Jewelry Board

This post has been inspired by an item that I saw in a magazine. It was a Jewelry Board, in which you would tack pins to a decorative board and hang your jewelry from those pins. It was a lovely idea. It was not a lovely price tag. $80.00 for this little treasure. I could hardly justify it, since the jewelry that would be hanging from it, barely totaled the same amount.


I decided to make my own! But as I started thinking of all the work it would be, and money and supplies it would take to build the frame, add a back board to push the pins in, paint or fabric for the board, I became overwhelmed. And decided it wasn't worth it.

So the months passed... I reopened that same magazine, and found that same project. This time I was determined to make it. But soon I remembered why I stopped.

I told my wonderful husband my dilemma. He, being such a clever man, told me a simple solution. Use a cork message board and decorate that. GENIUS!!

So here is what I did...

I took my cork message board, acrylic craft paint (white), leftover fabric, and some spray adhesive and got to work.

First I painted the frame of the cork board. Then cut my fabric. Sprayed the back of the fabric with the adhesive spray (I would think another type of glue should also work, so long as it wont leave bumps). Applied the fabric to the frame. VOILA! Jewelry board complete. To hang my jewelry, I stole some pins from my sewing stash and they work just fine, as my jewelry isn't very heavy. I am sure that there and pretty push pins in the home office section of a department store that would be more sturdy and handle heavier jewelry.

What is your Worth?

 

I have been seeing things such as the picture below for quite some time. An insurance man even tried to use this to get me to buy more life insurance. What is a stay-at-home mom worth? 

 

 And to go with it, what is a working mom worth. Make sure you add your actual annual salary to the figure shown below.

 

If you visit their website you can see what YOU are worth as well. They have you enter in your information and they use their calculations to assign you a value. Although I was very skeptical, I decided for the sake of research to do it as honestly as I could.

 

First I entered in my three children aged 5 and under. Then I entered in my zipcode to give them an idea of how much the median income is for my area. Although I did not agree that the local low for annual income is $86,732.00, I decided to trudge on. (the local low is probably much lower)

 

Next they give you a form, and you fill in how many hours per week you spend on each activity such as housekeeper, cook, van driver, laundry machine operator etc. Some were a bit extreme like nurse staff- RN, CEO, and Interior Designer. I mean, really. Putting a Band-Aid on my child's boo boo, or deciding which curtains to hang in the living room, hardly qualifies me for such positions.

 

So for the sake of this blog, I skipped the ones that didn't pertain to me. I ended up with these results.

 

Housekeeper, 8 hours.

Laundry machine operator, 3 hours

Daycare educator, 5 hours

 

I only included hours spent on each activity as a direct result of having children. So doing my own laundy, cleaning my own messes, regular cleaning such as toilets, floors, etc, book keeping, and cooking I didn't count. Regardless if I had children or not, I would still do these tasks.

 

Well my result was nothing like the poster. I am worth $8,239.00. I had to laugh at that figure. Because it gave me such joy. I don't want their to be some big dollar amount slapped on me as to what I am worth. Because I am worth nothing. And I am worth everything. I am worth nothing, in that no amount of gold, dollars, magic wishes, would ever be able to replace me to my family. But I am worth everything, because I know that God loved me so much that he sent his one and only son to die on the cross, so that my sins would be forgiven, and I would be able to go to heaven some day.

 

You could give me a million dollars a year, or more, and I would never give up staying home with my children. I wouldn't even give up one day. There are some things in this life that you can't buy. One of them is time, and any moment could be your last. Live it to the fullest. (and I don't mean skydiving. I mean snuggles, kisses, and hugs.)

 



Make your own Foaming Soap

I first saw this pin a long time ago. At first I thought it was going to be this elaborate recipe for making me own soap, but it is actually quite simple. And with three children washing their hands, it helps for two reasons.

1. kids use too much of everything, when doing anything.
2. they also fail to get the suds going before putting their hands under the water. Result: all the soap gets washed down the drain without ever fulfuilling its purpose.

So here it is. A money saving alternative to buying your own Foaming Soap.
Here is what you need: A foaming pumper. (I bought this with soap in it the first time and have reused the same one for over a year, still works great) Large jug of your favorite hand soap, or if you are like me the least expensive, decent smelling soap. And hot water.

