Friday Freebie

Happy Friday.

A couple of FREE iPhone wallpapers for you.

Enjoy !!!!

I am a Granny



 Credit




It's official.
I am a granny.
Not because I sew.
Not because I get in the bed most nights by 8:30.
Not because I crochet...because I don't

Because I can  make dumplings....chicken and dumplings.
And they are Goooooooooood.

Once again a Pinterest Do recipe.
Chicken and Dumplings.
Easy easy easy, I can not stress how easy this was.
Just follow this recipe.
Simple as can be.

Also, if you can't find your rolling pin you can most certainly roll out your dumpling dough with a bottle of S. Pellergrino.
Then while looking for your dough scraper so you can clean off your counter top you will find your rolling pin.
Bummer.

This recipe calls for cooked chicken, which you add after your dumplings have cooked for a while.
I have always ALWAYS just boiled my chicken when I needed cooked chicken for something.
Tonight I baked it.
Rubbed it with some olive oil, salt and peppered it and baked 2 boneless breasts for 25 minutes.
They were perfect....sooo much better than poaching (boiling).

Make these Chicken and Dumplings.
Your family will lick their plate (in my case literally).
I let them it was funny.
You will feel so accomplished in your kitchen.

I always shied a away from dumplings.
Not anymore.
I am a granny.
I can make Chicken and Dumplings.

Monday and FREE M&M's

I have been couponing for a few weeks now.
Newbie...I know.

I have saved gobs of moneyso far, but today at Harris Teeter I made out especially well.
It was a triple coupon day.
I got all of this (above) for $22.14.  My bill was $50.00 before the coupons.
This folks tickles me pink.
This ends tomorrow...so if you have any small coupons (under 99 cent) it just may be worth your while
to head to Harris Teeter to get those babies tripled.

Also went to Lowes Food and got 2 Palermo's pizzas Buy one get one free, and I had 2- $1dollar off coupons so 2 pizzas ended up being $5.50.  Great Deal.

If you like M&M's and you like Rice Krispies, I had a coupon for $4 off of 4 Rice Krispies (sorry this was an online coupon and I think it's gone), and on each Rice Krispies box there was a peel off coupon for every 2 boxes of Rice Krispies purchased you got a FREE bag of M&M's.  Super Duper Deal.
I got 4 boxes of Rice Krispies and 2 Large bags of M&Ms for $6.64.  This all went down at Target.  Whoop Whoop !!

And  my poor mom rode shotgun for it all, usually we spend Monday shopping, thrifting and antiquing and today was spent couponing....I think I owe her.

Instagram Weekly

1. We had a crazy hail storm and it was still around 12 hours later.
2. Softball is on and so is number 10. So proud of her !!
3. Camo, I just don't like it.
4. Coupons...it's just the beginning.  Loving the $$$ I am saving.
5. Bo Time.
6. Studio Time.
7. Dancing with the Maksim...oops I do mean Stars.
8. Pretty.
9. Tags for lovely customers. 

Just Storage To Fancy Storage ---- Another Vintage Sheet Project

Well, Hello Fancy Storage. I can't wait to find a pile of something somewhere in my home that will fit nicely into this
piece of vintage sheet eye candy.

I had a box.
These are a few dollars at a craft shop.
They fold up, once we fancy it up though, it will never fold up again.
So if you want it to still collapse, don't you dare do the following to it.......

Here is that pile of vintage sheet strips I have been creating out of.
Still plenty to go.
I am  ripping these as I go into the size of strips that I need.
For this project use a wider strip, it covers better for a larger item such as this box.

Glue your first strip on.
Start at the top or bottom.
Glue it good.
Then wrap it around slightly overlapping it until you come to the end.
Glue the end down.
Glue it good.
I feel a Devo moment coming on.....Glue it....Glue it good....I'm an 80's kid.....who could blame me ?

Keep repeating until your box looks like this.
Pretty huh?

I added a few rolled flowers also made from the strips.
I am making such good use of all these sheet leftovers.
It feels good, kinda like when you make dinner and there are just enough leftovers for a lunch for tomorrow for the hubs and yourself and dinner another night.
Yes !!!!

This would make a nice Mother's Day  gift for my Mom...wonder if she would like one for her magazines ??
After reading this I am sure she will let me know.....let me know...ok Mom ?

Making Boo Boos Count

Chloe is having trouble falling asleep tonight.
She fell at softball practice and hurt her knee
I mean it's all scraped up.
It's bad.

It hurts.
A lot.
She's cried most of the afternoon.
It pulls when she walks.
She's limping.

She's pitiful.
It breaks my heart.
There is really nothing I can do for it.
Nothing.
It has to scab over,
then she has to knock the scab off
23 times.

It will have to heal all over again.
And be tight again.
And hurt again.

She has been in my room 4 times.
Asking to sleep with me.
As bad as I want to throw back the covers and nod, meaning it's ok for her to slide in
I can't.
She needs good rest tonight.
Not rest between me and dad, not rest in my floor on a quilt.
Good rest.

