Add some love to your pancakes…

May 19, 2013

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I was reading onelittleproject.com when I ran into her adorable idea of adding a heart to her little girls toast! I instantly wanted to try this on something to see how Lyla would like it. She’s such a picky eater and I figured adding playful shapes with food coloring to her meals might be a good way to get her to expand her taste and… it’s fun to look at! This is the first food item I decided to try it out on and Lyla was amazed that her pancakes had a heart on them! She gobbled them down like nobody’s business. SoOo needless to say, I would chalk this one up to success! ;-) Check it out..

How To:

  • First, make your pancakes as you normally would. {We just made the box kind… quick and easy.}

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  • Using a cookie cutter, push gently onto your pancake to leave an imprint but not to push it all the way through.

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  • Then mix together approximately 2 tablespoons of milk with 3-4 drops of red food coloring.

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  • Apply food coloring mixture to your pancakes using a basting brush and voila!

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This would be a great breakfast in bed idea for your loved one for Valentines Day, anniversary or really any occasion! I seriously want to “paint” every meal up now with food coloring. SO STINKIN’ FUN <3

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MEMO BOARD DIY

May 16, 2013

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I was recently reading one of the newest posts via lemondroplife.com and I saw where she had made over a basic cork board into a fun memo board to store all of her bloggy ideas. I instantly fell in love with how simple yet fun this project was! I was actually so inspired, I went out that same day and purchased my own cork board and got right to work! ;-) I hope all of you enjoy making this project as much as I did.

Items Needed:

  • Cork Board {any size}
  • Painters Tape
  • Spray Paint

How To:

1. I started by putting all four pieces of the cork board side by side and taping off the desired design with painters tape. {Find the design lemondroplife.com used HERE.}

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2. Then I painted over the tape using the spray paint as seen below. {I used the one to prevent rust because it has a grittier texture that I found works great on the cork board. Regular spray paint is fine though!}

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3. Once it was completely dry, I pulled off the tape to find nice crisp, clean lines! Woo-hoo!

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4. Now it was time to display it! The cork board actually comes with mounting tape so they make it easy-peasy to pop onto the wall!

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I love the pizzazz it adds AND it’s great to post all of my bloggy ideas onto! :-)

Have a good day!

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SPRING CLEANING {tips & tricks} LIST

April 27, 2013

Have you been feeling the itch yet for a down and dirty Spring cleaning? I recently made a Spring cleaning to-do list for my house and finally got the gumption to start checking things off {after a power nap and some good ol’ sweet tea}! Doesn’t it feel fantastic when you start purging your home? I hate having wasted space where things just sit around and aren’t being used buuut we all do it and I’m as guilty as the next bloke. Spring cleaning is a great time to take those items that you aren’t in need of anymore to a charity of some sort. As the phrase goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and it’s oh so true. Although we all love the feeling of how clean our home is afterwards, sometimes Spring cleaning can seem overwhelming at times and just plain tedious. I decided to make a Spring Cleaning Tips & Tricks List that will hopefully help me to stay motivated and encourage you as well!

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1. Type/write out a detailed list & include a place for check marks so you can see your progress. {Find an detailed example here}

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{Photo via: facebook.com/pilotpen}

2. Have a basket prepared with all necessary items for the specific room you are going to clean.

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{Photo via: imperfecthomemaking.com}

3. Tips for cleaning your bathroom:

  • Be sure to have a lemon on hand as well as baking soda and vinegar.
  • Cut the lemon in half and rub it along your hard water stains on your shower/bath fixture. Once you have thoroughly scrubbed, rinse the fixture with water & watch the stains disappear!

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{Idea & photo via: broccolicupcake.com}

  • For the bathtub: Keep your baking soda in the box and poke holes in the top so you can sprinkle sparingly across the bathtub. Put the white vinegar in a spray bottle and spray thoroughly over the baking soda until it starts to foam.  Then scrub & rinse with hot water.

USA - Environment - Homemade Cleaning Products

 

{Photo via: healingtimes.wordpress.com}

4. Tips for Cleaning your kitchen:

  • Clean your dishwasher: Place a measuring cup full of vinegar on the top rack of your dishwasher and run a full cycle of hot water. Then spread baking soda on the bottom of the basin and run the dishwasher on half a cycle of hot water and admire your sparkling dishwasher!