STEP 1: Add a small amount of soap to the bottom of the pumper container. I add about as much as shown in the picture.

Step 2: Add HOT water to the pumper. It will foam up with the soap. I keep adding water until the foam bubbles are only a few on top.

Step 3: Replace pump, screw on secure, and shake until the soap is dissolved. This is easier to do with a colored soap, but if you use a clear soap just shake well until it all appears liquid. 

 

Voila! You have your own foaming soap! The container of bulk soap in the background I believe I got at Menards more than a year ago for $4.00 for 128 oz. Judging by the size of the pumper, I filled it about 1/8 full of the soap which equates to about 1 oz of soap. So that $4.00 will last me 128 refills approximately. Which is about 3 cents for each pump filled. The kids get their hands cleaner and it saves me money. Hooray!

Pinterest FAIL- Infinity Scarf

Background: I am very good at crocheting, you know with the hook, and at knitting, with the two needles. I am good enough that for a time I sold hats I made by crochet out of my home. People really liked them, and I felt I was pretty good and creative. I could just look at a hat, or animal, and create that hat without a pattern, just from sight.

I created this hat for my daughter this year. With knitting needles, my first attempt at fair isle knit, and no pattern.

 

So onto Arm Knitting. Something that I thought would be completely simple and easy given my past knitting experience. Got my yarn. 

 

Followed the video as best as I could. Picture one, my first attempt. Not so glamorous, so I started over, and this time looked at a different video for reference. 

 

Try number 2. It looked better? I think? She told me to keep going, that it would turn out in the end. 

 

Well it turned out as something. Below is the finished product. I don't know about you, but to me it looks like a rat's nest.

 

Here is what it is supposed to look like! Doesn't she look fabulous? 

 

 

Well I hope that if you have tried this project that you have better luck than me. I think perhaps a mistake was only using a single cord. The project had you use two cords. So perhaps failure to follow directions played a part. Good luck!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe comes from the Heath Toffee Bits Bag. I found the Heath Bits in the baking section next to the chocolate chips.

Step 1: Gather your ingredients

1/2 Cup shortening
3/4  Cup Peanut butter
1-1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Heath Bits

Step 1: Heat oven to 375 degrees F
Step 2: Beat Shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended.

 

Add egg; beat just until blended. 

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt

 

Gradually beat the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the Heath Toffee Bits. 

 

Drop heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. I used a baking stone. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until set, do not overbake. NOTE: I have noticed that using a baking stone and my particular oven with the hidden element on the bottom, my bake time was 9 minutes.  

 

 

Remove cookies from the oven. Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen to 3.5 dozen cookies. HELPFUL HINT: If you try to take the cookies off immediately they tend to fall apart. Leaving them on the cookie sheet for those two minutes allow them to set, and will prevent them from falling apart. 

DIY Roman Shades

A friend of mine had already done this in her home, and I really liked the way it turned out. I also liked that she told me it was easy to do. So here is my how-to. Please forgive the beautiful wood work around the window. It is in need of some attention as well, but privacy has been placed above the aesthetics for now.

Helpful Hints: The amount of fabric needed depends on the size of the window opening. Measure the size of the window opening, both width and length. Add a few inches around on each side. Make sure that when purchasing fabric, to take into account some fabrics have a certain pattern that dictates the top. As seen in the picture below. Be sure to follow this advice.

 

Step 1: Gather Supplies

        Supplies List
                Fabric
                Scissors
                Ruler
                Tacky Glue
                Hot Glue
                Pencil
                Vinyl Blinds



 

 

 

Step 2: Measure the windows opening. Mine was 35" wide X 40.5" long

 

Step 3: Measure and cut the fabric. The blinds I purchased were 35" wide according to the package but actual measurement was 34.5". I added 1" to the width to allow for the hem/ folded over fabric. For the length I added two inches. So I cut my fabric a total of 35.5" wide X 42.5" long.



 

Step 4: Once the fabric is cut I marked my lines. These are the lines that will mark where each blind will go. Since the length of the window was 40.5", I rounded down to 40 and decided to make a fold every five inches for a total of 8 folds.

Make the first mark 2" down from the top, 1" to fold over and 1" for the top rail. This line is to mark where the bottom of the top rail will be.

