The Riz Team Blog

Keeping your home warm doesn’t come at a high price, thanks to these easy-to-do fixes. Bring on the Heat!

Elsa Satella • This Old House magazine

On average, 10 to 25 percent of a home’s heat escapes through its windows. If you’re feeling drafts, you should consider reglazing or even replacing your windows. But if you can’t because of time—or budget—first weatherstrip, then try these other temporary fixes to help beat the chill.

Plastic Film

Applied to panes with double-sided tape and sealed using the heat from a hair dryer, this inexpensive clear shrink film can allow a room to retain as much as 55 percent of its heat. In a pinch, bubble wrap makes an effective replacement; just push the bubble side of the wrap against the glass and adhere with double-sided tape.

Shown: Duck Crystal Clear Shrink Film, about $13 for two 3-packs, My Brands.

Draft Snakes

Stop cold air from creeping through windowsills with a snake. You can buy one online, or easily make one yourself by filling a tube of fabric, like an old knee sock, with dry rice.

Shown: Window and door draft stopper, about $10, Improvements

Rigid Foam

For basement and attic windows you don’t need to see out of, cover the panes with a piece of foam board glued to ⅜-inch drywall. Cut pieces to fit snugly inside the frame, press the foam side against the glass, then simply pop out when you want to let in sunlight.

Shown: Dow ½-inch polyisocyanurate rigid foam sheathing, about $12.50 per 8-4-foot panel, Lowe’s

{Source}

Get inspired with these simple and pretty Christmas gift wrap ideas.

Photograph  Jennifer Bartoli  Style at Home Magazine

With the holidays right around the corner, we’ve put together a few fun ideas to easily update your gift wraps this year. From adding small festive treats to the top of a gift to trying new colour combinations, these simple ideas will make Christmas gift wrapping a fun holiday activity.

Add a candy cane A simple red and gold colour palette is always chic and festive but can be a little boring year after year. For an instant update, add a red and pink candy cane to each gift, tightly securing it under the ribbon.
Gift wrap courtesy of Hallmark.

A golden pine cone For smaller gifts, adding a festive item like a pine cone really transforms the look of a gift. For this project, simply spray paint a few pine cones with gold paint. Once they are completely dry, secure to the top of a wrapped gift using a glue gun.

Use a stencil Using craft paper is an inexpensive way to give a rustic feel to your presents. This project was made by using a pretty patterned stencil and lightly dabbing paint to create a fun design. We used a touch of silver and black paint to give a two-toned look. Once the paint has completely dried, add a bright ribbon and a personalized gift tag.
Tip: Depending on the size of the gift, it may be easier to apply the stencil once you have already wrapped your gift. You can then decide exactly where you want the pattern to go.

Try a new colour palette Switching up your usual Christmas colour palette is the easiest way to update you holiday style. We particularly love the silver and blue combination: it’s still festive, but has an understated, sophisticated feel. For this look, we paired silver wrapping paper adorned with blue, white and maroon snowflakes and used a thick fabric ribbon tied in a simple knot.

Make it personal If you don’t have a set of gift tags on hand, adding the name of the recipient of your gift directly on the paper can look lovely too. For this project, use matte wrapping paper making sure that paint will adhere to the paper. We used craft paper with a simple thick black ribbon. Using an alphabet stencil, simply dab coloured paint to spell a name.
Tip: Try to tightly secure the stencil while you are using so that letters do not smudge.If you’re not used to using stencils, practice on a scrap piece of wrapping paper before printing a name on an already wrapped gift.

{Source}