line Imperfections
Have you ever watched your mosaic grout seemingly shrink before your eyes as it hardens? Arrrrg! The grout lines are no longer flush with the tesserae and tiny pinholes mysteriously appear. This used to happen to me a lot when I mixed the grout Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren too Polo Ralph Lauren T-Shirts runny. However, since using thick, pasty grout, I've experienced much less grout shrinkage. Don't fret! It's an easy fix. Simply re grout the mosaic. It's a lot easier the second time, especially when using Ralph Lauren Polo Outlet thick, pasty grout.
If you're not crazy about the idea of going through the whole grouting process again, here's a little trick I use at the end Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren of my normal grouting process. Wear a rubber or plastic glove for protection.
Use the leftover grout if Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren it's still workable. If it's not, then mix another small batch (two tablespoons 2013 Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts of grout Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren powder are usually enough). Wearing a glove, use your index finger to scoop up a dab of grout and rub it into the imperfect area. Fill the little Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet pinholes that invariably occur, and the little gaps that you missed, and the little depressions that seem to form as the grout sets. Simply fill in those imperfections with your finger, wipe off the excess grout from your finger, and then use Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet your clean finger or a dry paper towel to carefully wipe up the excess grout without disturbing the grout line. Voila! The imperfections are fixed. Don't accept those imperfections! Go back and fill them in.
Do not use your bare hand to do this. After a while, the skin will wear away and you'll bleed all over your beautiful mosaic. Yes, you will, indeed, bleed if you spread and wipe grout long Cheap Ralph Lauren Polo enough with your bare 2013 Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts finger. It happened to me! I could see the skin wearing away on the tip of my finger, but I was stubborn, thinking I'd be done soon. A few wipes later, the last layer of skin was gone Ralph Lauren Polo Online and it bled. Now, I always wear a rubber glove to protect my skin. I don't use latex medical gloves because they're relatively expensive (about $100 for a box of 50). Instead, I use vinyl synthetic, powder-free exam gloves. I can get a box of 100 at Walmart for about Polo Ralph Lauren Online $30. That equates to about $0.30 per mosaic, which is well worth it to avoid the pain of wearing your skin down until it bleeds!
Here's a tip if you only do a few mosaics a year. When you go to the doctor for your routine visits, ask the nurse if you can have a couple of the rubber gloves from the box that's usually on Ralph Lauren Outet Online the counter in the exam room. Be polite and ask (don't steal!). I Ralph Lauren Outet Online prefer to buy the box of 100 because I like having them around for other uses. These gloves come in handy for lots of messy work, such as piling charcoal into a perfect pyramid on the grill or changing the Ralph Lauren Big Pony Polos wax ring under the toilet.
Try this trick the next time your grout your mosaic. You'll Ralph Lauren Online Sale be pleased with the results. No more grout-line depressions, no more missed pinholes, no more imperfections!
Comments
Lindsay Mannering
Considering the recent economic downturn, it may be time to give up on "it" bags. The seasonal crop of trendy bags from luxury labels like YSL, Marc Jacobs, and Balenciaga can cost upwards of $4,000 with some exclusive bags costing over $10,000. As banks start to collapse like starving runway models, should we Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren be spending half-a-house's down payment on a bag that will spend its life stuffed under our armpits and crammed with newspapers, granola bars, and half-used tubes of lip gloss? It seems to me like any old sack with a shoulder strap could be put to use instead. Now that's a mouthful. I'm talking about bags from old-timers like Pendleton and LL Bean. If your first thought is "Sweet! I have a monogrammed LL Bean backpack in my closet I've been dying to re-use!" then you're missing the point. We're not throwing away the entire Cheap Ralph Lauren Polo concept of fashion and going only for practicality, as your enthusiasm for the backpack might suggest. We're in fact trying to stay one step ahead of the trends and two steps ahead of the economy by wearing bags that have weathered a hundred years of modish whims and have remained genuine classics. It's time now that these bags get the attention they have worked so hard for since the early 1900s.
Pendleton, an Oregon-based clothing company founded by the Bishop family in 1909, began as a woolen mill that specialized in blankets and basic apparel for Southwest Native Americans. Their success led to expansions in menswear and womenswear and they now have a booming retail, internet, and catalogue business where, of course, you can buy your new fall bag. This might be an old concept for some of you out there in their, ahem, forties or so, but I guarantee it's an original idea for the goslings out there waddling about in fashion-conscious cities.
But be not afraid my little goslings, these bags are actually kind of cool in a so-out-they're-in Ralph Lauren Outet Online way, which is in my opinion, the only way. I'm definitely getting .
Pair it with some grey skinny-jeans and a solid top and viola! (Note: I'd stay away from wearing your so-in moccasins when you're rocking the Pendleton--might become a little costume-y.) Since plaid is all the rage for fall, this bag will be killer. And by killer I don't mean it will slaughter your budget or that it'll become smelly carnage you'll want to throw out with last week's Mexican leftovers. It's timeless in style, it's well made and will last for a 2013 Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts long time, and it'll look good. And take a look at for under Ralph Lauren Outet Online $200!
LL Bean has for under a $100 that's also ageless, attractive, and affordable. (I'm tempted here to call these the three "As" of fashion-finds in a fledgling economy, but I won't. But I guess I just Ralph Lauren Polo Online did. Fact checker, help me Polo Ralph Lauren Online on that.)
And believe it or not, I'm not the only one who has picked up on this un-trend. Well!
So now may be a good time to sell those old "it" bags on eBay and take a Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet trip to the nearest Coinstar--that spare change laying around could get you halfway to your new favorite fall accessory that won't break the bank.
There's a store in my neighborhood that carries designer bags WITH certificates of authenticity for under $300. I don't understand it, are they fakes, knock-offs, copies, 'tributes' or are they cheap designer bags?
In 2013 Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts a large dept. store downtown, I paid $40.00 for a Liz Claiborne and $45.00 for a Fossil.
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The point is, a bag is something that you use everyday so it should be pleasing to look at. The point is if you can't afford too many new clothes, a designer bag Ralph Lauren Polo Outlet will make up for it.
i love how an Ralph Lauren Online Sale extreme economic downturn was needed for people to recognize certain things that should have already been inherently obvious: that no one should be paying more than half ( i'm being generous with that) of their weekly salary for something that's marketed as 'in.' fashion is an Polo Ralph Lauren T-Shirts art-form, one unfortunately, that is commodified. but if we focus on the art aspect, make objects interesting because they are inherently so, not marketed as Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren such, well then i think that's Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren what it means to really make a statement. if you can find something that's durable good quality, at that, then yay!
women work hard for their money. don't let that hard work be trivialized by consumer culture. buy things because you relate to them, because you love them, because they're beautiful. not Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren because someone told you you would fit a certain socialized ideal with it. at any price.