The second line will be marked 4.5" down from that. I have included the extra half inch that I previously rounded down on.

The remaining lines will be 5" inches from the second line and the remaining previous lines until you reach the end, in which there should be one inch left below the last line. You should have a total of 9 lines.

 

 

Step 5: Prepare the blinds. Cut the skinny strings that allow for the blinds to rotate. Keep the thick cords that pull the shade up and down in tact. Once the strings are cut, remove the bottom slat and all but 7 mini blinds. Place the bottom slate back onto the pull strings. Place the blinds on to the upside down fabric, we will be working from the back.

 Pull the strings down until the plastic stoppers reach the top rail.

 Add the Bottom Rail and pull the strings taught and mark just above the bottom slat. Slide the bottom slat up, and tie a knot on the mark. Slide the bottom slat back down onto the knot.

 

Arrange the top rail, the 7 vinyl slats, and the bottom slats on their lines. To look as the picture below. 

Use the hot glue gun and tack the fabric onto the vinyl slats, the top rail and the bottom rail. NOTE: Before doing this or just after tacking the top rail down, make a small slit where the draw strings can be threaded through to the front. Then thread the strings though. This will keep them out of the way.

On the top slat, make a cut by the bottom and fold the fabric in and glue down as shown in the picture.

Use the tacky glue between the slats, and behind the slats so that they remain in place along the fabric.

Install the clips that came in the vinyl blinds package into your window frame and hang your shades. There will be plastic clips to hold it in place. I made a cut at the top so that they could be slip in. A grommet can also be added where the strings come out the front side for better appearance.

Once the shade is dry, you will need to "train" the shade to make pretty folds. To do this, pull the string up so that the shade is open. Then pull the folds out so that they are even, as shown in the pictures below. Leave it open for awhile so that the folds will come back the same next time it is opened.

 

 

If you have any questions let me know. I would love to help! 

Financial Advice Grocery Shopping

Here is a tidbit about myself. I have a bachelors degree in Economics with a business emphasis and a minor in Accounting. For everyone out there, it is a fancy degree that pretty much means that I love numbers, money, and things of that nature.
Recently an idea was presented to me to help me save money. I usually despise others giving me financial advice. I like to think that I have more knowledge and understanding of handling my money than someone who has less education on the matter. Regardless, I decided to run with their idea. After all, I do like saving money when possible, like every other normal human.
So here we go:
   Suggestion: You should drive to Watertown (a neighboring city) to Wal-Mart once a week to buy groceries. They are much cheaper than your small town local grocery store.

So today I had the opportunity to test out this theory. I was actually really excited for the results and tried my best to make a fair assessment of the situation. So I picked name brand foods, something that is carried at both stores, even if I don't buy the name brand of that item. Also I tried to use some items multiply times, such as noodles, cheese, juice, and others that I usually buy in larger quantities.

I could give you my entire list, but to save my fingers I will give you the totals. If you are interested, I have a break down for each individual item as well.

So the total for Local Grocery was $118.22.

The total for Watertown's Wal-Mart Store was $104.28

So it is clear that Wal-Mart did save me money, or so it seemed.

Local grocery is in Minnesota. Which means NO food tax. Watertown is located in South Dakota and has a tax of 6% on food. So now Wal-Mart's total is up to $110.54. Not such a great difference now.

Also it is 5 blocks to Local Grocery for me, and sometimes I even walk it and take a stroller cart. Watertown is 60 miles away and my van gets 20 miles to the gallon on average. So that is a total of 120 miles round trip. I used 6 gallons of gas using math at $3.29 per gallon, total fuel cost was $19.74.

So here are the final totals: Local Grocery= $118.22   Wal-Mart= $130.28

For my conclusion, yes, Wal-Mart can save me some money and if I am going to Watertown for a different reason in addition to groceries it can pay off. BUT it is also important to note that Local Grocery employs my friends and neighbors, provides me with goods that I may need on short notice, and saves me two hours of driving time. I love the community I live in and so I support it. Whether it is more expensive or not. I would rather pay more and live in small town Minnesota, than pay less and live in a bigger city.

PS my Local Grocery store bags my groceries and loads them into my car for me. An amazing feature for a mom with three small children who has enough to handle as it is.

