Pardon the Mess

Everything is higgledy piggledy right now for us, because we've finally moved! We found a wonderful house in an historic small town here in NW FL, and we love it. It was built in 1920 and still has the glass doorknobs on the interior doors, which we love, but the best thing is that there is plenty of room for Lil Miss to crawl! And boy, is she making use of it. All day long, around and around she goes, through all of the rooms that are safe enough for her a million times. It's such fun to watch her explore. The cats are enjoying the new place too, though unfortunately they have especially enjoyed nibbling on a houseplant left behind by the previous owners, which causes them to throw up frequently. Wherever I move it, they find it. We will be doing a lot of decorating and fixing on this house and hopefully I will be able to post pictures as we go. Lil Miss's room is already painted pale blue and white--we knew it would be hers as soon as we saw it--but we may need to do some painting in the other rooms. It's going to be such fun to have a library and a dining room! I will finally have space to try out some of the great home decor ideas I've found over the years on sites like http://www.dollarstorecrafts.com The big question, of course, is what colour to paint the house on the outside. I had originally thought green, because we want to paint the door kelly green, but my husband is now wanting orange. hmmm I think I might have to take some pictures and add a poll. I don't promise to go by the results of it, but it would be nice to get other opinions! So until I can find my camera, cheers!

An *Almost* Triumph

Today is my daddy's birthday, and since we couldn't afford to get him a gift this year I wanted to at least make him a nice card. The problem is, I'm pretty new to card making. I was going for something masculine yet nice-looking, and I think I did succeed at that. I know this is very simple, but for me, it is a great triumph. Except for one part...see if you can spot it.

Yup, I got red ink on my fingers and it smudged on the front of the card! To top it off, I sealed up the card in the envelope before realizing that I'd taken a horrible photo of it--it looked fine in the preview. When I went to give it to him, I found that the acid-free glue stick I had used had not been strong enough to adhere the paper permanently, and the card began falling apart! Craft Fail, anyone?

What happened to my blog?

I have this set up so that there is a poll on the left, the About Me thing on the left, followers and previous posts all on the left...and none of them are showing up as of yesterday. I keep going to the Layout page and making sure everything is set right and it is, but none of those things are showing up. I'd appreciate any help! I have no idea what happened.

Easy, inexpensive Valentine's Candy?

Money is especially tight right now, so Valentine's Day will be celebrated sometime after the official day. However, I may get around to trying to make some fudge using the simple method found here.

Strawberry 2 Ingredient Fudge

at Cookies and Cups.

I would like to use cherry icing and dark chocolate chips and see how that turns out. If I can scrape the money together, I will post the results on here! By the way, I hope to soon start adding pictures to my posts...things have just been crazy ever since our little girl arrived in July! The cherub image comes from The Graphics Fairy

Removing Cat Urine Odor from Fabric

When a cat pees on the towels on the floor in the laundry room, you may be tempted just to throw them out. After all, the smell is horrendous, and nothing will ever get it out, right? WRONG! Turns out, removing that awful odor is simple and cheap. The secret is plain old white vinegar. Put your yucky items in the washing machine, add 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar, depending on the size of the load, and set the time for Extra Wash or your machine's equivalent. Allow the machine to fill with water. Stay by it or it will go into the next part of the cycle and you don't want that yet. As soon as the machine is full of water, stop it and allow the items to soak for a while--at least 3 hours. If the odor is really bad I sometimes do this right before bed and leave them overnight. When the soaking is done, add your detergent and start the machine again. Usually your smell problem will be completely gone after this, but if it's not, BEFORE you put anything in the dryer, repeat the vinegar soak and washing process. If you dry the clothes while they smell of cat urine, that odor is going to be kind of baked in and I can't guarantee that it will be removable!
Now you've cleaned your clothes and they smell nice and fresh, and you haven't spent a fortune, which is good, because you may need to spend one on a cat psychologist to find out why the cat is peeing on your towels! Thanks to The Graphics Fairy for the cute picture.

The Ultimate Hot Chocolate

I love hot chocolate. I want it to be rich and chocolatey, without fake marshmallows or lots of sugar. A little nip of something doesn't hurt either! So I decided to try to make the ultimate hot chocolate using nothing but the stuff I have in the kitchen already and the cheapest mix the local grocery store had to offer. After much experimentation, I am finally ready to offer the recipe for the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It tastes really expensive, but Starbucks-priced it is not. :)

Ingredients:
1 package of store-brand hot cocoa mix (I used Piggly Wiggly brand)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 to 1 capfull of rum (optional, but recommended)
1 small drop pure peppermint extract
enough milk to fill up your mug, which needs to be microwave-safe

*Note: I use a rather large mug. You may find that you need to adjust the amounts of cocoa and rum according to your personal preferences and mug size.

Directions: Mix everything together in your mug and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, then stir again. The first time or two you may not be able to blend everything together, but soon you should have a lovely hot liquid with no powdery lumps. I like to stir quickly with a fork to get a frothy effect. Drink carefully remembering that this is called "HOT chocolate!" I don't want any lawsuits because you burned your tongue! Enjoy, preferably in a nice bubble bath with a good book. If you're still cold, you are probably dead. Cheers!

Lovely image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

The Good Rural Life

Hi!  Thanks for checking out my blog--this is the first time I've ever done this, so please have patience with me.  The idea behind this blog is that those of us who live in the middle of nowhere and have little money have just as much right to "the good life" as rich city folks.  With recipes, craft projects, and shopping tips I hope to share the ways that I have found to live stylishly on a tight budget with only stores like Wal Mart, Winn Dixie, Walgreens, and Dollar General (and don't forget thrift shops!) from which to purchase.  If you're hoping to see Jimmy Choo shoes or Dooney and Bourke bags, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere, as I have never even had the opportunity to see such things in person!  This is not going to be a blog about big name brands that are so overpriced that it breaks my heart to think of how many people could be fed with the money needed to buy them.  I also hope to add a little to the "greening of America" with projects and suggestions that involve recycling and upcycling.  lol I've probably bitten off way more than I can chew here, but I'm willing to take the risk if you are :)

For me, this is about having fun and making a tiny bit of room in our crowded house! So far, I've only made a card and I think it is going to end up on craftfail.com lol