There is so much going on here in the Wood household. I'm pregnant with #6, and we bought a house!
We sign for it tomorrow, and I've been cleaning like a fiend.... as much!
I'll post pics and designs that I do to "fix up" my new place soon! I'm having a problem with window treatments. There are some that are just hideous and need to be redone. YouTube to the rescue, huh?!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
I REALLY love being a homemaker!
There are very few things in this life that I truly, deep-down enjoy. Crafting; my non-mommy passion, and photography- God has truly given me a talent, but the thing that I absolutely LOVE doing; homemaking.
I was never raised to be a homemaker. My mother was a progressive liberal don't-need-no-man kind of woman. Her marriage to my father was strained (to say the least) and it was a constant power struggle in their relationship. In a household with 3 girls and 1 boy, it was very confusing for us. After all, other moms were SAHM's who adored their kids, why did our mom go out and work? (there's a point and I'm getting to it.)
We were never taught the value of running a home. It was worthless to us because mom looked down on it. After all, she was "worth so much more" than cleaning up after kids all d****d day. Why should she be tied down to cleaning and cooking and not "worth" anything?
Looking back, I am very sad for her. But, no, this is not a bash-my-mother rant. This is to give you some background on my skills... which weren't many when I made it to the marriage field. I taught myself how to bake bread and cookies and domestic skills like that, but it wasn't until I became a wife and mother myself that I truly learned to cook. My dad did all the cooking (except for Thanksgiving; my mom would actually do it- with the help of my grandmother) and Christmas and Easter which were both left up to Mom Mom. (mom's mother.) If it didn't come from a box, my dad didn't know how to make it; then again this is also how he was taught by his mother- a woman who had all boys.
But, let me jump back and ask a few questions first.
When did we stop putting a value on what mothers and wives do? Why is it considered "waste" to raise the next generation of women to be homemakers and find worth in their families and homes? How do I get my children back to basics, raise them how I want them to be raised, and show worth in our home? How do I honor my daughters for learning the skills that I so desperately wish that someone had taught me when I was a child, and how do I instill in them that it truly is worth it to learn these things?
Well, my only answer is to go back to the Bible. Well, that and other Christian blogs and sites and books that showcase it. For those of us who were never taught those skills, it is important to arm ourselves with knowledge. The bible says "for lack of knowledge, my people perish" (paraphrased from Hosea 4:6). I want to have all the knowledge I possibly can to guard myself against failure. My family is worth it.
So, if you have any resources out there to help, I'd love them. Cleaning resources (friends can tell you that I really do suck at this!) and cooking, and having a gentle spirit, and raising my children in love and guidance with humility and patience, being a better wife- all of this! I want it all!
I was never raised to be a homemaker. My mother was a progressive liberal don't-need-no-man kind of woman. Her marriage to my father was strained (to say the least) and it was a constant power struggle in their relationship. In a household with 3 girls and 1 boy, it was very confusing for us. After all, other moms were SAHM's who adored their kids, why did our mom go out and work? (there's a point and I'm getting to it.)
We were never taught the value of running a home. It was worthless to us because mom looked down on it. After all, she was "worth so much more" than cleaning up after kids all d****d day. Why should she be tied down to cleaning and cooking and not "worth" anything?
Looking back, I am very sad for her. But, no, this is not a bash-my-mother rant. This is to give you some background on my skills... which weren't many when I made it to the marriage field. I taught myself how to bake bread and cookies and domestic skills like that, but it wasn't until I became a wife and mother myself that I truly learned to cook. My dad did all the cooking (except for Thanksgiving; my mom would actually do it- with the help of my grandmother) and Christmas and Easter which were both left up to Mom Mom. (mom's mother.) If it didn't come from a box, my dad didn't know how to make it; then again this is also how he was taught by his mother- a woman who had all boys.
But, let me jump back and ask a few questions first.
