Sweet and Salty

SWEET

It's true. Call the presses. I'm trying to eat more healthy. And that is the reason for my posts today. So, instead of treating myself at the end of a long day with ice cream or cookies, I've been treating myself with strawberries. We are blessed to live near some farms, so there's a guy with a small stand (okay the back of his truck) that sells flats of freshly picked strawberries.

I love eating them just whole...so yummy. But lots of strawberries means...lots of strawberry baskets. I feel bad throwing these things away...I'm sure I can do something useful with them. So much to my hubbie's chagrin, I saved a few. I found some mini binder clips (and if you're looking for a post solely about binder clips, click here) and decided to attach all the strawberry baskets together. I then found a few different ways I could use them.

You can use it as an organizer for craft time with the kids!

We made a game. They had three tries and they tried to get the most points. This version helped with their adding of fractions.

Other Games:
-Put letters on the papers at the bottom and when your ball lands on a letter, you have to say a word that starts with that letter, but no repeats.
-If you have a deck of cards, you can give each person a different suit and you can try throwing your cards in the baskets to see who gets the most points.
-If you lead the kids music at church, a song can be under each of the papers and the kids can try to throw a bean bag in there.

Anyway, you get the idea.

SALTY
Because of previously stated attempt at eating healthier, I discovered that you can make your own potato chips in the microwave. You probably already knew this...but I didn't and I love potato chips so I love this.

With a mandolin slicer, thinly slice the potato.

Kinda' like so

Then with the olive oil cooking spray, lightly coat the potato slices and the microwaveable plate. Place slices on plate.

Microwave for 3 minutes first, check on them. They should be like this, lightly brown. I cooked these for a total of 6 minutes. Make sure you use hot pads to take that plate out of the microwave.

Then lightly sprinkle on your favorite flavor. I love this salt. It's so tasty! I think you can see the phone number on the bottle if you want to order. The shop is owned by a friend of a friend who is so nice. They have so many yummy spices there and the prices are so reasonable. It's better to call than go online because she gives you a ton of cooking ideas.

I like to put mine on a cookie rack to cool and crisp. Plus, I'm using the plate to make the rest of my chips.

There you have it! The Sweet and Salty of my healthier eating.

PLARN Part 1

Okay...small confession...I kinda' like watching the show Hoarders. Well, let me re-phrase that. It's not the I truly enjoy grossing myself out to the point of gagging, but I can't take my eyes off the T.V. and I can't stop watching the next episode on Netflix.

I've analyzed myself because this fact kinda' disturbs me and I think I watch it so that I can feel good that my NOT-ALWAYS-SPOTLESS home, or more appropriately ALMOST-NEVER-SPOTLESS home has crumbs on the floor and the couch pillows aren't arranged, and there are remnants of kids games throughout the house...but at least I can see the floor and I don't have to sleep in my bathtub because there's food rotting in my bed.

I'm amazed that people live like that and I feel sad for them. It also makes me think as I step over the unfolded blanket on the floor, "If I don't pick that up now, I'm one step closer to the T.V. show" and I pick it up. I mean, I do have some Hoarder tendencies...I like to buy things on sale, even if I don't really need them, and I don't like to throw things away because I might need them someday (especially craft supplies). I'm not as bad as I was when I was younger. My mother and grandmother were...ehem...are very frugal and wasting was and is a sin. So we saved a lot of things and (like I exposed in an earlier post) cut the mold off of cheese and ate the good part.

Mom has gotten a lot better about throwing things away, but one thing she has an over abundance of is plastic grocery bags. Seriously, those things are like bunnies. They multiply so quickly. My mom has this holder that you shove plastic grocery bags in and it is FULL. I once emptied it and I'm not kidding that there were nearly 100 bags in there or more.  So when I saw a purse made from plastic grocery bags at a fair, I had to know how to reuse these things that way.

Introducing PLARN. Plastic bag yarn.  This is part one because this is just showing you how to make the plarn and part two will be a cute bag I'll crochet from it.  I'll show you a preview:

The whole purse will be cute!

Be warned, PLARN takes more time to make than you think...but it's kind of a fun thing for the kids to do and it can make them feel like they are helping the planet.

First, fold the bag in half and then in half again as shown below:

Then, cut the bottom (you can recycle) and the handles (you can recycle) and cut the rest into 1 inch strips.

Then unfold the plastic bag strips and keep them in a loop.  Then, loop the circle strip under the other loop and through and pull...i know, confusing...just look at the pictures below:

Keep doing that till all your loops are connected. Because I had different colored bags, I did three brown loops then three white loops. Those brown plastic bags were REALLY thin and kept breaking. You can either tie them back together or just throw them away in the recycle bin.

