Showing posts with label Worked for Me Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worked for Me Wednesday. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Candy Cane/It Worked For Me! Wednesday

I got this idea off of Pinterest and Angelica modified it a bit to come up with a gift to give people.


Jesus is the Gentle Shepherd
and this cane of red and white
proclaims the humble story
born on Christmas night.

This cane, you see,
when turned around
begins His name of Love
and now becomes a symbol
of peace proclaimed above.

The lively peppermint flavor
is the regal gift of spice.
The white is His purity
and the red His sacrifice.

And so this cane reminds us
just how much He cares
and like His Christmas Gift to us
it's meant for all to share.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Beautiful Sight/It Worked For Me! Wednesday


The snoman display is probably my favorite thing we put up every winter.  It goes up after Thanksgiving and stays until after Valentine's Day with a few modifications as the winter wears on.  For the entire time it is up, it brings a smile to my face. 

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A few weeks ago, Pastor said on a Sunday morning that they would like some snowflakes to decorate the front of the church and I quickly volunteered.  I remembered from a few years ago that the trick to getting a good snowflake was in the fold; specifically the paper should be folded in multiples of three, but I couldn't remember those specifics so I turned to Pinterest.  Sure enough, I found this tutorial and together the girls and I made snow flakes for church.  We were greeted with compliment after compliment about how pretty the snow flakes were when we attended church this past Sunday.  Definite success!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

It Worked For Me Wednesday!

Angelica here.  Mom's not  feeling well, so I'm doing the It Worked For Me Wednesday. I'm going to highlight a recipe from my Pinterest.  A few days ago, I had a friend over and we really wanted some cookie dough.  So, we Googled and found this recipe.  Today, we decided to make it again, seeing as how it was so good. One recipe of chocolate chip and one of sugar cookie.   



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday - glitter shoes

Do you remember my post about homecoming?   As I said there, Miracle wanted to make a pair of glittered shoes for the event. 


So, I looked on Pinterest and found a tutorial.

Step 1:  Gather shoes, glitter, tacky glue, and paintbrushes.  Either go outside or find a way to protect the area and contain the mess.  


Step 2: Paint a section of the shoe with glue and cover in glitter.  


Admire and wear the finished product!


Things we learned:

  1. Actual glue works better than the spray kind.
  2. Use both the glue and the glitter generously.   
  3. Work in small sections so the glue doesn't dry before the glitter is applied.  
  4. A spoon is helpful when sprinkling the glitter on the shoes.
  5. The texture of dress shoes hold the glitter better than canvas in the end.  The canvas shoes lose glitter every time they are worn.  
  6. Fine textured glitter makes a more formal looking product.  We used regular size glitter found at Hobby Lobby.  They also carry fine glitter.  Next time we do this, I will buy the other glitter.
  7. Everyone will comment.  Be prepared to graciously explain how you made the shoes when you wear them.  

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

It Worked for Me! Wednesday - kitchen tip

For this Wednesday, I have a kitchen tip.  Angelica pinned this.  Angelica put it in to practice.  I followed suit.



The picture is pretty self explanatory but I will outline the steps anyway.  
  1. Cut the top 2-3 inches off a bottle with a lid.  Try to get the edges as smooth as possible.  We have also realized it needs to be a rather wide mouth bottle.
  2. Cut the top edge off of whatever bag you are needing to close.
  3. Push the bag opening through the bottle mouth.  
  4. Screw the bottle lid on.  
I was pretty skeptical at first.  I wasn't sure the idea would work.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Now we have several bags staying closed this way.  

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday - graham crackers


This is another guest post by my daughter Miracle.  Her aptitude and love for cooking is a blessing in our lives. During the summer, we were planning a camping trip so I looked on Pinterest for recipes and Miracle lovingly made graham crackers so Angelica could enjoy s'mores. These turned out terrific.  Miracle also adapted the recipe to make cereal, but that recipe isn't posted yet.  

Graham Crackers

These Graham Crackers taste amazing! They are time consuming, but they are well worth it. One batch makes quite a few cookies, so you will have more than enough. The directions call for a food processor. I have never made it without one, but you could try .

Ingredients: 
2 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
7 tbsp butter cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup honey
5 tbsp full-fat milk
2 tbsp vanilla

Directions:
Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Mix on low to incorporate. Add the hard butter, and mix until it resembles a coarse meal. 
In a small bowl, mix together the honey, milk, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture, and pulse on and off until the mixture comes together.


Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap, and dust it with flour. Transfer the dough onto it,  and pat into a rectangle. Wrap it, then chill until firm. About 2 hours, or overnight. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough in half, and return half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto your work surface, and roll out the dough. ( The dough is very sticky, and I have to add a lot of flour. Don't be afraid of adding to much.) Roll it out to be about 1/8 inch thick, and a rectangle shape. Cut the dough into about two inch squares. ( It doesn't have to be perfect. The important thing is to make them all approximately the same size and shape.) Place the squares on a baking sheet, and chill in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes, or the fridge for about 40-45 minutes.  Put the squares from the freezer into the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes. The crackers will seem soft, but they will harden. While it is cooling, roll out the other dough and cut into squares. Take the crackers off of the baking sheet, and repeat the process with the other dough. 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

OK.  First off, I'm sorry for the late posting.  It just slipped my mind today.  If I am going to keep posting on Wednesdays, I am going to have to start feeling good enough to get on Pinterest and try some of the things I have pinned because this is the last one I've tried!  


