This is video captures a day in the life of a typical mom ~ it’s hilarious! The first time I heard this was at Springs’ Church. A lady performed this song live for our Mother’s Day service a few years ago. I do believe this is the original video. This is a true tribute to all the moms out there. Enjoy!
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Custom Made Page Protector
I like to keep a phone list on the fridge that has contact information for family and friends. I used to laminate it, but I found that people’s numbers changed and I was unable to “edit” my list on the laminated surface. The page protector allows me to do little edits without having to re-print and laminate the whole list. I can either do minor edits by hand or re-print the sheet without having to laminate. This works much better and looks good too. Here’s how I did it.
Custom Made Page Protector:
I followed this comprehensive tutorial for the most part, but did not need to make holes to insert it into a book. I love the clean look and finished edges. This concept would be great to use in a scrapbook.
My project was not quite so pretty and more about filling a need. I keep my telephone list template on the computer, so the size remains constant and it is very little work to update the list. I stroked out phone numbers , so that takes away from the over all look, but here is a summary of the tutorial including the steps I used to make my sleeve.
- Place page in bottom right corner of protector sheet. (This is actually the back, my list is double-sided and this is the spill over onto the back side of the list.)
- Be sure the page is pressed snuggly into the corner.
- Add on the width of your double-sided tape and then cut your page protector. (Cut the top of the protector sheet to same height as your paper.)
- Use narrow double-sided tape to adhere the left side of the protector together. Mine is about 1/8″ thick.
- Lift the left hand side of the page protector and carefully place the double-sided tape along the outside edge of your page, being careful not to touch the paper.
- Cut a border about 3/4″ to 1″ wide and then fold the paper in half so it will slide over the edge. I made two, one slightly larger than the other, to create a layered look. Add the double-sided tape to the sealed edge on both the top and bottom. Peel the paper and slide border over.
- Here is the page protector with the paper removed. This allows me to update the information on my phone list whenever necessary.
I didn’t really think about it at the time, but of course realized later that I didn’t want the phone numbers all showing in my post. This last photo is not my actual finished product as I had to hide the contents of the document, but it gives you an idea of how it looks when its all done. The rectangle is the actual colour of original document. The photo of my phone list looks like more of a beige colour, but its actually this light yellow.
Best Ever Tortellini Soup
This has been a family favourite of our for a long time. This soup is bursting with flavour and very filling. I couldn’t find the original source, but I have modified it over the years, so will just share our version.
Tortellini Soup Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1/4 lb Hot Italian Sausage with the casings removed
- 1 chopped green pepper (cut in 1/2″ squares)
- 1/2 cup dried onion flakes (when I don’t have any, I just use chopped onions.)
- 1 clove of minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 900 ml carton of chicken broth
- 1 to 1 1/2 cans of water (28 oz)
- 1 28oz tin of diced tomatoes (you can use Italian if you wish, but regular is fine too)
- 1 19 oz tin of Aylmer’s Spicy Red Pepper Tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons of chopped parsley
- 1 thinly sliced zucchini
- 1 package of frozen meat tortellini
- salt and pepper
- Parmesan Cheese
Directions:
Fry up the sausage, green pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and zucchini until done. Be sure to break up the sausage into smaller pieces with a fork, as the mixture cooks. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. This soup is quite chunky, if it is not liquidy enough for you add additional chicken broth and/or water, but be careful not to water down the flavour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated parmesan cheese on top. This is great served with garlic bread and Caesar Salad. Delicious!!
Dollar Store Hack: Spice Bottle Upcycle
As you know, I finally finished my spice rack project. If you were looking at the pictures from the post carefully, you probably noticed that my spice bottles don’t match. I had upcycled some old ones from an old spinning spice rack, but those that were still hidden in the spice drawer were left in their original bottles. I put the mismatched bottles on the new shelf, but picked up some clear spice bottles with white lids at the dollar store.