So she can heal up.
So her exhausted little body can take a time out from dealing with the pain.
She cries when I tell her no, and screams "I just wanna be beside you right now"

I want to be beside her too.
Sometimes you just have to be a mom, a firm rather strict mom.
I stuck to my guns, she is asleep now.
Sound asleep.
In her bed.
With her animals .... all 11 of them.
She is healing and recovering from her mini tantrums and her boo boo.
Her little face is still red from crying.

And she won't know it, but I am right here beside her
right where she wanted me to be.
Now and forever she will have to heal.
Recover.
Deal with life.

She won't have to do it alone
but she will have to do it her way.
I hope I am giving her the tools and  the know how
to handle boo boos no matter how big or small
by allowing and sometimes making her "deal" with the
small ones now.
Scrapes now .... Break-ups later.
Broken toys now ... broken friendships later.
Friends calling her a poopy head now ......  People crushing her spirit later.

I will never stand behind her and let her go it alone.
I will never stand in front of here and do it for her.
I will always be beside her...whether she knows it or not, just like I am right now.
Sleep tight baby, you did it.
You are asleep in your bed and I am right beside you.
You make me so proud.
It's the small things....ya know.

And now I am going to my bed.......she's good.......so good.

Spring ... Cooking .... Soul Train

Spring is soooo teasing us around here. 
Near 80 degree days, every one's toes are out, starting to get some color from working out in the yard. 
It's exciting.
Love this time of year, not a Fall/Winter girl at all.

I have stocked the bird feeders with feed and I an anxiously awaiting the birds....I moved the "main" feeder this year, I keep stressing that they will not "find" it.
Mr. JaneSays says I'm crazy .... he may be right
Had one cardinal today...that is all.
I want a feeding frenzy...let's go already.

photo credit.

Made these pork chops for dinner.
So so good.
Pork Chops were on sale....made them even better....swear it !!
So there is a mention on the recipe about the bottom of these chops being soggy in the end, it is suggested that you bake them on a rack of sorts to avoid this.  So I did this and  and no go, they are still a bit moist on the bottom so the rack thing didn't really work for me.
I removed my chops from the rack, put them directly on the pan, cranked up the temp 25 degrees and baked them about 5 more minutes...they were perfect.
I think to avoid some the sogginess, and mine were not real soggy just a tad, anyway...I think when you dip them in the ranch dressing prior to dredging them in the crumb mixture...get a lot of  the excess off, kinda rub in it and scrape the extra off.
I think that would help.
Aside from all that jazz they were very very tasty, Chloe ate them that is always a plus.
I served mine with green beans and garlic mashed red potatoes.
Definitely a Pinterest Do The Best Pork Chops You Will Ever Taste .



photo credit



Chicken Tamale Pie, I made this tonight....love that it's chicken, seeing as I have quit ground beef.
Another really good dish.
Easy and very quick.
One thing....it was just a bit mushier than I thought it would be.  It didn't really bother me, but if you have a weak stomach in your home that at times just can't handle mushy food, this may not be a good fit.
Overall a Pinterst Do though.  Give it a  try !!

A Pinterst Don't that really requires no photo is making your own liquid foaming soap by adding a few squirts of liquid soap and the rest water to a foaming soap dispenser. 
Yes it works. 
Yes the soap is foamy.
BUT
The soap just does not feel soapy enough. 
I ended up using three or four pumps compared to the usual one, which while in the long run may still come out to be cheaper, I simply am not interested in making soap every 3 days.  I wash my hands a lot.  A LOT.
"Real" foaming soap is not that costly .... just buy the real deal.

I want the Soul Train DVD set really really bad.
I told you this post was random.
I love(d) this show.
Saturdays.... cartoons then Soul Train.
Remember the Asian girl with the really long hair, she was my favorite.
Keeping my eyes open on ebay for a good deal, you know these Time Life collections cost big bucks.

Dear Easter Bunny, you know that Soul Train DVD set ..........

Instagram Weekly

1. Great days to be outside this week.
2. Colorful thrift find.  I see a lot of afghans but rarely are they this nice.
3. Chloe has been making breakfast all week.  She has egg cracking down.
4. Happy Mail.  Thanks Amy.
5. Curtains.  Love. 
6. Sheets.  Great vintage designs. 
7. Happy Scrappy Garlands.
8. Spring .... come on in.
9. Reading to Daddy and I in true classroom fashion. We had to raise our hand to speak. 

Buttons

I wanted a   button after each post on my blog.

I googled and binged and looked all over,  I found plenty of completely useless and inaccurate

tutorials.

I don't know about you, but I don't like to go poking around in the html of the ole blog

unless I am pretty confident in what I am doing. Feel me ?

I also did not want to pay a blog designer 20 plus dollars to do something I could do myself.

I finally stumbled upon a blog that I have stumbled upon before (this time I bookmarked it)

when I was poking around in my blog's inner workings and needed to know how to do something.

Kevin & Amanda is a great lil' blog with oodles and oodles of information.

Their post on adding the Pin it button was spot on. Easy. Accurate. Understandable.

Here is a link to that post, but please peek around the entire blog, you just may learn

something else you have always wanted to know.