Then wind up your plarn into a ball ready to crochet. For my purse I will need about 60 bags.  This section below was about 10 bags.

Stay tuned for my finished purse (about 2 weeks because I'm leaving for a business trip to Chicago and will be gone for a while!!)

Look what CAN's can do!

This post is dedicated to my friend Jennifer who was staying at my house last week. And you know how on day FIVE you've both talked about your families, work, kids, church, kids, and families? And so you start talking about weird things like food storage. But not just food storage in general, but where to hide money in the house and your gold and silver coins....YEAH. That's what we were talking about. I know!

Anyway, Jen said that she saw a good idea about using a peanut can or something. Then you cut out the bottom with one of those can openers that leaves no sharp edges...you know the ones that cut the side of the lid instead inside the lid.  Here's a link to the one I have!

Empty the can, clean it out and  fill it with your valuables. Then you carefully glue the bottom back on and shove the can of nuts in with the rest of your cans in your food pantry or food storage.

So, yesterday while I was making spaghetti sauce for dinner and was looking at all those cans, I thought I'd try her idea....but not to hide valuables or money....to wrap presents.

So, I cleaned the cans and took off the labels.

I filled one of them with candies (wrapped) for a Valentine's gift. And the other one I put a present in for a friend. I even squished a hat I crocheted for a baby into one of these.

Then I glued the lid on.  I think I might have put too much glue, but I tried to use a toothpick to poke the glue into the crevices. (I used tacky glue for this.)

So you can see the glue squished out the top (that's why I think I used too much).

I just used my finger to wipe the excess away. Hopefully my presents inside didn't get glue on it.


I decided to wrap the cans with paper and ribbon. After using many different adhesives, the good old glue gun worked the best. If I had any more creativity, I'm sure I could have used cute stamps to decorate or write on the can...but it was late and I wanted to watch GLEE on DVR.

So this is how they turned out...

I thought this would be a good idea to disperse goodies at Christmas time because you don't have to buy a container, and you don't have to fill them up too much. And I think it would be fun to open these treats. You can use a regular can opener, or just use the grippy part to lift the lid on your No-sharp edges can opener.

-Put a piece of tissue paper inside and stack cookies almost the exact size of the can inside.
-Fill the can half with raffia and put movie tickets and some bags of m&m's inside for a quick birthday present.
-The small cans are perfect for lipgloss, chapstick, erasers, or any small gift.
-Or you can always fill it up with cash and store it next to your green beans.

Whatever it is...."You CAN do it!"  Cheesy, I know...but a can of creamed corn to whoever can name the movie first...

Actual Conversation Hearts

For those of you who may know me, the following fact may come as a surprise to you...I love quiet time. Most of you know me as the person who fills the air waves with constant chatter and who does everything in her power to avoid the "7 minute lull" (you know that part in a conversation where no one has anything to say?). I do enjoy quiet time when I'm by myself and/or the kids are all in bed (like right now), when I can read, or think or rest my vocal chords.

But when I'm in the presence of people, I really don't like having awkward pauses in conversation. Unfortunately, my children are the same way. They all have a story (or 14) to tell and I have to organize the conversation chaos or I'll put everyone in quiet timeout. So some of you may remember my iPod app coasters and my ideas to encourage organized family conversation (click here to remind yourself). It worked for awhile, but then they started fighting about who got which coaster. As if my kids need yet ANOTHER reason to fight.

So, this Valentines I came up with "Real Conversation Hearts." None of this Hug Me, Be Mine mumbo jumbo...I mean how does that start a conversation?

Heart: Hug me.
Person: Okay.

Nice conversation.

Heart: Be Mine.
Person: Okay or No (in which a bad conversation will start)

So I cut out paper hearts and put real conversation starters on the back. Here are a few:

If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be and why?
If you could only eat one kind of food for the rest of your life, what kind of food would it be and why?
If dogs could talk, in which ways would the world be different?
If you could choose one talent that you could have and you'd be the best in world, what would it be and why?
Try to convince the family to go on your dream vacation this summer.
Describe the person on your left in 27 words.

You get the idea. I came up with a lot of story prompts in my post for a cheap quiet book (click here to remember). I used them for my conversation hearts since conversing is different than writing.

And since texting is the preferred method of communication among our youth, I think they are missing out on the art of conversation. Hopefully this can help.

Also, to add a little Va-Voom to my kids lunch, during Valentine's season, I use a cookie cutter to cut their sandwiches into hearts.

