Friday, March 30, 2018

Clutter Busting Challenge March 2018

I didn't really purge anything this month. I did collect the things that needed to be taken to someone or dropped off for donation. I visited my oldest daughter and dropped things off. I collected a few things that my younger daughter needed donated and I did it for her. My youngest son purged his bedroom and I dropped of 3 garbage bags for donation. I dropped off 2 sets of his old glasses and 1 set of lenses to the Lion's Club drop box at the eye doctors office. I dropped off a few computer things to my oldest son from my younger son. All things that needed removed from my home but belonged to my young adult children. I was happy to lighten the load. We are painting the living and family rooms along with refinishing the floors, so everything is being shifted around. Every room in the house is affected including the basement. Although we're rational minimalist we still have to have places to put 2 rooms and 2 closets worth of stuff. Thankfully, the house doesn't look to bad considering. We're using the exercise room as the living room for now.

I'm not counting any of the items because they didn't belong to me, although they did leave my home. I had previously counted the things going to my oldest daughters cause they did belong to me. I was suppose to drop them off in the fall and didn't get around to it.

My youngest sons donations. I forgot to take pictures of the other things. The back seat of my car and trunk were full.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Handmade Teddy Bear Books

I made Teddy Bear themed books for my grandchildren. I used an old Teddy Bear calendar from 15 yrs. ago. along with printed pages, scrap scrapbook paper, card stock, contact paper, yarn, tape, and stickers. I laid out manila file folders, taped them together, and accordion folded them.


This is the book folded up before adding anything.

















This is the book laid out ready to work on. I used 3 file folders for each of their books.

















I laid everything out on the table to get an idea of what I wanted for a layout. My granddaughter's book on one side and grandson's book on the other. I wanted each book to be similar in layout.

















My granddaughter Arileise's finished 1st side, along with my grandson Richard's items collected on the opposite side of the table.

















My granddaughter Arileise's finished 1st side, set up to show the accordion folding.


My grandson Richard's finished 1st side, set up to show the accordion folding.


Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Ham and Cheese Biscuits




















2 1/2 cups biscuit mix

1 cup milk
1/2 cup diced ham
1/2 cup shredded cheese

In a bowl, mix together the biscuit mix and milk. Fold in the ham and cheese. Drop large spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Monday, March 26, 2018

March 2018 Reading List

















I didn't start a new book this month, I finished up the one from February called Carolina by Yvonne Lehman. There are 4 whole books in the one book. I read 2 of the stories last month and the other 2 this month. I guess I haven't been in the mood to read as much lately. I've been crafting a lot the last 2 month though. I went ahead and created this post since I wanted to share my St. Patrick's' day tablescape.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Travel/Restaurant Kit for Our Grandkids



I decide to created a travel/camping/restaurant kit for our grandkids. They will enjoy using it when we take them out for the day or a weekend. I got the idea to put it together because we are taking them camping in June. This past Summer when we took them camping for the first time we took their normal toys that we keep in their toy closet in our home. It was a bit bulky for the car ride and for using in the camper. I thought I could put together something that wouldn't take up as much space. 

I was so excited that I found everything I needed in one day including the bag.  I spent $22.00 at the thrift store and $16.00 at Dollar Tree. It's a lot of stuff for $40, for 2 kids. They'll get a lot of use out of it. I'll have to share how I used the stuff I bought in the bags once I have everything spray painted and fully put together. I'm going to spray paint the mental trays and Christmas box. The metal trays will be to used for eating and writing while in their car seats.

 Everything I got at the thrift store.

















  
Everything I got at the Dollar Tree.


















Everything packed in the bag.

















The bag is a bit bulky and too full but it all fits. I may end up taking out a few things eventually. It was so much fun collecting the stuff and putting it all together.



Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Coloring Cards: Colorful Blessings

I bought these boxes of inspirational cards last July when my husband and I were on our Silver Anniversary trip in Pennsylvania. They were $3.99 for each box at Walmart. The box that I'm working on coloring is called, Colorful Blessings. I have Creative Expressions, Psalms in Color, and Proverbs in Color too. I've colored 21 cards so far and got 23 to go. I've been coloring them when the mood strikes. I've left 5 so far in public places for people to find. I left 2 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania at restaurants. I've left 3 in Bellefontaine, Ohio 2 at the Mary Rutan Health Center and 1 at the Mary Rutan Hospital. I forgot to take pictures of all my finished cards before I released them.

 Colorful messages to bless a heart, soothe the soul and calm the mind.

















Color these delightfully detailed cards and use them as bookmarks, reminders cards or note cards to share God's love, peace and joy.

















They come packed in a sturdy, portable lidded box.

44 Biblically Inspired Coloring Cards
Box Size: 4 1/4" (w) x 3 1/4" (h) x 1 3/8" (d)
Card size: 4 1/4" (w) x 3 1/4" (h)
One-Side Printed Extra-Heavy Card Stock
Not Size Suitable as Postcard Mailing


















I've been signing them after I finish coloring them.


















These are the markers that I bought at Walmart for $4.50 to color the cards. They work really well except the brown is a bit too dark and covers the print line a bit too much to me on the patterned sections of the card.

18 double-ended markers
Water-based
Non-toxic
Smooth coverage
Each marker has super tip and fine line tip

















These are the cards that I have finished and still have.



































This is me in July 2017, releasing a card at Around the Clock Diner, in PA.






















I have one card displayed on my bird cage memo board in my little office.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Living Room Renovation: Part 3

The progress on the living room renovation so far. We've got the walls puttied and have started to sand. We've sanded the floors but they need one pass with a finer grit of sandpaper. We did end up having to replace the belt sander and hand sander. The ones we had were very old and stopped working soon after starting.

It's gone a bit slower than we wanted. We had planned for both the living room and family room to be finished by Easter. It looks like the living room will be done but the family room will have to wait until after Easter.


Our Living Room.



























The current state of our Family Room. This stuff will be moved out soon.











Tuesday, March 13, 2018

KonMari: Cleaning, Utilities, and Supplies

















I straightened up the clean supplies on the shelves leading into the basement. I took paper grocery bags to our wood pile in the barn. I took an electronic cleaner and paper towels to the cabinet in the shed.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Maine Corn Chowder


















5 slices bacon, chopped
2 teaspoons bacon fat or olive oil
1 small onion (1/2 cup) diced
2 stalks celery (1/2 cup) diced
2 cups diced raw potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup water
2- 15oz. cans cream style corn
3 cups 2% milk

In a large saucepan, melt the bacon grease over low heat. Add the onion and celery and cook slowly until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add water, diced raw potato, salt and pepper. Cover and bring just to a boil and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Add the creamed corn and milk and bacon bits if using. Taste and adjust seasoning. Allow chowder to sit for an hour to develop flavor. Gently reheat when ready to serve.

Per serving (1 cup): 201 calories

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Mini Coloring Canvas

I bought this set of mini coloring canvas magnets at Big lots for $3.00. The image is printed on a stretched mini artist canvas with a heavy magnet on the back. I used paints that I already had to paint them over a couple days. I did a bit of paint mixing for a few of the colors on the floral design since I was limited on paints. I used colors that would look good in my little office and put them on the file drawer once completed.