A busy week for me and Chicken Tips

I really really really don't like to use my blog as a platform to complain (that's why I am hardly ever on facebook).  And I really don't want to complain.  More like, explain why I am not posting everyday right now.  Which, I know, is a ridiculous expectation that I put on myself.  I get that.  And I don't like how it feels to be under (my own) pressure to crank out an awesome tutorial or awesome post  SO I am just not going to put that pressure on myself.  At least at the moment.  I have too much going on at home- with my kids and family- that require my attention.  In fact as I type this I am being badgered by my husband to review some movies that our daughter has been watching in school and says "scare" her.  This is important.  My Stella's birthday is this week, also important.  My sleep is important.  Showing you the adorable shoes that Stella and I glittered up this weekend- well, important but it can wait.  Yes?  Today, I had great plans to go shopping for birthday presents but my oldest son needed to come home from school sick just as I was halfway to the store.  Big wrench in my plans.  So I had to go tonight, flying out the door after dinner.  Not ideal.

What I did get done today was some cleaning and I cut up about 10 lbs of chicken!  I hate cutting up chicken.  It is disgusting to me.  But it is a huge time saver and money saver so I have to do it.

It took only took about 30 minutes to cut up all this chicken.  (plus about 5 min to set up and 5-10 to label bags and clean/disinfect everything).  I put about 3 pieces of chicken in a bag.  Today I got 7 bags/meals from the 10 pounds- just depends on what I plan to make.  Here's my tutorial on chicken.

 In about 30 minutes...it all looks like this!

I flatten out the bags so they defrost quicker and stack nicely in the freezer.  Ten pounds...cleaned and trimmed...cut into different size pieces...easy to pull out of the freezer...ready to cook in the coming weeks.

Spray Painted Girls Shoes

I knew I had an opportunity to try spray painting shoes when my daughter's school shoes came home looking like this.

I mean, they were now pretty ugly.  And I couldn't just "sharpie" them like I did to her black shoes.  It's too bad, too because these were her favorites.

Until NOW!

Now THESE are her favorites!

And mine, too.  I really think mama needs a pair just like this!

All I did was tape off the soles and stuff a bag inside.  I also had to tape off the velcro and the underside of the foot strap.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how to deal with all of the peeling vinyl.  I thought it would show so I wanted to peel it off a bit of the edges.  One shoe did fine with this.  But when I started to peel the second shoe...the whole thing came up!  I was freaking out at this point.  But really, it was too late to turn back now.  So I just peeled until I thought it wouldn't be that noticeable.

I used a plastic primer spray paint (because I already had it) on the unpeeled shoe.  I am not sure if it was beneficial or necessary though.  And I definitely needed two coats of the blue on both shoes.  The peeled shoe soaked up a lot of the paint after the first coat and I didn't think they were going to match in finish.  But after everything had dried, they seemed to match just fine!  I was so excited about how these turned out!  My daughter was too!

** I actually think the shoe that had the vinyl peeled off had a better result.  These shoes have been worn around the house for two days now and so they already have some minor scuffing on the blue paint.  But the peeled part was not scuffed at all.  It was a pain on my fingers to peel the shoe, but for this type of surface (fake patent leather) it seemed to be worth it.

I still have blue paint left...I am really wanting blue shoes, too.


Linking here:

It’s A Hodgpode Life ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating ~ The Shabby Nest ~ Simple Home Life ~ Lovely Crafty Home ~ Whipperberry

{Shirt Fix} Too Large Blouse to Cute Fitted Blouse

Last week I scored this brown polka dot shirt from the Goodwill for oh, about $1.65.  (It was 50% off!)  Nothing big, a Target shirt is all.  But I really liked it.

I mean, not bad for less than two bucks, I know.  But I thought it could be a bit more fitted.  I wasn't going to mess with a big redo, but I had a blouse from Banana Republic and it was gathered in the back and I *thought* I could do the same with this shirt.  Actually, this project was a redemption project after I threw my huge massive "craft fail" in the garbage.  I still don't feel like talking about it. (Good thing I only wasted 3 hours of my life on that one. Grrrrr.)

Yes, it was late but I had to do something right last night...

