Compromise

Yesterday our house hunt continued, and I learned that if my husband and I actually find a house we both like without ending up in divorce court I will consider that a miracle from 8lb 6oz newborn baby Jesus. 

"But buying a house should be the most exciting thing ever!" Shut up, if you read my last post you already know what a nightmare it is! So now the tough part is finding something we can both agree on.

For me it is pretty simple. I need a big kitchen and something to decorate. And I need room for our son to run and have a swing set. For my husband it has to have a big yard and a man cave. One of the houses we went by yesterday is a great house, but the yard is unacceptable for my husband, he actually said "it is barely big enough to play cornhole!" If you don't know what that is and are thinking "WTF" right now here's what it is:

And I was amazed to find out they have their own association, I thought it was just a hillbilly game! But I digress.

So I'm annoyed that this is the type of thing my husband bases decisions on and he's annoyed that I'm willing to settle for less yard to get more house. So we must compromise, and only time will tell how that will go!

House hunting

Ok, so I know this blog was supposed to be all about Pinterest, but I think (or hope) our house hunt will be Pinterest worthy! 

I'm quickly learning that the hunt for the house of our dreams is certainly more like a nightmare! I really thought house hunting would be fun, and the perfect house would just be there.

The first problem that we have run into is that we want access to the city, but a big yard and neighbors that aren't right on top of us. That's super tough to find and especially hard to find in our price range. Then comes the problem of us wanting a big kitchen and big bedrooms. The kitchen isn't too hard to find, but typically when I think of a bedroom I think of a room that is actually big enough for a bed! Unlike the picture below, we looked at this house and it actually looks bigger in the picture, if you can even fathom.

So we have moved on to looking at some other options, possible sacrificing the yard for more house, and this pops up:

Yep, that's mannequin Heads that look as though they are hanging from the ceiling (they aren't). The description says "tasteful decor," however I see it as "someone at some point was murdered here, silence of the lambs style." So we will pass on this one!

We had another one that was a total dump, but also really cheap, with lots of potential...right by a sexual predator... with child porn convictions. Ugh!

So the search continues...stay tuned! It has to be here somewhere, right?

Delicious Dinner! Thanks to Pinterest!

http://www.house344.com/2011/10/crockpot-balsamic-chicken.html

We just had the most delicious crockpot chicken dinner, all thanks to Pinterest!! This is definitely one of the most delicious crockpot recipes I've ever found.

I made it just as it said. The only changes I made were that I used specialty oil and vinegar for it. We have a local oil and vinegar shop that get fresh oils, most of which are organic, and delicious! I used a Tuscan Olive oil with a traditional Balsamic vinegar from the shop. The Tuscan oil just has extra flavoring to it, I often eat it as salad dressing. Anyways, here's a little plug for my friends at the shop! If you're ever this way visit OV Harvest! Here's their Facebook site:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OV-Harvest/277208849062148?fref=ts

My house smelled amazing all day. The flavor of the chicken was great, and it was so tender it was falling apart and melted in your mouth while you ate it.

Here was the less exciting part of our dinner:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

This recipe sounds amazing, but it wasn't. I even used another specialty oil (garlic infused organic), and they were still just eh. They really were just flavorless potatoes that took a lot of work to make! Maybe I needed to use different spices or something, but personally I would prefer a good old fashioned baked potato over these. So don't waste your time with this one. 

I'm loving all the recipes I get off of Pinterest! Tomorrow I'll attempting crockpot sugar cinnamon almonds. We'll see how it goes...until next time...happy pinning!

Plum Pickin' - My new favorite website for awesome!

WOOHOO!!! OH MY GOSH! YAY!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Ok, what's got me screaming, you ask?

Only my new favorite website!

www.pickyourplum.com

Yeah, I know, weird name, right? But I love it! It's a daily deals type site, but with awesome stuff instead of knock off Ugg boots and D&G purses (gag)!

Everyday they have 1 special (on rare occasion they have multiples) and when it sells out it's gone, and everything is cheap! Ok, not cheap, correction, everything is inexpensive. It can't be cheap when it's this awesome!

So this is why I'm really excited, sometimes they have GRAB BOXES!!! I'm not normally one to purchase mystery items, but I knew this would be something awesome! $30 + 5.95 shipping and you get a big box of awesome! And awesome it is! So I wanted to post about all the great stuff I got!

I know you're also saying "What the heck does this have to do with Pinterest!?!" The majority of their stuff is bare bones crafty stuff, so you hop on Pinterest, type in something like "Cupcake Wrappers" and see what kind of nifty craft things you can do with them!

See pictures below, and be jealous. Then pick your own plums!

• Cupcake boxes
• Little girls pink sparkly boots
• little girls lace leggings
• Women's long sleeve shirt
• Super cute tan glittery scarf

• Raffia
• Cupcake wrappers
• Hook shaped like a dress form with a hook (great for jewelry or just your robe)
• Rub ons
• stickers
• Other girls sweater leggings (which I'm psyched because they're just big enough for me!)
• Jute Square basket
• Door knocker shaped like a key made from cast iron
• Bottle caps
• Lace type ribbon stuff
• KNOBS AND THEY'RE SO ADORABLE!!!!
• Little canvas gift bags
• Chicken wire basket plant hanger
• Plain rings to create your own jewelry
• Big, heave, awesome iron handles. So many ideas in my brain for these!