Spice Bottle Upcycle:
These bottles were only 3 for a dollar. I decided to buy a dozen and then see how many more I needed. (Had I thought of it, I would have counted before I left, but I actually went to purchase baking soda and peroxide for my weekend cleaning frenzy.) I put the bottles through the dishwasher and hand washed the lids and plastic pieces (with the holes for sprinkling). Once they were thoroughly dried, I spray painted them with black paint and printed the spice names on the lids with white Crayola twistable crayon. Here is the original post with the tutorial.
I really love the crayon in lieu of chalk. It gives the same effect, but you don’t have to worry about smearing. If you remember, I have chalkboard labels on my glass pickle jar canisters and the chalk is always smearing. I think I might actually erase them all and convert the printing to crayon. Not my idea, but certainly a great one!!
Here are the completed bottles!
Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies
I got this recipe in 1996 when Tim and I were on an extended trip to California. We met a Manitoba gal down there through friend and ended up staying with her for over a month. She was an awesome person, but we lost touch after we returned home. I often think of Donna and wonder how she’s doing. This was her recipe, so whenever we make these cookies, I always think of her.
Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies:
1 cup of softened margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine the above ingredients and beat until fluffy.
1 1/2 cups flour (you may need to add a touch more if dough seems overly sticky after cooling)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup walnuts
*white chocolate chips
*Add 1 cup of Cornflakes or Rice Krispies instead of the walnuts
Mix the flour, soda and salt together. Add the oatmeal and nuts (or cereal). Mix well and add chocolate chips, if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough into balls and dip them in sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes. Should make about 4 dozen.
Wall Mounted Spice Rack Reveal
Yay! I finally got my spice rack finished. I am super pleased with it. The first pull-out shelf we built works great, but the empty space above was annoying me. Tim has been on holidays the past couple of weeks, so he ended up helping me more than usual and we finally got the spice rack painted and mounted. It was so great having him home. I could get really used to that!
Wall Mounted Spice Rack:
An old book display rack was where this project all began.
Here is the spice rack with holes filled and ready for sanding.
I painted the cabinet yellow to match the bottom and then spray painted the front face with chalkboard paint. I still need to decide on a handle, prime the black surface and apply my chalkboard art.
I love the way the two pieces line-up so nicely and fill the gap between the wall and fridge.
Here is a shot of both shelves.
I picked-up full extension drawer slides for around $23 at Home Depot. Tim mounted them on the back of the spice rack and on the back wall. The shelf tucks in the space perfectly and the two shelves line up really nicely. Both units were made from two panels of the original book rack. The cost was next to nothing for the entire project. If I’m not forgetting anything, I think we paid around $6 for chalkboard spray paint, about $6 for the metal strapping, $7 for the handle on the bottom and $23 for the drawer slides. We had all of the other materials on hand. So, even if I missed something I am guessing this project cost us well under $50 and totally transformed our kitchen. It is so much more organized. I was able to empty the top spice drawer and move my tea towels and dish cloths into it. The smaller drawer that they used to reside in is now for odds and ends like the remote for the fan, a tape measure, shoe horn, etc. These “gadgets” use to be in another drawer along with my foil, cellophane, parchment paper and Ziplocks. Everything is just so much tidier. Loving it!!
Life Hacks I Love # 11: You’ve Grout to Be Kidding!
Okay, I am definitely on a roll now. I was so impressed with the results from the tub tiles that I had to try those floor tiles just one more time. So, you’ve already seen how disgusting my tub was thanks to the oil my daughter used in the shower, but I honestly didn’t think the tub tiles and floor were that bad. They were “clean”, but the solvents I was using really weren’t that effective. Do you know how frustrating it is to expend the time and energy to do a job like cleaning tile/grout and it really look no better than before you started. I knew the bathroom was clean because I had done the work, but I was never left feeling good about it.
