St. Patrick's Day Yarn Wreath

To my knowledge, neither of us are directly Irish, but its fun to decorate for St. Patrick's Day.  I love to decorate for every occasion.....so, I really wanted to make one of these yarn ball wreaths when I saw this one.  So pretty Heather! 

This is how mine turned out.  It was fun wrapping the yarn balls.  I just sat and watched TV while I wrapped away.  It is however, a bit challenging with 3 cats "helping" me! Ha!

I didn't use styrofoam balls for my bases, I just wrapped regular old fashioned yarn balls.  LOTS of them in all sizes.  I used 3 shades of green and white yarn to make my yarn balls.  I used almost the entire large skein of yarn for each color.

This is an 18" heavy cardboard wreath form that I used for my pinwheel wreath HERE.  It didn't hold up to the Texas sun and faded really bad so I took it apart and used the form again.  Here I started laying down some of my larger yarn balls to get an idea of where they needed to go.

I used my hot glue gun to attach the balls to the wreath form.  I glued them really close together so hopefully you couldn't see the wreath form under them.

Keep placing and gluing until you like the way the wreath looks.  When I got to the end of my supply of yarn balls, I did have to make a few more of certain sizes and color to fill in blank spots.

Next, I added 7 golden (plastic) coins for good luck.  I found these at Hobby Lobby.  Just attach them with hot glue.  I glued 3 of them together first, then added them to the wreath.

The little "Irish" sign is from Hobby Lobby too, but I've had that for a few years so I'm not sure if you can still find them or not.

These are easy and fun to make, if you haven't tried one, you should! Especially if you have lots of yarn just hanging around!  Depending on the colors of yarn you have, you could make one for any occasion.

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Our "New-To-Us" Camper Repairs

Remember HERE and HERE when we remodeled our little popup camper?  Well, we upgraded to a 2005 Fleetwood Terry 27 foot camper and lets just say that it needed a little TLC after sitting unused for about 2 1/2 years.

There she is on the left, our new toy.  Our little popup camper, on the right, has already found a new home, a first time popup owner!  I snapped this picture on the day we transferred all our camping gear from old to new.  There are lots of little things to do to the new one, so it will be a while before she's just the way we want her.  We've already started fixing things here and there.

First off, one of the back end jacks had been damaged and needed to be replaced.

Quick work for my handy man honey!  He went ahead installed two new jacks on the back end simply because they came in a pair when we bought them. Very nice work honey!

Inside the camper I got to work cleaning and spiffing things up.  The previous owner left some type of frozen something in the freezer (from over 2 years ago) and oh em gee it smelled disgusting!  I cleaned it really good with windex with vinegar, but it still smelled really bad in there.  I placed a box of soda inside with the door shut to see if that helped....NO.....it did not!  Now I have it propped open to try and see if that will work. So gross, that smell!  Any ideas?

This is the freezer, where the stinky crime happened.  The finish on the bottom did not fair too well.  My Daddy gave me some appliance repair paint to help stop the breakdown.  I'm hoping it works.

The ceiling near the air conditioning vent was a bit dirty with a really fine black dust, so I sprayed it down with windex and made it all sparkly white again.  I also wiped down the vent itself and cleaned the filter while I was at it.  I simply vacuumed it clean with our little shop vac.

This was happening in a few places throughout the camper.  This is over the stove, so maybe the steam from cooking helped it along, but I'm not sure what the other spots excuses where.

This area in the kitchen had all turned a green color.  They used to be brown to match the rest, but now, not so much!

Long story short, I pulled all of the border paper off and used goo gone to clean off the adhesive left behind...very sticky adhesive.  I'm still working on that project, but boy does this stuff work well on it!

On the outside again my honey got to work with the pressure washer cleaning the whole camper so it would be pretty for our maiden voyage coming up in oh about 2 weeks! Woohoo!

This man is detailed I'm telling you!  Who would ever see the top of the camper?  Oh but it needed it so he could seal all the seams and around everything on the roof to prevent leaks.  He used Dicor Rubber Roof Lap Sealant in white.  It's specially made for RVs.

Um eeeew!  That's a lot of grime on there huh?  Not anymore!  He made it look like new again!  He used marine and RV concentrate soap from Lowe's along with the pressure washer to make it look new again.

Back inside, but time for my honey's skills.  The kitchen faucet leaked really bad when turned on, so he replaced it with a nice new one we picked up at Lowe's.  He had to drill a hole for the sprayer because this faucet was a bit different installation than the original one.  He used a small hole saw to drill the hole and then I used the shop vac to clean up the mess.  Easy!

