Crackle finish using school glue

Recently I posted about my own personal cleaning challenge and crafts or tips found on Pinterest that helped me execute the tasks. One task I challenged myself to do was organize my neglected shelves in the laundry room. Above my washer and dryer is a single shelf. Hubs and I have had on our ever growing task list “put up cabinets in laundry room.” Well, it has been on that list for what seems like a decade and still has not been done. And there are several justifiable reasons…money to purchase the wood or prefab cabinets being the biggest reason. We have since used our saved money for this task on fixing a broken water heater, purchasing a chest freezer, and putting it toward other unexpected repairs for our little farm house. So I do my best to keep these open shelves cleaned and organized. And sometimes it just gets piled up with stuff.

I have some little wooden crates that came from Clementine oranges that I use to hold a few things on my laundry room shelf. For a long time now, they have been sitting up on the shelf in their original state. I decided that my “reward” for getting the shelf cleaned up and organized was painting these crates. And I have wanted to try a paint crackling technique using school glue that I happened across on Pinterest.

Here is the great tutorial I found:

(http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html)

The technique was simple and easy to do. I chose a dark color for the base then I mixed up a lighter version of the base color for the top coat. I did not use a primer coat since I chose such a dark color for the first layer of paint. I was even surprised that this technique worked on a cardboard version of the Clementine Crates. I did use a white primer coat for that crate since it had a very colorful print on it and I was using lighter colors. Here are a few of my pictures of the process:

applying dark base coat

applying glue mixture

the paint immediately started to crackle

after a few minutes passed I got a little worried it wasn't going to work

Once it began to dry I wasn't worried anymore

Looking even better the longer it dried

a full 24 hours later the box looked awesome!
Not to shabby for my first stab at crackling with school glue

Happy crafting y’all!

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Kitchen Humor

I have a theory that every parent is pre-programmed with specific responses to certain questions that kids ask.

Kid: But why??

Parent: Because I said so, that’s why

Kid: Can I do this?

Parent: Go ask your mother (father)

Kid: but that’s not fair!

Parent: no one said life is fair

Kid: do I have to??

Parent: you will thank me when you are older

And one that I heard so many times…..

Kid: but I don’t want to eat this!

Parent: you will eat it or you will just have to starve

 

Well, because I love this parenting humor now that I am a parent myself, I decided to turn one of the sayings into a bit of art to spruce up our little farm house kitchen and generate a few laughs.

 

 

 

Do you have any sayings you heard from your parents that you could turn into a fun art project? 

 

 

 

Happy laughing y'all!

 

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Cleaning Challenge with a fun twist

Ok folks! I am finally back! So, let’s see….where to begin? Well, seeing that cleaning out an over flowing spare room was a big kicker for me getting back to the blog I will start with a cleaning challenge I “followed” recently.

Cleaning challenges….GROAN!! I have a rhythm to cleaning the little farm house. And it works for me. But what happens is I neglect the same handful of spaces that need more than just a dusting or a mopping. So I came across several cleaning challenges on Pinterest: 21 day cleaning challenge, 30 day challenge, and clean house in a week (ha! That’s so laughable).  My biggest issue with the challenges was they didn’t fit me and my house’s needs. Nor did they work around the idea of having a very energetic two year old that can undo a clean space in the blink of an eye. So, I had to make a list of areas to clean to fit my house’s needs, and fit my ability to clean said spaces all the while taking care of the kiddo and the everyday chores I had to do. I started out on January 2nd. Well, by January 5th I had already missed a few tasks.

Call it lazy, call it life, call it what you may….I lacked the motivation. I had more fun planning the areas to clean. But then once I finalized my list, there it was glaring at me to get with the program and get things crossed off. And sometimes….being told what needs to be done makes doing them a hard thing to do, even if you are the one saying to do it. I was giving into my own laziness. Making excuses. And since I was my own “boss” I totally understood that I had other things to do and my excuses were very convincing to myself….

