Homemade coasters

Projects have been lacking due to not wanting to do anything.

This summer my kids have been going through cups like crazy.  Every night there are about 8 cups in the sink from throughout the day.  This is only from the 2 older kids.  I thought I would find a way for them to reuse cups during the day.  My resolution was homemade coasters that will sit on the counter.  When they finish with a cup then they will rinse it and place it not  the coaster for the next time they need a cup.

First I did a little research and found tons of people that make coasters from ceramic tiles.  We had some left over from a small home project.  I then went through my scrapbook supplies and found I had everything I needed to make the coasters.  No out of pocket expense.  YEAH!!!!

I wanted to make 5 coasters. The coasters are 4.25"x4.25". I cut 5 pieces of scrapbook paper 4"x4".  The next step was applying them to the tiles.  This was easily done with a 4-5 coats of Mod Podge and then I sealed them with an acrylic sealant.  In a little over an hour I had 5 coasters.

Step 1 - Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge and put the paper on top.  Be sure to smooth out any air bubbles

 Step 2 - Apply a few coats of mod podge over the paper.  Let it dry 10-15 minutes between coats.  After each coat it will look white but it dries clear.

Once dried it will look like this.

Some people like the streaked or "canvas" look.  I don't.  I decided to sand down the ridges to get a smooth finish.  I used a fine grit sand paper.  Once you are done, seal it with an acrylic sealant.  Mod Podge is NOT water proof and will become tacky if water sits on it.  I had some felt pads and put those on the bottom to prevent the tiles from scratching anything they were placed on.
 

After sanding and sealing

Now we have a place for everyone's cups except at dinner time when Vivian like to put these on the table for everyone to use.

Unique way to save

Today I was on my obsession.....Pinterest and saw this idea for saving money.  The basic principle is every time you have a $5 bill you put it away.  What a great idea.  I have been trying to use cash more and notice the more I use cash the less I spend.  When I use my debit card I don't pay attention to how much I am spending until after and I a wondering where all the money went.  Back to this idea.  The post I read was using a mason jar.  My only problem is "seeing" the money and the urge to use it.  If I was to do this then I would need to find a container that is less tempting.  I was in the kitchen thinking of what else I could use while I was cleaning when I remembered there is coffee can I could use.  It would have been thrown out in a couple of days.   This will make a great container.  I thought about how long it would take to save enough money and if I only put $5 a week in the can then it would take a LONG time to save enough  for anything. In one year there would only be $260  Now if I start using cash more and put EVERY $5 I get in the can it may not take as long.  When I am out running errands I usually stop somewhere quick for lunch even if I am on the way home.  Instead of buying lunch when I am on the way home I could put that money into the can too.  Of course I only run errands that include eating out once a week or once every 2 weeks.

Here is the post that I first saw this idea - $5 Savings Plan  In the comments people have said they do the same thing with $1s and someone said they use a debit card but when they go grocery shopping they get $20 back and put that in the jar.

Now time to redecorate the can and decide how I want to save money....should I save 1s, 5s or 10s.....what do I get most of the time when using cash and what will be easier.

Scrapbooking again

When I packed up all my scrapbook supplies to make room for Vivian I never thought it would be almost 4 years before I would do any scrapbooking.  Since I am a very organized person and like to have everything in a specific place having everything in a box prevented me from doing anything.  I hated searching through the boxes starting a project, realizing I needed something or wanting a specific item then not knowing where it was made me decide I didn't like scrapping that way.  I then set up a place in the office that was once a garage.  I didn't like it there either.  Although all the boxes were within reach, I didn't like that I couldn't see everything.  I still had to search for stuff.  When I finally found new homes for all the baby and toddler toys that were taking up the family room. I decided I was going to turn Vivian's play area into my area.  No where in the house was just for me.  There is no room in my bedroom for my desk so this was my only option.  Another plus to having it in the family room I must keep it organized and clean since I would be looking at it everyday and so would anyone that walked into our house.  Now I have an area and I posted the picture a few weeks ago.  It has evolved a little since the picture but not much.  I have added 2 lights, small desktop organizer and my Cricut is now sitting on the desk.

