Menu Monday #1

 I know it is Sunday not Monday...but this is in hopes to help you and I both on Monday!

I am not a foodie! I don't often think in terms of food. I don't feel I am naturally creative when it comes to food. The grocery store is a "have to do" not a "YAY it is grocery shopping day!" I repeat my recipes over and over again... but not to the point of boredom. I seriously lack consistency when it comes to planning out a menu. Though when I do... when I do plan out a menu it does make the grocery store more appealing. It is not such a dreaded place when I go with a plan. Some of you can relate while others of you I know will jump at the chance to want to bless me with all your great recipes! Hint! Hint!
Here is my hope... I hope to help or bless any of you who face the same struggle as I do. Menu planning! Or what to plan on the menu??? I also hope you will share with me what you have on your menu. Let's help each other out. What do you say?  Here are somethings I have planed for this week.

But first let us pause and take a moment of silence to thank the inventor of the Crock Pot!
Seriously a fantastic invention!

Crock Pot Chili with Cornbread Muffins topped with creamy, delicious, honey butter.

Crock Pot Corn Chowder served in a  bread bowl.

Chicken Quesadillas

Breakfast item: Peanut butter and jelly waffle sandwiches with a yogurt (not frozen), orange juice banana smoothie. 

That is it for now. My hope is to once again have a more organized planed out approach in place. The way it used to be before baby number five. An effort is a great re-entry step to planning my menu. Don't you agree?

I leave you with this...

  Easy Crock Pot Chili
Green Bell Pepper Chopped
Onion Chopped
Can of Dark Red Kidney Beans
Can of Chili Beans in Chili Sauce
Can of Stewed Tomatoes (I use my kitchen scissors to cut them smaller while still in the can)
Ground Beef
Package of Chili Seasoning Mix
Ground Cumin (optional) 
Toppings:
Diced Onion
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese

Saute the Pepper and the onion while browning the meat.  This is when I add ground cumin.
Then dump all the ingredients (except the toppings) in the crock pot. Cook on low all day or on high for a 2-3 hours.

For the honey butter I soften the butter first in the microwave. Then add honey to taste. Mix or whip together.

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Desk and Chair Beautified

A while back my nine year old daughter asked me if she could have a desk in her room. Being that we homeschool and she is now at the point of working more independently, I said, "absolutely!" I knew the trick was going to be, finding a desk that was small enough for her room.
When I came across this desk on craigslist  I knew it was the perfect size! My darling husband set out to pick it up for me. Based on the color of the desk I knew I would be refinishing it. Based on the Craiglist add it was supposed to be wood. Well it was laminate. Oh well because it truly is the PERFECT size!
Now I had a new adventure ahead of me... painting laminate! Here is what I learned... even though the primer (Zinsser water based) said no need to sand... I sanded! What I would have done differently... paint a second or thicker coat of the primer before beginning to paint!

The chair is solid wood but did have some scratches. I sanded it a bit, painted it with primer and transformed it into pink perfection!

The desk was missing a drawer handle, but that was fine by me, since I was going to replace them anyway. Here is what I replaced them with.

 Sweet, glass flower knobs! I wanted the knobs to really be the personality of the desk. Especially since I chose to paint it a creamy white (Winter White by Olympic). Having the three different colors really adds personality, don't you think? Not so matchy, matchy.

Next to my daughter's bed is this custom made castle piece. It was left by it's creator in a natural wood finish. I decided to give it a more finished look and painted it the color I used on the chair.

 I now have a very overjoyed nine year old with a darling little desk and perfectly pink chair!
On to the next project... a chair cushion for her chair! The fabric I found is just adorable! Can't wait for you to see it!