Here's my favorite! Personalized ribbon that says "Happy Holidays from the Abel Family!" AMAZING!

Just wanted to show off my handles and door knocker some more! This is great because I actually went to order the door knocker and they were sold out! Clearly, I was meant to have it!

Here's some jewelry and more jewelry making supplies.

More jewelry and jewelry making supplies. Those are earrings and a bracelet, and they would be very easy to add things to them. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'm sure I can Pinterest up some ideas!!

So go there, check out what they have, and be addicted, I know I am!!

New project...finally!

Well, needless to say my life recently turned to chaos. Which put me quite behind! Not to mention a project that was supposed to be one of the easiest I ever expected to do, that turned to total crap! So here I go again, probably not everyday, but as much as possible!

So here's something awesome!!

http://followpics.com/lantern-from-lowes-for-1-50-fill-with-christmas-ornaments/

Yeah, cute huh?

This was an easy one for me!

I just happened to have this lantern that I bought at Ikea several years ago. It is one of those things that I thought I couldn't live without, then found myself moving it from random place to random place throughout my house trying to decide what the heck to do with it! I also had all these extra decorations that don't fit on our tree, and the ribbon (believe it or not) I've been hoarding from my wedding leftovers 4 years ago. 

I plopped the ornaments in the lantern, tied on a pretty bow and the other ornament, and done!

I think it took me longer to find the ornaments than it did for me to put together.

Here's what it looks like on my shelf, I'm pretty happy with it:

So that's that. Easy, and that's what I like! It's pretty screw-up-proof!

I have a ton of Christmas projects to complete, so until we meet again...

Day #3: How to paint a Cherry blossom tree

I've always wanted to be a painter, I think maybe I was in another lifetime. There's just one little problem with that, I like any and all artistic ability that doesn't involve crayons or some sort of tracing. However, thanks to Pinterest I think I am a bona fide artist. Move over Van Gogh! Here I come!

Here's the original pin:

http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/cherry-blossom-art-from-a-recycled-soda-bottle/

It's pretty simple, pretty basic, but of course, I have my commentary =)

First of all, I used a 20 oz bottle instead of a 2 liter bottle, I also used a canvas instead of posterboard, to make it more artsy ("Excuse me friendly Pat Catan's associate, can you show me where your one-upper aisle is?") And even better, this project cost me absolutely nothing because I used left overs from a project I did a few months ago while I was pregnant, so I already had a canvas that I got free as a spare on sale at Pat Catan's, plus all the paint and of course the bottle.

Here's where I started:

So there's my happy little tree =)

So here's where I switched it up again, I used red instead of pink. Word on the streets is that Cherry Blossoms are in fact pink, however, I don't care. Mine are red. I don't think the tree police are going to come get me for this! My decor where I'm planning on putting this masterpiece is all red and black, so needed to do red flowers. Heck, do green flowers for all I care, there's no rules here folks!

There's my bottle, and my practice dabs on a spare piece of cardboard I had laying around. I just wanted to be sure they looked right before I stamped the canvas. Be careful when stamping! Don't pull the bottle up too hard or your paint will splatter! Unless you're into that sort of thing, then splatter away!

And here's my finished piece, even with my little signature detail.

It didn't look as much like a kindergarten art project as I had anticipated, which is always a plus.

Yes folks, it's that easy to be an artist! If anyone is interested in purchasing it, it will go up on the auction block at Christy's in 2 weeks with a reserve price of $20,000. HAHA! Yeah, right!

Side note, I also did this with a really hurt back, sitting in my living room at the coffee table. This is by far the easiest project in the world, especially if you already have the stuff!

Another wonderful day in the Pinterest neighborhood I'd say!

Day 2...Make your own laundry soap

Recently I'm on this saving money kick. I know, I know, I should always want to save money, but the problem with that is that I like stuff. Small stuff, big stuff and pretty much anything in Target. I LOVE buying new stuff and throwing out old stuff, adding to stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff. In recent months the stork brought me an amazing baby boy who I'd like to spend more time with, so now I have motivation to be home more, and no more room for more stuff, as an 18 1/2lb 4 month old takes up a lot of space. =) I read this article and thought WOW I CAN SAVE ON LAUNDRY SOAP WITHOUT COUPONS! THAT'S UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE! So I'm trying it, and so far so good.

Here's the original Pin:

http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent

Below is the original pinners plans, followed by my own personal commentary of course.

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle $5.09 at GE

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

This I had a hard time finding, got it at Ace Hardware, or for my local friends, they had it at Beuhler's. $3.15

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I highly recommend adding it)

I didn't use it, I hate OxyClean and think it's a waste of money, suck it, Billy Mays.

