Harlee has started sewing!

Okay, I know I have been bragging on Harlee a lot lately.  She has been doing some amazing stuff though. I am one proud mama.  This is her first project.  She is so proud of it.  A case for 'her' iPod.

She sits on my lap, I run the foot pedal and she does the rest. Her favorite is back-stitching. 

trash to fabulous - all purpose cleaner

Spending good money on cleaning products is lame.  I mean it's not like they are fun or exciting.  I have seen this all over pinterest and decided to try it.  Orange peels in white vinegar.  Let it sit for two weeks or so and then drain it through a coffee filter.

This stuff works better than anything you can buy in the store, and for much cheaper too.

It's so nontoxic you could drink it.  If you ever run out of oj just serve this up with your morning oatmeal. I'm not saying it will be good.  But I bet next time your at the store you won't forget the oj.

I have a batch of grapefruit going now and I can't wait to try it.  I also wanna make lemon and lime cleaner.  Cause a girl needs options.

It's official

Harlee is most certainly better at drawing than I am.

trash to fabulous - coffee grounds as body scrub

Who doesn't love free stuff? I certainly do.  I am a house wife after all.  Saving money IS my job.  I like to think of the money I save as my income.  If I manage to save our family $100 a month, then my income is $1200 a year.

Since I could buy this Lamborghini and I haven't, I think we can safely say my income is well over $387,000 and that's just for this year so far, and it's only March.  Am I the best ever housewifey or what!

I super love exfoliating my skin.  Dead skin just isn't my style. Body scrubs run between $5 and $60.  I'm not sure who spends $60 on a few ounces of body scrub but that isn't my style either.  And who really knows what is in a body scrub?  I have a jar that was gifted to me and tried to look but it didn't even have a label on it.  It could have cyanide in it for all I know.  Cyanide in my body does not appeal to me (as Harlee would say).

Looking at this makes me wanna hop in the shower!

There is about 6 million different homemade sugar scrub recipes that have non toxic ingredients, BUT you have to buy those things to make it.

Perfect solution.  Used coffee grounds.   It's free, it works great, it feels amazing.  Plus there is a ton of extra benefits to using coffee.  It's moisturizing and not greasy.  It's supposed to reduce cellulite, age spots, wrinkles, stretch marks and other uglies due to the caffeine and stuffy stuff in it.  I have no idea if that's true or not, but it feels nice, and did I mention it's free?

I was going to post a picture of what it looks like when your using it.  I even took pictures.  But the other day we went to a mechanics shop to pick up some paperwork and Cheyenne saw the picture of the naked calendar lady (despite my best attempts to stand in the way) and screams "that you that you that you mommy naked".

So I thought it would be a good idea to not post pictures of me naked on the internet.  It was just my leg but still.  I am NOT a naked model!

Also, my legs are ghostly white and no one wants to see that.

My little pianist

I had a hard time finding a new guitar teacher for Harlee that I liked and that would be close to our house.  While I was contemplating what to do, Harlee told me she wanted to try piano.

We decided she can try out whatever instrument she wants, just as long as she wants to play something.

She is really good at piano.  And she still practices guitar sometimes. What a fantastic little lady!

Homemade sweetened condensed milk

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Not so homemade pizza roll ups

Yesterday was one of those days.  One of those I don't have time to think about dinner all day and now it's 5:30 and my family is starving kinda days.

Pizza roll ups to the rescue!

Put a few slices of pepperoni and half a stick of string cheese in a crescent roll (the tube kind of course).  Roll it up and cook according to the crescent roll package.

Now if I don't get to it, today is going to be one of those days as well.

trash to fabulous - junk jeans to cute skirt

Ya know what drives me nuts?  Little girl jeans, they never fit right.  They're either too long or too short and 99% of them are too big in the waist.  So you have to buy the ones with the elastic waist bands to shrink em up properly so your cute pig tail wearing baby girl doesn't look all gangster.

Then once you finally find that magic pair that fits right and you live happily ever after.

Just kidding.

They either grow out of them in two weeks or wear holes in the knees.  And your right back were you started....which is at old navy trying to get a toddler to try on 45 pairs of jeans.  

But summer is coming soon (I hope).  We don't need jeans! We need skirts and flip flops.  I got the idea from here.

Harlee's jeans with holes in the knees.  She has been doing this to quite a few of her jeans lately.

 

I cut them off just above the crotch, along with a pair of Cheyenne's jeans that were too short.

I cut two pieces of fabric for each skirt.  The pink I made 5 inches wide and long enough to wrap around the bottom of the jean skirt twice.  The green is 3 inches wide and just as long as the pink.

Then I hemmed one long side of each piece of fabric.

Then I sewed the ends together to make a circle.  Next time I make these I'm going to sew this before I hem it.

Next, sew your circles together on the unhemmed side with really really big stitches.

 Pull on the threads of your big stitches to gather it. 

 Now you have this funky tutu looking thing.

Pin funky looking tutu to jean skirt, right sides together and stitch.


 

 Fast. Easy. Cute.  That's how I roll.