Just another manic Monday!

Monday - Probably take out

Tuesday - Cream Cheese Enchiladas

Wednesday - Pork chops and mac and cheese

Thursday - Spaghetti

Friday - Breakfast for dinner?

I have known about Menu Plan Monday for several years now and I am starting today! I don't make New Years Resolutions because I know I won't stick to it and simply stating it does not hold me accountable! Instead I am just going to try to do my best, do one thing/week at a time and keep my head up.

Over the last few weeks I have been preparing myself for a more organized household, which did involve putting Halloween stuff away. Ha. A little embarrassing but it is what it is!

I found this pin on pinterest and I think having one station for all of my lists and organization would be perfect! I need a piece of plywood and a few more things to finish. I will post my finished product when I'm done!

Thanks, Girl Loves Glam!

Picture coasters

I decided to make coasters and after reading some how to's on Pinterest it looked like I could tackle the project. It was the perfect Christmas gift on a budget and I was lucky to have a lot of supplies on hand. I did a lot of research on Pinterest and asked my crafty friends for advice and then changed my mind from pictures to scrap paper to pictures again so of course I was doing this project the night before every gift exchange. I am SO glad my boyfriend convinced me to do pictures because it is kind of my thing and it ended up looking a lot better than the scrap paper that wrinkles some. He even helped me quite a bit which he isn't the crafty type so he must have been in the Christmas spirit!

What you will need:


 

Tiles  (Home Depot - 13 cents a piece)

Cork board (Hobby Lobby - $3.00 )

Permanent glue stick (Walmart - $2.00)

Modge Podge ( I had this but you can find it at any craft store or Walmart)

Scissors or paper cutter ( I borrowed one from a friend)

Spray Gloss - (Home Depot - $3.50)

Your favorite pictures (Walmart - 29 cents)

Ribbon ( Walmart - $1.00)

Glue gun ( Hobby Lobby - $3.00)

& glue sticks ( i had some)





First cut your all your pictures to size. I was lucky enough that my friend had a sliding paper cutter so with 4 X 6 pictures I only need to cut a little from each side.


With this one I cut some out of the middle too since I wanted pretty much the whole picture! I didn't leave a space just made sure to line it up just right and it turned out great! I did space some for a little artsy affect and they were cute too :)



Use the glue stick to cover the back of the pictures and try to center it best you can. Just smooth it out with your fingers pressing in the middle and towards the edge.





Use a foam brush or paintbrush to put modge podge on. Try to do even strokes, just once per swipe. This is kind of a bad example because as I did more I learned to put less on :) Just know it comes on white and will dry clear! Do this to all your coasters and once it dries, do it 2 or 3 more times drying in between.



This is the kind of gloss I used! I just asked the guy at Home Depot and it worked great!



Do this part outside or in the garage. My boyfriend set me up a little work station in the garage with an old door and even did the first layer for me! Put it on thin and as even as you can!




Do as many coats as you want! I ended up doing 3 or 4 on my coasters. Looking pretty already!





These ones are a different batch I made for my mom, the in laws, and my niece! For my mom I used pictures a cousin had uploaded on facebook and they were of my mom when she was toddler age and of my grandparents. My grandma had 13 kids so I'm amazed she had any pictures of last child who was born in 53.


 

Next cut your cork board into squares. I bought the roll of it so just cut them into strips and then into squares. Use your glue gun to glue the square to each corner. It dries fast and has stringies but otherwise pretty painless.




Finished product! The first batch I was able to ribbon up all pretty but I forgot to take a picture. The next two I did, I didn't want to smash them because per the can instructions they should dry for 24 hours first. So glad I made them :)

five day break

Who knew that writing my thoughts down would provoke such productivity over Christmas break. I managed to make 35 coasters (all last minute of course) and they turned out swell. I will be putting a how to up for this later since I took pictures of the process. I also cleaned the house, and organized my room as well as Katelyn's. This was a big task for both because I am a clothes hoarder. I want to be prepared for any occasion. I managed to use some rules from an earlier post of Organizing Junkie to help. I don't have any emotional scars so far from throwing things out, so far so good.

I also took pictures and prepared baby stuff for garage sales or craigslist. One of our friends buys most of the clothes so that's easy but I still have other crap.

My kids were so darling on Christmas. Carter's first reaction to coming down stars was SANTA ATE THE CANDIES!!!!!!!!!!!

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Although I am going to repin this recipe, I wanted to share on my blog too! It looks amazing and I can't wait to try it. It's easier to go back to my blog than look on pinterest sometimes when I'm cooking. I noticed that frozen veggies and cream of soup is on sale this week on the comp list.

CREAMY CHICKEN & BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of mayo

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup colby & monterrey jack cheese

1 bag frozen broccoli,thawed and chopped

salt & pepper to taste

Cook chicken & shred.  Meanwhile, chop the broccoli.

Now, mix all ingredients together.

 

Transfer mixture to a lightly greased 2 qt. casserole dish & heat oven to 375. 

Cook for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

And the most important part…SERVE WITH RICE!!!!

