Storing Logs in an Old Boiler
My dad’s house still has a wood stove. Not a fireplace, a wood stove. Anybody else? They also have a secondary heat source, so the fire doesn’t get lit as much as it did when I was growing up. The other day, my stepmom showed me her super cool new – not new – firewood holder. I’ll freely admit I immediately felt a pang of jealousy. How cool is this old container? My dad says it is a boiler. I need to do a little research to see what its actual, intended purpose was for. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t to hold firewood. My dad said you would heat or…
Diary of a Not So Wimpy Girl Free Printable
Recently, my daughter became obsessed with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. Have you heard of it? I discovered that she had also started to make her own “diary of a wimpy kid” at the craft table using good ol’ computer paper and a stapler. I love it when books inspire you to do something productive. It gave me an idea to make her a more official-looking cover for her book, with my own spin on the title. Of course, when I had this idea, it was while waiting to board a flight and I had about 10 spare minutes. So, professional and perfect, it is not. Actually,…
Way Back Wednesday – Oregon House
Since we will be traveling to Oregon soon for a visit – our first since moving to Georgia – I thought I’d show you some more photos of our last home in Oregon. We will be visiting friends who live on the same road we used to, so we will definitely be driving by the old homestead. I’m wondering if the kids will “get it” that the house isn’t ours anymore. I know my daughter will, but my 4-year old, who knows. He’s already decided we’ve been in our Georgia house for too long and it’s time to move! (These photos are courtesy of Charles Price Photography, our realtor’s photographer.) Moving…
Distressed Scrap Wood Arrow: ScrapMaster Project #3
Many months ago after we finished building the guest bed and my daughter’s bed, my husband cut up all of the leftover wood scraps into 1 inch x 1 inch x random length segments. I’m not sure what possessed him to dot hat, but it’s been fun to dream up uses for all of that wood. Now, if only I had the time to execute on those ideas. Right? One of the things we made was a wood crate to dress up my plastic milk crates. The other item we made was an arrow-shaped growth chart. The third item is kind of a twofer. I actually started it before the…
One Way to Not Waste Fruit
I really dislike throwing food away. Who’s with me? I might as well flush money down the toilet. Cha-ching! Whoosh. Not to mention all the people in this world who don’t have food to eat. We are very fortunate. Now, generally speaking, we do pretty well with not wasting food. I’ve gotten better about estimating just how many fruits and veggies we will eat in-between grocery shopping trips. My goal is to shop once a week, but it’s more like every 5 days. If we do end up with leftover fruit, my kids do enjoy fresh fruit smoothies. If we have leftover smoothies, those can be turned into popsicles. But there always comes…
Easter Egg Acorns
I so wish I was the original one to come up with a way to repurpose plastic Easter eggs into acorns. Alas, I am but one of the many, many imitators. I made these last year and I still love them this year. I’m predictable that way. Do you remember when nylons came in large plastic eggs? You kids out there remember what nylons are, right? I hear Princess Kate is bringing them back in style. Anyway, when I was little I would put those in my shirt and then laugh hilariously at the lop-sided boobs. Clearly, I was not proper princess material. Moving on… All you have to do…
The Day My Bread Didn’t Rise
This post needs a little background. In short, we moved to Georgia. I couldn’t find bread we liked here, so I started making a knock-off recipe of Dave’s Killer Bread. I make bread at least once a week now and that’s what we use for toast and sandwiches. Fast forward to the beginning of October and that’s when there was a hitch in the giddy-up. I lost my bread mojo for a couple of days. It was gone, people. It’s the first time since I started baking that my bread did not rise. Henny Penny, the sky MUST be falling! And it didn’t just happen once. It happened twice. In…
Painted Pine Cones
I love a good mindless craft. Who’s with me? By the end of the day, my mind is mush. My emotional well-being is exhausted. There’s nothing I want to do more than sit and veg out with an episode of Scandal on Hulu. But, sometimes, my hands like something to do while the rest of me is zoned out. It’s a contradiction of mass proportions. My yard is over-flowing with huge pine cones. I’m kind of enamored with them since I’m used to those itty-bitty pine cones. Clearly, I know my pine cones. Or is it pinecones? Just call me the tree whisperer. The first thing I did was enlist my…
Clever Preschool Art
My son is in 4-year-old preschool or as it is called in Georgia, Pre-K. Let me just say, God bless preschool teachers. Seriously. Bless them for teaching, encouraging and putting up with these young, spirited children. Last week, I thought my son’s teachers really hit it out of the ballpark with the artwork he brought home. Especially during Halloween week when gross and gory is the norm. Perhaps their ideas all came from Pinterest, but I’m still going to give them the credit for pulling it off. How clever is this artwork about the Itsy Bitsy Spider? Why didn’t I think to put a spider ring on a “waterspout” straw?…
Homemade Vanilla Syrup for Pancakes or Milkshakes
A couple of years ago I was rockin’ my ratty yoga pants on a Saturday morning. I was feeling so darn accomplished for being coherent enough (aka fully caffeinated) at 7 a.m. to make pancakes for my children. Let’s face it, Saturday morning cartoons were not created for kids. They were created so parents could sleep in past 7 a.m. So, anyway, I’m up and mixing the pancake batter when I realize we don’t have any pancake syrup. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Well. That was a major downer. They say necessity is the mother of invention. In my case, necessity is the mother of “Google it.” So, I pulled up a…