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Tooth {Fairy} Pillow

I am the world's worst tooth fairy. My girls don't believe in the tooth fairy, but we still have fun with it. I am notorious to forget to take the tooth and leave the money, night after night. I tell my girls, "I am just keeping them in suspense!"  Finally when I do remember, most times I leave the money and forget to take the tooth. My girls laugh at me and we are making fun memories of me as a horrible tooth fairy!
I have recently been forced asked to share what I came up with for my daughter who lost her tooth. Oh the things we do for friends (I love you friend!) I have to say this idea needs some improvements. I literally, no joke threw it together in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. I made a promise to my daughter that I would make something special for her and then the days day got away from me. So I could not have another moment go by with out keeping my promise. So in advance my disclaimer is made... this is a very ROUGH version of what you could improve upon.

All I did was cut out two pieces of felt in the shape of a heart. You could do a tooth, truck, star, circle for a baseball or any shape you desire. The basic idea behind this non pillow, tooth"pillow" is that it can either go under the child's bed pillow, hang on a door knob or hang on a bed post. Whatever the child chooses.

I even created a secret pocket for the tooth. See it there in the side?

The front pocket is for the money. Here is where this tooth pillow needs an improvement. I used a single ribbon on the front to create the pocket. It is not quite high enough to really do a good job holding the money. Either use two ribbons sewn together or make a pocket out of fabric.

Here is what I did:

To one of the hearts you need to sew on your front pocket.

Placing the two hearts back together (pocket facing out) I  sewed a Zig Zag stitch around the heart (I folded the ribbon handle in half and inserted it between the two hearts) 

Make sure you leave an opening for the secret pocket. 

I then sewed on another ribbon just under the secret pocket this will keep the tooth from falling all the way inside the pillow.

Lastly I sewed down the two sides of the secret pocket. So it ended up creating a  square pocket.

Or you could use the secret pocket for money.

You could stuff this and actually make it into a pillow.

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Curtains Dressed Up

The curtains in my dinning room were just a tad too short. Using coordinating fabric that I have in the adjoining living room. I decided to make a ruffle at the bottom. This way it added some length as well as a bit of somethin' extra to the room.

Too short!






I first cut the fabric to the size of ruffle I wanted needed. I went with 12" because that was all the fabric I had left. So that seemed the perfect size to me!
I hemmed the edges.  Then I pinned the soon to be ruffle on the curtain. I placed my pins where I wanted to sew my stitch to make the ruffle. Then using the box pleat method I sewed the fabric to the bottom of the curtain. So basically you fold the fabric one way and then the opposite direction the next time. Keep repeating and you end up with a understated ruffle effect.

If you look closely you can see where the pins are.

So much better! Especially considering it did not coast me anything!

My daughter thinks they look like dresses now! See how happy they are to be beautiful? They are dancing in the wind! Don't you just love easy changes?

Now I just need to get my craft dinning room back in order!

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Pantry Revamp Part One

One of the many projects I have in the works right now is my pantry. I would love to say, it is done and here is the reveal of all my hard work. However it is not finished. I have made a big step in my life and that is slowing down, being patient and taking my time with some of my projects. The pantry is an area, that as many of you know, can require a great deal of cash for all those handy dandy canisters or containers for food. I have set out determined not to spend even close to a great deal of money, so taking my time with the completion of my pantry is my only option.
Here is one of my thrifty finds for food storage. Why spend money on an empty plastic container when I could get one filled with crackers my kiddos eat?

 Funny story about these crackers...
So as you see these are Winnie The Pooh crackers AKA in our family Pooh crackers. I was in a store one day and asked my daughter, "would you like to have some Pooh crackers?" The lady passing by shot a look at me and said, "gross!" I had to explain myself that they are Winnie The Pooh, not what she was thinking I was offering my child. From that point on, I make it a point to say his proper and full name.
Any how here is what these containers have been transformed into after a  nice warm soapy soak in the sink.

Hint: If you are patient the label just peals right off after a good long soak. If you are impatient as I was for some most of them then this is what you will need to do

SCRUB!!!

To get rid of the sticky residue from the glue I used a product called Goo Gone. 

The lids to the crackers formerly were blue so they had an encounter with spray paint.

Here are what these cracker containers have been transformed into.

