Makeover Monday: You Can Make This

It’s that time of year!  Actually, for me it’s a little late.  I’m normally done with my Christmas shopping by this time, but I’m running behind this year and I’m only partway there.

Today I am starting on the first of many sewing projects which will become Christmas presents.  I like to give handmade gifts.  Do you?  Would you like to start?

Starting this week and running for the next several, I am going to be featuring projects from the website You Can Make This, owned by my friend Kim.  I knew her before she hit the big time and I couldn’t be happier about all of her success.  This website has patterns and tutorials for making hundreds of different projects, from Digital Scrapbooking to Jewelry Making, Sewing to Woodworking, Printable Paper Crafts to Painting.  There is a section of patterns designed specifically for kids to do (what a great present for Grandma that would be!), and even a large group of free downloads!

Who doesn’t love free?

So check out the website, explore some of the great designs, and pick out a project for you (or your kids!) to do today!  To make the deal even sweeter, YCMT is offering my readers a coupon for 15% off ALL orders placed from now through November 18, 2010.  Just enter code

BlogThisFall

at checkout to receive your discount!

And be sure to come back in the weeks to come for more great ideas from YCMT.  I will be making several projects from the website for Christmas gifts, and I will be featuring them on the blog every week.  I will also be giving away a very valuable prize package (over $100!) that you can use to create your own handmade Christmas gifts.  No experience necessary!

And be sure to click the button below and sign up for the newsletter, too!  You’ll get $75 worth of free patterns and ebooks, perfect for getting started!

*So that I don’t get hauled off to FTC prison, I must tell you that the opinions posted on this website are all 100% my own.  I receive no financial compensation for stating these honest opinions.  I will be given a pattern to facilitate my review.  It’s not valuable enough for me to lie to you.  Trust me, if I endorse it, it’s because I mean it.  It takes more than an ebook to buy me.

Makeover Monday: Cinnamon Toast

My friend Rachel (she of the Fried Pickle fame) told me about a Cinnamon Toast recipe.  Capitalized purposely, because it’s supposed to be the cream of the crop.

I’m sure the rest of you already know about The Pioneer Lady, but if not, well, check the link.  Except check the link for The Pioneer Woman and not lady, because I have no idea who The Pioneer Lady might be.  Obviously I’m not a fan.

I’ve never read her website, for no reason other than my contrariness and general eschewing of everything popular and trendy.  But for the Cinnamon Toast I made an exception, and decided to try it myself.  Makeover the way we do toast?  I had to see if this was possible.

I’m including pictures, because I feel every blog post should have a picture, and especially those involving food. However, to be perfectly honest hers are much better and more detailed, so you might rather look over there.

Mixing together 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon (I rarely bother measuring) and some vanilla.  The end result:

Homemade cinnamon butter, essentially.

She then has you spread it onto un-toasted bread and pop into a 350° oven for ten minutes or so.  This is what it looked like at that point:

Next, crank to broil for a few minutes, and then you get this:

Cross section:

My take on this?

Well she says the absolute worst way to make cinnamon toast is to toast the bread, then spread with butter, then sprinkle on cinnamon sugar.

This has always been my method.

Her method?

Eh.

The bottom of the bread was not toasted, so it was soft and doughy.  You might like this, but I didn’t care for it.  The top being caramelized was kind of nice.  But was it 15 minutes worth of nice?  Not so much.

Plus it’s more than 15 minutes, really, since that’s only the cooking time.  You also have to consider the time you’re waiting for the oven to pre-heat.

It’s cinnamon toast.  With small letters.  I’m sure to someone out there, including that lady woman, it’s a big capital-letter deal, but to me, it’s just a quickie breakfast.  I don’t want to spend time with an oven for goodness’ sake!  We are not morning people.  We wake up 30 minutes before we have to leave the house and there is no time for this insanity.

What I will give her is that the vanilla is a nice touch.  I could be persuaded to make the cinnamon butter in bulk, and then spread that on my toast.  Well, the kids’ toast since I don’t do breakfast and I rarely eat sweets.  But whatever – that part is do-able.  The rest?  Over-complicating the matter, in this mom’s opinion.