When did we stop putting a value on what mothers and wives do? Why is it considered "waste" to raise the next generation of women to be homemakers and find worth in their families and homes? How do I get my children back to basics, raise them how I want them to be raised, and show worth in our home? How do I honor my daughters for learning the skills that I so desperately wish that someone had taught me when I was a child, and how do I instill in them that it truly is worth it to learn these things?
Well, my only answer is to go back to the Bible. Well, that and other Christian blogs and sites and books that showcase it. For those of us who were never taught those skills, it is important to arm ourselves with knowledge. The bible says "for lack of knowledge, my people perish" (paraphrased from Hosea 4:6). I want to have all the knowledge I possibly can to guard myself against failure. My family is worth it.
So, if you have any resources out there to help, I'd love them. Cleaning resources (friends can tell you that I really do suck at this!) and cooking, and having a gentle spirit, and raising my children in love and guidance with humility and patience, being a better wife- all of this! I want it all!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Red Carpet Stains? No More!!!
Yes. I have found the HOLY GRAIL of getting your carpet clean? And all for the low low price of....... NADA! That's right ladies (and gents) for zero, zip, zilch and nothing, you can get those red stains out of your carpet for good? Sound too good to be true?
it's not!
No really, it's not.
Here's what you'll need and how I did it:
water (and lots of it!)
iron on steam
white wash cloth
bucket of water.
(btw, you're going to want water, just in case I haven't mentioned that.)
Step 1:
Pour the water on a small part of the red stain (after all, you're working on a washcloth, and a small iron).
Step 2:
place 1 layer of damp, white washcloth on top of water. Why white? So you can see it when the stain starts coming off.
Step 3:
place iron hot side down, on full-blast steam on washcloth over top of the stain and water.
step 4:
wait. No really. wait. AAAAAND wait some more. You want to keep the heat and steam pouring into your carpet. This will lift that stain out. No, it doesn't actually set in the stain (disclaimer: check on an inconspicuous part of your carpet first, or on a sample so as not to ruin your carpet, though I really don't think it will...). Keep the iron on there until the red shows up on the washcloth.
Rinse washcloth and repeat until all the stain is gone!
Voila- FREE!!! Smart and Savvy! You can't get better than free!
Word of warning: don't be stupid. Don't let your small children (or large ones!) play with your area that you're working on. Keep pets away and Don't walk away from your iron. I'm not responsible for what you choose to do; with our without common sense.
(I'll post a video of how I did it when I get a chance. I'm still trying to figure out Windows 8- the bane of my computer existence).
it's not!
No really, it's not.
Here's what you'll need and how I did it:
water (and lots of it!)
iron on steam
white wash cloth
bucket of water.
(btw, you're going to want water, just in case I haven't mentioned that.)
Step 1:
Pour the water on a small part of the red stain (after all, you're working on a washcloth, and a small iron).
Step 2:
place 1 layer of damp, white washcloth on top of water. Why white? So you can see it when the stain starts coming off.
Step 3:
place iron hot side down, on full-blast steam on washcloth over top of the stain and water.
step 4:
wait. No really. wait. AAAAAND wait some more. You want to keep the heat and steam pouring into your carpet. This will lift that stain out. No, it doesn't actually set in the stain (disclaimer: check on an inconspicuous part of your carpet first, or on a sample so as not to ruin your carpet, though I really don't think it will...). Keep the iron on there until the red shows up on the washcloth.
Rinse washcloth and repeat until all the stain is gone!
Voila- FREE!!! Smart and Savvy! You can't get better than free!
Word of warning: don't be stupid. Don't let your small children (or large ones!) play with your area that you're working on. Keep pets away and Don't walk away from your iron. I'm not responsible for what you choose to do; with our without common sense.
(I'll post a video of how I did it when I get a chance. I'm still trying to figure out Windows 8- the bane of my computer existence).
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Even faster way to make laundry soap.
