Burning Man Supplies

[caption id="attachment_454" align="aligncenter" width="529"] Image © Tanais Fox[/caption]

Ahhh, there's nothing quite like burning an effigy in the middle of the desert in late summer; and anyone who goes to burning man knows this. But what if you've never been? BurningMan.com kindly offers all manner of BM information, among it, a Survival Guide for beginners.

This guide is a great resource for any desert trip and ACE can help with some of the details. Lighting in the middle of BLM land is a big deal and as per the BMSG (Burning Man Survival Guide) here's what you need to know about lighting your way in the desert:

"...light yourself, your bike, your art, and your belongingsWELL, front and back. Consider a good LED headlamp, LED blinky lights, or EL wire – weak glow sticks and bracelets DON’T cut it and become instant trash and potentially MOOP." I don't know what MOOP stands for either. Some suggestions: Molecular Orbital Overlap Population; Museum of Ornamental Post; Means of Operator Protection; and the most likely in this instance - Matter Out of Place. I'm not a burner, so someone more experienced can certainly help me out here.

But I digress, ACE can help you prepare for Burning Man in all sorts of ways, from safety items to the all-encompassing duct tape, from hammers and nails for your project to non-obvious float accessories and parts. Who knew an elbow joint could have so much versatility?

-Jocelyn Broyles

Easy Photo Editing Site And Free Vintage Graphics

[caption id="attachment_441" align="aligncenter" width="394"] Image from GraphicsFairy.Blogspot.com[/caption]

For all you crafting fans out there, who love design, drawing and graphic manipulation - IN THEORY - but would rather be outside frolicking in the daisies than inside in front of the computer trying to figure out the intricacies of Photoshop, I have the answer to your prayers - okay, only the ones that involve easy photo editing via a replacement to Picnik and gorgeous, free, vintage graphics.

It all started with Pinterest (many fun ideas seem to these days) where I came across these little crustacean, cephalopod and fishy lovelies posted on NestOfPosies-blog.com. They looked so fresh and cute on that light blue wall I had to know more. Turns out I learned two wonderful bits of information while reading about how to make these guys. First of all, for those of you who remember Picnik before it was bought by Google, you will be thrilled to learn that there's another free site just like it called Ribbit. Oh yeah!

On top of that little life-saving (or probably more like time saving) tidbit, I learned about GraphicsFairy.Blogspot.com where apparently you can download all manner of gorgeous vintage graphics that you can then drop into Ribbit and transform into your own wall decorations or wherever else you might want to use old-fashioned drawings, say, for instance, everywhere.

- Jocelyn Broyles
Connect with Jocelyn on Google+

Grill Brush Substitute

Having a BBQ and can't find your grill brush? Our Sales Associate, Harley, suggests this easy solution: Crumple a sheet of aluminum foil and rub vigorously across your grill. Works great in a pinch!

Before your next BBQ, stop by your friendly neighborhood Willow Glen Ace Hardware and pick out a new BBQ grill brush from our great selection! We'll be waiting for you!"

-Paul Vezinaw, Willow Glen ACE Hardware

Costa Rican Coffee Recover

Image from Pinterest - original credit not given.

I think I was an upholsterer (upholsteress?) in my former life, except that I didn't bring with me to this life any of my past-life skills, know-how or innate ability. What I did bring was a really strong penchant for wanting to recover just about any piece of furniture I see. Mind you, it can have lovely upholstery already, and I still want to change it.

I admit to doing a fine job sometime back in the 90s, recovering some removable cushions from my Dad's dining room chairs, which has led me to believe I can reupholster _anything_. Remember that lovely antique french slipper chair I bought in May? But I digress.

I saw the coffee-sack chair and now I really do HAVE to make one (not the whole chair, just the cover part). The irony, of course is that for the 10 years I lived in CR and had access to coffee sacks on a daily basis, I did not have the same access to inexpensive used furniture; and now that I am a regular at the RWC Saint Vincent de Paul's thrift shop, I have plenty of furniture from which to choose and a dearth of Costa Rican coffee sacks.

Perhaps I can persuade a tropical traveler to bring me some home...

- Jocelyn Broyles
Connect with Jocelyn on Google+

What Not to Recycle and What to Compost

I like to think of myself as a fairly recycling-savvy and compost-savvy person. As it turns out, I learned some things from an article posted by www.SaveSFBay.org. Here is a sampling of the full article by Allison Chan:

"One thing you can do to ensure that your city’s recycling program is as effective and efficient as possible is to keep unrecyclable products – potential contaminants – out of your recycling bin.  Many products that are commonly thought of as recyclable actually are not, and putting them in your blue bin increases the chances that they will contaminate glass and other recyclable materials at the facility.

Here is a list of non-recyclable products commonly placed in recycling bins:

• Compostable plastics (usually marked “compostable” or “biodegradable”)


• Waxed cardboard and paper (milk cartons, pizza boxes, juice boxes, paper cups/plates, and many to-go boxes)


• Soiled cardboard and paper (coffee filters, greasy pizza boxes, paper cups/plates)

The good news is that many of the products above are compostable.  Be sure to ask your city if you have a composting program and if it accepts items other than yard waste."

I have a pizza box sitting in my fridge - it's full of pizza at the moment - but when I go to throw it away, I now know with confidence to toss it in the big green compost bin, which for me is a nice little bit of clarification that clears up my head-space for much more important things like, "Should I order my next pizza with extra pepperoni?"

- Jocelyn Broyles
Connect with Jocelyn on Google+

Montara Mountain Hike

Otherwise entitled: Snakes, Natural Grass and Views, Oh My!












I have taken to hiking since my move to Montara in early May. For those of you who know me, this is akin to say, your 80-year-old grandmother telling you she's going skydiving with you for your birthday. i.e. I don't hike. Or, I didn't. That was BM - Before Montara. And now, all that's left is AF - After Montara, in which I like hiking.

Having cleared that up, I have always liked snakes. So my excitement and joy over a snake in the trail (who seemed to have just had a mousy-snack) is nothing new and relatively un-newsworthy, compared with the hiking thing. On my walk back down the hill, I stopped to gather some cat-taily like grass for my new vase that was sorely lacking in something to contain.

I thought I should verbally tie all those title things together for you, lest you worry about my sanity. Which, in all fairness, you could still do.

-Jocelyn Broyles

Operation Shoebox: Donations to Our Service Men and Women Overseas

Brianna H., one of our star employees, goes above and beyond on most jobs, but this one tops the list.

She is spearheading a month-long campaign this July to collect donated items and handwritten cards to send to service men and women overseas who could really use some comforts of home.