So very nice now and guess what? No more leaks!  You know, its almost like home in there now!  Thank you honey!  Well, that's all I have for you this time, but stay tuned for more camper updates coming soon!  We are trying our best to bring our new toy into the year 2014. Lots to do!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Cinnamon Apples

Sometimes we buy too many apples and they don't get eaten before they start to soften and get mealy.  I could just throw them in the compost pile, but why not make them into something yummy we will eat?  Cinnamon Apples!

This is such a treat and oh so yummy!  Don't they look delicious bubbling there?  I'm already wishing we had more apples to cook up now!  As you would guess, these don't last too long after I get them all cooked up.

Cinnamon Apples

• 3 - 3 1/2 lbs. apples (I used 6 small apples)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Peel the apples, quarter them and remove the cores.  Slice into thin sections, the thinner you slice the apple the faster they will cook.

 

In a large pan over medium heat, add the apples and butter.  Let the butter melt while stirring the apples around to get coated.

Now add your honey, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Stir continuously until all the honey and sugar is melted and apples are coated evenly.  Cook until the apples are very soft and the sauce is thickened. About 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve warm apples with vanilla ice cream or on top of pancakes (pancake recipe here) or maybe as a side dish with a grilled chicken breast or pork chop. YUMMY!

What a yummy way to use up your over ripe apples huh?  Do you have a certain way you like to eat cinnamon apples? Let me know!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Recipe for Egg-less Pancakes

Remember that time last month when you got iced in and you got hungry for pancakes and discovered there were no eggs? Oh wait, that was me!  Anyways, no problem!  I have a recipe I found on Pinterest for egg-less pancakes.  Very good pancakes too!

Listed below is the recipe I used to make my pancakes, the original recipe called for rum which I did not have on hand.  You can see the original recipe HERE.  Thank you Kitchen Nostalgia!
 

Egg-less Pancakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add wet ingredients, whisk together until just combined. Do not over mix.  Set aside for a few minutes to rest.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Lightly grease pan with butter.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter in pan for each pancake.  Cook until lots of bubbles appear on top, then flip and cook until golden brown.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• a pinch of salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 Tbs butter (or vegan margarine), melted
• 1 Tbs rum (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

- See more at: http://www.kitchennostalgia.com/desserts/pancakes/pancake-recipe-without-eggs.html#sthash.KWnupyHV.dpuf

Serve with butter and syrup and a big glass of milk! NOT low calorie, but really yummy!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Cleaning and Reusing Candle Holders

We love to recycle and reuse every chance we get, so naturally I'm certainly not going to throw away a nice heavy candle holder when I can re-purpose it for other things.  I was in love with the Glade winter selection they had out around Christmas time, especially the Frosted Berry Kiss scent! Yum!  So I have many jars left over that I needed to clean up.

I use an old trick I learned a very long time ago to get them all clean and ready for another use again.  You will need a flat head screw driver, Dawn dish soap, a small amount of water, your microwave and a paper towel to get your candle holders sparkling clean again.

This is what is normally left over after the candle won't burn anymore.  You'll need to scrape out as much wax and the little metal wick holder that's stuck in the bottom of the jar.

Don't skip this step because your microwave will not like it if you put metal inside her!  Use your flat head screw driver to scrape out the wax and then very carefully lift out the metal wick holder.  It is stuck with glue to the bottom of the jar, so sometimes removing the metal piece is harder than others.

Drop in a few drops of soap and then fill your jar about half full with water.  Add water and soap mixture filled jars to your microwave.  Since all microwaves are different, start with small time increments and work your way up until the water is bubbling hot.  I have a 30 second button on mine and it normally takes a few times to get the water hot.  If you don't have a microwave, you can use boiling water instead.

Carefully remove the jar using an oven mitt or towel (they are HOT) and pour the water/soap mixture out.  Using a paper towel, wipe out the hot wax.  It usually all comes out with the first wipe like you see above.

Now, after you have all the wax removed, its time to finish cleaning the little jars for their next use.

Add another few drops of soap and warm water and clean up with your (old) scrubber sponge and then polish with paper towels until they are like new again .  NOTE: In case you missed last week's post when I shared with you my secret on how to make your stainless sink shiny, look HERE and see how.

Tah Dah! All clean and clear and ready to use around your house in some other fun project.  Or maybe you just want to add another votive candle to it and use it as a candle holder again.