Now, some people have told me they feel bad about themselves when they read my blog because it makes them think about all the things they should be doing. So let’s just get something straight right off the hop. I love a clean, organized and tidy house, but mine rarely is any of the above and when it is, it seems to only be a momentary euphoria. Those of you with kids know exactly what I’m talking about. Spend two hours vacuuming and mopping the floor and as you pack up your cleaning supplies, you spot a kid caring a bowl of Rice Krispies to the living room, so they can watch TV while they have a snack. Are you kidding me?? Ahh!! So, if you are thinking I’m so great because I get all this stuff done, don’t kid yourself…ask anyone who pops by unannounced, my house is far far from perfect. In fact, think of it this way…how on earth did I ever let my bathroom get to that state in the first place! (Now in my defence, I had tried many times previously, but to no avail.)
Floor Tile Grout Cleaner:
Stock-up on baking soda and peroxide.
Back to the search engines. I came across this idea that seemed to work well for some and thought I’d give it a try, but I had already used up all of my baking soda on the shower tile. Off to Dollarama to pick-up a few supplies. This cleaning solution calls for peroxide and baking soda. I picked up 5 boxes of baking soda and 4 bottles of peroxide for a buck each. The floor took about 2 bottles of peroxide and 2 1/2 boxes of baking soda. Basically, you pour on some peroxide and work it into the tile with a scrub brush. You then sprinkle baking soda on top and scrub that into the peroxide, working your way into the grout. I then used a paper towel to sop up some of the extra goop and then wet mopped the floor (several times). The only down side to this is that the grit from the baking soda is a bit hard to get rid of. You can’t notice it, but you can feel the texture under your feet. I recommend giving it a few mops, letting it dry and then giving it a vigorous sweeping and/or vacuuming before a final mopping. I know this sounds like lots of work and it was. It took me about 2 hours to do this job, but I am amazed by the results. This doesn’t change the flaws in the grout, but I can’t believe the difference. I honestly thought that the grout colour just faded over time as I never really remember it looking so white.
Here are my before and after shots! These are so disgusting they should come with a warning. I know I am totally sabotaging my image by sharing these before and after pictures, but it’s all in the name of entertainment. I can’t believe that I could never get any of this dirt off before….how embarrassing! Revel in a snapshot of my imperfection!
I started with a small section just to see if it would work.
The left side is done the right is not – obviously!
Here is a shot of the completed floor.
You must be starting to
Life Hacks I Love #10: How ’bout that Grout?
My spring cleaning spree continued and a I spent most of Saturday scrubbing the bathroom. There is a bit of a story behind our bathroom and perhaps it needs to be explained at this point. In 2010, we hired an independent contractor to gut and renovate our bathroom. This was a huge job and quite pricey for such a little space, but it was literally crumbling down and had to be done. We signed a contract, gave a deposit and were excited that his timeline was 3 weeks. Unfortunately, 3 months later the job was less than half done with no toilet, sink or floor and none of the finishing work completed. He would show up sporadically at best and never answered our calls or emails. When we finally reached our limit and gave him an ultimatum….finish by Friday or don’t bother coming back, he chose the latter. This left us with a huge job to complete and uncertainty about where he was in the process of some of the jobs. It was a huge stress and at this point we just wanted it done. It was so hard to find trades people and at this point we weren’t feeling very trusting, so we decided that Tim would finish the job. This added a lot to his plate because he was working full time and had to do the bathroom around his schedule. In the end Tim did a great job, but there was one major problem. The tile work. Although I know Tim is capable of doing pretty much anything around the house, he had never done tile before. We weren’t sure if the bathtub tiles needed any kind of sealer on them because “Darryl” had done this job before he walked off. We assumed it was complete and never did any kind of treatment over them. As for the floor tile, Tim took on this job himself, but under the time crunch of knowing our vanity was to be installed in just a few days. He pulled a couple of all-nighters in the midst of a family camping trip and got the job done, but there were issues with the grout. I can’t actually remember what went down, but the result was somewhat disappointing. I can be pretty fussy and especially when we’ve just spent an arm and a leg to get our bathroom done, but my husband had just spent every spare moment working his tail off to get this job done and believe me frustrations were high, so I had to tread lightly if you know what I mean. He knew there were some flaws in the grout, but it has always been a bit of a “touchy subject”.
