The Calming Jar

So it has been QUITE some time since I have posted anything in the fantastic blog-i-sphere. I decided that I have become a Pinterest addict and that I needed to take a step back. By this I mean I would continue to Pinterest my little heart out I would just wait... and wait... and wait to try all the wonderful goodies that I was confronted with.

Well the time as come to test out a new project. The calming jar. Now the idea behind this jar is that when your little one (or you as the case may be) has become to wound up or to "attitudy" (as we call my darling daughter), they take this jar shake it up and they can be done with their calm time as soon as all the glitter has settled to the bottom of the jar. FANTASTIC idea, yes? A time out that they control themselves... GENIOUS!!

So today at the store we gathered the materials that we didn't already have. These being glitter (sigh) and glitter glue. At home I had the other two necessary things: a small mason jar and water.

The steps to this are simple:
Take one mason jar (I used the small ones because I was TERRIFIED my daughter would drop a bigger, heavier one)
dump in half of a medium size container of glitter
add half a container of glitter glue
fill with warmish water (to get the glue all mixed up)

screw lid on TIGHT!

Shake and enjoy!

Now this all sounds simple enough, however, I discovered a few things in this process.
1) Warm water make the glitter sink RIGHT AWAY. I read somewhere else that adding a bit of corn syrup helped to keep the glitter up so I added a few dollops.
 
2) Large glitter, no matter how cold the water, sinks fast (internal sigh)

So as it stands my calming jar for the little miss gives her a time out of about 30 sec. NOT LONG ENOUGH!

So I will make a new jar. I think I must aquire new glitter. It, unfortunately for me, must be the "I don't want it in my house because it gets EVERYWHERE" kind. You know the kind I mean. The stuff that no matter how well contained seems to float on every non-existant breeze sticking to all things that come into contact with it. The kind that four days after you use it, you are still finding it in your hair and on your couch even though neither of those things were part of the project. This seems the way to go to make the calming last longer. I will post new pictures of that jar as soon as I get the courage to get the evil glitter.

If you have ideas, thoughts, or comments I would love to hear them :)

Cleaning Cleaning ... who knew???!!!

Cleaning the bathroom is one of my "chores" that I hate the worst. Ugh it is time consuming and lets face it kinda disgusting! So I tried throughout the years to figure out a way to do it quickly and with as little personal attention as possible. I used lots of different products all filled with that oh so pleasant "nuclear bomb" smell of chemicals and such. Which made me hate it all the more but I pressed on.

While at my mom's house this past weekend I was enjoying a morning shower and for the first time in my life shifted just wrong and fell out of the shower!! All elbows and knees and bangs and me pulling the shower curtain almost off the rod and I plunged head long toward the waiting porcelain toilet. Yes I was MORTIFIED!! That tub was slick! So of course I proceeded to tell my adoring mother that I hated her shower.. it had almost killed me after all.

She told me that it was my step dad's fault because he had recently cleaned the bathroom (which looked awesome by the way). I asked what in the world he had cleaned it with. Her response was blue dawn and vinegar! "What!!" (I said in my best minion voice).. Yep its true.

So determined to try out her directions I did the following. Heated 1 cup of vinegar in the micorwae for 1 min 30 sec. I poured 1 cup on blue dawn into a handy squirt bottle. Added the vinegar when it was done heating and swirled it just a bit to get it mixed. I marched upstairs to the bathroom and sprayed everything in sight. The sink. The tub. The toilet (inside and out). The mirror. And then I walked away. I sat downstairs with my daughter practicing her flash cards instead of spending time scrubbing soap scum. At this point I was really hoping this was going to be a Pinterest success (that is where Mom discovered this after all.)

After about 1/2 hour I marched upstairs rag in hand so happy not to feel like my nostrils were on fire and worried about my skin melting. I started with the tub and just rubbed the rag around a bit and then rinsed. HOLY COW!!! IT WORKED!!! I felt like singing some sort of cheesy happy chorus and dancing but I refrained. Well at least I am going to say I refrained, you can be your own judge. I rinsed and done... that's right... DONE! I proceeded to do the same with the sink, mirror and toilet (yes I used the brush on the toilet.. I do draw the line there). There wasn't a spot left on anything! Ahhhh the miracle cleaner has come at last to deliver us from the horror of scrubbing the bathroom.

I am curious now to see what else this magical concoction will clean... fridge, kitchen, washing machine?!?! Who knows! I will keep anyone out there updated! :)

"Wolf Pack Snackers"

I used this picture from the website as my picture did not do these justice.

