Love honestly....

 With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would do a little "love" post.  So, here are a  few little fun things that you might want to do for the one you love. Simple, sweet and honest... after all, isn't that what love is anyway!                                                           
                                                              

sweet home made valentine

Be thoughtful- this is huge... and free! It's as simple as getting up first and making the coffee, or breakfast.
                       Throw a towel in the dryer so it's warm after his/her shower.
                       Get up with the baby instead of him/her.
                       Make his/her favorite dinner and dessert.
                       Give him/her a back massage or foot massage.
                       Take the kids out so he/she can have some time to relax alone.
                      Find a great show that he/she wants to watch and snuggle on the couch.. just don't comment about how much you hate violence/chick flicks which ever the case may be... remember, we are being thoughtful!
                    Go out of your way to do something the other one usually does- like take out the garbage, clean the bathroom, change a diaper, take the dog for a walk or out to potty, unload/load the dishwasher or do the laundry.
                   Call on the way home just to see if  he/she wants you to bring them a coffee/soda or something from the store.
                 If it's cold, go out and start the car so it will be warmed up for them.


Be mine?

                                                        
Be loving- Write little notes on the bathroom mirror.
                    Kiss and hug him/her goodbye.
                    Text him/her just to say you love them.
                    Actually LOOK at him/her while he/she is telling you about the day.
                    Email a sweet little note just saying you were thinking about him/her.
                    Call just to say hi.
                    Be excited to see him/her when they get home- actually get up to greet him/her.
                    Make eye contact and smile.
                    Hold hands while your riding in the car. ... seriously- don't you remember when you were so excited to see him/her and then you held hands the entire time you were together????... well- do that again!




                 
Be kind-  BITE YOUR TONGUE!!!!... okay friends- I am telling you this one little thing could probably save a marriage! Seriously, just have a little grace... yes, we all KNOW which way the toilet paper should have been put on... but just re-do it and don't remind him/her how any pea-brained chimp in a circus could be taught to put toilet paper on the right way!... just bite your tongue.  We are all imperfect and reminding someone else of their imperfections rarely helps them want to change!.. so....don't do it.






Be encouraging- remind him/her what it is that you love so much... you might find that you are actually reminding yourself too!
Think of a few things he/she does well and just make a nice comment about it.
Comment on his/her appearance- simple and sweet and honest!... don't go all "wow! you look just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman!" 'cause next thing you know she thinks you said she looks like a tramp and you are in TROUBLE!... so just stick to something that is completely related to him/her right then.... like- your hair looks really nice, or I love it when you wear that shirt, or even more simple "you are so pretty/handsome."


My valentine!

                                                       
Be thankful- just simply remember to say thank you when he/she does something for you. -" oh this dinner looks great! Thanks!" ........... a few manners go a LONG way!

So happy together!

                                   Last but not least- HAVE FUN! Yeah, I know, we're grown ups and we have responsibilities... yada yada... but we can still have fun. Make a point to do something fun together! It doesn't have to be anything big, it could be just hanging out at the beach, going to a movie, getting ice cream- whatever it is, just make sure you spend your time laughing and talking and loving each other.

Chocolate covered pretzels

These are so easy to make and so fun too!

                                                                                                                      

Recipe-

One bag milk chocolate chips or chocolate flavored almond bark.

One bag pretzel sticks

Assorted sprinkles

Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals until it is creamy and smooth- OR-

melt on low heat in a sauce pan on the stove- stirring continually.

Pour melted chocolate into a regular tall drinking glass- this will make it very easy to fully coat the pretzels

Let excess chocolate drip from pretzels and lay flat on silicone baking sheet- or wax paper

Sprinkle with desired candies/sprinkles and set aside until hardened. - you can refrigerate to speed the process.

You can tell from the mess in my kitchen that this was a kid project! They loved it, and the people who received them seemed to love them too!

The silicone baking sheet is one of my very favorite kitchen items- I use it all the time! It's perfect for candies, chocolate covered strawberries, well, pretty much anything that would be sticky and you want to be able to just pick them right up once they are set. It worked great to sprinkle the candies on the wet chocolate once they were laid flat on the baking sheet.

Another great idea for Christmas is to coat the pretzels in white almond bark and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies- they look really cute and taste so good!

Snow ice cream!

What better way to celebrate this fluffy goodness that falls from the sky, than to make it into a sweet treat! It snowed here for several days straight, so we had plenty of fresh clean snow.... read- avoid yellow snow friends! We scooped up a few large bowls and brought it inside!

            I added a few simple ingredients and let the kids stir it up. It was so good, and so easy!

