A Post From Peggy--Chocolate and a Challenge

Hey Internets! This post is going to be super fast because I am doing this while dinner cooks before I head off to play (and win!) Bunco. Hooray for Bunco!

So..here's the thing. Life is hard, you know? Sometimes it just kicks you in the face and leaves you sputtering and wondering what in the CRAP just happened. And sometimes you get so stuck in muck that you can't even imagine a way out of it. Have you ever felt that way? If your answer is no, you're either a stinkin liar or the luckiest person who ever lived. I know I've felt that way. Lots. And sometimes when I feel that way, someone does the smallest kindest thing that by no means solves my problem but reminds me I am loved.

As I went through my Pinterest boards trying to find a fun project to share with you this week, I did it with a dear friend on my mind and in my heart. She's going through one of those trials right now and I hate to think of how badly her beautiful heart hurts right now and I hate feeling helpless to fix it. (Who wants to rob a bank with me? I'll drive the get-away car!) So I came across this pin and it looked like something I could do easily and quickly, since I had a crapload of things to do today and 2 small kids accompanying me while I did it all. Have you seen this?

The cute girls at eighteen25 have this free printable available with the idea that you could give it to a teacher for Teacher Appreciation Week. I think that's a FABULOUS idea. But I also know someone else who really COULD use a break. My sweet friend! So I printed their printable on some kraft cardstock:

Sweet! Two of them! I can give another one

to someone else who needs a pick-me-up!

I bought some Kit-Kats at the grocery store while I did my grocery shopping, (have you tasted these mini Kit-Kats? I swear they're better than the big ones!) and taped the cut out printable to the bag. I tossed it along with a little bottle of bubble bath and a card telling her how much she blesses my life in a cute cello bag and delivered it to her house. Super easy!

I give this pin two enthusiastic thumbs up for being easy, awesome and inexpensive. You know how much I love those three things!!

Here's the thing though. I wasn't 100% sure I was going to post this because I do have a "don't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing" policy but I wanted to share it because I want to challenge you to use this pin. Print this out, spend less than a buck on a Kit Kat and give it to someone who deserves a break. We all could every once in awhile--I know I sure could! 

Next week I'm going to start sharing super fun summer projects and recipes that I do with my kids! I hope you're as excited as I am!

Remember me? It's Peggy...and some oven tacos!

Oh Internets, how sorry I am for neglecting you. Things have been CA-RAZY around here! And school is nearly out so it's just going to get worse! I'm going to spend the summer making fun treats and some trying out some of the many kid projects I've pinned on Pinterest so while I plan on going dark social media-wise to enjoy the summer with my kids, I'm going to keep posting here so hopefully I can help some of YOU make some sweet memories with YOUR little friends this summer as well.
So I didn't have time to crank out any cool projects this week, but my family DOES need to eat. Like, every day. So this week I tried out a recipe from my recipe board. What did I make, you ask? Why, I made "Oven Tacos!" I reply. This is the pin

Now, if you head over to the pinner at Raining Hot Coupons you will find that she provides a recipe for homemade taco seasoning. It's probably delicious. I say "probably" because I don't know for sure because I had a packet of taco seasoning in the cupboard and that was good enough for me! So I gathered my ingredients (up to and including the aforementioned packet of taco seasoning)

And got to work! First, I browned the ground beef (not pictured in the ingredients picture. Poor left out ground beef!)

And then I drained it because 80/20 was greasier than I thought it would be and..ewwww. BTDubs, do you know this fancy grease draining trick?

Put a piece of aluminum foil in a bowl and drain the grease into the foiled (ha ha) bowl. When the grease hardens you just gather up the foil and toss it in the trash! Tada!

Then I added the tomato sauce, taco seasoning and refried beans. All at once. One big happy taco family!

Stirred it up and let it simmer for about 5 minutes..

Oh...forgot the cheese! Look. I also used cheese. Sheesh! Was I drinking when I took my ingredient picture?? Such careless blogging. My apologies, dear Internets.

Note: The cheesestick is what I gave Poquito Tito 

to tide him over until dinner was ready because 

he was starving and was about to expire any 

second from not having eaten for 2 whole hours 

since snacktime. It was NOT part of the recipe!

With everything simmered and tastes blended and all that jazz, I put some taco shells in a baking pan (standing up) and filled those suckers with the taco deliciousness. 

I added some of the (now included in the pictures) cheese and tossed those bad boys in the oven

This is what they looked like when they came out:

Say it with me now! "MMM MMM MMM!!" Yum. I added the toppings, plated 'em up and dinner was served!