After many years of not scrapbooking, I have spent the last two weeks completing a book.  It took me a little bit to get started and to figure out what I wanted the book to look like.  I am very happy with it. I will post pictures.  Just not now.  I have to show someone the book first and I want to get her reaction.

To help get me back into scrapbooking I found a great online community to help get my creativity going.  It is www.twopeasinabucket.com  Of course I just lurk mostly, but seeing how much the trade has changed in the last 4 years makes me nervous to post anything or share my work.  I see a lot of great inspiration, but I also see a lot of layouts that make me wish I had an ounce of their creativity.  There are so many great looking pages.  I posted a few pages I did, but after seeing their work I wanted to remove mine.  My work looks so plan compared to their work.  I also see things that I think are over the top and would never do.  I do love seeing how people put things together whether it is my style or not.  There is also so many more products now.  Some things I have  are "out of date", but I will still use them until they are all gone.

I decided 2012 would be the year of mini projects.  My goal was 75.  So far I have completed 10 projects.  I think that is pretty good considering I didn't start any projects until mid-January.  Eight weeks into the year and 10 projects.  I think I will reach my goal of 75 projects.  I made a list but I only had 27 projects.  I knew through out the year I would new ideas and projects to do.  I will add them to my list as I see, think about or find them.  Now onto another project......What I am not sure yet.

Yes I used my KitchenAid for that

I saw a blog a few months ago about other uses for a KitchenAid mixer.  One thing I would have never thought of doing was using it to shred chicken.  I had the opportunity to test it out when I made chicken enchiladas.  The one thing that I dislike about making them is shredding the chicken.  I always use boneless chicken.  I boiled my chicken breasts like normal when they were done I tossed them into the mixing bowl attached the paddle and turned on the mixer.  Less than a minute later I had restaurant style shredded chicken.  I will never shred chicken by hand again.

A Week Later....

My goal at least 1 project a week....Well I really haven't been working on a project since the dress unless you think organizing, buying, more organizing of my scrapbook stuff a project then I have been very busy. I am getting supplies ready for 2 books I am going to start working on.  I have also dusted off my cricut and have figured out how to connected it to my Mac.  This alone took a couple of days since the software is only available on PC.  I had to buy a program to allow me to use PC based programs.  After getting that all setup I realized why I wasn't too upset when I got laid off.  I no longer enjoy computer support.  If I can't stand doing it for my self how can I enjoy doing it for someone else.  That made me decide I need to do some soul searching and decide what I would not like but love and enjoy to do.  I really wish I could find a job doing craft stuff but their are very few jobs that would allow me to do that.  Until then I will continue to do what ever I want to do and enjoy my kids.

My plans for this week include prepping the garden.  I have taken down the greenhouse I built over the 2 raised beds.  Now it is just time to get them cleaned up, refilled since the dirt has settled and start planting.  The dogs have decided they like laying in the garden so I need to find a new higher fence to go around the garden.  Looks like I will be making a trip to home depot to see what they have either pre-built garden fencing, but I have a feeling I will be making something since I am cheap.

Now what project is next on my list except for the Garden....I did return to Joann's and buy the fabric I used for Vivian's dress to make a quilt.  They had all but one of the coordinating patterns.  Of course my luck it is only available online.  Now I am trying to see what else I need from there so I may be able to get free shipping.  I found this really cute idea on Pinterest and I think this may be the next project since it will take an afternoon to do 3 of them.  It is a birth announcement type picture.

