Pin 29 of 52 and a move:)

So I know my blog is getting run over with pins! It's kind of ridiculous. As soon as we get settled into the new place it will get better:) Oh by the way we are moving again. I know, I know. We have only been here 6 months! It's gone by super fast and has been amazing! I know I need to get more on this blog and get into the groove. So we will be moving in one month. Just 15 minutes away, no big move again. But I'm excited. We will be living on base and we will get a garage:) Yay! Anyways on to my pin!

So for this Pinsperation I've combined a couple different pins. There is this pin, where they framed fabric and used that as a decoration. Then there is this pin, where Kathryn over at I Can Find the Time put a pin cushion on her sewing machine. I LOVE the idea of putting a cushion on the sewing machine. I usually take them out as I'm sewing and throw them in the tomato but it's hard having something so little and moves so easily. Here comes the but, haha. The way my machine is set up I can't get a cushion situated on there. So that's when I combined the two and this is what I came up with!

It's a pin cushion frame! I love it because it's in an actual frame and I can set it up right next to the sewing machine and it's simple and fantastic! I did do step by step tutorial for you but it's super super simple. 

You will need: 

a frame with glass and back (either 4x6 or 5x7) the one I have is 4x6

handful of stuffing

scrap of fabric, mine is 10x10 and it would definitely fit either size

some pins

I have a frame that has somehow gotten the preview picture stuck to the glass. So this was the perfect frame for this project. Also I only ended up using about half of the stuffing shown!

Okay the first step is to take the back and glass out of the frame and set them aside for the moment. Lay the frame face down and lay the fabric right side down on the fabric like so...

The next step is to stuff the stuffing into the frame so it sticks out past the frame about 2-3 inches.

Next place the glass in as you normally would. You might have to finagle it a little bit because you have the fabric in between the glass and the frame. I know mine has little groves that hold the glass. I taped the fabric to the back of the glass just to make it easier, but you don't have too.

Then put the back on and voila!!! You have an awesome pin cushion frame!!!

I love how this turned out so much, I'm going to make one as a present:) I'm working on an apron this next week, so keep an eye out for that:) Till then

Pin 28 of 52

So I'm getting a late start on my Christmas presents! But I'm earlier then last year, haha. I have 5 nieces and nephews. Four of which are old enough to use crayons.  So when I seen these nifty crayon and notebook holders on Pinterest I knew they would be perfect for them. I started making these how the tutorial shows and I ended up not liking it so I did it a different way. I usually end up straying from the actual instructions:) Here is what I ended up with. 

I made different colors for the girls and the boys. 

I love how they turned out. My sewing machine started giving me trouble so I wasn't able to finish the last one but that is the extra one I made for Little Man so that can wait while I try to figure out whats going on with my machine:) When I get to his I may do a tutorial. Another gift I'm making is kind of a mix of two pins so look for that in the next week!! Till then

Pin 27 of 52

So I'm killing two birds with one stone again:) Here is a new recipe for my 101 in 1001 task number 25. Well if you want to be technical this really isn't a recipe per say buuuut it is a food. So that counts right?!?!
I seen the pin for little ham and cheese sliders on Pinterest  and knew Little Man would love them. He love "sammiches" and these are perfect for little hands:) I did stray from the pin (like I always do:) and I used american cheese instead of swiss but they were super yummy:) And of course Little Man loved them!

Make it with some tomato soup and it's faaaabulous:) 

Pin 26 of 52:)

I'm so excited to have made it halfway to our 52 pins:) I'm seriously hoping to be done by June 1st and then I will restart on my birthday which is the 19th! Buuut if I end up ending early, I'll just restart:) I'll have to come up with a better name:) I'm also soo excited for Fall!!! Okay so I do live in very rainy state so not only do I have cold but I also have rain. But hey, I'm totally okay with that. The last 11 years have been heat and sun and virtually no rain in Ga. I seriously think that I've seen more rain in the last month then in the last 11 years. Seriously it RARELY rains in Ga. Buuuut anyways, back to it being fall! I LOVE fall so when I seen a pin for a white chili on Pinterest today, I had to try it! And it was fantastic! I did change it up a little but because this is actually not a crock pot recipe and of course silly me didn't realize that until I had got all the ingredients out at 11 am this morning. Oh well, I threw is all in anyways, haha. It turned out AMAZING!