For the labels you will need:
Black Burlap
Twine
A Sewing Machine
White Thread
White Paint
A Thin Paint Brush
Needle with a wide eye
Scotch Tape

How I did it:
Cut two pieces of burlap to the size you desire. Sew them together with white thread using a Zig Zag stitch. With your paint brush and paint hand paint your words. You could use a stencil, I wanted a country store feel for mine not manufactured so I choose to paint free hand. Then I cut my twine to the length where I wanted my labels to hang, leaving extra for the knots to be tied. At one end of my twine I wrapped a small piece of scotch tape. This allows the twine to thread through the needle easier. I then stuck the twine through  my burlap label creating a loop that will hang around the plastic container like a necklace. Tie knots in the ends of your twine and viola you are done!

Having labels that are easy to change  if the contents change is a great addition to these containers. Nothing permanent here! I love the versatility and flexibility of these signs. Another hint: You could have different words on the opposite side of the label.

So there you have it, one of my thrifty transformations for my pantry make over. Soon  the whole pantry will be revealed. But for now, I hope you were inspired to be creative with what you have or what you could use for pantry organization.

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Ouiet... Peace... Peace and Quiet

Thirty minutes of quiet! Does not sound like anything wonderful, unless you picture five kids from ages nine to 4 months and one mommy all day every day. Then 3o minutes of quiet sounds like bliss!
Every day my goal is to have my kids spend 3o minutes in their rooms on their beds being quiet. Reading books, napping, resting without sleeping, reading the Bible, makes no difference how they choose to spend those minutes, just QUIET!
Oh how long those minutes seem to the little ones and oh how fast they fly for me. My thirty minutes are also spent being quiet and not cleaning anything!! My rule for myself is to treasure these minutes at rest as well. Being still before the Lord, just breathing easy and not answering a flurry of questions. Taking time to write with out chatter in the background. Thirty glorious minutes of quiet!
I know a day will soon be upon me when all is quiet around me and I will long for these boisterous days. But for now thirty minutes in a quiet home is just plain wonderful!



So may I encourage you, if you too are in the stage of continual noise in your life, to find thirty minutes in your day to just have quiet. You will be so glad you did! 

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A Post For Post Sakes

As you already know... school is back in session! Homeschooling four little ones with a newborn, let me just say, EXHAUSTING! My brain has been on mental fry for the past week now! I have tried several times to sit down and put a post together, only to stare at a blank white screen. Yup, my brain has been blank. Not because I have nothing to share, because I do. I have, wait let me count... twelve, yes 12 projects in the works, but the words just have not been there. So I decided I would share with you a couple high lights of what has been going on around my Created Home. Let me just say what  has not been going on, is folding laundry, because my clean towel pile is taller than my three year old! Really quite impressive, but time to purge some towels I realized. See there... see what just happened? My brain is all over the place... mental fry... also explains the 12 projects at one time. Any how here are just a couple fun things.

Okay what was your first thought upon seeing this picture? The smiles suggest it is not something torturous. Well my little one on the far right would have said otherwise at first. Notice her nervous smile? This was a blind taste test. We were doing a science experiment about the tongue and how your taste buds (or as one of my daughters calls them, taste bugs) work. This was a blast! I highly suggest it for good laughs! The key: salty, sour, sweet and bitter

 Obviously my three year old dressed herself... not only does she not match, her shirt is even on backwards. Four months ago (baby is four months) I would of had her shirt turned around in a jiffy, but hey that is just one more thing to do right?

She posed like this on her own. Cracked me up. This is her Rapunzel tower. She proceeded to tell me, "mommy, don't worry! Don't worry! My tower will not fall down... I glued the boxes together." To which I replied, "glued?" 

Her: "yes glued." 

Me: "glued?"

Her: "yes mommy, glued. I used our new school glue you bought us."

Sure enough she glued the boxes together with white school glue. Not just a little glue, you know a lot of glue is needed when you are building a princess tower. 

Need I say more? This is a good explanation as to why my brain is on fry, my laundry is unfolded and dishes most days can be found in my sink. All of which though exhausting and challenging at times is the BEST blessing!

Hope you enjoyed a peak into some of the fun we have been having around our home. 

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