So – how do you make cinnamon toast?

Makeover Monday: The long-lost Kardashian sister

In looking for embarrassing pictures of myself (which unfortunately, are not hard to find. At all.) I came across several that clearly illustrated what a trendsetter I was.

I rocked several looks a good decade + before the Kardashians did.  Sadly I didn’t look nearly as good in doing so, and I got paid nothing for it, and I’m not close to my sisters like they are…but I had the [inferior] look, and that’s really what’s important here.

Since the money isn’t forthcoming.

Anyway.

The way-too-harsh up-do:

The One Who No Longer Exists

Edited so no one [me] vomits.

Hey check it – she’s got my earrings, too!

The one-shoulder black dress:

No. Eyes.

[Which incidentally, I, too, retired - after seeing this picture.  One-shoulder dresses are not the friend of a busty girl. I look like I weigh at least half a ton here.]

And of course, the super-long hair overkill:

(mine’s all real, thanks)

And this isn’t a beauty pageant, for the record – I’m not that kinda girl.

I think I’d go by Kassie.

And I’d have to introduce them to church.

But otherwise, clearly, I’d fit right in.

I wonder how I’d look with black hair?

Makeover Monday: My Hair

My friend Jen has been on my case about the ‘serious’ nature of my writing recently.  At her request, I am lightening up.  And because I once embarrassed her so badly she cried [and then tripped and fell down the stairs in front of a guy she was trying to impress, which of course made me laugh hysterically, and then she cried harder, because her friend is a jerk and also her finger was broken] – I owe her.

Welcome to ‘embarrass myself’ week.  Because Jen?  I love you that much.

I have issues with my hair.

I was born with quite a lot of it, thick and bushy and black.  I’m not sure why, but it’s a family thing I guess – my daughters were just the same.  It never fell out either, just slowly turned to blonde.

The problem is that when I was a child, I was a tomboy.  I had no patience for ribbons and bows, and I couldn’t be bothered to brush it.  My mom’s solution?  snip, snip

First with the too-short, uneven bangs

Age 2

It got a little bit better (read: less crooked)

Age 4

So of course that had to be rectified pronto

Age 5

For a couple of years that shaggy, mullet-like cut stayed

Age 6, and inexplicably petting a dead bird

[Man, I totally rocked the velour tummy shirt. Go me.]

These experiences scarred me.  I was like, 12 when I finally got my hair to grow out.  And there was no stopping me then, baby.  I was all, my hair is never going to look bad again!  Which is why even when playing basketball, I was fully curled and plastered with hair spray at all times.  Sweat couldn’t stand a chance against a half can of Aqua Net.

Big hair

[I'm just gonna go ahead and apologize for that whole 'global warming' thing, if you believe in it.  There's no doubt that my 4300 cans of aerosol hair spray had something to do with that.]

Eventually I gave up the big curls, and traded (up?) to extreme length

I could almost sit on it. For real.

Enough already Heather.  Get a haircut.

19 inches later

Oh hey, that’s not half bad. [Except for the coat. #9, AKA The One Who No Longer Exists]

Thankfully I got rid of that good haircut ASAP – wouldn’t want to look normal for too long.

Not fat, just pregnant

Nice headband.

Hmmmm….maybe shorter would be better?

Shortest hair of my adult life

Yes, that is better.  It must go.

I have no eyes when I smile

Curls – because that’s never worked before.

Ok, try again.

Again, not fat, just pregnant

Yes, that’s better.

Let’s ruin it.

Failed attempt at shag

Note to self – you are not nearly as cute as Meg Ryan and you cannot pull off her haircut.  Also, you look fat in that outfit, and you don’t have pregnancy as an excuse.

Princess Leia hair

Note to self – you aren’t Carrie Fisher, either.

Perhaps the wrong hair color would help?

Reddish-brown - not good

Maybe I should just give up, and sport nothing but ponytails and twists.

Present day

How much worse can it get?

Humiliation – we’ll be here all week.

Makeover Monday: Makeover My Heart

I’ve been reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Re-reading, actually.  It’s a great book.

See that?  There in the bottom right?  If you ask me, it’s the most important, most revealing part of the title.

Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.

Heavy stuff.  Intimidating.

Overwhelming.

Relentless.

And as uncomfortable as that might make you – and it should make you squirm a little – it’s also comforting, isn’t it?  The idea of God loving you relentlessly, never giving up, never leaving.  Loving you so wholly that it’s overwhelming.

It is a great book.  But it’s not an easy read.  It’s very challenging.  Not because it’s theological and you need to be a biblical scholar to understand it – not at all.  It’s easy to read.  It’s just painful.  If you can read it and not feel uncomfortable, then I daresay you’re missing the point.  Chan writes, “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”

And yet, it’s easy to read a book like this, agree with it, feel inspired by it, vow to live your life in a better way, and then…not.  We let the fire fade.  We grow comfortable again.  I did it myself, after reading Same Kind of Different As Me.  [Another great read, BTW]

Annie Dillard once wrote that “How we live our days is how we live our lives.”  Chan takes that one step farther, writing “We each need to discover for ourselves how to live this day in faithful surrender to God as we ‘continue to work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling’” (Phil. 2:12). [This also happens to be my favorite scripture] Chan says we have to learn to listen to and obey God day to day “…in a society where it’s easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.”

I’ve been comfortable.

And I want to change that.

Coincidentally, we got a new issue of Thriving Family magazine last week, and the Chan family is profiled.  Specifically, the article is about their decision to sell their comfortable home and downsize, moving into a small home and even inviting the needy to live with them.  They are practicing what he calls ‘radical obedience’.  Giving up what would make them comfortable by worldly standards, and giving to the world until it hurts.

I want to practice radical obedience.

I want to be radical.

I want to have a heart that is so filled with passion, so consumed by love, so overwhelmed by a  relentless God, that there is no shadow of my former selfish, comfortable self.

I want to love my neighbor so fully that there is no room left for me.

Erma Bombeck once said that “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.”

Me too, Erma.  Me too.

I have a long way to go here.  My daughter is better at this than I am.  But today, I am [re]committing myself  to trying.

One day at a time.

How we live our days is how we live our lives.

Indeed.

Makeover Monday – Landscaping advice

Today is a bit different.

Today I need your help, because I’m at a loss here.

The problem is my front landscaping – or rather, one side of the front landscaping.  It’s lacking.

There’s too much brick showing below the window there, and it makes the house look lopsided.

The slope of the ground isn’t helping matters any.   The ground falls away there and continues sloping down all along the side of the house.  I planted some hot pink double knockout rose bushes along the side of the house and they have done quite well.  They grew very quickly, and they flower beautifully.  The biggest problem is that I clearly don’t know how to prune them, and they are very odd shapes right now.  whoops.

So because of my pruning deficiency, I’m hesitant to put more of them up front, where they’d be even more visible.  But I need something fast growing and attractive to fill in that space, planted close to the house.  The azaleas that are there right now are cute, but slow growing.  I’d like to move them, but can’t until I have something else to go there.

I have a friend who offered to do this for me, in exchange for some sewing she needs done.  Score!  I just need to know what it is that I want, which is where you come in.  What do you suggest?  Fast-growing, doesn’t require serious maintenance, no major root system that will destroy the foundation.  I think those are my only requirements.

Oh, and pictures.  Pictures are always nice.

Makeover Monday – Side Table

Ok, so this week isn’t exactly a makeover.  It’s not even close.  It’s just a little table.

But if you look closely, you’ll see that it’s actually a lot more.

It’s actually my daughters’ own creation (with the help of plans from Ana, of course).

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do let my kids play with tools.  I encourage it.

Anyone who knows me would laugh at the suggestion I am a feminist, but I suppose in this one way, maybe I am just a little.  I want my girls to be able to do anything.  Everything.  I don’t want them to stick with traditionally feminine roles.  I want them to be smart and confident and know that actually, they can fix things and build things and get dirty, just like the boys. 

Better than the boys.

I think Ana is an inspiration in that regard.  If you have ever seen her, she’s not exactly how you’d picture a female carpenter.  She’s teeny tiny and absolutely gorgeous.  She’s a femme fatale weilding a nail gun.  How cool is that?

