Mason Jar Candles

Look!  I remembered to do a Pinterest post this week!

Go me!

My mother had Friday off, which is slightly rare for her, and she drove down to my neck of the woods for some Pinterest-y fun.

We made mason jar candles.  Which begs the question:  What CAN'T you do with a mason jar?

According to Pinterest . . . nothing!

(original pin and image source)

The blog from whence we got this idea called these "Survival Candles."

Alas.

We were not making them in hopes of surviving.  We were making them because they were cute!

The candles were quite simple to make.  We added lemon essential oil to the hot wax, but we did not add enough, so next time we will plan on adding more.  My mom had purchased the wax flakes at Hobby Lobby and paid an arm and leg.  If you plan on making these, buy the flakes from Amazon.  Your wallet will thank you.

Here is one of our finished, weakly lemon-scented, candles.

Holla!

If you are interested in making these, please go to the original blog that posted the project by clicking here.

To see more Pinterest posts, head on over to Our Front Door.

To follow me on Pinterest (which is not as exciting as it sounds), click here.

Happy Pinning!

Hey, Girl.

I am linking up with Our Front Door for a super fun Pinterest Day!  WooHoo!  And today's post is all about homeschool.  Of which I love.  And hate.  Depending on the hour.

Did you know that you can find tons of homeschooling helps on The Pinterest?  Tis true, tis true, and I am going to show you some that I have tried.

But first, say hello to Ryan.

Let the records show that I have no crush on Ryan Gosling.  However, when one is searching for lesson ideas and comes across a Hey Girl gem, well, words fail to describe the delight it brings to an otherwise menial task.

I do, however, have a crush on a guy who is an electrician, but truly desires to be a lumberjack/rabbit breeder/chicken farmer.  FYI.

1)  Books Should Be Free

Books Should Be Free is a site that offers free audio books, and they have a large selection of ones for children.  You can even get them on the iTunes and put them on your iPod or other MP3 players, if they are so compatible.

I have successfully gotten a few books onto Sweet Pea's MP3 player, but not Daisy Mae's, because, and this may surprise you, I have NO IDEA how computers work.  It is amazing I find this blog everyday.

(image source)

2)  Weather:  Cloud Demonstration.

This is the pin I saw on Pinterest:

There is no original link to it, but the pin says to fill the cup with water, put shaving cream on top for a cloud, and explain that when clouds get really heavy with water, it rains! Then put blue food coloring on top of the cloud, and watch it rain,

This is an excellent idea, in theory.  Especially when you have a boy named Little Dude who is OBSESSED with clouds.  Because he is cool like that.  However, when I tried it, it did not work.  Such disappointment, such dismay.

3)  Let's take a Ryan break, shall we?

That is SO Bimlissa.  Does anyone remember Bimlissa?  Hello?  HELLO?   Anyways, she will oft avoid the library for weeks on end, due to the massive amounts of money she owes.  It is humorous.

4)  Triangular Math Fact Family Flash Cards

(image source and link to site with printables)

We made these and they are a great way to help the girls with their math facts.

5)  Speaking of math and facts and whatnot:

(image source and original blog link)

We have also tried this idea to help with learning math facts.  This was good for Daisy Mae, as she is more of a hands-on learner.  Sweet Pea could have cared less.

6)

7)  Symmetry Lesson

(image source and link to original post and instructions)

We really enjoyed this one.  You take a piece of paper and fold it in half.  On one half you draw half of a bug with a black, oil pastel crayon.  Which we had on hand, amazingly enough! Be impressed.  Then you fold it over and press it down, causing the blank side to have an outline of the original half, if that makes sense?  If it does not make sense, please click on the link above.  After you get the outlines all drawn in, the kids can color them.  It was fun!

8)

There really are so many fun ideas for school on Pinterest.  You can go to the education board and look around, or just search for what you are looking for.

Do it.  Do it for the children.

All "Hey, Girl" photos come from this site.  I did not come up with them all by myself.

Click here to go to Our Front Door and see more Pinterest Posts.

Click here to follow me on Pinterest.

Happy Thursday!

 

The Super Tuesday Post

Today's post is brought to you by:

in a cooperative agreement with:

Be excited.

So, yes.  Today is The Fat Tuesday, of which we all try and keep each other accountable.  And we are loving it, yes we are.  Once again, I, yes, I, Taylor Maliblahblah, did not record what I ate.  It's true.  I am a failure.  I fail.  But herein lies my quandary, my friends:  Maybe that method just isn't working for me?