Ok, so after my 6 month supply of powder ran out today (has it been 6 months?! this stuff lasts for ever- considering I have a family of 7!) I needed to make more.
My homemade soap to the rescue- I had 3 bars of the good-smelling soap that I made specifically for laundry. WOOHOO! score. Ok, so I grated that up. They had cured for about 6 months, but were still moist inside. (the sign of a good homemade bar) Unfortunately not so good for shredding up for laundry.
No problem. I grated it and then put it in my food processor- awesome right? wrong. It balled up instead of grating to a fine powder. le sigh.
Ok, so what to do... lightbulb moment!
Put it back in to the food processor with my borax and washing soda powder and process that way. Voila! Smooth as a baby's bottom. Well, not really but it is MUCH finer and doesn't leave chunks in the laundry soap the way it used to. The powder covers the little soap granules so it doesn't stick to itself and is able to be cut smaller (and be covered with more powder) and so on... Live and learn, huh? Oh it used to take me about an hour to get exactly how much laundry detergent I needed; now it took me 8 minutes from start to finish; and that was WITH the figuring out of the powder with the soap.
Oh, this chica is a happy camper and laundry is getting done!
My homemade soap to the rescue- I had 3 bars of the good-smelling soap that I made specifically for laundry. WOOHOO! score. Ok, so I grated that up. They had cured for about 6 months, but were still moist inside. (the sign of a good homemade bar) Unfortunately not so good for shredding up for laundry.
No problem. I grated it and then put it in my food processor- awesome right? wrong. It balled up instead of grating to a fine powder. le sigh.
Ok, so what to do... lightbulb moment!
Put it back in to the food processor with my borax and washing soda powder and process that way. Voila! Smooth as a baby's bottom. Well, not really but it is MUCH finer and doesn't leave chunks in the laundry soap the way it used to. The powder covers the little soap granules so it doesn't stick to itself and is able to be cut smaller (and be covered with more powder) and so on... Live and learn, huh? Oh it used to take me about an hour to get exactly how much laundry detergent I needed; now it took me 8 minutes from start to finish; and that was WITH the figuring out of the powder with the soap.
Oh, this chica is a happy camper and laundry is getting done!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
where can you pinch a penny or two?
My wonderful hubster and I have decided on so many things over the past few months. One of them being a wedding (on the super-cheap at my other blog!) and one of them pinching pennies for meal-time, WITHOUT skimping on meals.
Challenge accepted!
So, while I figure out what we're going to do, I am going to be doing a TON of research including my medicinal herb garden (how cool is that?!) and doing a series!
Depression Era cooking and penny pinching is a-coming. I just don't know what to call it. Tune in soon! It's coming!
Challenge accepted!
So, while I figure out what we're going to do, I am going to be doing a TON of research including my medicinal herb garden (how cool is that?!) and doing a series!
Depression Era cooking and penny pinching is a-coming. I just don't know what to call it. Tune in soon! It's coming!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
I love my crock pot.
I know, I've said that before but I really REALLY do! I want to get a small one for things like I did last night. Here's how to feed a family of 5 (mine is a fam of 7 but the babies eat off of me...) for a lot less than you'd think.
3 chicken breasts, (you can do this with a whole chicken, cooked and deboned but you'll skip the crockpot for it.)
5 cups of rice,
1 large bag of frozen broccoli bits
4 cans of broccoli cheese soup.
a little bit of milk or cream depending on your flavor.
water.
I have a rice cooker. LOVE THAT THING! I ended up using my rice cooker as a crock pot and in retrospect, should have used my crock pot as a rice cooker. I put 3 (massive) chicken breasts in the crock pot with about 4 cups of water. let it cook until done. (mine has a 4/6/8/10 hour function, so I put them in frozen on the 4 hour timer, came out PERFECT!) pull out the chicken and shred it up and hten put it back in.I added 5 cups of "instant" rice (buy mine in bulk from sams club for like $4 or something), 3 more cups of water, and 2 of the cans of soup plus the bag of frozen broccoli. Set it back on 4 hours until it starts to thicken up. feel free to stir in the soup, btw.