First, I tried it on and grabbed the back of the shirt and pulled it back to see approximately how much I was going to need to gather.  It was going to be quite a bit for this shirt!  I also roughly decided where the gather should fall.  It was all guessing at this point, mind you.  I decided on 15.5" down from the collar.  I used my ruler to chalk a line across.

Then I sewed a gathering stitch (longest stitch) along that line.  (I figured if the gather was too high or low no biggie, it's a gather stitch, and could easily be pulled out!)  Next, I gathered it up as much as it would go.  And then tried the shirt on again.  I just loosened the gather until was how I wanted it.  Then I carefully took it off and laid it out like this:

My goal here was to get the gather symmetrical and straight.  The ends of my gather were 2 inches from each side seam.

Next, I cut a piece of ribbon about an inch longer than my gather.  (optional:  I singed then ends, too to prevent fraying.)  Then I folded the ribbon ends under and pinned the ribbon on top of the gather stitch.  

Next, I sewed the ribbon on.  I stitched along both edges of the ribbon and the short ends, like a big box.  Then I tried on the shirt and hoped for redemption it would fit the way it did in my head...

~~Love!~~

Linked here:

Somewhat Simple ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ A Creative Princess ~ Momnivore’s Dilemma ~ Yesterday on Tuesday ~ Saved by Love Creations ~ Shabby Creek Cottage ~ The 36^th Avenue ~ A Glimpse Inside ~ Between U and Me ~ Train to Crazy

{Tutorial} Make a Coupon Pocket Page

A few months back I showed how I made a binder to get my paper clutter and my mental clutter under control.  Well four months later, it is still working!  (miracle!)

One section in my binder is for coupons.  Now- I am not any kind of extreme couponer NOR do I know much about them. I DO know that you save money if you use them.  And I like to use them!  Always have.  Even when I was just a single gal and coupons weren't "cool".   I don't have a ton coupons, so this binder page works perfectly for the coupons that I use.

Since we are all still in "new year's resolution mode" and still cleaning and organizing, I wanted to share this little coupon holder that I made for my binder. 

Left page has 6-pockets & Right page has 4-pockets.  You can use front and back of each page!

To make this, you will need:

1. Put your cardstock in the document protector. 

I like to make light pencil marks on the center lines (horiz and vert) before putting it in the sheet protector.

2. Sew a zig-zag stitch down the middle- right through the protector!. (I used an old needle for this, then threw it away.) Remember to backtack at the ends.

3. Sew a zig-zag stitch across the page. 

For the 4-pocket one, you will want to sew *just slightly* above the center.

For the 6-pocket one, mark it horizontally by thirds and sew across your marks.

4. Optional, sew across the top of the page too for added stability when using the pockets.

5. CAREFULLY, seam-ripper below your horizontal stitch lines. Slit the plastic on each pocket individually- don't cut across your stitching. You have pockets on the back, too!

If you need to make custom pockets to fit your coupons, use whatever size you need.

I got this idea when I saw a lady at the grocery store a coupon binder and she used baseball card holders for her coupons!  Genius!  But I didn't want to buy the baseball card sheets (cheap-o me) and I had document protectors already (use what you've got, right?).  Now, I can't help you with how to organize your coupons- that is not my area of expertise. The only thing I am doing, is separating out the ones that are store-specific (Target, commissary). This makes it easy to find my store-only coupons.

Was this helpful? I would love to hear from you...leave me a comment so I know you were here!  

I will reply back, too!  SO PLEASE have your email address in your profile or my reply just goes into outerspace...boohoo.

Linking to these fun parties:

{Bucket List}:: #29 Bottle Cap Magnets - Done!

29. Bottle Cap Magnets {@ Let Birdz Fly}


Finally, finally, finally made these.  And then get this- I dropped them on the tile floor and the magnets popped off the bottle caps and I had to re-glue them.  


I used hot glue and the tutorial suggested hot glue or Mod Podge Dimensional.  Which, I think she used.  I can't find it around here.  I look every time I am at the Hobby Lobby, too.  


But these would have made a really cute Christmas present!  If only I would have thought of it sooner.  Besides, I can't say, "here ya go and don't drop them on the floor or they will just be regular bottle caps again."    


Or can I?
{hehe}

Linking here: