How to get Recall Notifications

I had a reader inform me of a possible recall on a product I used on the blog. When buying thrift store items or picking up free stuff it's advisable to check out if its been recalled.

I have been for more than a year now signed up to receive daily notices of product recalls. Takes a few seconds to glance through the list to make sure I don't have anything I need to check on.

Here's the CPSC website on recalls where you can look up products. If you want to sign up for the daily recall list, scroll down to the bottom and find "Join our recall notification list."

Personalized Santa Video

If you think your child would enjoy having Santa talk to them on a video, try the Portable North Pole

Give "Santa" some information and photos and he'll talk to your child and encourage them to be good at something you've asked them to do this year. It can be sent via email to whoever you like: your child, niece, etc.

It's free unless you want to purchase the video for download.

Cheaper Medical Lab Costs

This article ran on CNN yesterday. If you are without insurance or have a high deductible, you may want to get your doctor's lab order written down for you and order it yourself for much cheaper. Evidently, you order it online, pay online, print it out, and take it to the lab.

If you have a participating lab in your area, you might want to check it out.

Here is the CNN article

Here is the lab ordering website

Easy 20 Minute Mermaid Costume

My child was eating dinner in her underwear last night. Why? Because as a mermaid, she didn't wear clothes. I said she definitely couldn't stay in her underwear, so my kiddo asked me to make her some shells and fins.

So as I munched, I inventoried my scrap box in my head and then ran upstairs when I finished. I had a blue t-shirt and an ugly, but very bright fabric skirt I got for free somewhere.

I brought down the blue shirt and cut it while on her to make a "bra" for shells - I will do a much better job on the next one now that I have a pattern, only if I have to make a next one, she's happy enough with it as is. Kind of has a Flintstoney aspect to it at the moment. :)

Then I cinched up the skirt with the elastic band to fit her (It's too long, but we just rolled down the waistband--it'll grow with her if she intends to be a mermaid in the years to come) and with the excess material cut freehand a big fin shape. I zigzag sewed around it to keep it from fraying and then sewed it to the middle back of the skirt.

Tada!

And evidently if you press her belly button she sings like Ariel.

She's worn it all night last night, slept in it and worn it all day today even though it's 60 degrees in the house. Had a bit of an argument about how human mermaids don't wear their fins and shells into the bathtub though. :)

I love it that kids are so happy with such rudimentary things.

How to Time Contractions on Computer or iPhone

I'm 38 weeks pregnant today, so I'll be having a baby any time now, and been debating on buying a stop watch since the one I had that could do that is dead, but do I really want to buy something I've not used in years for something I may not even need? (I had to be induced last time).

But, then I stumbled upon this: The Contraction Master. Just hit the S button on your computer or electronic device when they begin and end and it keeps track of it for you.

Sounds good to me, the laptop is almost always on!

Butter Wrappers for Greasing

This is one of those things I said I'd never do (like wash ziploc bags) but started to recently. But when hubby asked why I had a pile of folded butter wrappers on top of the shortening bucket . . .

I didn't realize someone might not know why a crazy lady was keeping those. The residue of the butter is generally enough to lightly grease your baking pan.

Just rub it on, if not enough, grab another one.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

A friend shared this link with me and I thought I'd put it here. I consume regular milk, enough to justify buying a cow sometime soon, but I have to admit I've always wanted to try almond milk because I love almonds. Maybe I shall make my own:

Almond Milk Recipe

Since it required a "nut milk bag" I was sure I could find someone talking about this elsewhere. Here are some ideas.

This forum, had these examples:

I read something by Carmella from The Sunny Raw Kitchen and she uses paint straining bags that you can find at a paint supply store or at Home Depot (I got mine at Home Depot). They are nylon and come in two sizes. I got the smaller ones. One package has 2 bags in it and was around $3! So that's $3 for 2 bags! I just cleaned it really well in hot soapy water before using and it has worked wonderfully thus far.

I have only ever used cheese cloth. typically it is easier to find and works pretty well. it helps to have someone help you keep the corners up. (I say why not just sew the cheese cloth into a bag???)

And I saw somewhere else someone used a flour sack.

Salvaging Gristly Fatty Beef

Last year I bought this huge slab of beef. I have no idea what I was thinking, I am no cook. I must have had a reason, but I just had the hubby cut it in 3 pieces and place it in the freezer where its been for a year (I think). Hubby found it while rearranging the freezer, asked me what my plan was. Since I told him I've had no plan that I remember for a year, he took one out and treated it like pot roast. (We both have no idea what this piece of meat was. Sad. Sad.) It turned out really well.

So next chunk, he decides to smoke. My favorite saying is "Everything tastes better smoked." And I've tried everything in the smoker--including raccoon. So far, my pithy saying has held out--until this chunk of mystery meat. It was so gristly that my hubby, who would eat meat and only meat for the rest of his life if he could, didn't even attempt to make anyone else take a bite. He asked how I wanted to dispose of this large chunk of meat.