To be honest, I made an ice pack before I pinned it on Pinterest but I didn't save the link so I pinned this one when I saw it just to have the instructions handy next time I need a new ice pack.  I'm not sure, but I think the ones I made called for a different ratio of alcohol to water.  These ice packs stay cold longer than ice packs that you purchase at the store.  The only problem we found was that it is almost too cold.  That is easily remedied by double wrapping in a towel.  Works great!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

Last time Angelica was in the hospital, a friend couldn't get in our apartment to get some things we needed.  I wished that there was an easy way to tell her which key to use.  So, when I found this on Pinterest, I knew the idea was for me.  Now I don't have to remember which shape a key is.  All I have to do is look down at my keys and tell someone what color key to use.  LOVE IT!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

I have actually used this site several times.  A few weeks ago, I rearranged the girls' room twice in as many days.  Then, a few weeks later, someone gave the girls a really nice king size bed so we had to rearrange their room again and find space for the twin bed that was being displaced until their bunk beds sold.  So... we opted to use the bed like a day bed and increase seating space in the living room.  

I love this site!  It makes rearranging so much easier.  Even if you are moving into a new house, so long as you know the dimensions of the rooms and furniture, you can plan the arrangement of rooms ahead of time and print out the diagrams to make moving day easier.  No guesswork, no mistakes, and no need for re-dos.  (Unless of course, you happen to have a teenage daughter who can't make up her mind!)

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

I clicked on this link on Pinterest because I expected to find a new, prettier way to fold sheet sets that keeps them together neatly no matter how many times the closet gets rummaged through. What I found was a bit of encouragement. You see, when I was in my twenties, I figured out that it would be smart to fold the sheets inside the matching pillow case so that sets were easy to find. This site gave four different ways of folding sheet sets and one of those was the way I already do.



So I felt smart because I had already come up with that idea on my own. They give a whole tutorial of how to fold sheets. If that's what you're looking for, head on over. What I got, though, was better than a tutorial. It was a healthy dose of self-esteem.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

This time, I am sharing a recipe, or rather a link to a recipe that I found on Pinterest.

We were having steak and potatoes for dinner.  I told Miracle I would cook the steak if she would cook the dinner rolls.  She hesitated and said that she thought that would take too long.  I told her I had a pinned a recipe for 30 minute dinner rolls.  She said she'd give it a try.



These were divine! 

Miracle said she didn't shape them as pretty as the ones in the picture.  I am sure that is a learned skill.  

She also said that she kept looking at the recipe to see if she had missed something, thinking that this was too easy.  

It says 30 minute dinner rolls.  In reality, it is more like 40 minutes but that is still pretty quick for yeast rolls.  

Miracle also said this would become a staple around our house.  I did a little cheer because since she generally does the cooking, I don't often ask for things and this is something I had hoped would become a regular addition to our meals.  Yeah!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

As you know, a few weeks ago, Autumn and her girls came to visit.  And, as I said before, I wanted to make the apartment as welcoming as possible.  Well, I was a bit concerned about six girls using one small bathroom.  Not so much about the primping because most of us are not big primpers.  Rather, I was concerned about the possible smell.  So, once again, I looked to Pinterest and stumbled across an idea.  


For the bathroom, I opted for the ocean breeze essential oils. That one smells a bit like soap to me. I put four drops in the cardboard tube of the toilet paper.

Every time anyone pulls the tp, a very slight scent comes out. The more you pull, the more you smell which seems perfect to me because it seems that the more you pull, the more you need a pleasant and clean scent to fill the room.

Again, this is one I will use repeatedly.  I love how it works!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

I love shopping at Goodwill.

I like being able to get things cheap, sure. 

I feel like we should show some knowledge and accept responsibility where and how the things we buy new were produced. Buying used eliminates that responsibility since I am not supporting the manufacturer but the community where I live. 

I believe we should reduce our carbon footprint as much as is practical. Buying used items prevents those items from being thrown into landfills and they didn't have to travel far to get to my local store. 

But the main reason I love shopping at Goodwill is that it's purpose it to teach people who otherwise wouldn't be capable of having a job the skills they need to work. 

The most annoying part of Goodwill shopping has always been the stickers in odd places that don't always come off... not a problem any more!


Last week, I brought home three VHS movies and two 3-ring binders, all costing $0.99 each.  Instead of expending a lot of energy trying to scratch those stickers off, I just got out the blow dryer, set it on low, and held it against the sticker for a few moments. The stickers came off with no residue left behind! Perfect!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

It Worked For Me! Wednesday

Not so long ago, I was introduced to Pinterest and immediatly professed my love. I have tried several things that I have pinned and thought it might be fun to put them here weekly. If you have had success with a project, feel free to let me know. :)

As you know, last week we had guests in our home.  I wanted it to be as comfortable as possible so I decided to try out the air freshener I had pinned. 



I used a decorative vase I had on hand to make it prettier since I wanted to place it on the TV.


I put a few tablespoons of baking soda and about six drops of exotic sandalwood essential oil into the vase.  It worked wonderfully!  

The baking soda does a great job of absorbing smells before they have a chance to accumulate and the scent of the essential oils is pleasant while not being chemically or overbearing.  

This is definitely a project that I will do again and again, making it a part of every day life in our home!