I want my daughters to know that they can do what they set their minds to do.  And yes, I do hope that leads them to build things.  Because it feels really, really great to look at something you created.

And also it feels great to save money.

This side table was created with wood I had left over from another project.  However, if you’d like to build one yourself, it would cost around $15 in lumber.  Not bad for a $199 Pottery Barn knock-off, eh?  You can’t even order a swatch of wood from Pottery Barn for that price!

And every time I look at our table, I get to appreciate the kind of beauty that Pottery Barn can’t sell.

The cuts that aren’t quite straight

The holes that Lilly filled with caulk instead of wood putty

The love (and mess) that went into the paint job

The end result?

You can still see a few gaps.

The cuts weren’t perfect.  The paint isn’t perfect.  They were too impatient to sand properly.

Yet it’s still the most beautiful table we own, if you ask me.

Pottery Barn sells Perfect, no doubt.

But Knock-Off Wood gave us a pretty perfect day, and that’s worth a whole lot more to me.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Makeover Monday – The Guest Bath

My design theory is that you should have one central piece of art that defines your entire home.  It doesn’t need to be fine art – for me, it’s a Kirkland’s painting that I bought 10ish years ago as a newlywed.  It’s one of very few things that I’ve had that long and still really love.  From that painting, I draw inspiration and the color palette of our home.  Doing this allows me to use a variety of different colors, but still have them work together in a cohesive way.

Doesn’t it just look like somewhere you’d like to be?  The colors are rich, warm, and inviting – just how I’d like our home to feel.

The before color is actually a very nice sage-y green.  It’s in our kitchen and I like it there, but somehow in a small bathroom it seemed very blah. 

(pardon the very boring picture – accidentally deleted the other ‘befores’ so this is stolen from the kitchen!)

So yes, nice color, but certainly playing it safe.  For the makeover I went a little more bold:

My husband was horrified when he saw the gallon of paint I brought home.  After it went up, though, it was a different story.  He definitely warmed to it – this color is in our bathroom now too!

I painted just a few weeks before my sister sent me this gorgeous wall hanging, which compliments the room perfectly:

While I was at it I replaced the ugly builder theater light fixture above the mirror

(The fabric in this picture is also from my sister – it’s Indian, I believe)

I’d had a gorgeous shower curtain in this room, a soft but almost metallic looking blend of deep orange, sage green, and golden tones.  It’s muted, but popped against the previous paint color.

And I think the shower curtain looks great with the new paint color as well!

So there is our newly decorated bathroom.  The mirror is still the big ugly builder mirror, and I’d like to address that at some point.  Right now I haven’t decided if I’d like to buy a frame for the existing mirror, or buy a new [smaller] mirror.  For now this one works.

Next week?  I really don’t know yet!

Makeover Monday – Homemade Laundry Detergent

So as you now know, I got a new washer and dryer.  This prompted me to beautify my ugly laundry room, and by beautify I mean de-clutter the shelves.

See that green tub up there?  That’s one of my new favorite things.  It’s from the Dollar Tree (because I’m cheap frugal like that) and it makes me happy every time I see it.

Let me start by saying that I am not a ‘green’ person by any means, and I am not a crazy couponer.  I’m pretty middle of the road, but trying to do much better these days to stretch our pennies.  And in that vein, this idea was born.  I’m trying very hard to makeover everyday money-suckers that I don’t usually even stop to consider, and laundry detergent definitely fits that bill.

I’ve been using my homemade detergent for about 3 months now and I love it!  It smells great and it works just as well as the store-bought kind.

If you’d like to try to make your own laundry detergent, here’s my recipe.

Washing Soda and Borax can both be found in the laundry detergent aisle, usually with the stain treatments, and they are very inexpensive.  I also use a bar of Ivory soap, some oxygen cleaner, baking soda, a grater, a container, and a tablespoon.

Grate the bar of soap into your container:

Because I’m me, I bought a grater (also at Dollar Tree) that I use only for this purpose.  I know in my head that a dishwasher could clean it, but honestly I could never again grate cheese on a grater that was used for soap.  I’m weird like that.