On the stove (or you could do this back in the crockpot, but i wanted a sauce) mix 2 cans of broccoli cheese soup with 1 can of milk plus a little bit of cream. wisk that up over a fire until you get it to be a cheesy soupy but not too thin sauce consistency.
once everything is in the crock pot completely cooked, you can dish it up, add extra sauce and enjoy! This made enough for 5 people, to have seconds with PLENTY of leftovers for tonight!
I am stoked. Total cost for 2 meals for essentially 10 people: $6. Super smart, and savvy. Oh, and the crockpot- (my electronic bff; hey, no jokes here people, this is a clean blog!) totally saved dinner. :D I love NOT having to gunk up tons of pots and pans!
I wonder if I could make this ahead of time and freeze! that'll be my next endeavor!!
3 chicken breasts, (you can do this with a whole chicken, cooked and deboned but you'll skip the crockpot for it.)
5 cups of rice,
1 large bag of frozen broccoli bits
4 cans of broccoli cheese soup.
a little bit of milk or cream depending on your flavor.
water.
I have a rice cooker. LOVE THAT THING! I ended up using my rice cooker as a crock pot and in retrospect, should have used my crock pot as a rice cooker. I put 3 (massive) chicken breasts in the crock pot with about 4 cups of water. let it cook until done. (mine has a 4/6/8/10 hour function, so I put them in frozen on the 4 hour timer, came out PERFECT!) pull out the chicken and shred it up and hten put it back in.I added 5 cups of "instant" rice (buy mine in bulk from sams club for like $4 or something), 3 more cups of water, and 2 of the cans of soup plus the bag of frozen broccoli. Set it back on 4 hours until it starts to thicken up. feel free to stir in the soup, btw.
On the stove (or you could do this back in the crockpot, but i wanted a sauce) mix 2 cans of broccoli cheese soup with 1 can of milk plus a little bit of cream. wisk that up over a fire until you get it to be a cheesy soupy but not too thin sauce consistency.
once everything is in the crock pot completely cooked, you can dish it up, add extra sauce and enjoy! This made enough for 5 people, to have seconds with PLENTY of leftovers for tonight!
I am stoked. Total cost for 2 meals for essentially 10 people: $6. Super smart, and savvy. Oh, and the crockpot- (my electronic bff; hey, no jokes here people, this is a clean blog!) totally saved dinner. :D I love NOT having to gunk up tons of pots and pans!
I wonder if I could make this ahead of time and freeze! that'll be my next endeavor!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Dog bed for > $10!
We just recently got a dog. His name is beau. (isn't he cute?) I made that bed. I bought that fabric and one in blue intending to make hats, mittens and scarves out of them for my older two children.. about 3 years ago. After a year, the price on it is null and void in my mind because it's costing me more in storage space than it does in usage, so I used that fabric for "free". Honestly it was about a yard and a half-2 yards I REALLY don't remember.
Anyhoo, everyone knows how to drive, right? Well, sewing is something like that. You press the pedal and the machine makes the fabric go forward (has to do with feed dogs and the presser foot- technical terms you don't need right this second or for this post) and you steer with your hands.
With your right sides and edges together, you sew around the 3 that aren't the folded over side, leaving a gap big enough to get your hand through. turn it right side out. Stuff with 2 bags of polyfil (any craft store should have this) and smoosh it into place how you like it. Turn the open edge into itself where the poly fill is and sew up the edge. TADA!
this project cost around $6.00, where normally a "large" dog bed.would cost around $45. Oh, and if you count the cost of the fabric, as I bought it on a clearance, it costs around $2.00 a yard, so a yard and a half, made about $9.00 total.
Now, THAT is Smart and Savvy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