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{Idea & Photo via: tammileetips.com}

  • Disinfectant Spray: Fill an empty spray bottle almost to the top with vinegar and add 8-10 drops of tea tree oil. Shake, spray and wipe down.

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{Idea & Photo via: slightlysteady.com}

5. For the laundry room: 

  •  Cleaning your washing machine: Start by filling it up with hot water. {Set the dials to the biggest load and hottest setting and let it fill completely.} Once filled, pour 2 cups of bleach into the water & let sit for 1 hour. After 1 hour, run the washer through a cycle. After the cycle is complete, fill your washer with hot water again and pour 2 cups of white vinegar into the water & let sit for 1 hour. After 1 hour, run the washer through a cycle once more.

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{Idea & Photo via: lovepomegranatehouse.com}

6. For the Living Room:

  • Cleaning the baseboards: Simply rub dryer sheets across the baseboards to remove dust & debri.

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{Photo via: budgetsavvydiva.com}

  • Clean a microfiber couch: Find full instructions here on how to clean microfiber with rubbing alcohol! 

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{Idea & Photo via: onegoodthingbyjillee.com}

7. For the Outdoors:

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This is a reference for myself as well as I continue to do my Spring cleaning from room to room!

Wish me luck!

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Home-Made Weed Killer

April 23, 2013

Well, as you obviously have notice I’ve been MIA lately {..err, like nearly a flippin’ month} while DIYconfessions has been getting it’s makeover. I’ve missed being in touch with all of you!!! I’ve sort of been having withdrawals… but I’m glad to be getting back in the groove of things now!

Folks, although it’s nearly the end of April, here in Indiana we have been STILL getting snow! Just a week ago or so it was 75 degrees outside and the day after it was spitting flurries outside. Eeps… I’m not a lover of snow but especially this late in the game. I’m living like it’s full blown Spring around here; pulling weeds, fixing up the yard, getting ready to plant flowers! This drab Indy weather is not going holding me back. ;-) This year we have terrible weeds! Worse than the norm. Lyla loves all the dandelions in the yard though and calls them her “fowers” {aka: flowers} so at least someone is enjoying them. The weeds seem to be overtaking our walkway though and I’m simply not feeling it. I figured along with all the other home-made products I enjoy making there has to be one for ridding away all of the weeds. I found what works for us and decided to go ahead and share with all of you. Hopefully you find it as helpful as we did!

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Ingredients:

  • White Vinegar {Yup, that’s all!}
  • Spray Bottle

Recipe:

  • Fill the spray bottle with white vinegar
  • Spray directly onto your weeds. {This recipe works best when it is hotter outside so it can dry up the weeds. *Be sure not to spray on your flower bed as it will eliminate your flowers.*}

This recipe is easy {<– my favorite kind} but works aaaand not to mention you save money in comparison to other over the counter weed killers! Boom! That’s enough of an incentive for me to make it.

Have a lovely day everyone!

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Crockpot Apple Butter

September 27, 2012

Well well well… I’ve dived into Fall full force this year. {maybe dived a little too hard} My house inside AND out is full of Fall decor and on top of it all I’ve been in the Spirit of making sweets, apple butter and caramel apples. {I might be 50 lbs heavier if I keep this up. -_- } I’ve had a hay-day {just keepin’ it fall folks, wink wink} making everything from scratch. I NEVER thought I would say that! {aaaand neither did my husband ;) } Hubs, Lyla {daughter} and I went to an Adrian Orchards and bought some fresh apples and apple cider for our soon to be apple butter. As soon as we got home we couldn’t wait to make it! Here’s how we did it…

INGREDIENTS:

- A dozen apples

- 2 teaspoons lemon juice

- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/4 cup apple cider

{{Make approx. 1 pint}}

DIRECTIONS:

1.}} Peel, core, and chop a dozen apples. {We left the skin on the apples because of the high amounts of nutrients in it. Either way is fine though!}

{{We cute each slice into three’s.}}

2.}} Toss the apples in the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice. {Work it…get your hands in there!}

3.}} Poor the cider and water into the crockpot along with the apples.

4.}} Set crockpot on low overnight and let it do its magic. {“Set it and forget it.”}

When I woke up the next morning the house smelled delishhh! Hubs and I made some homemade biscuits to go with the apple butter and it tasted wonderful! Here’s the final product…


It’s wonderful to gift or just to chow down for yourself. {Side note: it makes for a great air freshener too :-D }

Enjoy!

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Chalkboard Sign

September 15, 2012

Good morning! :)

It’s a bitter cold morning here in central Indiana. I’m cuddled up under a blanket, sippin’ on some nice soothing chocolate milk {kid at heart} and listening to the sounds of nature. I’m madly in love {<–can we say dramatic} with the changing of the seasons!

Recently, I was working on a little “display” outside my front door. I did have chairs sitting out for Summer but I decided to change it up. I wanted people to get a welcoming/inviting vibe when they came to our front door so I chose to do a more “rustic” setting. Typically everyone associates “rustic” with cozy {or at least I do}. So here it is…

I made this little chalkboard from an old pan {that reeeeally needed to be tossed out}. It only took three EASY steps…

1}} Scrubbed it down thoroughly

2}} Put chalkboard paint in the center {leaving the edges to be seen}

3}} Hung it up with burlap! {easy-peasy right?}

I’m that typical dorky housewife that gets PA-thetically excited to decorate for each season/occasion! {lol} I can’t wait to do one in our little garden {more like grave yard for plants}. :)

Enjoy your day!

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Spicy Rigatoni {Baked}

July 27, 2012

“It’s finally Friday…”! {singing & dancing to the country song by George Jones}

I am STOKED for the weekend! Lots and lots of plans. I love being busy! Girls day is today… Shopping,  dinner and a movie!. Wait, did I say SHOPPINGGGG?! Ah, I did! I can’t even remember the last time I actually went shopping for myself. Now on the other hand, my little girl’s closet is bursting at the seams. ;-) {Spoiled.}

Well… I threw together a recipe last night and thought I’d share. I’ve been attempting to try my hand in the kitchen. There has been an embarrassing amount of fails that have happened lately in the kitchen but this one seemed to be pretty yummy! Hubs said he loved it but….  I could give him a can of SPAM {yuck} and and he’d be happy. ha. Anyways, here’s the recipe! Hope you think it’s tasty too!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:

1}} 1 {16 oz} box of Rigatoni

2}} 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

3}} 2 cup Mozzarella Cheese {Shredded}

4}} 1 1/2 {10 oz} cans of Alfredo Sauce

5}} 1/2  cup Sour Cream

6}} 1/2 cup of Green Peppers

7}} 1/2 cup of Broccoli

8}} 1 cup of ground Sausage

9}} Teaspoon salt & pepper

10}} 1 tablespoon crushed red peppers

11}} A pinch of Sriracha Sauce
DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare Rigatoni according to package directions; drain and return to pot {keep pot on low heat}.

Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with Rigatoni until evenly coated.

Prepare the sausage in a skillet. Also, prepare the peppers and broccoli and set aside.

Mix in mozzarella cheese, sausage and peppers to Rigatoni mix.

Add in the Sriracha sauce, salt, pepper and crushed red peppers; mix well.

Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

Sprinkle the Paremsan cheese on top.

Bake for 15 minutes.

 

Here’s a pic {after we dug into it a little…oops!}…

Enjoy your weekend!!!

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Simple & Delish Brownie Recipe {{& Feature Shoutouts}}

July 23, 2012

Can we say eeeeasy Monday?! {Everyone is grunting and rolling their eyes at me right now.}

Why is it that Mondays seem to always be the worst day of the week? I feel like even if it’s going smooth I’m bound to somehow bomb my Monday just because, well, it’s expected on a MONDAY. ;-) Sarcasm aside, it really was a great Monday! Hubs was home more today than normal and although my little girl was grumpy she was also clingy soooo that means lots and lots of cuddles!

Hubs made dinner tonight {rare day} and it was fantastic! I might be just a taaaaad jealous that he can just whip something up out of thin air and me, well, I can read step by step directions, even on a box and still fail. HaHa. Cooking is like a foreign language to me. Now baking on the other hand, I’m still not good at but I do enjoy attempting it. I actually tried a new brownie recipe this evening and it was delish AND simple. {Best of both worlds} I found it on www.mattbites.com via Pinterest {yes, yes…I’ll admit it, I am a Pinterest addict.} I figured if I found it easy it must be worthy of sharing. So let’s get down to it…

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:

1 stick of butter {8 tablespoons}
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate {I used Scharffen Berger’s 99% Cacao}
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup flour
2/3 cup chopped nuts {toasted walnuts, pecans or dried tart cherries}
2 eggs

ALICE’S NEW CLASSIC BROWNIES

1}} Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2}} Line your 8 inch square metal baking pan with foil to where it comes up all the sides of the pan.

*Be sure to use a metal baking pan and not glass or pyrex as it could crack when you get to the ice bath stage.*

3}} Melt the butter together with the chocolate in a bowl placed above simmering water, not boiling water. Stir to mix, you want it smoooooooth.

4}} With a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the sugar, vanilla and salt.

5}} Add the eggs one at a time and then mix in the flour.

6}} Stir the mixture for 1 minute, until smooth.

7}} Add the nuts or dried fruit next, right before placing in the pan to bake.

8}} Bake for 20-25 minutes.

***While the brownies are in the oven, prepare the ice bath by using a large roasting or baking pan. Fill large pan with ice cubes and cold water. Once the brownies have baked and are removed from the oven, place them into the ice bath, let them cool and prepare to be amazed.***

{Mmmmmm, Get a glass of milk and chow the heck down!}

Well before I go grab one more brownie I wanted to give a HUGE shout-out to TipJunkie.com for featuring me as well as truebluemeandyou.tumblr.com! Both featured the no-sew-scarf-to-shrug.

Check out each feature:

http://www.tipjunkie.com/top-10-crafts-to-make-this-week-722/comment-page-1/#comment-607226

http://truebluemeandyou.tumblr.com/post/27769708682/diy-no-sew-scarf-to-vest-tutorial

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DIY Laundry Detergent

July 14, 2012

Good afternoon everyone!

Any great plans for the weekend? This lady and her hubs are going on a double date tonight {AHH!} SoOoO our Saturday should be fun-filled!

Lately, I’ve been on a mission to figure out where we can cut back and save some pretty pennies in our monthly budget. Typically anything that is “DIY {Do it yourself}” saves money and as you all know I’m all about the “DIY-ing”. At a past holiday, I was chatting with my aunt about attempting to go more “natural” with foods, soaps and anything else I can do {especially since the hubs, the daughter and myself ALL have eczema :-/}. She mentioned she was given a recipe for a laundry detergent that costs $25 to make and lasts up to 9 months! {yes, 9 MONTHS!} Immediately I was doing the math in my head… if you break down the costs it’s as if you are only spending $2 a month for detergent with this recipe! I know my little family of three spends a lot more than $2 a month on detergent and I can’t even imagine what you mommy’s of four + more spend on detergent. {Can you imagine what “Kate + eight spends on detergent a month or even better…the oh so loved “Dugger family”. It makes me shed a couple tears for them. LOL} So let’s get started on saving all the moolah!

ITEMS NEEDED:

1 – 4lb 12oz box Borax
1 – 4lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 – Box Arm & Hammer Super Wash Soda
3 – Bars Fels-naptha Soap {you could use pink Zote or Ivory soap -not Ivory cleansing bar-}
2 – Small containers of Oxyclean {store brand fine}

Oh and a LARGE bucket! {I used a 5 gallon bucket to mix the ingredients.}


1}} Line your bucket with a trash bag. {I tied twine around the rim so when mixing the ingredients the bag wouldn’t fall in.}

2}} Shred your three bars of soap {like how you would grate cheese}.

3}} Combine all ingredients into the bucket and mix.

4}} Use 2 tablespoons per load & enjoy your fresh laundry!

{{I just washed my first load of laundry with this and it feels wonderful and smells! Keep in mind your laundry will smell fresh but does not have a strong smell like a store bought detergent will.}}

Enjoy! Now you got to think what you’re going to do with all that extra money you’ve saved with this! ;-)

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