Cleaning Fiend

Pinterest is a problem. I can't stop myself. But, as I just recently told a friend of mine, it has literally changed my life for the better. My kids are happier because they have new projects. Like these cool thumbprint trees:

And we've done fun science experiments, like making rock candy:

And I've found some great new recipes, like the pumpkin cinnamon rolls we had for breakfast on Sunday. (Sorry, no photo of those, because we ate them too fast, but you can get the recipe here.)

But seriously my favorite thing so far is that I feel like a better mom. My kids are happier because they're more entertained, and my house is cleaner. Especially thanks to this cleaning tip. Here's what you do. You take your nasty stove burners. You know, the ones that look like this:

You put them in a zip top bag and add about 1/4 cup ammonia. Zip it up quickly, put in on a cookie sheet for ease of transport, and set it outside for 12 hours. Outside, in case the bag leaks, so you don't have to suffer the wrath of fumes. The horrible (and I mean HORRIBLE) stench of the ammonia seems to make all the grease cooked onto the burners just give up and die. It literally falls right off. The parts that are really really cooked might take a little scrub, but it all comes off. This is my finished product:

I giggled and giggled for like 20 minutes when I did the first one. My husband thought I was crazy, so I made him do the second one. He was so amazed that he cleaned the 3rd and 4th. So I guess this really IS an amazing trick. They're even less work when your husband elbows you out of the way to finish it off!

Sure, I could have found all this stuff elsewhere on the Internet, but it's so much more fun when my great friends share it with me! Thanks for the pinspiration!

~ Joy

The Beginning of The Crafting Season!

Okay, the title of this post is deceptive. First of all, there's really not a good or bad time to craft, right? Second, I don't wait until October to start. I think I started my Halloween projects in August, and normally I start my Christmas cards in August as well. (This year I'm not making any... it's getting cut and we'll see how many people notice or miss it.) BUT I've been especially excited this year about getting some projects going. With Elly gone all day I've needed to find something to fill up my time, and I can't spend as much time scrapbooking because Jack's a terror in the craft room. I've had to get creative in crafting so he doesn't get too interested or forget about it. It means my projects take forever, but the end result is worth it. That being said, I have a few that actually made it into the "finished" category!

HAllowEEn Countdown

So you know how everyone does advent calendars for Christmas, and counts down the days until Santa comes? I wanted to do the same thing for Halloween. So I made these beauties, so we'll always know how many more days until I can dress my little monsters up and parade them around town begging the neighbors to ply them with sweets for me them to eat. Is it any wonder that I love Halloween? (I know, the count is off, I took this photo on Sunday...)

PinboArd

I love butterfly pinboards. But they're a little too beautiful for Halloween. Not to mention I'm not macabre enough to actually pin a bug to a board and call it decor. It's a little to mean for me. So using my trusty Silhouette, I adapted the idea into this: 

Yes, those are bats. I just found some random freebie clip art and used it to cut a variety of papers, and "pinned" it to burlap that I happened to have laying around from Jack's pirate birthday party this summer. And I even had a frame waiting to be filled. And since I have a problem buying Halloween scrapbook papers every year (my stockpile was literally 1.5" thick) this project cost me a grand total of $0. I thought about leaving the glass out of the frame and folding up the wings for a nice 3-D effect, but I didn't want to have a huge dusting disaster on my hands so I left it under glass. I DID make sure to attach the bats with foam tape, so they have some dimension, though.

I hope everyone else has some good Halloween craft inspiration to share! Even though crafting with a 2-year-old is challenging, I'm up for it!

Happy Haunting!

~Joy

Updating...

Apparently all the hullabaloo was for nothing. Mark doesn't care if I put photos up of the family. When I asked him, he acted like I was insane for running it by him. (This from the man who grills me about the security settings on my photos every time I post anything anywhere... I guess I learn something new about him every once in a while.) So here are some recent updates:

LOTS of Summer Fun

Both kids love cleaning the pool. Jack skims, Elly scrubs. Maybe they have a future in the pool cleaning business. In another 8-10 years, they can make some extra summertime cash!

Elly turned 6

 

 

 

 

Jack turned 2

Waiting to go on the 1st day of school

At school

There's no way I can post a full re-cap of all the fun we had this summer, but those are the high-lights! Low-lights included summer colds, bee stings, and lots of boredom. It turns out my kids are just like everyone else's kids and need constant entertainment or else they get into trouble and start bickering, climbing furniture, and/or spilling my vast collection of decorative cupcake sprinkles all over the house. (Don't ask)

~ Joy

Back to Fall

Since my oldest has gone back to school I've found that I have a lot more time on my hands. This is her first year in school all day, and I'm surprised at how much I miss her. Quite frankly, I always thought I was the kind of parent who would be singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on the first day of school, not the one who falls apart and goes into hibernation. Truth be told, I guess I fall somewhere in between.

Yes, I'm WAAAAAAY far behind on the back-to-school post. Or just in general, since I think I haven't posted since like 2009. Maybe I'll get to pics on that later. Probably not. I bet my husband would FLIP OUT if I put photos of our kids "out there." What do you think? And, yeah, I know I've got older photos on here. He gets more and more paranoid. Understandable, considering his job I guess.

I think I'll keep my blog more up-to-date with my current projects, recipes, etc. in an effort to fill up some of my time. However, I have a really crummy camera (hint, hint husband) so any photos I post will reflect this. Feel free to make donations to the "Joy-needs-a-new-camera Foundation." It's going to take me a few posts to get used to the formatting and everything, so bear with me. I have some Halloween projects I've been working on, so look for those in the next few days.

~ Joy