Over the years, I have attacked the grout on that floor several times, but to no avail. It just doesn’t seem uniform in colour and I have never been very happy with it. Someday, perhaps we’ll get it redone, but for now it is what it is. In fact, some say it is natural looking and looks like it might have been the original floor with the normal wear and tear of a 100 year old house. So, having said all of this, the bathroom tile and I have a bit of a contentious relationship and it has never been “spot on”, even after its initial installation. I’ve had several fights with the tub and floor tiles, but always feel like I’ve lost the battle in the end. Well, for the first time ever, I actually felt pretty good with the results.
Tub Tiles:
I found a homemade mixture for the tub tiles and was quite pleased with results. I have tried several store-bought tile cleaners and feel like the discolouration never really goes away. This homemade concoction worked quite well.
- 1 part bleach
- 3 parts baking soda
Mix the bleach and baking soda together to form a paste and spread it over the grout. Leave for about 10 minutes and scrub. Now, I won’t lie…I did have to scrub the grout, but the whole thing didn’t take me longer than about 10 to 15 minutes. There really is no comparison between this method and other traditional cleaners I’ve used. Most of the discolouration came off and I was pleased with the results.
BEFORE application of the bleach and baking soda mixture.
Application on the wall.
AFTER application of the bleach and baking soda mixture.
This is an AFTER shot of the grout lines.
This is a BEFORE shot of the tiles. Normally when they have just been cleaned they look slightly better than this, but not much. Most of the stubborn stains would not come off.
Life Hacks I Love # 9: Blue Dawn + Vinegar
I saw this on Pinterest a long time ago and was so tired of commercial cleaners that didn’t work, I thought I’d give it a try. Our home was built in 1921 and still has the original cast iron tub in the main floor bathroom. We had it refinished when we redid our bathroom several years ago, but it just doesn’t clean easily. I was so excited when I tried this out and it worked!
How to Make Your Own Tub/Shower Cleaner:
The ratio for this mixture is one to one. I find that 1/3 to 1/2 cup of each is plenty for one tub.
- Measure 1/3 cup (or 1/2) of vinegar in a glass measuring cup.
- Microwave the vinegar. You want it hot.
- Pour the vinegar into a spray bottle.
- Add an equal part of Blue Dawn dish soap to the spray bottle (either 1/3 or 1/2 depending how much vinegar you used).
- Add the spray bottle cap and give the bottle a gentle shake just to mix the two slightly. Do not shake vigorously or you’ll get lots of bubbles.
- Spray onto the tub and shower surface and let sit for about 10 minutes.
- Wipe clean.
You will notice that the grime wipes clean easily with little to no scrubbing at all. The vinegary smell is quite strong but dissipates quite quickly and the results are really worth it.
My daughter decided to make-up some kind of an oil mixture for her hair and body this week and our tub is disgusting. Normally, the natural consequence for this would be for her to clean the tub, but I wanted to post about it, so I decided to do it myself. Whatever concoction she used, attracted every bit of dirt and grime conceivable to our tub. Here is a picture of the an area I’ve wiped versus an area that hasn’t yet been cleaned. I went to use my Dawn + Vinegar cleaning solution and realized I was out of Dawn. I decided it would be a great time to try out the Sunlight dish detergent I have on hand. I simply substituted the Sunlight for the Dawn and it worked like a charm. We buy a huge container of Sunlight from Costco and I would just buy the Dawn separately for cleaning my bathroom. Not any more ~ from now on I’ll be using my Sunlight for my bathroom as well and saving the extra expense. I actually had Eden shoot a little video clip of me wiping down the tub, but I am having trouble with my YouTube account, so I decided to post without it. Here is our disgusting tub!