Framed Birth Announcement

Time to Make a Dress

A few weeks ago I saw a picture of a cute peasant dress and decided Vivian needed one.  After searching for a pattern, finding several and getting one from a friend, I decided on one.  The next step finding the perfect fabric.  Of course this is alway the hard part for me.  I can never find the "right" fabric.  Now fabrics have either very bright colors or geometric designs I can't stand.  I always go to the store with a color in mind but never a pattern.  This time I wanted a soft color with a more vintage look.  I love vintage patterns.  I found the perfect pattern with a coordinating pattern.  It is a quilting fabric.  I fell in love with it but still looked through out the store, but could not find anything else I liked.  Fabric normally has the designer and pattern line on the selvage but this one just says design exclusively for Joann Fabrics.  I was thinking of making a quilt out of this fabric line.  That is how much I love it.  After searching Joann's website I finally found the name of the pattern line and I am pretty sure I will make a quilt with it .  I just need to figure out what size quilt I want to make and how much of each pattern I need.  The fabric is Legacy Studio Fabric Bobbish - http://www.joann.com/search/_legacy_studio_fabric_bobbish

The dress was pretty easy to make and it took about an hour to cut and sew.  I did this while Vivian was at school.  I had to wait until she was him to complete it since I wanted to make sure the neck and length were correct.  I made the dress about 1-2" longer than the pattern.  I wanted her to be able to wear it longer and she is A LOT taller than most 3 year olds.  Most people don't believe me when I say she is 3 because of her height.  I am so happy with the dress and it fits Vivian great.  I need to get a picture of her in the dress.  Until then here is the dress.  Isn't it adorable.

Wanted to try an appliqué

I was going to make a dress for Vivian and I still plan on doing it this week, but I wanted to try an appliqué.  The Slice I recently purchased will also cut fabric.  Vivian has been asking for a butterfly shirt.  The appliqué design card has a few butterfly patterns.  I decided I would try an appliqué.  How hard could it be?  We picked a shirt and then I picked some coordinating fabric from my ever growing fabric stash.  I really need to stop buying fabric and fat quarters until I use what I have.

Cutting the fabric was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  First I had to put fusible web on the fabric.  Then I cut a shadow of a butterfly and then the butterfly.  Once that was done I ironed it onto the fabric and then did a blanket stitch around both pieces.  Much easier than I thought it would be.  Very happy with my first appliqué.

What Do You Do with Banana Peppers

My banana pepper plant has been the most successful plant in my garden.  It has been producing lots of peppers since April.  Yes April and it is January.  I picked a bunch more this week and there are about 15 baby peppers growing now.  They will be ready in a couple of weeks.  I have pickled them once before and was very pleased with the outcome.  I decided I would go ahead and try it again but this time I had so many more peppers.  The last time I found a recipe for one jar.  This time I decided I wanted a sweeter pickled pepper.  I used a combination of the first recipe and the new recipe I found.

First attempt I used the recipe posted here - http://jessicasfoodspot.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-you-grew-gardennow-what-5.html

This time I used the first one and this one - http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-pickled-banana-peppers-17254

Here are my ingredients

1/2 lb Banana Peppers
4 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp pepper corns

Directions

First sterilize your jars.  Since I was cutting some peppers and leaving some peppers whole, I used 2 different sized jars.  I ran the jars and rings through the hot water cycle in my dishwasher.  Once the cycle is done, remove the jars and dry them

In a saucepan bring the vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed and pepper corns to a rolling boil.  Remove from heat.  In a large pan bring plain water to a boil.

While the brine is coming to a boil, prepare the peppers for canning.  I cut 3/4 of them into rings and removed the seeds.  The remaining 1/4 of peppers I cut off the stem and removed the seeds.  Fill the jars with the peppers.

Pour the brine over the pepper, leaving 1/2 inch space at the top.  (Note: I filled the jars completely to use all the brine.  Once the canning was done there is a space of about 1/2 inch at the bottom of the jar as you can see in the picture of my completed jars.  I did the same thing the first time and forgot.)  Place the lid and screw on a ring.  Place the jars in the boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars from the water and allow to cool.  After a few minutes check the jars to make sure they sealed.  This is simple to do.  If the jar is not sealed the lidd with pop up and down.  If it did not seal then it must be stored in the refrigerator.  If it did seal they can be kept in the pantry until the seal is broken.