                   The consistency is a little different, but it didn't stop the kids at all! They loved it!

So here's the scoop- fill a large bowl with clean snow. Add milk in to get it to the consistency you like, then add vanilla, honey or pure sugar to sweeten and add a little flavor. If you want to go all out, you can mix in chopped fruit, bits of candy or sprinkles too. We stuck with vanilla and honey and it was really good!

Crockpot Chicken

 So, in keeping with the  frugal leaf I've turned over, I decided to see what I could actually do with one $5.00 whole chicken.  Again, I am amazed at the wealth of products and meals that can be made from one simple item! So let's get cookin'....

Place whole chicken in the crock pot on medium, fill crock pot with water to the very top. Let chicken slow cook all day... just leave it and forget about it. Now- if you're like me you probably want to skip seasoning the chicken later, so go ahead and put about two teaspoons of garlic salt, onion powder and dried rosemary in the water and let it work it's magic.

Once the chicken is completely cooked, remove from the crock pot and set aside. Now, grab a wire mesh strainer and pour the chicken stock through the strainer into the bowl. This is now home made chicken broth!
My one chicken produced 4 16oz jars of broth!

 Yeah, I can count... I took the picture after I added the first jar to my mix for home made chicken and stars!

Now for the icky part.... honestly I question why oh why I am not a vegetarian!!! So, you need to debone the chicken. The meat is going to literally be falling off the bone, so it's not too hard, but you do want to make sure you separate the meat by dark/white and then the "extras"... which I'm sure some people use the "extra" for something- but I could not bring myself to think up a good use for it... so instead our sweet little dog got a special treat!

I bagged up the chicken in four Ziploc bags. Two full of white meat and two of dark meat. I threw those in the freezer for meal planning later this week.

So... what did one chicken make so far this week?
                                                                              Chicken and stars soup- (2 meals)
16 oz chicken broth, one chicken breast cubed/shredded which every you like. One can peas, carrots, corn. Pinch of salt and pepper. - since the chicken is cooked it just needs to heat through- which makes for quick prep! So, go ahead and cook the little pasta stars directly in the chicken broth, once tender throw in the veggies, chicken and salt/pepper and heat through. Throw a loaf of french bread in the over and add your home made butter and dinner is served!   This recipe made enough for our family for dinner and lunch the next day!

                                                            Shredded chicken soft tacos- (2 meals)
Super simple! Add 1 cup water, one can of rotel, one envelope taco seasoning and one Ziploc bag of chicken in  a medium pan. Heat through.  Serve on hot soft tortillas with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and home made sour cream! Throw some tortilla chips and salsa on the side and there you have it! Again this recipe left us with enough for lunch the next day.

So... the goodness keeps going!- so far we have used half the chicken and one fourth of the broth and have eaten FOUR meals! That $5.00 chicken is going a long way!

A few other quick ideas that I've tried in the past are - 

 Pulled chicken barbecue sandwiches on whole wheat buns with a pickle and chips. Just shred the chicken pour in the bbq sauce and heat through.

Chicken pasta salad- just throw some cooked rotini noodles in a bowl, stir in a 1/2 cup of your favorite Italian dressing (creamy or regular), a can of black olives, cubed tomato, 1/4 cup chopped onion and one stalk celery sliced really thin.

Chicken and broccoli casserole- cook two cups rice, mix one can of cream of mushroom soup into rice, add chicken and one bag frozen broccoli- throw in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes to heat through.

Southwest chicken soup- Pour in one can each, pinto beans, black beans, rotel tomatoes and corn. Add 4 cups water, 2 tsp. chili powder, 2 tsp onion powder and salt and pepper to taste. Throw in the shredded chicken and heat it all up. Serve with corn bread and sour cream/cheddar cheese on top of the soup. - it's good!


A few ideas for the broth- add it to mashed potatoes for flavoring. Cook your fresh veggies in it. Add a little flour and make gravy for your chicken dinner. Use as the base for soups and casseroles.

I could go on and on... but I won't! So, next time you need a few quick meals on a tight budget- grab a whole chicken and make it work for you!

Beach Bedroom

I LOVE this bedroom! Summer is my favorite time of year, and now that we are smack dab in the middle of winter, getting snow and being cold, I thought I would share this little glimpse of summer with you!
I decided to use a vintage aqua for the bedroom walls, and then decided beach was the theme! I wanted it to have the feel of being in a beachy cabana, so I came up with the "sail" hanging over the bed, complete with bamboo rafters to hold it in place. I was really happy with how it turned out.

Bright striped bedding and sheer curtains give it that beachy summer feel too.