For every one bar of soap, add 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Baking Soda, and 1/4 cup Oxygen cleaner (if desired).  Then I just stir until well combined.  I’ve read that others mix in their blender, but again, I’m me.  I just can’t do that.  Besides, the girls love to make this themselves, so who am I to deny them that pleasure?

The end result:

So easy peasy, it’s cheap, and it works.  In fact, it works really, really well.  And it only takes 2 Tablespoons per load, so it’s very economical.  And yes, I can now attest to it being just fine for front-loaders.  I actually researched this and I found several people online saying they’d been using it for a long time (1+ years) in their front-loaders and all was well, so I felt comfortable in proceeding.

Previously I was buying Arm & Hammer powdered detergent because it was the cheapest brand that I felt still did a good cleaning job.  Comparing the cost, the Arm & Hammer is about 26 cents per load, whereas my homemade batch costs just a penny per load.  I know those pennies don’t sound like much, but to live out my own little version of a Wal-Mart commercial, if your family switched to my detergent that would save you $250 (or more) per year.  I saw someone on my Facebook feed stating that it was great to make a 5-month supply of laundry detergent for $2, and I’d have to agree.

So you’re doing something green, saving some money, and giving your kids a fun project all at the same time.  Now kick back with a cup of coffee and put those little ones to work!

Oh, and the vinegar in that top picture?  My new fabric softener.  It works, no it does not make you smell like vinegar, and it also repels lice - a serious plus for any mom of school-age children who lives in fear of that dreaded note from the school nurse.

Happy laundering!

Makeover Monday – Kitchen Cabinets

As I mentioned last week, I did some work in the kitchen recently. 

We purchased our house halfway through construction, so we I was able to make a lot of design decisions.  The kitchen was my primary area of concern, and one of the things I changed was eliminating the dust-collecting space on top in favor of extending our cabinets to the ceiling.  It’s a great use of otherwise wasted space and it makes the ceilings look higher.

However, it’s also a pain in the tush to access.  Meaning whatever I put up there, I forget about.  This allows a saver like me to hang on to my mom’s old punch bowl (used once in the 10+ years I’ve had it), my Grama’s baked bean crock (never used) and plastic luau dishes that I swear I’ve never even seen before.  Someone else must have put them there.

It was time to purge.

I was able to clear out 3 large boxes of junk really great stuff to donate to Goodwill, and I cleaned out all of the cabinets in the process.  I also decided to re-arrange, thanks to this cool article in the February issue of Family Fun.  The idea of putting the dishes in the bottom cabinets intrigued me, so we’re giving it a trial run.

Here is a lower corner cabinet before:

And after the switch to kid-friendly dishes:

(I’m using storage containers from the dollar store to hold lids, cups, straws, etc.  I didn’t buy enough, hence the mis-matched collection.  Hoping to find a couple more of the green baskets when I go back.)

The upper cabinet that used to house the kids’ dishes now holds canned goods:

The upper corner cabinet that used to hold canned goods now holds baking dishes and grown-up dishes:

Newly organized medicine cabinet:

Another lower corner cabinet, before (I know, I know – a shameful disaster.  It’s actually birthday party supplies though, not the norm):

That cabinet now holds all of the crockpots and mixing bowls, lids, etc, and the pans were relocated to an upper cabinet:

I should have taken before and after pictures of all the cabinets, to show how much I purged and organized, but I was mainly focused on the non-traditional relocation of stuff.  It’s only been a couple of weeks, but so far I’m really liking this setup.  It’s much easier for the girls to help unload the dishwasher now, and they are able to set the table themselves too.

The only thing I didn’t organize is the roll-out pantry.  I’d love to have a separate room pantry, but alas mine has roll-out shelves instead.  I thought I would love this but as it turns out, not so much.  Lesson learned – when designing a kitchen, don’t assume there is a standard size for anything.  My shelves are fixed, and they are not tall enough to allow cereal boxes to stand up.  A constant source of frustration for me.

So there it is, my kitchen re-do.  It’s nothing fancy really, but it’s turned out to be a more functional setup with 3 little kids, and as Martha would say, that is a very good thing!