Excuse the instagram picture! I was sooo excited about this that I forgot to take a picture with my actual camera but my iPhone takes pretty good pictures:) 

Here is the recipe that I used:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 cans of great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth ( I use a packet of powdered chicken broth)

1 cans chopped green chilies

1 can butter beans 

1 can of kernal corn

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

I seriously throw everything in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Add some corn bread and it's the perfect fall meal:) Easy peasy. Like I like it:) 

Not only is this a pin it's also a new recipe toward my 101 in 1001 goal number 25, which is to learn 50 new recipes:) Check them out at the links in above:) 

Pin 25 of 52

Laundry soap! Oh how fast I go through laundry soap. Even with my laundry schedule of only doing 1 load a day with everyone having their own laundry day and what not I still go through a ton of laundry soap. Granted I do probably use more than I should, but I've really weird about my clothes being clean. Any-who about two years ago I tried making my own laundry soap. I made this liquid that was more of a gel then a liquid and well I just was very skeptical. I didn't like it. At all! I didn't feel that my clothes were getting clean no matter how much detergent I put in there. I didn't like the idea of powder. I always had used liquid, my mom used liquid growing up, it was just what I was used too. So I didn't look into it anymore I just went back to buying my Gain and moved on with life. Fast forward 2 years and I'm into Pinterest and see a pin (here) for homemade powder laundry soap with only 6 ingredients for only about 20 bucks. I liked the idea, pinned it and moved on. I kept seeing it getting pinned and I finally broke down and made a small batch in August to see if I would like it. I loved it! LOVED it. I made about half a batch and it lasted about 3 months. This time I will do a legit break down to see how many loads I get and this and that. Here are the ingredients that I used:)

          1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle 

          1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

          2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Laundry Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (excuse the fact that I have Ivory     soap. My smart self didn't think about it not being laundry bar soap until after I grated it. I used Fels Naptha)

          1 (2 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle

          1 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle ( This is optional but I love love LOVE this softener and figured if I'm going to throw it in anyways I might as well just mix it in. Also even though I have two pictured here I only used one because I divided the whole thing in half because I don't use softener on our cloth dipes)

          2/3 (2 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is totally optional as well but I definitely recommend using it:)

And here is a breakdown of the price I paid:

Borax - 3.38 

Washing Soda - 2.58

Fels Naptha - .97 each- 1.94

Baking Soda - 1.38

 Purex Softener - 6.59

OxyClean - 7.97 - (since I only used 2/3) 5.32

Total 21.09

Of course the prices of things will vary depending on where you are. But I figure for 22 bucks (rounding up) for at least 6 months, you can't go wrong. Okay, so I probably should have sat and figured this out before hand but what the hay! Okay so if I do 5 loads a week for 6 months that is 120 loads that is still only 17 cents a load. I think I will get more then 6 months and 120 loads out of it and I will be keeping track of it this time so I will get back to you on the actual break down:)

One reason I love this is because it's soooo easy. Like, seriously, all you do is grate the soap (the hardest part) and mix it together . Bada-bing bada-boom & done! I take a couple extra steps to divide it because I don't wash our cloth diapers with softened so half of it doesn't have softener. Then I take 1 more extra step to put it in containers so I'm not having to scoop out of a big container:) Here is the final product:)

I love Purex softener containers because they are easy to handle, they hold quite a bit and they have a measuring lid. The original blog says about 2 tablespoons which equals the middle line of the cap will do it. I usually fill it to the top line and sometimes I'll add in another one that's filled to the first line. (Again, I'm weird about my laundry getting clean). Simple as that.