Then I had a great idea. On my New Year’s Resolution list was my most favorite resolution: do more crafts and use ideas off my Pinterest boards. So I started paring up the tasks I had listed for the cleaning challenge with crafts, tips, and tricks I had pinned. Next thing I know, I actually got them all done!



So here are my “tips” for setting out on a cleaning challenge.

1. Don’t follow someone else’s list completely. Just use it as a guide. There were places on the lists I found that I hadn’t even thought of organizing. Jewelry box, for example. Then there were places to clean that didn’t exist in my home..garage for example.  Then there were tasks that I nearly fell on the floor laughing at: clean windows on outside…. Sure! Its only 12 degrees and snowing, no bother!

2. Don’t designate areas to a specific day. Just write them on a list and give yourself a set number of days to complete them. I have certain days I must do regular household chores, and those chores take up the whole day. So there wasn’t a way for me to tackle “cleaning the computer room” on the day I am swamped with laundry. Also, for those who work 40 (or more) hours a week…you might not have the time to do them. And why should you not be afforded the joy of completing a cleaning challenge?

3. Include small tasks that go along with every day cleaning. Using the above example…with my big laundry day in mind I put on my task list to clean the washing machine. (A tip I found on Pinterest) I was already there, washing a million loads of laundry, so why not clean the washing machine.

4. Think of the time frame it takes to complete a task you want to include. On one list I saw “Clean Attic” Well, for starters I don’t have an attic. And secondly…in my opinion that would take more than one day and with a two year old running around…. Yeah let’s not go there… So, pick time friendly tasks. Like clean the microwave. Only takes a few minutes.



Lemons and Rosemary:
My simmer pot reward for the task of deep cleaning the stove.
Made the house smell fantastic!

5. Pick a reward for EACH task. Yes, yes the biggest reward is a clean and organized space, but if you are like me…I need a bit more than just that to get me going especially if its stuff I have been neglecting for a long time. If completing the task itself was a reward option for me, then I wouldn’t need a cleaning challenge to get it done. My reward for organizing the shelves in my laundry room was to paint a sign inspired by a pin on Pinterest. Your reward doesn’t have to match the task. You could reward yourself with a movie night because you dusted all the cobwebs throughout the house. I chose crafts and Pinterest inspired tips because that kind of stuff suits my fancy.

 

Ok, so there…a fun and executable way to tackle a cleaning challenge.

 

So, now that you might have fun doing a cleaning challenge, and actually get through an entire list of areas to clean…what do you think? Do you have any tips or pointers?

 

Happy cleaning and God Bless Y’all!

 

 

 

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Absent once again

Please excuse the absence of posts. Blog will resume normal posting soon. Thanks!

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Stuffed peppers revisited

I had posted a recipe a while back for Mexican inspired stuffed peppers and at the time did not have any photos to show for the steps. Well, I made these again and this time I remembered the camera! So here is a step-by-step guide to making the stuffed peppers. They were just as delicious as the first time I made them!

 

Ingredient list:

1 1/2 lb ground beef

6  green bell peppers

1 - Knorr Taco Rice packet

2- 10oz cans of enchilada sauce

Approx. 1/4 cup diced green onions

8 oz pkg of Mexican blend shredded cheese or shredded quesadilla (white) cheese

 

Prep-work and ingredient info:

You want peppers with at least four curves at the bottom; I'm sure there is a technical name for that part but I don't know it. This gives the pepper a wider and more level base.

I had about 1/2 of 2nd can of enchilada sauce leftover. I warmed it up and offered it as a garnish if someone wanted extra sauce.

Include some green ends of onions in your mix and extra ends for garnish.

If you do not want to pre-boil your peppers you will need to increase your cooking time to about 45 minutes.

Most of the recipes said to cover the peppers with foil while baking. I didn’t cover mine and they did just fine.

 

Pre-heat oven to 400

Clean out your peppers

 

 

 

 



Bring about 6 cups of water to boil in large pot

 

 

Blanch the peppers for 5 min

Remove and set aside to cool

 

Cook rice according to package.