So.  NEW PLAN!  I am just going to try and make better choices.  I am not going to write down everything (which will actually be no change in my lifestyle whatsover, because, have you heard?  I failed.), but rather, I am just going to try and watch my portion size and eat healthier.  I have lost two pounds in two weeks and this brings me happiness.  I also met my exercise goal again and that is a huge step for me.

So, clap, darn it!

This was a hard week to fit it all in, what with the  vomiting boy and the strep throat and all.

Good.

For.

Me.

Ok.  Enough with the shameless self-praise.  Let us discuss some Pinterest-y recipes that are low in fat, shall we?

1.  Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies

(image source and recipe from original blog)

I made these cookies yesterday and I think they are pretty good!  If you are expecting them to taste like a real cookie, then you might be disappointed.  But, they are really easy to make and taste pretty good.  My girls liked them, my boys spit them out, almost as if they were made of dirt.  But to each his own!

2)  Weight Watcher's Fried Rice

(image source and original recipe)

I have made this for dinner a few times and it is always a hit.  It does not taste like diet food at all, and if you already have some leftover cooked rice, it makes for a quick meal.  I think I have added some leftover ham or chicken to it as well.

I will admit, though, that Weight Watchers recipes are not always my favorite.  I think some of them call for a lot of different ingredients that I would never have on hand.  I have found a great site for healthy recipes and the author always includes nutritional information and WW points.  And with that lovely intro, I shall take you to . . .

3)  The Skinny Taste Website

(image source and original site)

Gina at SkinnyTaste has lots of great recipes and each one I have tried, my family has enjoyed.

Here are some of the ones I have tried:

Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Super Moist Lowfat Chocolate Cupcakes

Pumpkin Roll

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

4)  Lowfat Ranch Dressing

(image source and original recipe)

My kids really like original Hidden Valley Ranch, so I thought I would try this out.  It combines a packet of Hidden Valley mix, plus nonfat Greek yogurt and 1% milk.  I only had skim when I tried this recipe.  I thought it came out a bit runnier than original dressing, but that might have been as a result of the skim milk.  It tasted more "herb-y", so I might use less of the seasoning mix next time.  My kids were not super impressed and were wondering why we ignoring the giant bottle of original ranch conveniently located in the fridge.  But I thought it was ok.

Alright!  That's all I got!

If you are wanting to see more Pinterest posts, head on over to Our Front Door.

If you are wanting to try any of the recipes above, just click on the link under the image.

Click here to follow me on Pinterest.

And, if you are part of Fat Tuesday, or would like to join in, go ahead and give us an update on how things are going for you!

Happy Tuesday!

Hmmm . . . very Pinteresting . . .

I am joining in again on The Pinterest Fun over at Our Front Door.  Head on over if you would like to link up, or see some other Pinterest posts.

One of the coolest things about Pinterest is some of the cheap, simple ideas you find.  I thought I would list some of the ones I have seen and tried.

1.  Adding a couple of drops of essential oil to the inside of a toilet paper tube.  The idea is that every time someone uses the bathroom, a fresh scent will be added to the air, thus making the bathroom experience all that more enjoyable.

 

(image source and original pin)

I tried it and did not think it was all that fantastic.  Maybe I needed more oil?  But, we go through about a roll a day, so it didn't seem like the best plan for us.

But it just might rock your world.  So, there you go.

2)  Homemade Miracle Stain Remover

1 part Dawn to 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide.

(image source and original pin)

This does work.

Ask me how I know.

3)  Homemade Fabric Softener

(image source and original pin)

I used this for a few months.  It works just fine, but does not leave much of a scent.  I have been making my own laundry soap for about a year and a half now and about a month ago, I decided I really missed laundry that smelled good.  Now, my laundry did not smell bad, it just had no scent (homemade laundry soap has no scent).  So, I still make my soap, but use Kirkland's (from Costco) version of Downy. And my laundry smells like heaven.

If I am ever in need of saving more money, I would go back to making this fabric softener.

One thing I noticed-this stuff is runnier than regular fabric softener, so it seemed like I went through it a bit faster if I wasn't careful.

4)  This is perhaps the best tip EVER.

Shredding chicken in a mixer.

