawn
Join in for the fun of the Christmas Tree Lighting. this event is for children of all ages. The celebration includes live musical performances by local school children, supporting musical presentation by Steve Haasch, countdown and the lighting of the tree and a visit from Santa. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served to warm your hearts and hands

Wednesday – December 14, 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Depart from the Sussex Community Center
Hop on the school bus from the Community Center to a few predetermined households that have been chosen to be the recipient of our good cheer. Each caroler will receive the words & music to some holiday favorites. After caroling we invite you to join us for an “on your own” dinner at a local restaurant.

Tree Lighting Event
Sunday, Dec. 4th, 5 – 7 p.m. at the Franklin Public Library. Christmas Caroling, Refreshments, and a Visit by Santa! Please bring non-perishable food items to support the Franklin Food Pantry

WinterDaze
Thursday, December 8, 2011. 4:30 pm – 8 pm. Holiday Parade in Downtown Menomonie! Hot cocoa and visit with Santa at the Stout Clocktower Plaza beginning at 4:30pm. Parade begins at 6:30pm. Fireworks over the lake immediately following the parade! Free. Downtown Menomonie, Main Street

Candy Cane Lane
A West Allis Tardition:
Visitors can drive or stroll through the neighborhood from 6-9 p.m. weekdays and from 5-10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from November 25 – December 26, 2011. There is no charge to visit Candy Cane Lane, but those that wish to can give neighbors a donation that will benefit the MACC Fund.
Candy Cane Lane is bound by Oklahoma Avenue on the south, Montana Avenue to the north, and 96th and 92nd Streets to the west and east.

You can slam cabinet and bedroom doors only so many times before you have to repair and replace hardware that is loose, broken, or just plain old and tired. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to tighten loose hardware, clean globs of paint off a hinge, or replace cabinet pulls to brighten any room in the house.

Repair and replace kitchen cabinet hardware

Replacing or repairing knobs and pulls on cabinets and drawers is a quick way to give your old kitchen a new look.

Cabinet hardware can be simple or ornate, and ranges from $1 a knob to $45 or more. Here’s your game plan:
Repair loose knobs and pulls by tightening holding screws, replacing stripped screws, or plugging gaps with wood filler applied with a putty knife.
Count the number of knobs or pulls you need before you head to the hardware store. Estimating will cost you time and money.
To replace pulls, which are attached to cabinets by a screw at each end, measure the distance between holes—not the length of pulls—to assure a perfect fit.
If you’re switching from a two-hole pull to a one-hole knob, choose hardware with back plates that cover door scratches and holes.

Tighten, polish, or replace door hardware

Nothing ages a room like a loose doorknob. You can tighten mortise-style doorknobs by simply tightening the setscrew on the side of the doorknob. For cylindrical doorknobs, you’ll need to take the doorknob apart.

Replace dated doorknobs with sleek door levers. For easiest installation, choose a lever handle lockset made by the same manufacturer. Prices range from $20 to $160.

Buy a commercial polish, such as Wright’s or Weiman, to make brass doorknobs shine. Warm water and a little dish soap or a homemade paste of equal parts vinegar and baking soda will scrub off dirt and make stainless steel and glass doorknobs sparkle.

Clean or replace door hinges

Telltale paint on door hinges says someone did a sloppy job. To restore hinges, try these techniques.
Wash with sudsy hot water.
Scrub with a nylon brush or a toothbrush. A wire brush could damage the finish.
Brush on paint stripper that is safe for all surfaces.
Polish with beeswax furniture polish or brass polish.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/repair-tips/repair-and-replace-door-hardware-update-rooms/#ixzz1f7FmLUf8