Brown and drain beef while rice is cooking.

 

Add your onion to the meat

 

 

Then add one to one and a half cans of the enchilada sauce

 

 

Next add the cooked rice

 

 

 

Bring mixture just to a boil then simmer for about 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens.

 

Spray 9x11 glass baking dish lightly with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Stuff peppers to rims and place in oven uncovered for 20-25min.

 

 

 

 

Remove peppers and top with a good helping of cheese; place back in oven uncovered for 5-7 min until cheese is melted.

Garnish with a bit of finely diced green part of onions if you like.

 

Refrigerate any left over’s.

 

Hope you all enjoy and I would love to hear feed back or if you have any questions just post them in the comments.

 

God Bless!

 

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The guest phenomenon

My house is only messy when I have unexpected guests.

 

I call this the “guest phenomenon.”

 

Recently our hot water heater went on the fritz. This of course happened at the most inconvenient time. I cringed in embarrassment when the repairman showed up. Piles of dishes lingered on the counters from all the homemade mixes I had been making, and we don’t have a dishwasher. We had just brought in all of our winter clothes and they were piled up ready to have the “storage stink” washed out of them. The floors were in desperate need of a good scalding hot mopping. And we all had showers to take. I apologized a million times to the repairman for the state of the house. And I was even more embarrassed that I had to call him back for a second time because the water still wasn’t heating up and my mess was still there.

 

In between the time the repairman showed up the second time, we had guests that were arriving on short notice. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind having guests show up unannounced; we have an open door policy to all our friends and family: come over any time and make yourself at home. And it also keeps me on my toes. “Dirt” I have never noticed before suddenly makes an appearance and I finally get around to cleaning it up after my guests leave because I’d hate for it to still be there should they come around again.

 

So, since I haven’t had a cleaning post in a while, I thought I would just give a few tips or tricks on how to give the house a quick clean when you have a very short time to do so before guests arrive.

"We musn't panic!! We musn't panic!!!"
(From the movie Chicken Run.)

 

So let’s say you have a 10 minute window before the guests arrive. And let’s say these are not overnight guests….

 

Start with the bathroom(s).

 

Bathrooms, in my opinion, show a person’s true cleaning skills…..or lack thereof. 

Remember this phrase: Good smells equal clean. Even the dirtiest of bathrooms can seem clean if they smell good.

Light a candle or spray some air freshener.

Tidy up the counter space and throw dirty linens/clothes in the hamper (or in the tub, well hidden behind the shower curtain...)

Fold your towels that are hanging out on towel bars if you have them.

Replace the toilet paper roll with a new one and give the end sheet your best hotel paper folding. (This really does make a bathroom look clean!)

Give the sink a quick rinse. You don’t have to scrub it. Just get rid of dust, hair or toothpaste globs.

Then move on to the next room.

 

Entrances and common areas are next.

Grab the laundry baskets and start piling them with items that do not belong in the room. You can stash these in a room that you can close the door to, that you know your guest won’t need access to.

Give pillows and throw rugs a quick shake if you can.

Light a candle or spray the room with some air freshener (remember…good smells equals clean)

Shut some blinds or curtains if you can and turn on the table lamps. Sunbeams are beautiful, but not when they are highlighting the dusty furniture.

Do a quick crumb check on the floor. You don’t have to break out the broom or vacuum. Look for the big stuff and toss it in the garbage.

Then on to the next room.

 

The kitchen….it’s my worst enemy when I have guests….

 

So let’s shine some personal light here….and don’t judge me too harshly because haven’t we all been here…..

You have a huge pile of dishes and no time to wash them. And if you are like me….no dishwasher to stash them away in. If you have one, stash what you can in there. If not…well… use the oven.

Just don’t forget they are there. I will embarrassingly admit I’ve turned the oven on and forgotten about my dirty stash of dishes.

And don’t “hide” dishes you might need to use while your guests are there. Nothing tells a guest you’ve kept a dirty house when you have to open the oven up to get out a cup for them to drink out of…

We are big coffee drinkers, and most of our guests are too. So I always put on a pot of coffee before they arrive. This helps with the whole “good smells equal clean” idea. If you don’t drink coffee, then have at it with the air freshener.

Load up the laundry baskets you used in the common areas with anything else that doesn’t belong in the kitchen.

Give the counters a quick wipe down and empty the trash can if it sits out where guests can see.

And off to the next room(s)

 

Bedrooms

I prefer not to have every door shut in the house should guests arrive unexpectedly. It’s a sure sign that I am hiding a mess.

We do have one room that we always has the door closed (our office/craft room) but most of our friends or family know what’s behind the door and (hopefully) don’t suspect it hides a mess. Just that we want to keep the toddler out of there.

The quickest and easiest way to make a bedroom look clean is to make the bed. There could be piles of clothes on the ground but if the bed is made, the eyes seem to over look the floor.

You can also pile the clothes out of sight, but still in the room. Just stand outside the room and look in. Find an area you can’t see from the door way and stash stuff in that area. Or the closet if need be. If all else fails…pile up the clothes inside the washer and dryer. (Yes…I have done this…and no I am not proud …)

Once again…give it a spritz from the air freshener or light a scented candle.

 

Other rooms

Do a quick run around to any other room your guests my pass by or look in. Spread out messes look worse than “organized” messes.

 

Can you pile a few things up together? That way the eyes focus on one group of things rather than a bunch of individual things that are misplaced.

 

Any over flowing trash cans? Empty them.

 

Is the room cluttered with papers and books? No need to hide them. Stack them up neatly giving the appearance of clean.

 

There is one room I don’t worry about too badly when the “guest phenomenon” occurs. My toddler’s bedroom is always a mess of toys. I could, and do, clean up his toys every few hours but he disagrees that his toys should be organized and prefers them all over the floor. It’s an endless battle. So, I cave in and leave it a mess most of the time. But most of our guests are not shocked his room is scattered with toys so I can get away with leaving the mess.

 

 

And that about covers it.  A “clean” house in about 10 minutes. Now you can enjoy your guests and give it a proper cleaning after they have left.  

 

 

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Dinner in a hurry: Chicken Quesadillas

Everyone has those quick fix meals that they love. Chicken quesadillas are one of my family’s favorite meals and I always keep the ingredients on hand because I will ALWAYS have that one night where I forget to thaw something for dinner.

I came across a recipe for Chicken Quesadillas on the back of a can of Rotel once. I bought all the ingredients to make them, but for some reason before I could, the can of Rotel was used in another recipe. So I improvised and used Pace Picante sauce in place of the Rotel.

Instant hit!

 

(The recipe calls for two cans of chicken, though the second can is not pictured)

2: 10oz- 12.5 oz canned chicken breast, drained

2/3-3/4 cup salsa

1 cup shredded cheese

10 tortillas (the ones I use do not give a "size" but they are the small ones)

Makes 10 servings

 

Drain the cans of chicken and put in a medium sized bowl. Shred the large chunks of chicken using a fork.

 

 

Add your salsa and cheese and stir together.

 

 

 

I use my griddle (ungreased), but a large pan will work too. It will just take a bit longer since you can't fit as many in the pan.  

 

 

I lay the tortillas on the griddle first then fill them with the mixture on one half of the tortilla. Then I fold the tortilla over.

 

My burners are in medium heat and it takes about 4 or so minutes on each side to get them brown and slightly crisp.

 

 

 

 

The next best thing about these..... You can make up a whole bunch and freeze them! You can go ahead and brown them, or just stuff the ingredients in the shells and brown them as they thaw, in a pan or in the oven. You could even just microwave them. Everything you are putting in them is already cooked.


And there you go, super quick and simple Chicken Quesadillas in about 10 minutes!!!

God Bless!

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