Patience Pays Off, Thrift Store Curtains

Welcome back to Thrifting Thursday. Today I want to share with you my latest find at our local Youth Ranch and why I needed them. Every year before Thanksgiving I do a deep clean of the whole house because 1) I always host Thanksgiving and 2) I only have to do upkeep on the house to keep it nice looking through the holidays. This last year, on the night before Thanksgiving this is what I did to my dining room curtains. 

They were really dusty and so I washed them but totally forgot to turn the dryer down on low and I ended up melting the backside of my curtains! Uggg! I was so disappointed because these curtains weren't very old. Dear Hubby reminded me that I would be able to replace them by shopping at the thrift store. It was also his way of reminding me our our super tight decorating budget. 

I would soon find out, I was going to need to be flexible and patient to find something to replace the ruined ones.

Almost 4 months later I found a set at one thrift store. They were burgundy like what we had but would need to be hemmed. They were also not at a price I wanted to pay for used curtains. But if I could catch them on sale then I would get them. When I went back a week later to see if they would be on sale they were gone. That is the gamble. So if you REALLY want or need it-- get it. It may not be there next time.

But most always being patient is always best...

Almost 6 months after the melting curtain fiasco, I found a set that seemed like new, would fit the window without any hemming, actually match the ones in our living room and only cost us $4.22 total (with tax). 

It felt good to have pretty curtains in the dining room again!

You may notice in the picture that the rod is missing it ends. In my next post I will share with you how to antique something. 

Has patience payed off you for lately? Please share I would love to read about it! 

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Mason Jar Bug Catcher

Sunshine loves bugs. Unless it happens to be a spider that is on her or a wasp anywhere in the area. Those 2 happen to terrify her. But harmless boxelder bugs she loves! And it wasn't long after I took the photos of her enjoying her bugs that she stared calling them buddies. I think as a 2 year old she was trying to say buggies. However, she is creative and cleaver, so she very well may have meant to name them buddies. Lol! Boxelders happen to live in the elm trees on and next to our property.

                                                                 
 image source

So every spring and summer since then she has had just about every sort of contraption to carry her buddies around with her. This week I thought of this idea for her bugs.

 A mason jar with some pink tulle we had in our scrap ribbon bucket and a canning ring to hold it on. I like this much better than trying to poke holes into a lid.

Happy "buddie" catching!

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Father's Day gift from everyday items

Welcome back to Thrifting Thursday. Today we are sharing how to make a Father's Day gift from everyday items. We are using the wooden parts to the clothespins left over from our Mother's Day gifts from everyday items. This idea came from one of our 4H leaders, she taught the kids how to make them this week. To make these holders you need an empty can, wooden clothespins, rubber band, wire, wire cutters, sharpie markers, clear spray paint.

Note on cans and clothespins: we used mandarin orange and mushroom cans to match the length of our clothespins. You will need to match up the length of your clothespins (older clothespins may be longer) to your can. First place a rubber band around the can. This will hold the clothespins in place while you fill around the can. Make sure the double ridged part of the wood is facing out.

Once your can is full you will wire around the can twice to hold it together. Use wire cutters to twist the wire tight then clip off excess wire.

Once you have finished wrapping wire around the can. Use sharpie markers to write Happy Father's Day, the year, and any thing else they kids would want to draw on it. When decorating is complete spray each can with clear spray paint to give it a protective coat.

I forgot to take a picture of the final look of the cans because at our meeting we moved on to our sewing projects. But they looked so neat! I think it would be fun to fill it with dad's favorite candy when the kids give it to him. Thanks for stopping by!

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Baked Beans

Welcome back to New Meal Mondays. Thank you for stopping by.
I think I finally have a baked bean recipe that I like. I have been trying for over a year with no success. It always seemed to bland. I realized I needed to use more flavors. This one worked. We enjoyed it this week with some macaroni salad and corn on the cob. It was really quite simple and the crockpot slow cooked it to combine all the flavors together.