While we are definitely a crafting family, I don't want everyone out there to think that all we have tried is crafting. We are cooking too!! This is not the first Pinterest food I tried, but it is by far one of my favorites.

These snackers would be great for any get together, potluck (if you can heat them), or for dinner. Yes they are that good!

I discussed these delectable goodies with my husband prior to making them to which I received a resounding... "Ummmm sounds gross!" So I thought that I would try them out on my mom and sister (naturally) before I put them in front of my hubby. So during our crafty type weekend this was my food "craft" of choice.

1 lb Hamburger
1 lb Sausage
1 brick Velveeta cheese
2 pks Hawaiian Sweet rolls (or the wheat rolls both are super tasty)

This is quick, quick, quick. Brown the sausage and hamburger together and then drain off the yucky fat. Place back in skillet and cube up Velveeta into the skillet as well and allow it to melt. Keep stirring because you don't want all this deliciousness to burn! When everything is combined and melted cut/tear the buns in half and spoon some onto each bun.

We served ourselves.. no standing on occasion in this house! To tell the truth they didn't look all that appetizing, however, they smelled AMAZING! So we all got the goodies and sat down at the table and dug in. WOW!!! I was totally shocked these were some of the greatest things I have ever put into my mouth! Even over chocolate cake and cheesecake! Yum Yum Yum!

So having verified that these were in fact really good to eat I made them for my hubby and roommate for dinner a week later. They are both in love with them as well, as are my daughter and niece. They are even better because the buns are small enough that they girls can hold them with no problem. This recipe is a keeper!

Cutting a Wine Bottle

Who doesn't love a good glass (or bottle for that matter) of wine? I know my family does. However what to do with the wine bottles once you have drained them of their delicious content? This was the conundrum we faced. Then low and behold on Pinterest we found the answer... cut the tops off and make glasses out of them! Yeah Baby!!! You have to love multiple uses for things, especially in this day and age. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!

My mom had graciously donated her wine bottle collection for this little experiment and so the trial by fire began. We acquired our materials:
Wine bottles
Acetone
Twine
Lighter
Bucket
Ice
Water
Sanding Block
Heat proof gloves (we discovered this important step mid-experiment)

So we began cutting out lengths of twine long enough to wrap around the bottle several times. Soak the string in the acetone and then very quickly wrap around the bottle where you want your cut to be and tie it off. Make sure you cut your loose ends away because they will effect how your bottle breaks.

So we had completed the above steps, had our lighter ready and our bucket of really cold water to hand. Light the string, spin the bottle for about 30 secs and QUICK dunk in the water and........ nothing :(. First attempt was a failure! Nothing happened! Not to be deterred we tried again... and nothing. Not we added LOTS of ice to the water. Take #3... and still nothing. Still not to be outdone by our experiment we pressed on: moved inside the garage, and called in the help of a professional (my husband). We repeated the above process with these changes: after we wrapped the twine we poured acetone over the string again (to much was evaporating) and we brought out the big gloves to be able to hold the bottle longer. So cut, soak, wrap, pour, light, turn, wait, dunk... and SUCCESS!!!!!! Our bottle broke exactly as it should!!!

The jubilation in the room was palpable as we heard the necessary pop of the bottle coming apart and our hysterical laughter and dancing about the garage as we retrieved our bottle from the bucket and saw that we had done it correctly!! We grabbed our new glass and began sanding the cut edge to make sure that we wouldn't do undo injury to ourselves and anyone else by drinking from our new creation.

We repeated this process several times with a few successes and two resounding failures where the bottle separated and cracked in half length wise. Not our finest Pinterest moment. Finally we basically gave this one up as a lost cause. I am sure with practice we could have it down to a science.... but we aren't patient like that. So chalk this one up to a lesson learned and we are moving on. :)

Redneck Sippin Cups

I have noticed a trend in fashion, culture, music, crockery... we try to emulate that which we find amusing. Case in point.. rednecks. Everyone knows one, is one, or has seen that alligator catching show on tv.. yeah you know the one. So when my sister said to me that my grandma had bought these in a store I giggled a big. Rachel (my sister) found how to do them on Pinterest (of course) and we decided to make some of our very own. Cause lets face it we are classy rednecks.

What you need:
dollar store glass candlesticks
small jelly jars (you can use the big ones but they are WAY to big for wine)
super strong craft glue
an open window

This project was completed during our weekend of maniacal crafting and was surprisingly fast to accomplish (it was the waiting for the glue to dry that was the killer).