Figuring I could do something with it other than trash it, I decided to attempt to make stock with it. Yeah, usually you are using only bones, but it was trash anyway. So I put it in the crock pot and cooked it for 24 hours almost. I get him to help tip it out and strain it, when he starts poking around the meat and says "I think this might be decent meat now." Tore off a hunk and sure enough, a great tasting pot roast sans gristle and fat. Bonus dinner, always good news for me.

So, if you have an awful piece of meat, try fixing it by making stock. Worst case scenario is you'll still have to throw it away, but hey, you have stock!

My stock making procedure:

Put in bones, meat leftovers, veggie leftovers or those needed to be used up pretty soon and whatever spices you want. I usually throw in basil, parsley, salt and garlic cloves, onions, potatoes, with whatever else I have on hand (beware, beets work, but they make your stock funny colored). I go light on the salt, can always add more.

Cover with cold filtered water. Put in one T. vinegar. Sit for one hour. (Vinegar is supposed to draw out the nutrients in the foods. Don't know if that's true, but hasn't hurt anything)

Turn on low for about 18 hours or until the smell of it drives you crazy hungry.

Then strain, put broth in large bowl in fridge. The fat will rise to the top and you can just then break it off and discard.

Freeze in ice cube trays and store per this procedure.

Patching Holy Holey Jeans

I've been very busy. Doing a lot of things I've already posted on this blog, getting ready for baby (such as making wool diaper covers and longies) And I need more maternity pants. So, I got these off the free pile but there was a very weak spot in the knee and once I finished turning them into maternity, they ripped the moment I tried them on. Well, I had no denim that even looked nice on this blue wash for these particular jeans for what I thought would be some kind of flower patch, so all I had was the waistband I had just cut off. And long rectangular strips just cry out to be a cross. So now I have Holy holey jeans. :)

That's about as original as I have gotten lately, but there you are.

Bottle Top Bag "Clip"

Someone sent this to me through an email forward, so I have no idea who this idea belongs to, but thought I'd put it up here, since I've never seen it before, maybe you haven't either.

Cut up a disposable water bottle and keep the neck and top, as in photo.

Insert the plastic bag through the neck and screw the top to seal.

Helping Kids Put Shoes on the Right Feet

I got tired of telling the kiddo that she had put her shoes on the wrong feet, so I decided to help her be able to figure that out herself. I took two smiley face stickers and put them on the inside curve of her shoe. I read this in some parenting magazine a long time ago.

Then I told her to make the faces kiss. She likes to make the kissing noise along with them.

Free History Newsletter Mini-Units

For those homeschoolers or teachers, etc.

You can sign up for a free newsletter (or just look in their archives) for short little mini-units of historical interest at Learning Through History News.

Little units with all kinds of links (primary sources, multimedia projects, etc) for topics like:
The Sphinx
The Silk Road
The War of 1812
Ellis Island
etc.

Wowser Wednesday - Dry Erase Plate

A lady in town posted her fun little dollar store project. She has cute home fashion sense, I see pictures of her decorations every now and then.

She says: A cute, but inexpensive, melamine-type plate or platter from the dollar store makes a GREAT dry erase board for the kitchen, with the help of ribbon, a plate rack (I used a cookbook holder) and, of course, dry erase markers. :) excuse my awful south-paw handwriting, please.

Track your website visitors

I don't know how many of you don't read my blog through a reader and have seen the new little map in the top right hand corner of my blog.

I use statcounter to track my visitors and where they are coming from whenever I am curious. And sometimes they are from such cool places as India, and sometimes I can even see that people of other language blogs are linking to me. I know that someone who writes in Chinese, Thai, and Spanish have all linked to my blog. Pretty fun.

So I thought I would share with my readers and show a map of people who are reading my blog. It just tracks where the readers' server is located. IPligence provided the map. In just a few days, It looks like I've had visitors from the USA, Australia, Canada, Italy, Ireland, UK, Poland, Maybe Hungary??, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, India, Japan, OOH! Looks like really close to Dalian, China where I spent a summer, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines and New Zealand. Fun huh?

And the blinking ones are who is looking right now.

Cheap Salvaged Elastic

I needed elastic for some maternity pants and figured, why not salvaged?

Buy large-sized sweat or elastic waist pants or skirts with wide elastic or whatever size you need. Choose pants or items that have the least sewing through the elastic that you can find. Not that it hurts the elastic, just takes more time to get it out.

Take seam ripper and dislodge your elastic. Considering it cost me $2.59 to buy elastic for the last pair of pants I made, getting pants for $1 or less would be totally worth the about 20 minutes it took me to take the elastic out. And if you can cram as many items in a sack as I can on dollar day, my elastic only cost me 2.5 cents and time.