I hung beach balls staggered in one corner for another pop of color and just because I thought it was fun!

The shelves hold little trinkets we have collected at the beach, as well as glass candle holders in bright colors and a little "beach" sign.

I replaced the curtain rods with bamboo, glass bug catchers add another little pop of color hanging at the end of each bamboo rod. A beach pail in the corner holds some extra bamboo.

I could not be more happy with the color of these walls- I think it's my new favorite!

I bought flower leis at the dollar store to use as curtain tie backs- I think they turned out really pretty.

Another picture of the bug catcher.

Of course the finishing touch is a fish tank on the dresser!

Little idea....

I wanted to share a fun little idea I heard! So, you know that lint that collects in the dryer that we all take out and throw away? Yeah, well, don't! Instead, break it into small little pieces and scatter it around your yard or patio. The birds will take the little pieces and use them to make their nests. It's soft, warm and even smells good! Now wouldn't you feel good knowing you had a part in making a baby bird's welcome to the world a little more cozy? 
                                                       

Hillarious excerpt from my family blog!!!!

Oh who couldn't use a good laugh once in a while- right! So, I thought I would share this "venting" session I stumbled on from my family blog. Also, let me just add that we have since relocated and don't have the "joy" of the neighborhood in this story any longer. PRAISE the GOOD LORD!!!

 

venting

Okay, bear with me people- I just need to vent! So, can anyone tell me why your complete stranger neighbor thinks they have the right to comment on how many children you have? Or why the guy in the grocery store thinks he can huff at you because you didn't put the little plastic bar on the counter yet- even though you weren't FINISHED unloading your basket YET! Or why anyone, in the entire world, has any reason to say things like "wow, you have your hands full", or "oh, it will get better EVENTUALLY", or "wow, you must have started REALLY young", or my all time favorite "so, do they all have the same dad, because that big one doesn't look like the rest of them"- with that child standing right there!!!! I just want to kick people in the teeth sometimes- well, getting my foot that high could prove to be challenging- but I am thinking I might be willing to try!!!! Okay, I know that wouldn't be what Jesus would do- so I promise not to try it- I just think about it in my head... over and over and over! Oooh, yeah, and how about the complete stranger from down the road that comes over- huge glass of wine in hand, and comments that he doesn't think our fence looks exactly straight from his house- I feel like saying "hey buddy, maybe if you sober up, everything would look a little more straight to ya!" Oh, and then the lady down the road who says "you need to sweep the leaves off of the sidewalk, they are distracting my dogs from going potty."- yeah, Lady, I'll get right on that! Lord knows we don't want your dog to be distracted from pooping in MY yard! Sure, yeah, you know, I was going to go home school my kids, but instead, I will sweep the leaves so your dog can use my kids yard as a toilet! Come on!!!! I tell you, I think I live in a neighborhood of retired idiots! We were in the process of building our picket fence, and had only gotten one small section up, in a random place, and one lady actually stopped and said "oh, are you going to do anything more with the fence?"- yeah lady, like we are going to leave a 4 foot section of fence half way down the length of our yard- we were fencing the view??? what, seriously, did she think we were done???? Oh, and the other lady, who walked by as I had just started painting (literally, had only painted like 3 pickets) and she says (in her sweetest little grandma voice)- "dear, it looks like you missed a few places, are you going to go back over those?"- no, lady, I was thinking that I only wanted 3 pickets in the whole fence to be white- and how rational is that anyway, if I had really "missed" a few spots, wouldn't she really have thought that I was putting wood grain on a white board since the percentage of wood to white was far greater???? Oh, wait, that would be sensible, which she was not!!!! Okay, thank you for listening- I feel much better! Stay tuned for next weeks episode of "Mrs. Joni's  Neighborhood"- won't you be my neighbor? No, seriously, if any of you lovely friends of mine want to come in and take over the geriatric population's homes, and be my neighbors- I would be forever grateful. Just think about it .... please!!!!

Toy Story Party!!!!

 My boys birthdays are just one week apart, so I decided to do one party for both of them. You can use these ideas for any theme party- we just happened to do Toy Story.

                                                                      DECORATE
Think color and not theme- I think it works out better to pick a color scheme and then mix in the characters or theme. We chose primary colors with mostly blue and green and a splash of red and yellow.
           Home made tissue paper pompoms and streamers hung from the ceiling make it really festive.

We also used some of their toys for decoration on the mantle.

I used scrapbook paper and curling ribbon to make a birthday banner that we hung from the mantle as well.