This is one of those Life Hacks that really works. It is so much better than any of the commercial cleaners I’ve used. It’s much cheaper and takes so much less effort. I highly recommend this fabulous solution. Based on my little experiment today, I would venture to guess that it might work with any good quality dish soap you have on hand. I’d love to hear how it works for you, so leave your comments below. Happy cleaning!
Big Bad Bonded
In 2010, we were in desperate need of new living room furniture. We had bought a high-end leather set in the early 90’s and needless to say, it was done. It held up tremendously well, but the springs were going and when you sat down you feared you might sink into a bottomless pit and never get out. At the time, I was off work on a sick leave and really not up to furniture shopping, but we needed something. We came across another leather set at the Palliser furniture outlet. The set looked quite good, but was being cleared because there were a couple of inconspicuous areas where the furniture was damaged. The discount was incredible, but we were aware that the quality was not nearly as good as our previous set and the damaged spots may not hold up well. However, our thinking was this…it was a great deal and our kids were at the age where they weren’t exactly “easy” on the furniture. We thought of it as a short-term solution, until we could figure out what we really wanted. Well that was 4 years ago and I can honestly say, the furniture was holding up and life was busy, so we never even bothered to look. I don’t know if it was the weather or just timing, but this winter killed our furniture. I think it was around Christmas when we started to notice that some of the leather was peeling. This had never happened with our previous set and we immediately new that this was in fact “bonded leather”.
What is bonded leather?
This video does in fact explain what bonded leather is, but I have to disagree with his statement regarding the durability. If you do your research, you’ll find that many will report that there is no comparison between genuine leather and bonded. Many furniture stores will advertise “genuine leather” in all the places that touch your body, but bonded or synthetic on the sides and back. This article in the News Tribune provides lots of information and a great comparison between the two. Speaking from experience….I would never buy bonded again. Our leather sofa and chair lasted us almost 20 years and was in great shape for at least 15 of those years. Our bonded (which we did knowingly buy, but don’t really feel slighted because it was so cheap) lasted less than 4 and it really can’t even be sold or used by anyone. As far as I’m concerned it will be trash. The amazing part is how it went from fine to garbage so quickly. It literally just began splitting apart in the middle of the cushions. Currently the furniture is still in our living room. We don’t have a family room or finished basement, so we spend our time in our living room and really have to keep it until we have it replaced. We have done some looking, but the layout of our living room and style of the house have made it difficult to make a decision. We both agree that we will be purchasing another genuine leather set, but it is a big investment and I want to make sure we choose something that we’ll be happy with for many years to come. The only draw back of a really high quality set is that you are making a decision that may last for 2 decades. That’s big!
So, until we can find the hours to shop and make a final decision, we are living with garbage furniture. If you are in the market for new furniture be sure to do your homework and ask lots of questions. When we were looking and asked about genuine leather some sales people told that specific pieces were genuine, but did not admit that synthetic leather (or other fancy terms) covered the sides and back until we specifically asked about it. Don’t be lured by the low price and later disappointed by the poor quality. Our sofa set is an Ashley set which I actually would not have bought even at the great price had I known. I’ve heard many stories about the poor quality of their furniture and the manufacturer is always one of my questions. Furniture can be a very big expense, so shop wisely!
Just for fun, I thought I would show you what we are currently resting our bottoms on! Keep in mind, none of this “damage” was related to the original flaws in the furniture and none of it resulted from a puncture or specific incident.
Doesn’t look too bad from a far, but there are now two splits on the seat cushions at both ends as well as the peeling on the top.
You can see the large split on the seat.
This is where the seat cushion on the chair split. I did attempt to repair it but it didn’t hold up at all and has gotten considerably bigger.
This was one of the first splits that I repaired a few months back. The repair has held up quite well actually.
The top is where the original peeling started and newest split is on the cushion.
This is the spot on the top of the back of the couch where is originally began to peel….a bit.