(image source and original pin)

Oh, be still my heart.

If you let it go too long, however, it turns a bit gummy, so watch it.  But it saves SO much time.

5)  And lastly, but not leastly, here is another fantastic tidbit.  The other night, I was making spaghetti.  The pot was about to boil over.  David, who finds himself humorous for some odd reason, always makes fun of me and my massive boil overs.

It truly is a problem.

Well, he was watching the pot and casually mentioned something about the impending doom that was soon to be wrought on my cooktop when I had an epiphany.

(image source and original pin)

I had remembered seeing this pin on The Pinterest.  So I whipped out a wooden spoon and set it on top of the pot right before the pot exploded.

And BAM!  It worked.

My husband was impressed.  As he should be.

Please click on the links below the images to go to the original pins to see more details and exact recipes and whatnot.

Click here to go to Our Front Door and see other Pinterest posts.

Click here to follow me on Pinterest.

Happy Pinning!

 

 

Pinterest Party: Fail-Proof Pizza Dough

I'm linking up with Our Front Door today!  Head on over to Our Front Door to link up or see other Pinterest Posts.

As I have mentioned a time or twenty, David and I lead a room of kindergarteners through second graders at church every Friday night.  David becomes quite spunky during this hour and has earned the nickname:  "Mr. Microphone."

If you know David, this is funny.  If you don't know David, well, you are probably super confused and wondering what on earth I am blabbing about.

David, aka Mr. Microphone, gets up onstage every week and warms the kids up with an opening question.  The point is to get the kids out of their seats and meeting new friends.  So, one week, he opens with this question:

"Find someone who goes to the same school as you do, and ask them what their favorite lunch is."

Now, as luck would have it, I was looking at my daughter, Daisy Mae, at the time he announced the opening question.  I watched her little face light up as she stood up to go and meet new kids.  Then she got a look of discouragement, such as this one:

and sat back down.

For you see, dear readers, we homeschool.  I had mercy on the poor girl's soul and went to her:

"Hey!  I go to the same school as you!"

*giggle, giggle, chuckle, chuckle*

And I asked her what her favorite school lunch was and she said without hesitation:

"Your homemade pizza!"

My kids do love it when I make pizza for lunch.  I have tried a few recipes and I like a couple of them.  But I saw on Pinterest the other day this pin for Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks:

(Recipe Link and Image Source)

The above link will take you to another blog written by Lauren.  Lauren has a recipe for Fail-Proof pizza dough, along with a recipe to make Garlic Cheese Breadsticks using the pizza dough.  The other night, I knew we would be working on getting the garden ready until dark, so I threw some spaghetti sauce in the crockpot and got the dough for breadsticks ready and rising.  Then we went and worked for hours upon hours, because have you heard?  My husband is a slave driver.

I kid!  I jest!

I ran inside at 8pm and was able to prepare the breadsticks easily while the pasta was cooking!  They were delicious and tasted like something you would get at a restaurant.  I used the full recipe for dough, even though Lauren's recipe is for half of a recipe.  I did try to use less butter and cheese than she recommended.  Because I am the epitome of healthy habits.  And isn't epitome a fun word?  The answer is yes.  Yes, it is.

Here is a picture of my breadsticks:

They were gone in a flash!

So, I decided to give her dough a try for pizza one day for lunch.

The only thing I did differently was I used unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil.  I do this all the time with pizza dough and rolls and such.  My kids never notice and it cuts out a lot of fat.

Try it sometime.  Do it.  I dare you.

If you aren't sure about it, you could sub only half of the oil for unsweetened applesauce.  I did this, and then I just started trying out using the entire amount.  We think it is fine, but if I were making pizza for company, I probably would only use half.  Because I have great fears of others passing judgement on me.  Which is super healthy and completely normal.

Although, if I were you, I would try it with just my family before serving it to guests, just in case you don't find it to be as brilliant of an idea as I do.

And here my kids are, getting ready to enjoy their favorite "school lunch."

Sadly, the five of us eat that all in one meal.  Because we are dainty like that.

And now some links, for I know you loveth them.

Click here to go to Pinterest. 

Click here to go to my Pinterest account, as exciting as THAT is.

Click here to visit Lauren's site with the pizza dough/breadstick recipe.

Click here to go to Our Front Door to see what other Pinterest-y Pins bloggers are trying.

Later, Gators!