Step one: Open a window or several and put up a fan to just in case. The glue is strong smelling and will give you a genie in a bottle feeling behind your temples if you are making a full set. Word or warning open a window.

Place a ring of glue along the top of the candle holder. repeat this process on the bottom of the jelly jar where it meets the candle holder. Let the glue set up for about a minute.

Place the jar upside down on the table and squash the glue side of the candlestick onto the glued underbelly of the jar. Now here is the important part!!! Push down on the candlestick so that it pushes all the air out of the glue and bonds them together well. Still waiting for that oh so important part? Good.... Once it has set up just a bit turn the new glass right side up and MAKE SURE IT IS LEVEL... we didn't get all of ours level and lets just say you feel drunker looking at them because they are off kilter. Level is important.

Let the glasses cure and dry for a full 24 hrs. Give them a good washing before you drink out of them otherwise they still smell like glue and you get a strange contact high along with your alcoholic buzz :) not always a great combination if I do say so myself.

People will pay up to 10$ for each of these glasses.. you just made your for around 2.50$ a piece :)

The Water Blob

So here is one of our first Pinterest tries... the Water Blob. We came across this idea in the usual fashion. Browsing mindlessly about the boards of Pinterest in search of something creative and different. Low and behold ... the water blob. Not sure that it is the actual name however being a fan of movies this craft reminded me of the blob and so it has been named.

This is a really easy way to entertain your kids (or yourself) with very minimal effort and materials. You will need:
A large heavy duty plastic sheeting (from Home Depot or Lowes)
Heavy duty duct tape (in the color of your choice :) )
A hose
A flat piece of yard (gravel = holes= tears and resentment)
a few friends to help
food coloring optional

So to begin find the spot in your yard where you want to place the blob. Make sure that it is a flat as possible. My driveway had a slope to it so we had to anchor it to prevent it from taking the great slug plunge into the river below.

Unfold the plastice sheet and fold in half which ever way you choose. Hot dog or hamburger style (told you I'm a teacher). This is where your friends come in (if you dont have some bribe a neighbor). Line up the sides of the sheet and start taping them together. Go all the way around the three sides but make sure to leave a bit of a hole for the hose to go into! Very important!

We decided that once around wasn't enough and I am sure glad we did. We folded the sides over on themselves again and taped once more. Really pay attention to the corners this is the weekest point. Ok now you are taped and dbl taped and have it in a flat spot and are raring to go... grab your hose, turn on the water put it in the slot and walk away. It takes awhile to fill. In the meantime please feel free to enjoy your favorite elevator music.......... (sometime later)

HOORAY it is full!!!! we added food coloring for fun and then taped up the hole. You are now ready to enjoy some serious fun! My daughter and nephew really put it through its paces. We were on concrete and I was worried about then jumping and thwaping their heads but all was well. They spent a good 3 hours on this and were still excited to play on it after we made them take a break.

If you do this please let me know what you or your kids thought... I love hearing stories!!!

From the mythical Pinterest...

Ok so there are millions of people on that mythical website sweeping the world... Pinterest.
Everyone is pinning like crazy and getting their craft on.. or are there. When I first discovered Pinterest (after an invite from a very dear friend) I was caught up in the onslaught of FANTASTIC ideas out there. Things that seemed so simple but I would never have thought of doing. I pinned and I pinned and I pinned. But like a few other people I know I didn't really do anything with them.. yet. I needed a catalyst to my creativity.

I found my catalyst when we moved to our new house in the mountains. I was tired of making things that I had been cooking for years. BORING. So while my sister was up visiting we took our fist dive into being true Pinterest do-ers, instead of just lookers.
Our first cooking project (and subsequently success) was braided spaghetti.  For the love of all things that are good to eat this was AMAZING. I was shocked! I could really become a cook (which is a title I would never in this life or the next have given myself).

And so it began. I am now an avid basic crafter. I am limited in the fact that despite my mother's best efforts I have no clue how to sew. My mother, sister, and I have recently had a whole Pinterest weekend where we tried a slew of ideas from the fantastic website. I will write about each of these in as much detail as possible so that I can document for those that care how it really went for us... which things were great, only so-so, or down right hard and not worth the trouble :)

I hope that anyone that stumbles across this attempt at a creative outlet forgives any craziness on my part and just enjoys this for what it is... a look at the inner workings of a person trying to make the most out of this silly but wonderful website.

Read on and enjoy!!