Chalk it up- DIY Chalkboard

Do your kids come and ask you 30 times a day "What's for dinner?" I got so tired of answering, the same question, that I decided to make a cute and easy little chalkboard.

I picked up an old cupboard door at ReStore for under $2. I painted the outside green and the inside with chalkboard paint (can be found at your craft store, or in spray paint form at your hardware store). There was already one hole in the door for a knob pull, but I decided to drill a second hole and use to vintage reproduction knobs I had to make apron hangers. I love having my aprons in plain view, they are cute and now I don't forget to put them on. The board is hung with the biggest 3M wall hangers I could find. Once I was done, I decided that my chalkboard was looking just a little too plain... it needed some cute writing on it. Obviously, I've seen the vinyl letter rage that is everywhere, but I hadn't yet participated in vinyl lettering in any way. I knew that vinyl letters were exactly what this project was needing.

It was Holli's Hobbies to the rescue. I sent Holli an email telling her about my project and giving her a rough idea of what I was looking for. She was absolutely wonderful to work with. Holli made suggestions, interpreted my mish-mash of thoughts and created the EXACT signage I was dreaming of. Her prices were incredibly reasonable and she was fast... both at responding and delivering. I couldn't be more happy with my letters. I love how it turned out so much I may be hooked on Vinyl letters.

My entire custom board cost about $10 and my son thinks that having "what's for dinner?" up there for him to check anytime he wants is one of the best ideas I've ever had.

Favorite Things Friday- Veggie Peeler

I. don't normally pay a bit of attention to name brands. Usually, if it isn't on my Wal-Mart shelf, I don't even know about it. I tend to steer toward the cheapest price and sometimes skimp on quality in the process. But there are a few key things that experience has taught me are a priority and I am willing to spend a little more. Sometimes, I accidentally cross paths with an item of superior quality and then it is like angels singing in my ear and I can't live without them. That's what happened about 15 years ago when I first used a Pampered Chef Veggie Peeler. I fell in love!
Even though I was not yet married and still lived in an apartment full of roommates, I bought myself one of those peelers. I hid it from my roommates and pulled it out only when I was in the kitchen cooking. I have had that very same peeler all this time. It has not rusted or dulled one bit in almost 15 years. I love it as much now as I did when I first splurged on it. My peeler has seen me through pounds and pounds of carrots and potatoes and on occasion a cucumber or two.

Now, the irony of this is that when I went to write this post I visited the Pampered Chef web site to borrow a photo of their peeler and it was only then that I realized that these fantastic peelers aren't expensive at all! In fact, you can buy a new one for $6.50. That is a bargain! With the added cost appeal, the Pampered Chef Vegetable Peeler qualifies as a Favorite Thing, now even more than I previously believed. 

How to remove sticker adhesive

You know those ugly, pain-in-the-hiney stickers that manufacturers like to put on everything we buy? I hate them. But I now know how to keep them from making me go absolutely batty. If you scrape the sticker off as much as you can and then smear a thin coat of peanut butter on it, you can solve the sticky problem. Just let the peanut butter sit for about ten minutes then wash off with soap and water. That's it! No more yucky adhesive to make you want to scream for mercy. This also works for removing labels from jars.

Ocean Birthday

Birthday time again! This time the request was an ocean birthday... lots of fish and sea shells. This party is for our daughter who probably should have been born a fish. She loves swimming, shells and mermaids. I was really excited about this birthday theme.

I was hoping to make a sandcastle cake, but the birthday girl really wanted cupcakes. So, I made chocolate cupcakes, frosted them with vanilla frosting and dusted them with graham cracker "sand." Then I added a picture of a sandcastle and some chocolate fish and sea shells. The picture is simply taped to a drinking straw and poked into one of the cupcakes.

We bought baskets of shells from the dollar tree and hung them on the walls, from the ceiling and scattered them around the table and the window sill.

I bought a deck of "Go Fish" cards at the dollar store and we hung all the pictures of the fish on the walls, along with some sea shells.

I managed to acquire the very last set of these fish decals that our dollar store had. This entire birthday party was a dollar store creation, but our girl couldn't be more thrilled with it.

She woke up to our creation with pure delight and wonderment. Decorating at night to have them wake up to it creates the anticipation of a trip to Disneyland.

Creating this ocean birthday theme was really fun and easy!