I got this step by step guide from:  http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2010/04/just-like-grandma-used-to-make.html

rest in peace, little ones.

The gut wrenching shock of hearing that 20 children & six adults lost their lives at school has not subsided. I have always loved school. I used to go to school early, and participate in everything I could. The list goes on for teachers who have impacted my life and fueled my success. I came from a poor family but it did not lack love, only structure.For some kids, it's their only "safe" place . The only place they ate a hot meal. Not as much in my home town but you also never know.

It strikes a chord with everyone. A sensitive topic brings up lots of emotions and lots of possibilities from no automatic weapon sales, teachers carrying fire arms, mental health reform just to name the ones that I thought of first. I think a good start would be mental health evaluations for all gun owners. This would not have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy any better than no automatic weapon sales (since he did not use one) but I think it would give me some peace of mind.

Another thing that needs researched is how much, if any, prescription psych drugs impact on acting out violence. In the same way depression medicine is not prescribed to people with suicidal thoughts. They are more likely to act on it. In my mind, this is the only possible solution. Adam Lanza was gifted, but socially awkward. I know people like that. From what we know, he wasn't abused. I can't help but think that the drugs prescribed likely became the follow through. Dare I say, the same with James Holmes. I don't know that either of them took psych drugs for a fact. This is all just my speculation. I think it helps to move on to look at the deep rooted issues instead of just the gun part. Something to think about.

I am not an organizing junkie

I just read on I'm an organizing  junkie that clutter is just procrastinated decisions! That's pretty much it. The problem is, even if you know the right thing to do - following through is where it gets serious.

I know I have issues with saving clothes, items, whatev. To me, it's because it COSTS money. I try not to waste anything. I actually like the tips from the cheapskate show on TLC. In my brain, when I throw something away, I am throwing away money. I don't mind throwing away my time apparently, looking for stuff - but money, the cheddar, not going anywhere out of my sight.

Questions to ask yourself when donating or throwing items away:

1. Do I love them?

2. Do I use them? How long ago did I use them?

3. Do I have the space to store both without it being a cluttered space? 

4. Am I willing to give up something else in this space in order to make room for both? 

4. Can I imagine myself or anyone in my family ever loving it or needing it in the foreseeable future? 

Org Junkie’s Tips for Parting with Your Clothes

1.  If you haven’t worn something in a year then out it goes regardless of condition, price or size.  Why a year?  Because you cover every season in that period of time.  If you haven’t worn it during the year, you probably never will.
2.  If you have a piece of clothing that you wear but are annoyed with it every time you do, seriously stop it.
3.  If it’s waiting to be mended and it’s been waiting for a long time then enough is enough already.
4.  If you hate to iron and your ironing pile sits there totally neglected while you wear all your favorite clothing over and over again, why do you still have an ironing pile?
5.  I’m not opposed to keeping your “skinny” clothes (and I know we all do it) but for goodness sakes you don’t need to keep all of it.  Styles change, your tastes change, your body shape changes so chances are good that when you get back to that size you’re going to want new stuff anyway.
6.  If you absolutely love a shirt but never wear it because you have nothing to wear it with, well guess what, a mate isn’t going to magically appear in the night.  Follow the one year rule.
7.  Sentimental clothes that you aren’t wearing shouldn’t reside in your closet.   Either take a picture of it and preserve the memory or limit yourself to one tote of “clothes to show my kids so they can laugh their heads off at me someday”.
8.  Don’t hang onto something that is “just alright” because you don’t have something better yet to replace it.  Let it go now unless it means you go naked, that wouldn’t be right.
9.  You don’t have to do it all at once.  Try organizing in stages and be motivated by your success.  One day you could do shirts, the next day shorts, etc..
10.  Try everything on.  This one I can’t stress enough.  Do not hold something up and say oh this is so beautiful I’m going to keep it.  That’s too easy and what you might not remember is that, although it’s beautiful, the buttons gape at the front showing off your woman parts.  Nope we don’t want that now do we.  Get rid of it.
11.  You only have the space that you do.  Jamming your clothes into the closet and fighting with them every single day to find what you need won’t make your closet grow in the night.  It will only make you grumpy…every single day.  It’s not worth it.

Told ya so

It has been so long since my last post! I don't know why I can't commit to this blog. I have tons of ideas, tons of lists to do, and I have thoughts running through my mind all the dang time. I am writing this to remember a laundry soap recipe from Kayley Fredricks.

3T of borax, 3T washing soda, and 2T dawn dish soap... Just put all 3 into a gallon jug and add 4 c boiling water, mix around until powder dissolves (be careful its hot!) Then add cold water to fill the jug almost to the top. And you're done! It says to use a half to one cup.per load. I haven't used this recipe yet but hope it works well bc it was super easy and super cheap! They say you can use other soaps for scent but dawn has the too grease fighting agents. 

I have also been using the comp list too from an Ottawan and the other day it probably saved me at least $20 on my grocery trip. My boyfriend was AMAZED at all the groceries I got for $110.00

Does anyone want to be my personal organizer? I have good intentions of being all organized and perfect, and then I lose stuff, and suck.