I dumped 1 can of pork & beans and 1 (drained) can of red kidney beans into the crockpot, then started adding what I thought would work. Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, molasses, mustard, 1 Knorr chicken stock concentrate and some homemade dry onion soup mix my sister made for me. I then browned some breakfast sausage (what needed used up) and added it to the pot. I didn't measure just went by taste but if I had to guess I used around 1-2 Tbs for the Worcestershire, molasses and soup mix, then around 1/4 cup of mustard, ketchup and BBQ. Once I had everything mixed in, I let it cook about 3-4 hours in low.

Next time I am going to make it with ground beef and some bacon! What do you use in your baked beans? Please share I would love to try it next time.

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No time for a shower? A quick hair fix!

This is the hair I was born with. Straight, thin, fine, lifeless, oily hair that has been passed down to me. The most bothersome, is the oily part. I can't go 36 hours between washings before it starts looking like I haven't washed it all week. It seems the older I get the worse it gets. Only washing it 2 days a week it simply not an option for me. To help control the oil I don't use conditioner on the top part of my head. I don't overdo any hair products. And currently I am trying organic shampoo too see if this makes a difference. And I will try the "no poo" method again if the organic doesn't help. However, what about the days I am needing to skip a shower because I spend too much time writing a blog post? lol! Here is what I use:

A mixture of cocoa powder (the baking kind) and corn starch = dry shampoo. I first read on this from the Modest Mom and decided to give it a try. I have dark blonde/light brown hair. Mom calls it dishwater blonde so I do half corn starch and half cocoa powder. The darker the hair the more cocoa powder you would use. The recipe also calls for essential oils, but I don't have any so I just skipped that. I keep it in a salt shaker in the bathroom cupboard. To use: I comb my hair and start a the back top part. I sprinkle some on and work it in with my fingers. Then work my way forward and hitting my sides above my ears last. I look like this when I am working it through:

When I'm done working the powder through, I comb again and fix my hair, and finish off with a bit of hair spray.

I have tried the can stuff before but it didn't work for me. This totally works and helps on those days when I want to skip washing my hair. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

P.S. Another day just to show what it looks like when I leave it down.

Pinterest Party Part 3, The Crafts

Thanks for stopping by! Today I am sharing the last post on the Pinterest Birthday party I helped to design. For the rest of the story check out part one: the theme and part two: the food as well as Heather's post on her blog.
This was a crafters dream party! It was fun to pin something and then make it for the party. It as also so fun to just let the creativity flow in some projects such as these flowers.

Heather has a bunch on packing paper left over from her move a few years ago.

We used it just like you would tissue paper. Only it this is much thicker to work with. As I was "fluffing" the paper out I just happen to mess with the center to get it to form. The more I messed with it the more it started looking like the center of a flower. Which gave us the inspiration to spray paint them. We had several different looks by the time we were done. And all of it wasn't planned.

That is the best part... just start messing with something and see what comes of it! If nothing else you will bust out laughing at what you made and try again!  My favorite is the blue with yellow center.
My next flower I got the inspiration from here. I used a scallop circle shape from my paper cutting system to get these.

I used 5 layers of tissue paper, traced, cut the shape, and stapled the center. Then I adhered the flower to the same shape and color of cardstock. Then fluffed. A few of them I did double sided. These are my favorite and I am making some for samples in my store.

The "double bloom" as I call it was by accident as well. I used a short layer of tissues on top of a longer layer and this is what it made.

For your next party just experiment with your paper to see what you get. And if you mess up, just staple, glue, wire and spray paint to get the look you like! Like this one:

 We loved it, but it took a hot glue gun to get what we were wanting.

Heather wanted a game at the party. I happen to see this one. So I made my own. I used my computer screen as a light box, placed a piece of copy paper up onto the screen and lightly traced the pattern. Then used it as a guide to draw a larger one for us. Next, I just filled him in with color.

Ain't I cute?!

For his tails I used the Pinterest image I found here and glued yarn in between the P circle and another piece of cardstock on the back side.

The last thing I want to share is that Heather, has wanted to get friends together to make Pinterest items. She used her birthday as a way to get it scheduled. Originally she was wanting to just get everyone together and charge a fee to cover her supplies. But since she was now tying it in with her birthday, she wondered if she should just cover the cost herself. I told her if she did that then it would be like giving party favors. She loved the idea and calls them her "big girl party favors".

