GIVEAWAY: Moen Arbor Kitchen Faucet

It's time for an INCREDIBLE giveaway! I'm SO excited about this -- and I think you're going to LOVE it! ;)

Remember my new kitchen faucet I showed you this morning?  Remember all the gushing (pun intended!) I did about how much I LOVE my new faucet and how easy-peasy it was to install? (If you want to read it again, you can here)  Well get ready to grab your wrench and install your own -- because Moen wants to give YOU one too! AAAH!  Seriously -- are you guys SO excited!?!

Oh I'm just so excited for you!!  This faucet is wonderful!

Here are the details on what you can win:

WHAT:  Moen Arbor Kitchen Faucet in Chrome

(The faucet comes with the option to mount in a single hole or three hole sink and all the parts you need)

WHEN:  Until 10/5/2010 at 12:00 p.m. central time

HOW: ANY of the following ways:

1.  Become a Fan of Moen on Facebook (leave a comment that you did)

2.  Visit Moen's Website and tell me what your favorite product is in the comments

3.  Become a follower of The Hand Me Down House (and leave a comment)

4.  Twitter/Blog/Facebook about this giveaway and link back to it (leave a comment that you did)

That's FOUR ways for you to snag a new kitchen faucet of your own!  Good luck!!

Moen Arbor Kitchen Faucet

Alright, so you all know how much I want to redo our kitchen... and if you didn't know -- I want to redo my kitchen! :)

It desperately needs a cabinet makeover, new appliances and some new counter tops.  DESPERATELY needs.  While we're busy planning our makeover for a later date and time we make do with what we have.  It's not like it doesn't function -- it just needs some "prettying up".  I'm sure most of you can relate to this feeling.   

The folks at Moen must have read my mind and known I needed something pretty in my kitchen in the interim.   Perhaps someone over there saw my current kitchen faucet:

Moen was SO wonderfully kind and sent me a new AWESOME kitchen sink faucet.  It's gorgeous!  You want to see what they sent me to use and review?

GORGEOUS, right!?!  


The day I received my new faucet was a day we were going through a cable/phone/Internet transfer at our house (ugh!) and this was the absolute best "pick me up".  I waited all of two minutes before I decided I was installing it right away.  I just couldn't wait to use this lovely faucet. Seriously.


Now, some of you might know that I work for my family plumbing business.  And although this is the case, I'm no plumbing expert -- believe me!  


That being said, ANYONE can install a new faucet.  It's SO simple if you just follow the instructions.  And honestly, the hardest part is taking the old faucet out.  Ours happened to have some rusted bolts that gave me a GREAT workout trying to get them unstuck.   But, in the end I got the old faucet out without a hitch.  

Here's my faucetless sink.  A great idea when you're replacing your faucet is to give your sink a good thorough cleaning -- and be sure to clean underneath where your old faucet was.



The new one was almost TOO easy to install.  I kept thinking I was missing a step because it was such a breeze.  The instructions that Moen sent were wonderful! 


Once I had my base on I could add the faucet and run the water lines and post down underneath my sink.

Once the lines were connected and the faucet was secured to my sink, I was able to run the sprayer hose down through the faucet and connect the new sprayer head.

And do you want to know just how much I LOVE my new faucet?

A TON!


The faucet is a dream.  It has a sprayer option to do dishes and the sprayer head also swivels around, making sink and dish cleaning a piece of cake. It also has a "pause" feature that stops water while the faucet is on, which makes filling pots and coffee makers SO easy.  

At first I was a little worried about the height -- I thought maybe it would splash a lot when using the sprayer -- but it absolutely does not.  The handle is in a very convenient spot (and you can chose a right or left handle mount when you install it) and doesn't get in my way or get bumped while I'm using the faucet.

Although Moen sent me this faucet for free, my opinion is completely mine.  I honestly LOVE this new faucet of mine (so much I keep telling my hubby to leave the dishes for me to do -- it's true).

What do you guys think?  


Thanks so much to the Moen team for letting me review this faucet and for giving me something pretty for my kitchen!


And if you're my friend on Facebook, you know that I promised a really exciting giveaway for this week.......come back later today and I'll be sure to spill the beans (it may be related to this post, hint hint).  :)

Redi Shade Simple Fit Winner

Okay you lovely bloggers -- it's that time -- to announce the VERY lucky winner of the Simple Fit Redi Shade! Can you barely contain yourself?

Well first I HAVE to say another HUGE THANK YOU to the team at Redi Shade for sending me and one of you lucky gals one of their Simple Fit Redi Shades.


Alright -- I won't make you wait anymore. :)  The winner is:

 Which is:

kmogilevski said... 87

I would pick the following shade: http://redishade.com/store/rs_light_blocking_fabric_corded.html kmogilevski at gmail dot com

September 23, 2010 8:58 PM

CONGRATULATIONS, KATIE!

And I have to say -- even if you didn't WIN one -- these are SUCH awesome blinds -- I would HIGHLY recommend them to ANYONE.

Be sure to visit Redi Shade's website for their Simple Fit blinds if you are in need of any shades.

Be sure to check out the Deal of the Day

Raffia Mod Podge Vase

Well as the temps and leaves keep dropping -- it's feeling more and more like fall here.  So you know that that means.....more fall decor! :)

Remember that raffia wreath I put together a few weeks ago?  I had plenty of raffia left over for it and I wanted to use it for another project.  This time around I thought I might make a raffia vase.  

So, here's what you'll need to make your raffia vase:

- Raffia (I used multicolored)

- Mason Jar (I used pint sized)

- Mod Podge (I used the glossy kind)

- Paint Brush

- Ribbon

- Dollar Store Flowers

First I painted Mod Podge on the outside of my jar.

Now comes the messy part.  Wrap a few pieces of raffia around the the jar and Mod Podge over them.  You have to hold them down for a few seconds so the ends of the raffia don't pop back up.  You'll get your fingers really Mod Podged for this part. :)  

I continued doing this around the mason jar.  I tried to overlap the ends to help hold them in place.

Once I had the whole jar covered I let it dry overnight.  If you're in a pinch or something you can always take a hair dryer to your vase -- it will accelerate the Mod Podge drying time.  (I know it looks scary now -- but it'll turn out -- I promise!)

See, it looks MUCH better now that it's dried.  Once I had my vase I put a ribbon on top and filled it with some dollar store flowers.

VIOLA!  A cute little fall flower jar!

I just could not help snapping a picture of my new vase with some of our pretty fall trees in the background. :)

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