In the picture on the left we simply wrapped the columns with more streamers and hung tissue paper pompoms randomly around the room. I bought several solid colored table cloths at Dollar Tree and covered the tables in each room. This brightened it up and protected my furniture from all the little party people. 

If you can draw- use butcher paper and make decorative signs like this one above. I just free handed it and had the kids help me color it in. If you can't draw- you can still use a projector to get the same effect- or you can skip it all together and instead do a few more streamers or banners that say Happy Birthday.

I combined store bought decorations with more home made pompoms to brighten up the kitchen.

FOOD

This is where a lot of expense can come in, so the more you can do yourself, the better!

I chose to make small cakes for each boy and cupcakes for the guest. I wanted to make it as fun as possible, so I decided to do character cupcakes. I gathered some candies, made home made butter cream icing and home made marshmallow fondant. I used a box mix for the cupcake batter.

We thought of all the characters on the movie and just went to town decorating cupcakes!

 


For the boys cakes I searched cake ideas on the Internet and combined a few ideas together to come up with these. I ended up spending a LOT of time on the Woody cake and very little time on the Buzz cake- and wouldn't you know it, simple was MUCH better! I was so much happier with the Buzz cake! - oh well, live and learn!

More character cupcakes. I think Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head were my favorite!

If you choose to have a lunch/dinner party plan on simple foods that are kid friendly. We decided to do a hot dog barbecue. I printed pictures of Slinky dog and let the kids color them in- some went traditional and some went wild! So, we had Slinky dog hot dogs!

                             Guest could choose their Slinky dog and put them on the bun, or the hot dog- it was really cute in theory- but you had to move the one toothpick to actually eat the hot dog- so this is more of a looks cute- not practical idea.... but it was SO CUTE!!!!

We chose fruit and veggie trays and chips to go with the hot dogs. Keeping it simple and mostly finger food helps with the cost too.

This is an example of mixing theme with color- I chose to only buy themed plates for the kids and cheap solid colored plates for the adults. I did the same with the cups and napkins. This cuts cost and adds color! If you wanted, you could just do solid colored plates, cups and napkins and it would really cut down on cost.

FUN and GAMES

In keeping with the movie, I hid little Army men all over the house. Two of the Army men had parachutes on, the children who found those were given a prize.

Having these little guys really added to the party feel too.

I also thought it would be a fun activity for the kids to take pictures as their favorite character. You could do this on a much smaller scale- think one cardboard box and one face cut out. The kids thought it was pretty cool! It was pretty time consuming, so unless your kids LOVE picture taking, this may not be worth the time it takes to make.

And, last but not least- the pinata! I made this cutie from a scrap cardboard box and a few rolls of streamer! The kids absolutely LOVE pinatas- so this was a real hit!.. no pun intended. :)

I will post later on how to make your own pinata.

                                                    

So, there you have it- a few fun ideas for your next birthday party! Don't forget, you can incorporate most of these ideas into any themed party you like!

Towel Aprons

So, if you've ever needed a towel while cooking only to realize there is not one in sight, and you decide to wipe/dry your hands on your regular cotton apron; well then you KNOW what I'm talking about when I say "an apron is NOT a towel!" So, because I had so much time on my hands Thanksgiving day this year... this is sarcasm if you don't recognize it... I decided it was necessary to make towel aprons for each and every one of my littles and of course, I needed one too! So, I grabbed a few vintage looking towels that my sweet grandma-in-law gave me a while ago, and got to work. It was a bit of trial and error at first but the basic concept was there. I first made a "mommy and me" set which I love- but the "mommy" one only went around the waist and didn't cover my shirt- which is where a lot of my baking ends up! So then I decided to maximize the towel and make an entire apron with one towel- no scraps! It is awesome, and let me tell you, you can dry your hands on it! Okay- so pics and directions- here we go!
This is the first one I made. I cut a full size bath towel in half, picked some coordinating material and went to town! I measured one and a half times the width of the apron and cut a strip of fabric that length.  You can choose any width for the ruffle you like- mine is about two inches. I ironed that piece in half and basted it. I gathered the fabric by pulling the basting thread until it was the right length for the apron. I sewed a straight stitch to connect the ruffle to the bottom of the apron. I then measured lengths of fabric for the ties- equal sizes, ironed in half long ways with the raw edges turned under and straight stitched to finish. I trimmed the waistline with fabric as well. For the waist piece I measured the fabric only about a half inch longer than the width of the apron. I ironed the raw edges under and then folded the fabric down on either side leaving the towel in the middle. I then stitched the fabric along the length. I sewed the ties on to each side right up at the top. If you wanted you could make the waist and the ties from one really long length of fabric and that would save you a few steps. Here are all the littles in their aprons. The little in the middle is wearing the apron that matches the "mommy" one above. For the other four littles I simply cut the towels in half and used each half per apron to make a full body apron in kid size. At this point I realized I cold use less fabric and more towel. so, I folded one half of the towel in half long ways. I cut a small half circle shape to make the chest piece smaller- essentially the arm holes, except there are no sleeves!- I opened the towel up and now had the basic shape of the apron, I sewed ties and a neck strap on and used the scraps from the arm cut outs as pockets stitched to the front.