I may use these three for my Valentine decorating or maybe to hold Valentine candies.  Hmm? The possibilities are endless!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Make Your Stainless Sink Shine - My Natural Secret Ingredient

Since we installed our new stainless steel farmhouse sink I've been kind of obsessed with keeping it shiny.  I normally wipe all the water spots off after I use the sink, but not everyone in our house takes the time to do that.   So.....let me tell you my secret to keeping it shiny longer using a natural secret ingredient.

This of course it how it looks after I've cleaned it and used my secret ingredient to make it all shiny and pretty!

We have very hard water, so this is what happens!  If you don't wipe it down right away, it gets all ookey looking like this! Yuck!  It drives me wild when its like this!

All these water marks are just not helping me think my new sink is pretty...nope at all!  Let's get rid of them NOW!

First I scrubbed the sink really good with a mixture of Dawn dish soap and vinegar (recipe here).  I used my yellow and green scrubber (use the yellow sponge side, not the green scrubber side) and spread the mixture all over the sinks.  Let it sit for about 10 to 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly and dry the sink with a paper towel.  NOTE: Sometimes if I have stains, I used my miracle cleanser, you can read about it HERE.

This is my secret to shiny! 100% olive oil.  Can you believe it? Have you ever tried it before?  It also helps to repel the water.  Like wax on a car it beads up and rolls right off and down the drain.  I read about its use HERE.

Careful, it doesn't take much at all.  Just pour a small amount of oil on a paper towel like you see above and get to buffing.

Using a circular motion I make sure to get it spread around and rubbed in so its not collecting dust and cat fur...oh wait, that's just our house huh?  Just keep polishing until you like it!

See! Shiny!  An no more water spots!  I have to be honest with you, it doesn't stay like this long, but while its looking like this....I love it!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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Old Book Page Heart - How to Make Paper Roses

Sometimes when I have an idea or a vision for a project I want to create, it actually turns out better than I expected. This was one of those times!

You probably know what I'm going to say next...I got my idea from Pinterest!  First I saw THIS and then I saw THIS and I combined the two ideas....sort of. LOL!  I always try and make the projects I see and recreate, "my own".  Let me share with you what I did.

You will need the following items to recreate my framed heart:

Old book pages
8 x 8 piece of scrap wood
Hot glue gun and glue
Scissors
Acrylic Paint (red)
Crackle Paint (cream)
Small paint brush
Old fence pickets
Sandpaper

First, you'll need to make lots of book page roses. LOTS...about 40 or so varying in all different sizes.  Cut your pages into 1 1/2" to 2" wide strips.  Crumple the paper long ways to make it look like the above.

Add a drop of glue to one end and then start rolling, twisting and gluing as you go.  The longer your strip of paper the bigger the rose will be.  To make larger roses, I glue two strips end to end after I crumpled them.

Keep rolling and twisting and gluing until you get to the end of your strip of paper then glue the end flat.  This is very time consuming.  NOTE: My hands were tired and my fingers were sore after making all these roses. So worth it though!  I'd certainly do it again!

Make several roses in each of the sizes.  I think I ended up with about 3 or 4 different sizes.  You'll need smaller ones to fill in blank spaces.

This was my test run.  I drew a heart on the board with pencil and tried to fill it in with my roses.  I didn't like it.  So I cut out a heart from one of the book pages and laid it down for my guide.  To hide the paper cut out, I made sure to glue the roses over the edge of the paper.  You can see it peeking out in the picture below.

Before I glued down all the roses, I painted the board.  First coat was with the crackle paint.  My crackle paint is several years old and didn't really work the way it should have, but its ok.  Next I painted the red coat of paint and let it dry really good. Next, lay down your heart shape, arrange your roses until you like how it looks, then start hot gluing your roses in place one at a time.

The crackle paint worked a tiny bit, but it wasn't enough of a distressed look so I took the sand paper to it to really scuff it up.  I can't leave anything alone! LOL!

Here it is what it looked like when I thought I was done.  Then I changed my mind and wanted to add more to it!  My honey helped me with the next step.

That's better!  He made a frame for me using some more of our old fence pickets.  I always love when we can use the pickets in one of our projects.  They are so rustic, which I love!

After my honey put together the frame, he used his nail gun to attach the heart board to the frame.  You could probably use hot glue as well, but since he was at it, he just went ahead and nailed it together.  Lastly, I added a hanger to the back and hung it in the dining room.....I changed my mind AGAIN and now its perched on the mantel with a few other little Valentine items. So cute!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

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