It makes it a little more exciting for them. Maybe I'll get one of those food markers and write Hug Me and Be Mine on their sandwiches.....hmmmm.

Magnet Curtains

I know, I know...Magnet Curtains sounds like some new Infomercial product, but I promise I'm not trying to sell you anything. Although, this idea did come from necessity. Now I know this post won't apply to most of you, but for the few of you in my situation, it might be helpful.

Problem #1: Front door has a big window on it. People can just walk right up to our front door and observe our lives. See exhibit A.

Exhibit A

Problem #2: Door is a metal door and I don't want to screw in anything to the door to hold a window treatment.

Problem #3: We want to leave our kids home alone for a few hours while we do a little Christmas shopping. Our oldest is almost 10 and we think they can handle watching TV for two straight hours, but we don't want people peering into our door.

Hurried Solution #1: Husband wants to tape packing material in the window. (NOT SHOWN because I had a better idea...although still a little W.T.)

Hurried Solution Idea #2: Use magnets to hold said packing material to window so we don't get tape residue. See exhibit B.

Exhibit B

New Problem #1: It's weeks later and this is still on the the door. As you can see, the kids have been playing with the magnets.

New Solution #1: Made a curtain with Magnets in it. See Exhibit C.

Exhibit C

Here's how I did it.

First I tried to go to Joann's to buy some material, but they were closed. So, I sauntered over to Target next door and found this 42" wide x 84" long, brown window panel for $7.99 (which I think is actually cheaper than if I bought material at Joann's). Plus, there was already a big hem sewn in for me at the top so i could drop my magnets in it.

Sorry, I took it out of the package before I took a picture!

Then I measured how long I needed the panel and added 7 inches so I could make a big hem at the bottom to match the top (we need the magnets at the bottom, too). I cut the material and then pinned and sewed the bottom hem to match the top.

Pinned hem and then I sewed.

Then I tried to figure out how many magnets I would need to keep this weight of fabric up. I figured out it was 9 magnets. So then I measured out nine slots for the magnets evenly spaced.

Then I sewed the first side, dropped a magnet in and sewed the other side so the magnet stayed inside it's little pouch.

Can you see the little round heavy duty magnet? It's inside it's little pocket.

I sewed in all the magnets at the top and used that to guide my pockets for the bottom hem so they lined up.

On the top hem I even sewed a littler pouch for the magnet so it stayed at the bottom of the hem to give it the gathered look.

There you have it! A curtain for my metal door.

Notice my Christmas decorations still up...Saturday's project will be to pack up Christmas!

And when I'm feeling open and free and want more sunlight in, I just pull the curtain down. I think I'm going to make a few different colors or even find a patterned material.

NO-SEW VERSION: Decorate the magnets with buttons, or bling or flowers or anything you want. And then just magnet the material to the door folding over the hems. I might try that as an option, although then the kids start playing with the magnets....but you don't have to SEW!!!

Quick and Easy Gift Idea

If you're like me, you love this time of year and you love giving small gifts to the people you interact with daily and that you appreciate. BUT...it can get overwhelming! Before you know it, you find yourself up to your eyeballs in candy and glue at 2:00 AM wondering what in the bleepity bleep you got yourself into!! So this year I resolved to keep it simple. When I was brainstorming gift ideas and found my mind wandering to big and grand ideas, I'd reel myself back in!

So here's my idea for co-workers, school workers, day care workers, neighbors, etc.

I started with a super easy cookie recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.



Mix up the dough as directed on the package. Roll into small balls and fill a mini muffin pan.



Bake as directed. Immediately after removing them from the oven, press a peanut butter cup down into the baked cookie.



Let them cool (you can put them out on a patio table or garage if it's 15 degrees out and it will speed up the process significantly!) And carefully remove them from the pan.

Meanwhile... I prepared the bags to put the cookies in. I found these colorful lunch bags at my local grocery store in the card and party aisle (Schnucks, if you're a Missourian!) They were only $.25 each! I wrapped the cookies in plastic wrap and dropped them into the bags.



And to close the bags...

I spray painted a bunch of clothespins. These are $.97 for a pack of 50 at Walmart!



I cut some scrapbook paper and modge podged it onto the clothespins.



After that dried I flipped them over and glued a small magnet onto them.



And once that was all dry, I sanded them a bit and rubbed a tiny bit of distress ink to give them some character. Then I clipped them onto the bag.



Now they have a bag full of goodies and a magnet clip for their fridge!

I have a bunch of these on my fridge and they are great for pictures, lists, coupons,artwork, etc!



Merry Christmas!!