Easy Sloppy Joe Recipe

When I was newly married we had a Back-2-School themed church activity. We were served food on cafeteria style disposable plates and the main course was Sloppy Joes. I had never been a fan of sloppy joes, I was still young enough to have vivid memories of real cafeteria sloppy joes that smelled more like Fido's lunch than something I should be eating. But when I took that first bite at the church activity I was a sloppy joe convert. I begged for the recipe and it became a staple meal in my cooking rotation. I like it because it doesn't have that greasy taste of typical sloppy joes and absolutely doesn't stink. It tastes like real food and it is even better topped with shredded cheese, but what isn't better with cheese?

Sloppy Joe Recipe
1 lb extra lean ground beef or turkey
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans chicken gumbo soup

Brown meat in skillet. Add all four cans of soup and simmer, the longer it simmers the better it is, but just warming it through is sufficient if you are in a rush. Serve over hamburger buns and top with shredded cheddar cheese. It's easy and it's good!

This recipe is ideal for multiplying and serving a large crowd. It can also be simmered in the crockpot... again, the longer the better. I like this meal for summer eating, because it does not require the use of the oven. But, believe me it is also warm and comforting and filling enough for a cool winter evening.

Mason Jar Foaming Soap Dispenser

I saw this soap dispenser over at Meridian Road and I had to have one sitting on my new counter top. By the way, I adore that blog! Suzanne's blog has been a major inspiration as I have begun to redo my own kitchen. Check out her Farmhousey Kitchen... oh, I just love it! I have visited her page so many times in the last week to drool over her kitchen. I took such a liking to the way she positioned her wheat grinder (the very same one I already own) and jar of wheat on her counter that I had to run to target to buy my own jar and my grain scoop is on order from Amazon. Truth be told, I'm trying to recreate a version of her kitchen in my own home. Imitation is the highest flattery, so I hope she doesn't mind too much. Take a look at her kitchen and all of the other amazing inspiration on Meridian Road.

Anyways... back to the soap dispenser. Suzanne made one for normal liquid hand soap. Because of my known obsession with foaming soap, I had to modify her directions a bit to make it work. I started with a plain-jane pint size mason jar and I emptied the cheapo foaming dish soap dispenser I had on my sink and dried it really well. With the lid off the jar I colored around the rim of the bottle with a permanent marker and immediately stamped it onto my mason jar lid to make a circle impression the exact size of the old soap dispenser. Because I'm a little intimidated by power tools, I improvised to cut out the circle. I used a hammer and a large nail and tapped little circles all around the perimeter of the permanent marker circle. Once there were little circles really close together all the way around the circle, I used a chisel to push the circle out. My hole was really rough, but it doesn't matter. I shoved the foaming soap top through the hole and applied some E6000 glue to it. I filled the jar with my marbles and soap mixture and I'm now enjoying the mason jar foaming soap dispenser in my kitchen. I think it looks really clean and so much nicer than the cheapo plastic dispenser I had been using.

Strawberry Pinkies

Strawberry Pinkies. They are like Chocolate Brownies, but you know they're strawberry and they're pink not brown. This is a whip it up at the last minute recipe when you have nothing on hand and you don't have a lot of time or energy. It tastes like you worked for hours on it and is a summery, refreshing hit.  After gobbling these up for dessert my kids declared this one of their favorite desserts, that always makes a mamma's heart swell.

Strawberry Pinkie Recipe
1 Strawberry cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in mixing bowl. Batter will be extremely thick. Mix until well combined and moistened. Press into bottom of baking dish. Bake 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

Easy and delicious and it looks a little fancy too!

The same recipe can be made substituting lemon cake mix. We like both but the kids prefer the strawberry over the lemon.

Painting Laminate Countertops

(Kitchen After Mini Makeover)

I got frustrated with my kitchen. It is horribly small and it was horribly outdated. We have a portable dishwasher with a laminate top on it and our counters were a different laminate we also have a microwave stand that we use for counterspace that had another laminate on it, all different versions of fake wood. It needed updating... look!

(Kitchen Before)

Painting was the solution I came up with. I wish that a new kitchen was in the budget, but there is just no way. After pulling up many Internet articles about laminate painting and sending my family away for the weekend, I decided I was ready to take on the task. I took a deep breath and headed to the hardware store to buy paint. $60 later I was ready to makeover my counters.

Supplies needed for Painting Laminate Countertops
180 Grit Sandpaper
Oil Based Primer (I used Kilz)
3 quarts of oil based paint in different colors
1 quart of oil based polyurethane
Paper Towels

*Sand all counter surfaces
*Prime counter with 2 coats of oil based primer
*Dab on other paint colors in a random pattern using crumbled paper towels and slightly blending as you go
*Apply 5-7 coats of Polyurethane allowing to dry 2 hours between coats

At one point in the process, I didn't like the look at all, so I painted the whole thing in my lightest color and started dabbing again this time I was much happier.