Taco Soup

To continue on my previous post here is recipe 2 from the same source.
Taco Soup
1 1/2 pounds ground beef: we usually only use 1 pound
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 cans (15.25 ounces each) whole kernel corn, undrained
2 cans (15 ounces each) ranch-style or chilli beans, undrained- we use chilli beans
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook beef until no longer pink; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
This soup is great with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Warm flour tortillas or tortilla chips are also very good.
We have also used deer meet, venison, as a substitute for the beef and it also tasted good.
I have made this recipe for many people and it was a hit. Enjoy!

Enchilada Chicken Soup

For the past few days I have been a busy chaperone with our youth in St. Paul, which means my husband was a busy father at home with three children. First off, he is a great dad. Second,he is a terrible cook. I could tell you many hilarious cooking mishaps he has endured while I was away, but instead I am going to tell about his successes instead. Pay in mind he made these without help or supervision and since he did it, I know you can too.
Recipe 1 From Taste of Home's 2003 Quick Cooking Annual Recipe Book
Enchilada Chicken Soup
1 can (11 ounces) condensed fiesta nacho cheese soup, undiluted: we used Campbell's
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 2/3 cups milk
1 can (10 ounces) chunk white chicken drained: my husband used a cooked chicken breast instead
1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilles

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and mix well. Cook until heated through. Garnish with sour cream if you like. Tortilla chips are also very good with this soup.

Crayon Art

If you have spent any time on pinterest, you have probably seen crayon art. The pictures where they glue crayons to a canvas, apply heat with a hair dryer and let the colors drip down. Some are very creative, while others are more basic.
I did complete this project, but I only scanned over the various pins for inspiration. Here is what I did.
Gathered my supplies:
  1. hairdryer
  2. canvas
  3. oil pastels (pretty much adult crayons)
  4. paintbrushes
  5. inspiration (photo of a mountain range)

Going into it I knew I wouldnt be doing what others had. I wanted to create something I could hang in my home. So i used the oil pastels and sketched and filled in the canvas. The coloring was blotchy, and rough. Then I heated the canvas with the hairdryer and blended the colors with my paintbrushes. It turned out really nice and I like the outcome. It was a pretty straight forward pin, and took about 1 hour.

Homemade Playdoh

I have used this recipe before with great results. The inspiration of course came from pinterest and credit is due to New Hampshire Mamas for their post. The recipe can be found following the link below.
 http://www.nhmamas.com/2012/03/perfect-homemade-playdough.html
To begin with you add all the ingredients to the pot on low heat. Her recipe does make a large amount, but I also have three kids and so I madethefull recipe.
When stirring I noticed the mixture was chunky. That doesn't seem to matter at the end. Be sure to keep stirring and scrap the bottom frequently. Once the mixture gets the point where it isnt so sticky take it out of the bowl and knead it a little. You can now seperate it into smaller amounts and add color if you didnt do that yet. So far the kids have been playing with it for over 2 hours. I highly recommend this recipe. Enjoy!

Birthdays

Birthdays are a very big deal to me, and I enjoy making it a special day for those I love. Today is my son's fourth birthday, and where better to find birthday surprise inspiration than pinterest? 

The first surprise of the day was hanging balloons outside my son's door to greet him when he woke up. I originally got the idea from Casey Mullins and her article on ways to keep December birthdays special.

http://www.babble.com/kid/december-birthday-ideas/?pid=1419

He really enjoyed the balloons, and the pancakes that followed. It was a simple idea, and easy to do. I used fifteen ballons for his doorway and hung them with tape and ribbon. The have since been taken down and played with throughout the house. Definately helped set the tone for a special day ahead.

For Porpoise

To start with, this is a blog written by a woman searching for a meaningful way to spend her days. As a mother of three children ages 5, 4, and 2, other parents can attest that as a stay at home mother I am already doing something meaningful.
But this is more than that. It is having something just for myself, something that I really enjoy doing. Despite popular belief, I do not enjoy stinky diapers, loads of laundry, and piles of dishes. But I do enjoy my children, diy projects, and pretty much anything pinterest. So here we are the 'porpoise' of this blog. To research, do, and report my struggles, successes, and tips for various pins. Enjoy!