Thursday, October 28, 2010

$0.47 Shoes

I am not lying.  I only paid $0.47 for these shoes.  I wore them today and so far they are even comfortable.  Yesterday just so happened to be the right day to wander into Old Navy.  They had a rack of shoes, mostly flip-flops and sandals, with a few ballet flats mixed in and there was a sign saying everything was $0.47.  I still had to ask a cashier because frankly, I didn't believe the price was right and there was a clearance tag on the shoes that said $9.99.  $0.47!!! Deal of the century! 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Canning for a Beginner


I am so lucky to live down the street from my husband's aunt.  She has recently retired and it is wonderful!  I have really wanted to attempt canning, but although I have watched a friend once or twice, I just didn't feel like I was ready to attempt the task on my own.  Anyway, Sherry went to the Farmer's Market with me Friday morning and said she would help me make applesauce out of my giant box of Jonathan apples.  It turned out so yummy and it really wasn't hard, just time consuming.   Although deciding to do a quadruple batch of a new green tomatillo Salsa recipe that Sherry got from another neice added a signifcant amount of time to the project.  The salsa and the applesauce turned out amazing!  I'm so glad she was willing to show me how to can and I think I will definitely be doing it again.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, my kids and I are big fans of anything pumpkin chocolate chip flavored.  It amazes me a little because a lot of people don't like pumpkin flavored things and my kids tend to be picky, but anything I make that is pumpkin, they devour.  Our latest favorite is this muffin recipe from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/Here's the link for her recipe. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Mel B.


1 2/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 T. pumpkin pie spice**
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. chocolate chips


Mix ingredients well and then add chocolate chips. Pour into greased muffin tin (or use muffin liners). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Don’t overbake or they will be dry!


**My tip: if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together and woila! – you have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (and it is much cheaper than buying it premade). So for this recipe, you would need to triple the above amounts to equal one tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.



My own tip with this recipe, be sure not to overbake these.  They get dry really quickly and they cook much faster in my oven than the recipe suggests.  I think you only want to cook them 17 or 18 minutes.   My kids go through these so quickly, that the last batch I doubled and there were no problems with doubling.  I always buy the big cans of pumpkin because they are cheaper and I still only used half a can, so I may try quadroupling the recipe next time to use up the entire can of pumpkin and then just freeze them. 

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Finished Product: Pottery Barn Style Headboard

I finally finished staining and distressing my headboard.  I am absolutely thrilled with the final product.  The only problem is that now it makes the entire rest of my bedroom seem completely shabby.  I have plans in my head for making a quilt and painting some of my other furniture, but thinking about it all at once has me a bit overwhelmed.  Thanks so much to Ana White and her Knock-Off Wood website.  This project was so much fun.  I am starting to believe that all women need to learn to use a nail gun because it leads to a serious self-esteem high!  I can't wait to settle on another furniture building project!  Although perhaps I ought to take some time out to fold the massive pile of clean laundry on the chair in my room first. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Make Your Own Pottery Barn Style Head Board

Here is my latest project from Ana White's Knock-off Wood website.  I am in the process of sanding and staining it, but making it has been so much fun!  I was really nervous to undertake this project because it involved using a nail gun, but my awesome friend Natalie said she would make one too so we could do it together.  A big thanks to my great brother-in-law, Bryant, who was willing to trust me with his nail gun, I'm not sure I would have trusted me with it.  The nail gun turned out to be the greatest part about this project.  It was so fun to use, once I got past being afraid of it.  If you don't believe Ana's projects are possible, you should.  Natalie and I went to Home Depot on Saturday with our cut list and left it with them to cut.  Then Monday morning after we dropped the kids off at school.  Between the two of us we have 4 kids under 3 that were all with us.  We started about 9:30 a.m. and were done by 1:30 building two queen size headboards and that included a trip to Home Depot because they cut one of our pieces and inch too short and move from the back deck to the garage due to rain.  The wood cost us $60 each and the name brand version costs $800. 

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Halloween Children's Books

My daughter and I put out our Halloween decorations this weekend.  I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  It may stem from the fact that I spent some years teaching first grade.  Ask most any elementary school teacher and they will probably tell you they hate Halloween.  Anyway, I have really been trying to focus on traditions lately with my family.  I have been amazed how excited my young kids get by any type of tradition.  My 3 year old daughter was on cloud nine about putting up decorations.  The ones you see pictured are pretty much all I have, but I did buy a package of glittered cardboard Halloween cutouts and some vinyl window clings and you would think I had spent millions on decorations rather than pennies from the reaction they got.  Tonight I decided that I needed to do what I had seen some others throughout blogland do.  I needed to look through my book collection and find any Halloween ones I have and put them in a basket to read with the kids for the rest of the month.  I knew I had a few, but I didn't think there were that many, boy was I wrong.  Here is a list of what I found:

*Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Magic Treehouse #30) by Mary Pope Osborne
*Mercy Watson: Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo
The Witch Goes to School by Norman Bridwell
The Halloween Parade by Rosemary Wells
Ready, Freddy! Apple Orchard Race by Abby Klein
Alice Nizzy Nazzy: The Witch of Santa Fe by Tony Johnston
Four Stories for Four Seasons by Tomie dePaola
Fancy Nancy Halloween or Bust! by Jane O'Connor
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
All About Owls by Jim Arnosky
*Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
The Spookiest Halloween Ever! by Teddy Slater
*Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
*Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw
*The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
I Like Pumpkins by Jerry Smith
Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky
*Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves
The Littlest Pumpkin by R.A. Herman
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler
2x2=Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories by Loreen Leedy
Bats by Gail Gibbons
Jeepers Creepers: A Monstrous ABC by Laura Leuck
*Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini
*The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan and Jan Berenstain
*Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown

Our favorites have an asterisk next to them.  I guess I like Halloween a little more than I thought.  One thing I did decide as I was looking through my books, there are a lot of books that you can use as Halloween books that are not necessarily Halloween themed.  For example, Where the Wild Things Are or Owl Moon or any non-fiction animal books that might qualify as creepy, like bats, frogs or lizards.  I think my kids will be excited tomorrow to see all the Halloween books in one place. 

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thanksgiving Craft

I have been working on finishing up some unfinished projects.  I thought I better hurry and get this one done before we hit Thanksgiving.  I started it last year, but only got about halfway.  I found the directions at this blog.   I love hand-sewing.  I think it is so relaxing.  I am always on the lookout for a fun hand-sewing project and this one fit the bill.  I also love working with wool felt.  I love that Joann's has started  carrying some wool blend felt.  It feels so nice and soft, nothing like the acrylic stuff.