Don't throw away old sweats until you take out and save the elastic! I know I won't be doing that anymore.

Cheap Princess Party Game

Trying to come up with a Princess party game that would cost me nearly nothing, I came up with:

"Pin the Crown on the Princess" Not too original, but it wouldn't cost me much.

(Which I am sure can be adapted to any party as long as you can find an appropriate coloring page or draw one if you are so talented: Pin the Eye patch on the Pirate, Pin the tail on Eeyore, Pin the Stetson on the Cowboy, Pin the shoes on the Ballerina, Pin the number on the racecar, etc.)

I photocopied a coloring page of a princess coloring book with a princess whose head was fairly large. My niece colored it. Then I taped it to a door. Then I printed out multiple crowns (I googled crowns in Google images and picked one to copy and paste several times over in Word and printed out in Black and White). Then each girl colored their crown and put their first initial on it.

Then I taped a loop of masking tape on the back, blindfolded them and told them to get it the closest to the top of her head. Whoever was closest got to choose a jewelry item that was a party favor anyway. As each girl won, they bowed out of the game and chose a piece, and we kept going until the last two girls went and then both got to pick from what was left. Easy, and they liked the game.

Barbie Doll Cake

I watched this youtube video to get an idea of how to make a Barbie Doll Cake using things I already had.

I used 2 8" cake pans of one cake mix and a pyrex bowl with an 8" diameter opening for another full cake mix. I cut them were they bubbled up, so they sat flat on top one another, the bowl cake on top and upside down. Then I cut off used restaurant chopsticks and put two on each side of Barbie to anchor the cakes together. Then I cut out the middle hole with a knife and had to lift the cakes and have my niece shove the middle hole pieces down through the bottom.

I did not want to break any of your Barbies, so I thought 2 8" pans would be enough, but it wasn't, so I tossed her. Not wanting to spend the time to bake some more, I searched in your Barbie box for the Barbie that had legs jointed so much that she could bend her knees to 90 degree angles (In the picture where I am pulling her out, this is the configuration I had to put her in to fit). So she kind of squatted in your cake, she looks like a midget, but she was in there unbroken! Then I did a lame frosting job with a whipped frosting that didn't succumb to the paper smoothing treatment that the video shows works on buttercream frosting, and she waited in the refrigerator over night.

Beware: Barbie sheds Barbie hair in Barbie cake

Free White House Greetings

Happy Bday to my big 4 year old girl!

If you want a greeting card or congratulations card for your baby from the White House,

Or these special times too:

• Wedding (send your request after the event)
  
• Baby's birth or adoption of a child
  
• Retirement after at least 30 years on the same job
  
• Eagle Scout Award
  
• Girl Scout Gold Award
  
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah or equivalent religious occasion

Follow the directions here.

My first baby was welcomed by George and Laura Bush, hopefully come Thanksgiving, I'll be able to ask for Barack and Michelle Obama to welcome my tiny bundle. You'll simply receive an embossed stationary card with their ink stamped signatures, but someone takes the time to hand-write the address. A little bit of fun for your scrapbook to be had for the cost of a stamp. I'm curious to see if the sentiment changes with presidents.

$1 Bag Thrift Store Treasure Thursday

The Presbyterian Church Thrift store has $1 bag days about once a quarter. I had nothing in particular in mind to get while there, but just needed some retail therapy. So it requires some out-of-the-box thinking. And I can always donate things back if they don't work out and I limited myself to one bag, stuffed how my ex-army husband taught me how to stuff for maximum volume capacity.

Description follows: Left to Right, back row first

*6 pairs of larger ladies pants without much sewing through the elastic to salvage the elastic from (I went initially to the sewing department hoping to see elastic (Nope) when it hit me--I'm surrounded by elastic!)

*2 blue t-shirts and 2 blue jeans to pair with the salvaged elastic to make cheap maternity pants/shorts.

* 2 pairs of drawstring scrubs for maternity pjs and two maternity shirts

*1 black dress I hope will fit post-pregnancy

*3 handmade never used pot holders

*7 Ribbon belts. Plan to save the buckles for projects such as Nursing Cover and of course, save the ribbons for crafts

*2 cashmere sweaters for baby diaper covers and longies or the myriad other projects wool comes in handy for like mittens and chalkboard erasers.

*1 pair child slippers

*4 placemats now that my child wants to eat on top of the lacy tablecloth that I don't want to wash every day

*1 Granny go-to-sleep cap for dress-up.

*4 cloth napkins already done up that I don't have to sew!

*2 books

Character Bandaids

Has your kid seen and envied Character Bandaids? Will your child not leave bandaids on like mine? Try making your own decorated band-aids.

My kiddo won't stop picking at something, but she won't leave a band-aid on, so last night, we got out the bucket of stickers and let her choose what stickers to stick on her band-aid to keep her from pulling it off. 24 hours later, she's still wearing it. Think it worked.