Some recipes say let the peppers sit for a few days and some say a couple of weeks.  I say you decide.  I have done both and the peppers are great after just a few days if you can't wait to eat them.

Making Menu Planning Easier

I have become obsessed with Pinterest.  I spend so much time on the site.  I have found so many great things on there.  I have done a few and added a ton to my list of things I want to do one day.  Recently I came across a menu board that I absolutely love made by Clair at http://clairsfairytale.blogspot.com/.  I am guessing I am not the only one that loved the board that she did two follow-up posts on her blog.  I loved the board so much that I made one.  First I had to figure out what we eat regularly and also things we eat occasionally.  My goal was to come up with 30 days of meals.  I then had to write down what was needed for each meal.  Once that was done I printed the meals and lamented each one.  I have several crockpot meals I love to cook and sometimes I just find a crockpot meal I think we will like.  I decided to just have one card for the crockpot.  Periodically I like to try new recipes.  I made one card that says New Recipe.  I am very happy with my completed board.  I have decided I will make it a family event to plan the weekly menu.  The older kids will each get to select 2 meals for the week and then I will select the other 3.  Hopefully this will make things easier since they say I never ask what they want to eat.

Now here is my completed board and a sample of the menu cards.  My cards are very simple and only list the main items.  On the front is the menu and the back is the ingredients needed.  Some nights we also have rolls and salad with the meal but I felt there was no reason to have this on the cards.

Pretty easy to see that is the card for baked chicken and the back of the card for Hamburgers with Fries or Chips.  Of course with hamburgers I do add other ingredients tot he meat but they are main staples I always have on hand.  I didn't list any ingredients that I always have in the pantry. 

I have several scrapbook kits since I am a member of a monthly kit club.  That made this project so much easier since everything is already coordinated.  I used my Slice Elite and Bon Appetit Design Card for the designs on the pockets and the word menu.  Now that I am looking at the picture I may pop open the frame and move the word Menu over an inch or so to the right to make it look centered between the cards and the frame edge.

Here is the direct link to the board - http://clairsfairytale.blogspot.com/2012/01/ultimate-menu-board.html

Now onto my next project - a peasant dress for Vivian.

Do something for one do it for all

When Kirsten and Anthony were one and three I made them each a stool.   It was something they enjoyed using and they are still in their rooms today.  The only difference is they are no longer used as a stool except by Vivian.  They use them as tables or shelves depending on what they are doing or where the stool is.  Vivian has also been using them.  Since I made the stools for them I couldn't not make one for Vivian.  I finally found a stool to paint or Vivian.  I spent the day painting, stenciling and painting her stool.  She is so excited that she now has her very own stool.

More Projects Completed

Two more projects are done.  I finally finished a rag quilt I have been working on.  It was going to be a quilt for Kirsten and it turned into a lap size quilt.  I used 5" charm packs for the quilt.  I really like the way it came out and the girls like it too.

Thanks to my Pinterest obsession.  I have found so many great ideas.  One I came across recently was a nice little pocket organizer.  It has 3 pockets and a place for a small memo pad.  It stays closed with elastic. It will come in so handy.  I made it from fabric I had leftover after making a quilt.  It is the same fabric I used for my keychain fob.  Now I have matching keychain and organizer.  It was totally coincidence.  I did not plan it that way it just happened.  I tried to find a picture of the keychain, but apparently I didn't take a picture which is odd since I take a picture of every craft/hobby project I do.  I found this idea at {lbg studio}: 12 gifts of christmas blog hop: organizer wallet tutorial and a giveaway