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (we chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha)

I used the Fels Naptha, at first the smell is a little strong, but once you mix it with other ingredients it gets better. This was easier to find, later a friend said she found Zote at Kmart, again for my local friends all you'll find at Kmart is homeless people, so go to Buehler's and buy your Fels Naptha in the detergent aisle or at Giant Eagle in the bath soap aisle. $4

2 (2 lb) Boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get 1 4 lb box, we just couldn’t find it when we went)

I got the 4lb box in the BAKING AISLE (isn't every aisle at a grocery store a cooking aisle), it was about $1 cheaper that way. $3.25

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional. Like I said, my laundry detergent must smell good and I really like soft towels)

I wouldn consider this "optional" only if you have an allergy issue with the Purex Crystals because I basically think that this stuff would smell like an old lady without it. Also, it's much less "pretty" looking without it. I started with 1 bottle but I think I'm going to add more. 1 for $4.99 - $1 coupon + all the tears when I found out that CVS had it on sale and I could've gotten it for anther $1 off  =(

The hardest most time consuming part is grating the cheese soap. The hubs thinks it looks like pink cheese….has anyone ever seen pink cheese? Ya didn’t think so! I’m not fortunate enough to have a food processor so I was stuck doing this with a typical hand grater. I did try a blender just for kicks and giggles….total fail! Stick to either a hand grater or food processor if you are blessed enough to have one. I should make it known that the soap dissolves just fine, even in cold water. I know that tends to be a concern but you need not worry. Oh and I would recommend using a large mixing bowl to grate into and using the fine side of the grater. 

OK, here's where her and I really disagree, I don't think grating the soap is that tough. I do have some recommendations though.

First off, she says "use the fine side of the grater" so I used the smallest size because even though she says the soap dissolving is no problem, I still had my concerns. Well, that was a bad idea. I ended up with a grater full of soap very compacted in it. It's still sitting on the counter as I scratch my messy haired head and try to calculate how to get it all out. I'm sure a scrub brush will work...once I find it. At any rate, use the smaller grating side, but not the very very very fine side, got it? Secondly, my grater has a little container that hooks to the bottom of it (thanks to whoever bought this for me as a wedding shower gift, and I'm glad after 4 years I've finally used it, however, halfway through grating I remembered why I've never used it, I have a kitchenaid mixer with an electric grating attachment, ugh, but I think that would've been of more trouble than value in this instance anyways, so I kept grating). I stuck the container on the bottom and rested the whole thing down inside the bucket as I grated to prevent runaway soap and I had little to no mess and didn't have an extra bowl to wash.

The hardest part is now over and all that’s left is to mix everything together. I used a very large bucket that I got from my Father-in-Law and took a layering approach to mix it easier. I took a small amount of each ingredient and layered it on top of each other, then I grabbed a large mixing spoon and mixed it together. I did this probably 5 times but it was so much easier than dumping all the ingredients in at once and then trying to mix it well.

Again, her and I disagree, I don't believe the hardest part is over, as I think the hardest part is mixing it all up. I didn't have an extra bucket so when I went to Ace to get some other items I bought a 2 gallon bucket (way overpriced at $8, but I figure that once I buy it I'll have it and it's not like I'll have to buy a new bucket every time I make a batch).

I did the layering thing, but I mixed it with my hands as the Borax and the Baking soda (mostly the Borax) had a lot of big chunks and I found it easier to break them up while mixing. However, don't do this if you have really dry hands, as I did at the time, because it will irritate your dry skin.

Mix this in your husband's "Man Cave," if applicable, as it will smell fresh and clean for days and not like a smelly man who's been playing Madden 2013 until he breaks a sweat like he's a real NFL player.

Ok, so you have it all mixed, here's what it looks like:

I did decide to pour some into the Purex Bottle for easier use, and as the original Pin says you only need 1 to 2 T of it! Isn't that "grate" LOL. There's lines in the lid and the middle one is about 2 T, the bottom is about 1 T.

So because I'm a numbers girl, lets do some calculating. I would estimate that my bucket is about 3/4 of the way full and it's a 2 gallon bucket. That's 384 (aproximately) Tablespoons YIKES! That's a lot, and our total cost (with the bucket, which I can use over and over again, or if I go broke play it on a street corner as a drum and snag some spare cash) $27.48 (if I did all my math right) plus a little bit of tax, so we'll say around $29. So pretty good deal, considering I buy the big jugs that are about 90 loads for $16 of Gain. 

I used it for a load of towels and they've turned out "grate!" LOL! We have really terrible water and we have a hard time with our towels smelling kind of moldy (gross, right), but they didn't have that odor when I took them out of the dryer, now only time will tell if that holds true, so I'll keep you updated, but so far so good. And, it did work well in my High Efficiency washer.

Also, I have an issue with the fact that the soap doesn't get sudsy, so if that bothers you DON'T WATCH IT WASH, duh. Plus, detergents and soaps are supposed to be better (less additives and junk) if they don't get sudsy (just ask Chaz Wen or whatever his name is, right LOL).

My name is Lynzee and I approve this Pinterest Pin.