I love the results! Lets look at the before and after again...

(Before

(After)

Now, I can't wait to get a backsplash up. I couldn't have asked for a more dramatic or cheaper change in my kitchen. I feel like my kitchen has gotten a whole new life and it really wasn't hard! It took me a weekend of work. I was scared to start this project, but I am so glad I did it!

Favorite Thing Friday- Artscow

So this is one of my fabulous husbands favorite things. He is the one who has introduced me to Artscow and has ordered many of the most personal and treasured gifts from them. Artscow makes fantastic gifts that you personalize with your own words and pictures. The Hubs has ordered books and playing cards from them, the cards have our own pictures on them. They offer everything... books, jewelry, backpacks, cards, flip flops, umbrellas, watches... all with your own pictures. It is the most customizable selection I have ever seen. According to my husband, after he placed his first order they began sending him special offers that are where the real deals are. He says that they send offers for free products where all you pay is the shipping and you can get customized gifts for only a couple dollars.

I have loved the gifts he has given me... well except for the playing cards he gave me with horrifying pictures of me camping on them, but the thought behind it was sweet! Our kids think the decks of customized cards he ordered for them are just the coolest thing ever, and he got them for less than $3 per deck. When he suggested that I tell you about it as a Favorite Thing, I spent some time looking over their site, templates and offerings. Gee Wiz, there are some cute things on there. And the best part is that the site is so user-friendly! You can easily navigate and create.

I know it might seem early to be thinking about holiday gifts, but if you look at their site now, you could start thinking of great ways to use all of the fantastic summer fun pictures you have been taking in personalized gifts for the loved ones on your shopping list!

Chip Clip Alternative

Last week at my mother-in-law's house, I had an "ah-hah, I can't believe I didn't think of that" moment. My husband's mother uses clothespins as chip clips. She uses them to keep bags of chips, candies, cookies or crackers fresh. I loved this idea. I never have enough of those handy plastic clips in my kitchen for all of my clipping needs. A quick on-line shopping search showed me that you can purchase 50 pins for less than $3. That makes them a very frugal alternative and they work just as well as the plastic versions. Great idea!

Perfect Pedicure

Yes, those are my chubby little toes. Yes, this post almost... well... really seems silly! But I promise you this might be the very most valuable piece of advice I will ever give you. It works and it will save you loads and loads of moo-la!

A couple months ago I stumbled across this most hilarious post on Mary The Kay. She wittily and cleverly turned me on to the most genius process of self pedicure that I could ever imagine. When I first read her advice to just go crazy and paint every possible surface of my toenail with no concern over it getting on my skin, I thought she had lost her mind. That just goes against every nail polish rule I have ever had. I don't want to walk around with toes that look like they were painted by a blind three year old. She continued to explain that after you paint all over like a wild woman, you simply allow them to dry adequately and then go to bed. Seriously? I'm supposed to paint my toenails like that and then go to bed... that made me even more concerned. What if there was a fire in the middle of the night and I have to run out of my house in my pajamas with my feet painted in this manner, I would surely be admitted to the looney bin! Mary The Kay goes on to explain that the next morning in the shower you can easily scratch the polish off your skin and it leaves a most perfect polish job.

Despite my fears, because of my even greater fear of paying a fortune for a professional pedicure and my inability to give myself a decent paint job, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a whirl. I painted them up and prayed that we would not have a house fire that night. It works wonderfully! I have repeated this trick three times now. This is the best pedicure I have ever given myself. My toes turn out so wonderful even with the 99 cent Wet 'n Wild polish that I use. I see absolutely no reason to pay for a pedicure ever again.

Try it, you too will be a believer... promise!

Birthday Strawberry Shortcake

Every year around my birthday (which was last week) I make a special gift for myself. I make myself my version of Strawberry Shortcake. I love this dessert with all my heart. It is so simple and so fantastic. Obviously I like it, it is my number one choice for my birthday. Yes, I get other desserts, most years my husband makes sure I have a cake, but I still insist on making this for myself. The thing that makes this so fantastic is the delicious white stuff it is topped with. My college roommate taught me about this concoction and now I can't live without it.

Strawberry Shortcake
1 store bought Angel Food Cake
Fresh Strawberries sliced and sweetened
1 8 ounce block of cream cheese
1 8 ounce container of cool whip
2 cups powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese, cool whip and powdered sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth. Top a piece of Angel Food Cake with strawberries and a dollop of white mixture. Enjoy!

This is good enough to be a company dessert and simple enough to indulge in all alone. Every year this Strawberry Shortcake makes my birthday complete and it is the best gift I give to myself.