Great Deal on Slice products at Michael's

Last Friday I was at Michael's and they had all the Slice Cutters and accessories on clearance.  I looked and asked if there were anymore cutters.  None left and no more would be coming in.  I thought I missed out on  such a great deal since the cutter retails for $149.99 and they had it on clearance for $19.99.  The design cards retail for $39.99-49.99 and they were all marked down to $4.99.  They only had a few cards and no other accessories.  I spent the next day calling all Michael's within 30 miles to see if anyone had the cutter.  No one had it and I was told the same thing by all stores.  No more would be coming in.  Then yesterday I was on a scrapbook forum and saw a post that the cards were marked down to $2.  Off to ebay I went to see how much the cutters were being sold for.  The basic or first model was being sold for $40-50.  I thought with the price of the cards at Michael's I would just go ahead and get some.  I had not got a cutter yet but I knew the supplies would not last long.  I decided I would head to Michaels this morning and get some design cards.  While there I didn't see the cutter on the shelf but I knew my local Michael's keeps all of the machines in a locked case.  I decided I would look to see if there was one there.  Was I in shock when I saw a Slice Elite on the bottom shelf.  I asked an employee for the Slice in the case.  She said we are out.  I told her there was one in the case.  We walked over and she was as shocked as I was that there was one in there.  I walked out of there with the Slice, 3 cartridges and a set of marker tips for it.  While checking out she told me I might want to check the other stores in the area for more cards and accessories.  I spent the next hour driving to 2 other stores.  I found a glass cutting board,  hands free kit, 2 more marker tips and 9 more cartridges. I couldn't be more excited.  Now I am trying to decide if I want to drive to the other Michaels in the area looking for more cards and accessories.  Just look at my new toys and you will be excited too.  Can you believe I got all this for $80

1/27 - A little update - I have went to every store in the area and got all the slice stuff I could find.  My final  list is:

Slice Elite (Pink) - 19.99 - Reg 149.99

Hands Free Kit - 11.99 - Reg 39.99

Glass Cutting Mat - 5.99 - Reg 19.99

Ball Point Pen tips (3 packs) - 2.99 - Reg 12.99

Marker Tips (3 different color packs) - 2.99 - Reg 14.99

Design Cards (18 - yes 18 different ones) - 2.00 - Reg 39.99

Total Spent - $92

Retail Cost - $1014

Total Saved - $922

Let's get this thing going again

A new year and new list of exciting things for the new year.  I did finish my 356 days of pictures even though I stopped blogging about it.  It was just too hard to find time to blog every day about a picture that may have just been the sunrise or a flower.  I know those things are so exciting and you wanted to know what I was thinking when I took the picture.  Well most of the time I was thinking what can I take a picture of today in the beginning and then it was oh know it is 7pm and I haven't took a picture that then turned into what was I thinking I don't want to take a picture today and finally it was I can't think of anything to take a picture of and is is Dec 31 yet....that was in May.  So now you know why I stopped writing about it, but like anything I start I had to complete the project.

Now onto a new year and new idea.  I have decided instead of devoting a day to something for an entire year I would make a list of projects both craft and home that I want to do by the end of the year.  So far my list is at 35 projects.  They range from a 30 minute project to a 3-4 day project.  Once a project is complete I will post about it.  My goal is to give people ideas and inspiration to become more crafty.

Now that we have that out of the way on to the projects I have completed.  Each will get it's own post in case someone wants to link to it.   Not sure that will happen but just in case.  My first project was organizing my craft area which was primarily moving it to a new location and organizing my scrapbook stuff.  The table was in the office and I never used it because everyone was always piling stuff on it and the stuff wasn't organized.  Well I solved that problem and consolidated everything at the same time.  I had empty shelves and drawers because of the way the table was arranged that I couldn't access them.  I moved the table into the living room.  Something that I really didn't want to do because I didn't want it in there but I have no where else to put it.  With it being in there that means it will stay clean an organize since I have to look at it every day.  Now everything in a drawer that is labeled with the contents.  Every thing has a specific place including a spot for projects I am working on.  As of right now nothing is out.  My Cricut will be out at some point but as of now it stays in it's green carrying case.

This corner was Vivian's.  It had a table and a 5 drawer plastic container with her coloring books, play dough, crayons, etc.  I have moved that to another are in the living room.  You can see her roll of paper had not been moved when I took the picture.  It is still sitting on the fireplace.  It just gets moved around and has not real home.  I need to find a good location for it but can't think of where I want it.