I Made Roman Shades

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After months of drooling over the instructions at Little Green Notebook, I made my own shades!  I modified the instructions a little because I was worried about keeping the slats straight.  I also took a chance on hot glue, since I didn’t have fabric glue on hand.  It worked pretty good, but it is easy to pull everything apart when you want to.  So far it is staying put for normal use.

 

First I had DH hang the blinds, and then I took scissors and snipped groups of 6 slats.  By leaving the ladder threads intact everything stayed nice and straight.  This left my spaces 6.25 inches apart which is pretty close to standard for Roman Shades.

I did do a little sewing.  After measuring the length and width of the blind, I cut my fabric that size plus 1 inch all the way around.  Then I serged and hemmed all the raw edges.  To make the ruffle trim, I cut strips 3.5 inches wide, sewed them together in a very long strip and hemmed it with a rolled edge.  Then I ran it through my ruffler with a 1/2 inch seam allowance down both edges.

It helped to steam iron everything flat before top-stitching it place on the shade.  The final effect was a puffing strip with a ruffle on each edge.  I love it!

Once the shade was stitched together, I hot glued it to each slat and across the top (leaving the top edges free so I can take it down.)  I glued it while it was hanging and gravity made everything hang straight.  I love how it looks except that I can see the slats though the shade.  I didn’t want to use black out fabric because I like plenty of light in the room, but I wonder if I should have done it anyway.

Quick Veggie Tuna Melts

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8 slices of whole grain bread

2 cans of tuna, drained

1 shredded carrot

1/4 cup shredded zucchini or cucumber

1/4 cup shredded onion, optional

1 cup shredded cheese (colby jack, cheddar, mozz–whatever you have.)

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, salt and pepper

Mix all inredients except for the bread.  Spread filling on each bread slice place under the broilder for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.

It’s my birthday!

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I don’t mind growing older much.  Each year brings me a little more secure in who God created me to be, a little bolder in my belief, a little wiser with my decisions, and a little happier with my life.

While I’m thinking of it, my friend Twylene shares my birthday today.  She is the sunniest, sweetest person there is and she is fighting stage 4 cancer.  Will you pray for her and her family?

I have so many plans and dreams for the future, but if I never accomplish another thing, I’m satisfied.  From a child I dreamed of being a teacher, wife and mother.  In my adult life I followed my dreams and started a sewing pattern company, been on TV and the radio, and in the National Enquirer.  (Should I be proud of that last one?)  I’ve been blessed to travel to all 50 states, Canada, Bahamas, Honduras and Mexico.  I’d love to see Europe, England and the Orient someday, but if I get to stay in the United States for the rest of my life I can’t think of anything better.

What more important thing could I accomplish than raising my beautiful babies, creating a home that allows my family to be the best they can be, and living a life of service for God? 

This blog lets me share what happens as I go about the 3 most important things in my life and I appreciate you for being a loyal reader.  Knowing someone might read and be encouraged makes me reach a little farther, try a little harder, and learn a little more.  You inspire me to be better, Thank You!

Tag Team Chores

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I am washing a bathtub full of dishes right now and it seems to fill up so fast.  The task soon becomes overwhelming and the longer I put it off the worse it gets!  If only I could work for 15 minutes and stop that would be great!  I can do anything for 15 minutes.  But then again, 15 minutes a day won’t get all my dishes washed and pretty soon I would be in a big mess again.

But what if I set the timer for 15 minutes and when it rang, someone else (like a child of mine 🙂 would come take over?  They could work for 15 minutes and trade again.  No one would feel they had to be stuck there until the job was perfect.  I would get to stop in every so often for my turn to make sure it’s done well enough and the job would eventually get done.

What if everyone worked in some area of chores for 15 minutes,  someone in the bathroom, someone in the kitchen, someone in the laundry etc. and when the timer rang we just switched jobs picking up exactly where the other person left off?  The object would be to do your very best, fastest work in the time allotted, so when the next person came they would notice and say, “Wow!  You’ve gotten a LOT done in just 15 minutes.

I’m going to try it in the morning.  If you try it, let me know how it goes.

Make a beautiful salad

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There’s nothing like a  lettuce salad made with crisp, green, Romaine lettuce.  Really all you need is lettuce, but start adding stuff and the salad turns really special.  Some salad veggies add up fast in cost and don’t last very long in the fridge.  Here are some alternative options that will keep long in the fridge.

Craisins or raisins are beautiful additions for color, sweetness and a chewy texture.  A sprinkling of sunflower seeds or chopped almonds ($3 a lb whole at Costco) adds just the righ crunch.  Carrots are long keepers in the fridge and add fantastic color and nutrition.  Home grown sprouts are so easy to make and turn an ordinary salad into a gourmet salad bar creation.  I like to keep mini colored bell peppers and sugar snap peas from Costco on hand too.  What a salad treat!

I’m trying not to freak out

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Our homeschool starts next Monday and I’m not feeling ready. 

I have 3 kiddoes school age, but thankfully only 2 are old enough to record hours.  My youngest 2 are showing a real interest in learning to read and I need to spend some time with them too.  I might feel better about it if our house wasn’t such a wreck construction wise, but it is what it is. 