First she shared with everyone how she makes her own laundry soap.

She had them dump each of the boxes: Borax, Super Washing Soda, Purex Crystals (optional-for scent), Pure Baking Soda and 1/2 the Sun Oxy powder into a very large bowl. She then had everyone take a turn grating (so all would see how easy it is to grate) the 4 bars of Fels Naptha into the bowl. It was then all mixed together. To go with the theme we used recycled red capped creamer bottles to send everyone home with soap. They each decorated their own bottles.

The last thing I have to share it these cute chalk board crates. She has a post here She used hers for lonely socks. I used mine for my wash clothes. Others used them for bills, toys, and hair bows.

This party was a total blast. My goal in sharing all these ideas, is to encourage you to get some friends and family together, enjoy the fellowship and create together!

Pinterest Birthday Party, Part 2- The Food

For more ideas on this Pinterest birthday party go to part one and Heather's post.
Today I thought I would share all the Pinterest perfect food we enjoyed at this party and count it as a "New Meal Monday" post. Each guest was asked to bring a dish to share that they pinned or one they have been wanting to try (if they are not on pinterest). There was so much food, I didn't get pictures of it all. But here is some of the yumminess I did capture.

 And then there are these...

This is my first attempt at them and they may look good only because I hid the messy part of them in the cupcake liners! lol The first thing I did is search Pinterest under how to make cake pops My first tip: give yourself a couple days to make these so you don't rush any steps. My second tip: don't skip any steps. And my third tip: have at least double the melting chocolate than you think you will need. As I found out, what makes a cake pop look so good is 2 coats of chocolate, so back to the store I went!

I will admit this newbie to professional party planning may or may not have overbooked herself. I had this great opportunity the same weekend to publicly announce my new adventure at our local primary school's carnival. They let small businesses set a table to display their business for just $10. The response was awesome and I even got a special order that day. So worth my time!

So, because of the extra business activity I didn't use the made from scratch recipe that I had wanted to do. I also graciously accepted the help that was offered to bake the cakes from 3 boxed mixes for me. It saved me a step! Thank you Mr. Awesome! Once the cakes were done and my table all packed up I picked up these cakes all ready to go. We used 1 strawberry boxed cake and 1 white boxed cake and 1 lemon boxed cake colored turquoise! I don't have every step because I was new to this type of cake making and in a time crunch. So next time I will have a more step by step process for you.

The first thing I did when I got the crumbled cakes home is make up a batch of homemade cream cheese frosting. I will share in another post for you the recipe. Just mix in a little bit of frosting at a time. You want it to stick together but not be too mushy. Once you think you have it right (the only way you will know is to do this a few times). This first time I was just praying I did it right! Put them in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I needed them to turn out (no time for a back up plan) so I did overnight in the fridge.

They look so pretty and colorful! But just keep reading. lol!

The next morning is where it got interesting. And I only have the one picture because I was not enjoying this process.
Because it takes 2 coats of chocolate to make them look so nice I did all of the ones with out sticks in white chocolate to save time and money. (I originally wanted them 3 different colors). I also had to get them in the fridge as soon as the chocolate coat went on. The sticked ones I had in white chocolate for the first coat then colored for the second.
I had to do this crazy karate chopping action on my wrist to get the extra chocolate off the sticked pops. (That was one of the instructions I read up on. Tap your wrist not the stick or you will break the pop off the stick). Aside from all the steps to get them on the stick without them falling off they coated so much nicer than the ones without the sticks. I couldn't get a clean coat with the stickless ones.

Once all the pops were coated a second time, with the remaining  red and turquoise melted chocolate, I put each in a separate sandwhich bag, snipped of just a tiny corner and piped the swirls or dots on all the pops. Some I topped with sprinkles. 

 My honest feelings and thoughts during the cake pop making processes was "I don't like this, way too much work, and I am not impressed." I also may have swore off doing these ever again. Hahaha joke is on me because EVERYONE loved them including my husband, which totally surprised me. He said he loved the dense cake part. ...so I will be trying these again now that I know what to expect.

 Later this week I will share the final part of this party in some things we made for and during this event. For another perspective be sure to check out Heather's post. Thanks for stopping by!