A Pin it button on your blog after each post is a good way to encourage readers to

pin content from you blog, and by now we all know Pinterest is a great way to

get new readers to your site.

It's very simple, promise, you can do it.

Also ...... I added a new button to the right sidebar, it will take you to a page with all the recipes I blog about.

It's aptly titled Let's Eat.

Enjoy those....ok ?

Do It Yourself Paper Lanterns

This past weekend I told you I gussied up some paper lanterns for Chloe's room.
Remember?
Yes?
OK

I took plain yellow paper lanterns.
I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

This was the very first time I had constructed a paper lantern.
That's kind of a fragile task huh ?
I just knew I would destroy one or more of them.

After I successfully constructed the lanterns and had a cold drink ( it was that stressful )
and yes it was a sweet tea.
Anyway....then I knotted a guess what ??
A strip of vintage sheet....you can begin to see a running theme here huh?
I knotted a strip of vintage sheet around each lantern.
I don't love things that are perfect ......  so I tied the strips on so that they are  kinda wonky.  
If you like things straight and all lined up and square and stuff, by all means...tie yours on straight.

I like them.
Chloe loves them.
They move ever so slightly when the air blows thru the vents in her ceiling.
It's dreamy.

The far most right one I am not crazy about the way it is hanging, it reminds me of a ninja the way the knot is showing on the side, I may turn it around .... but then that may be too perfect now won't it ??

Vintage Sheet Cozy Cottage

Another vintage sheet project.

These strips are coming out of my ears and I will just keep creating until they are gone.

I grabbed a house, don't we all keep a spare house around and of course some

vintage sheet strips.

First, glue strips over the top, because you can't wrap around the top simply so this gets the trick done.

Then just glue and wrap until the whole house is covered.

I added a door and a garland.

Sweet lil' charming lil' cottage.

 I just keep thinking of things I can wrap these strips around ......

the four- leggers better go get under the bed.

A Pinterest Do Dessert

Ok...so this is  formally called Sopapilla Cheesecake.
However I have renamed it, because upon hearing the word Sopapilla and the ingredient cinnamon
Chloe renamed it Mexican Cinnamon Tacos....so there ya go.

Mexican Cinnamon Tacos are good.
If you like cream cheese, the taste of canned crescent rolls and cinnamon and sugar, you will like these.

The ingredients are short and sweet.

2 cans of crescent rolls
2 (8oz.) pkgs. of cream cheese softened ( I used the low fat type)
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp. of vanilla
1/4 cup of butter melted  ( I used half of that)
Cinnamon-Sugar

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl.
Line an un-greased 9x13 dish with one can of the crescent rolls as seen here

Spread the cream cheese sugar mixture over the layer of crescent rolls.

Layer the other can of crescent rolls on top of that.
I just patted mine with my hands, you could roll them if you felt the need.

Brush the melted butter over the top and get your little helper to shake the cinnamon-sugar on top, this it to your liking (or your little helpers).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
I baked mine for 25.
The original post I found this on said it was best served at room temp, we ate ours while it was warm, not hot but warm and we loved it.

Can't wait to have piece for breakfast.
Yum.
This is a Pinterest Do.

Vintage Sheet Wrapped Frame -- A Tutorial

I have tons and tons of vintage sheet strips left over from all that fat quarter cutting.  Now what to do with
all those strips.
I have several projects that I will share with you soon the first of which is
Vintage Sheet Wrapped Frames.

I always pick up nice frames at the thrift store and hold onto then until a mood strikes me.
Gather a frame any size, it does not matter unless you  already know what you want to use it with, then you may need a certain size..
You will also need scissors, glue and strips of vintage sheets or fabric.
I have lots and lots of vintage sheet strips right now if you would like to purchase some for this project, let me know.

ok rewind, back up, edit.
I decided after photographing supplies to attach a wire on my frame.
Just wrap it around and twist it tight it will be covered by the sheets so don't worry about how it looks.

Glue the end of a strip onto your frame, on the back or side, not on the front.
Give it a few seconds to stick and then wrap and wrap, keeping it tight. 
I wanted my frame to look sort of patchworky so I switched my pattern often you can do yours however you
like of course.

When you get to a corner be sure to put glue at the corner. 
Why ?
The sheet wants to slip to either side at the corner so the glue holds it in place so you can get a clean corner.
Keep wrapping until you are done.

I love this project.
I will make more.

A few things.

My frame had enough lip on the back that it just hung on a nail beautifully, you may have to devise a way for yours to hang.
Also if you wanted to still use the frame in the traditional way putting a photo or print in it, because you have wrapped fabric around it, you will have covered the ledge the glass, print and backing lie in so you will have to improvise, but in crafting, improvising comes natural....right ?

If you stink at improvising,  I would suggest using it as I have OR hanging it around something, you know like a letter, number, other framed piece or postcard or other ephemera tacked to your wall, that would be cute too.

I will be leaning mine on my mantle, I like it there.
I like that I can easily change out the postcard too.

More vintage sheet strips projects coming soon.
Enjoy.