Waste not want not! Okay, so now I've made seven aprons, all just a little different and now it's a science in my head! So for the full body Mama apron I used one bath towel and left NO scraps! I started by cutting the top 6 inches off of the towel- this would be used later to make the ties and the neck strap. I then folded the larger portion of the towel in half length wise. I cut the half circle shape to make the chest fit correctly and leave the waist larger. I used those cut out shapes- which actually look more like a "u" shape- to make pockets. I stitched them on evenly to the front on either side. (due to the pattern of this towel it's hard to see the pockets). I then cut the first 6 inch scrap in to three even strips. I folded each strip in half and hemmed. I attached one strap to the corner of the chest on each side to form a neck strap. I attached the two remaining strips to either side at the waist to make the ties. There you have it- one towel transformed into a multi-purpose apron and I didn't waste a single scrap of the towel! Another note about this apron- because I used the entire towel, I didn't have to hem the bottom or sides since the towel was already finished in that way. The only finishing I had to do was the arm curves and the top of the chest piece.

I know these directions may be a little hard to follow without step by step photos- so if anyone would like me to make another one and take pictures along the way- just leave me a comment and I will get right on it!

Pay for College in a few easy steps.... aka ... Make your own laundry soap!

Okay people- this is a serious revelation here  in Mayberry! ... you know if I actually lived in Mayberry and all... ok on to the important stuff! Home made laundry soap. Yeah, I know, people have been making this since, well forever... but it's new to me and I am LOVIN' it!!!!

So, the nitty gritty- cost break down. One box Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, one box 20 Mule Team Borax, one bar Fels Naptha soap and one pretty blue 5 gallon bucket.

Washing soda- $3.49

Borax- $3.98

Fels Naptha- $1.33

Pretty blue bucket- $5.99

Total initial cost- $14.79

(yes, this is more than I pay for one regular jug of laundry soap that will do 64 loads- but the bucket is a one time investment)

So, now for the directions.

 Step 1-Grate (I would suggest using a food processor if you have one- mine was in the dishwasher from making cookies- so I had to use a little elbow grease!)- grate the entire bar of Fels Naptha soap.

(you can also use Ivory or Goats Milk soap as well)

Doesn't this totally look like cheddar cheese!

Step 2- bring six cups water to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Pour grated soap into the water and stir until completely dissolved. Once dissolved add 1/2 cup Borax and 1/2 cup washing soda to mixture- stir until dissolved.

Step 3- Pour 4 cups water into large bucket. Combine soap/water mixture in bucket with these four cups. Stir until mixed well. (this brings you to 10 cups so far)- once well combined mix an additional gallon plus 6 cups water to mixture. (this brings you to two gallons total water)- Stir until all combined.

 Step 4- wait! Mixture will gel and turn into the finished product. Some websites suggested waiting 24 hours for the mixture to gel. Mine was gelled and ready to go pretty quickly, and I was in a hurry to try it out, so I only waited about 7 hours.

This was the consistency of the mixture when I used it for my first load.

So.... it worked great! I do have laundry sheets that will change the smell of the clothes, but coming straight out of the washing machine everything smelled fresh without a huge "scent"... which I like. If you want to add a scent to your soap just buy some essential oils and add a drop or two- seriously a little bit goes a LONG way so don't over do it!- add oil in at Step 2.

(side note- this soap does NOT suds up and make lots of bubbles in the wash- it's okay- it's still working-so don't worry about that)

So cost break down- Borax/Washing soda will make sooooo many loads that I would say to divide the cost of the box by 40 and that's being conservative. So-that's about 18cents a batch.

Fels Naptha Soap- $1.33

For a combined cost of  $1.51  for 2 gallons which will make about 64 loads!!!!

So that's 2 CENTS a load!!!!

Okay so let me break down the store cost just to give you an idea of the savings here..

Gain- 64 loads $11.99= 18 cents a load

Savings of 16 cents a load times  one million gazillion loads of laundry done in your child's life= college paid for!!!

Okay.... so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration- but there are some real savings here people!