I’ve made up a schedule and it feels like I’ll never get a breath.  Do you want to see it?  I made a  pdf Coffman Homeschool Schedule 2010 2011 and don’t mind sharing.  Keep in mind I haven’t tried yet.  My day is on the first page, Heidi and Claeb’s pg 2, Heather and Dub Pg 3, and Brandon Pg 4.  

I’d love to see your schedule.  It helps me a lot to get ideas from what works for other people.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we will spend 2 hours in the afternoon at the ballet studio and I’m not sure how to fit all of school in on those days, but other than that we should be home. 

I’m looking at my schedule and realizing that if I’m going to be able to exercise and supervise chores in the morning, I will need fix ahead breakfasts.  If I’m going to be able to work at my businesses and give time to my preschool boys I’m also going to need fix ahead lunches and dinners.  Yea for the Grocery Shrink Slow Cooker book :).  And you’ll be seeing many more fix ahead options in the future.

I have an idea list going and as I test and modify recipes, I’ll share the ones that work with you. 

 Have you started school?  How is it going?  How do you stay sane?  Do you have a favorite make ahead recipe that I can share with my blog readers? I’d love to hear your encouragment and ideas.

Mmmm Manicotti

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Tuesday I slipped into the store just in time for buy 2 Ragu spaghetti sauce jars for $.99 each and get a free box of pasta.  It’s the perfect chance to show you one of the many fantastic recipes that comes in the Grocery Shrink Ebook. Did you know the book had recipes?  It has a step by step how to plan for saving money on your grocery bills, but also a collection of recipes to make cooking at home interesting again.

You can modify the filling in these tender pasta tubes however you like.  Cottage cheese, parmesean, basil and spinach would be yummy!  Or pizza toppings stuffed inside would be sure to please the kids.  Here’s how I made them:

Boil your manicotti noodles according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cool water until cool enough to handle.  Meanwhile combine the manicotti filling ingredients listed below.

Manicotti filling:

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

1 cup Italian style bread crumbs–(you can make your own with dry/toasted bread heels a blender and dry Italian seasoning)

1 Tablespoon worchestershire saucef–the secret ingredients that makes these the best!

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Stuff into cooked shells. 

Place stuffed shells in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Top with a jar of spaghetti sauce and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Sprinkle with parmesean cheese for good looks :).

It’s tasty with salad and green beans.

Moving Into the Kitchen

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All the cabinets are in and I am putting in shelf liner!

I chose printed vinyl from Jo-Ann’s and am using spray glue to hold it in place.  I really like the look.  It’s fun to open the boxes of kitchen items I haven’t seen since  April. 

I’m really liking the glass front doors on this cabinet.  It’s the only glass we put in since most of our stuff is useful but not pretty.

My favorite cabinet so far!

We still need countertops, a sink, crown moulding, and baseboard trim, but for now–it’s such an improvement.

Strawberry Pizza

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The Lesson:  Use what you have. 

I found a huge sale on cake mixes for $.49 each about 9 months ago and I bough a LOT.  Normally we don’t consider cake mixes food, but when I need to take a treat to a gathering, it can make it a lot less stressful.   I’ve tried making cake from scratch and I’ve never gotten it to turn out well.  (Unless it is fruit filled cake, like fresh apple cake, carrot or zucchini cake–Yum!)

Cake mixes make cake (duh), but they also make cookies, brownies, sweet pie crust, and fruit crisp topping. 

This summer has been especially busy for us and I often feel overwhelmed.  I needed a quick snack to take to our monthly family worship gathering and thought about what I had on hand:  cake mix, fresh strawberries that really needed to be used, a tiny amount of powdered sugar, strawberry jello, and an open brick of cream cheese needing to be used.  Strawberry pizza was the natural choice!  Since I was using what I had on hand, I didn’t follow a recipe.  Here’s what I did:

Strawberry Pizza:

Crust:  1 cake mix, 1 stick butter melted, 1 egg.  Mix all together in an electric mixer and roll onto a pizza pan.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely

Frosting:  8 oz cream cheese (can use lowfat or non-fat) 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Whip together and spread over crust.

Top with sliced strawberries.  You can glaze with strawberry jello mixed with 1/2 cup warm water until it dissolves.  But it was almost too sweet that way.  It would have been better plain or with whipped cream.

New Wall Art: Framed Pointe Shoes

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The lesson:  If you can’t find what you want at a price you can afford, wait.  It will turn up.

While we were thinking of ideas for my daughters’ bedroom remodel, I decided it would be fun to add a little piece that nods to their love of ballet.  I was going to need a large oval frame and an old pair of pointe shoes.  As I shopped discount decor stores I found that most frames like that retailed for $50!  Even on clearance the best I could do was $25.  It just wasn’t going to work within my budget.

I decided to wait it out.  A few weeks later a neighbor put this frame in her garage sale for $5.  It was like new and still had the $50.00 price tag on it!

What I show you next will make many people cringe.  It was hard for me to think about too, but the black and gold, gorgeous as it was, wouldn’t look right for my purpose.  So I painted it.

At first I thought I had totally ruined it and was so glad I only risked $5.  But I braced my shoulders and focused on the plan.  I found a retired pair of pointe shoes on Etsy for $20.  They were a huge splurge for the room, but were a fraction of what I had seen other shoes go for.  Add a little ribbon from stash and voila.

I hung it from a Wall Dog screw and just for giggles hot glued a rhinestone over the screwhead.  It’s perfect, sigh.