They were SUPER good. I really liked adding the beans to the taco meat. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say that my kids hated them. Mostly because these days my kids hate anything that isn't dino-nuggets, macaroni and cheese and sandwiches. Sigh. They'll choke it down but not without weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Such an adventure, motherhood. My husband, on the other hand, hates tacos and he ate like 4 of these!

So whiny kids notwithstanding, I'm going to deem this pin a success. It was fast and easy and delicious. 3 of my favorite qualities in a recipe! I think you should try it...ole!

A Pinteresting Mother's Day! And a Party! And Potentially Some Light BYU Bashing...

Okay Internets...I hope you're ready for a lengthy post because boy do I have a WHOLE BUNCH to share with you!! Grab a snack and a beverage (go ahead, I'll wait...) and let's dive right in!!!

Last week was a CRAZY busy week. I felt like I was at a dead sprint all week! Mother's Day was coming up and while the Boy has many redeeming qualities (doing laundry among them!) he is not so much a gift-giver. So any and all gifting falls squarely on yours truly. Since I'm quite handy with ye ole debit card, that's not a heavy cross to bear. Except, when Mother's Day, Teacher Appreciation Week and my annual Pinterest Party fall in the same week, I get a little stabby. Last week I promised a post on a Mother's Day gift. Initially this was the pin I had in mind:

How cute are these! I love them and thought they'd make a perfect Mother's Day gift...and then realized they could double as Pinterest Party offerings! Hooray for "Two Birds, One Stone!!" I also had this pin in mind...

What a combo! Like peanut butter and jelly! So I made the 2.5 mile journey to my local Lowe's to purchase supplies. First, I went looking for paint! The post over at Mom 4 Real says to use Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint, which she found at Home Depot. Now, lest you're as naive as I am and think that Lowe's has everything Home Depot has, let me assure you that is not actually the case. I asked the friends in the paint department where the "chalky finish" paint was and found out that it was at Home Depot. Sigh. So then I remembered this pin:

link 

I switched gears and grabbed a sample bottle of Valspar paint and some unsanded grout (over by the tile..I had to really search for the small container of unsanded grout, all I could see was the 5lb bag which I was not super stoked about since all I needed was 1 tablespoon of the stuff!) and then started searching for those little bracket things used to hold the jar. (Okay, I still don't know what they're called, but they're in the plumbing department!) I was trying to figure out how to attach the bracket to the wall..I didn't REALLY want to attach it to a wooden sort of sconce-thing. I talked to Pete in the hardware department who did NOT catch the vision and tried to set me up with some sort of L-Bracket which did NOT look pretty, leading me to believe that Pete isn't married to a woman who has EVER looked at Pinterest. While wandering, I found these little friends called "Monkey Hooks." Ever seen them?

They thread into the drywall and can hold like 50 pounds. Perfect! (More on that later!) Sold. So I had all of my materials--I have a million Mason jars and a whole bunch more plain glass spaghetti sauce jars because Pinterest has turned me into a hoarder. I came home where they sat until the last possible minute, then I decided to get to work. What do we do first class?

Materials!

First I dumped some paint in a plastic cup and added a tablespoon of unsanded grout and mixed it up!

Then I flipped those jars over and started painting them with the (now) chalkboard paint. My friend Alisa happened to be there working on a Pinterest project of her own (wait for it...) and she LOVES taking pictures so she snapped some shots of me painting the jars. What a goof! (Her, not me! Well..)

Now, I needed 2 coats to cover the brush marks so I did the 2nd coat with a foam brush...meh. It was a little flimsy.

And in my over-exhuberance, I apparently sort of glopped it too much because it got thick and sort of crack-y. Can you see it in this picture?

Once it was dry, I used some sandpaper to sort of rough the jars up a bit and then sprayed them with a clear acrylic spray (with a flat finish to maintain the chalky look)

I screwed the little bracket on (first I tried just using my hand to tighten the screw but it was MUCH faster going once I used a screwdriver!) stuck some flowers in and I had some Mother's Day gifts AND something to give away at my Pinterest party! Hooray!!

(Here's the part about the Monkey Hook that I said was coming) I tried sticking the Monkey Hook in my wall to mount the jar and apparently the wall I tried using isn't entirely drywall because it wouldn't thread around like it's supposed to. 

So I'm going to have to sconce it. Sigh. Oh well. I have some barnwood in my garage that will work. All things considering, I would say all three of these pins are a success! (I didn't try to actually write on the jar with chalk, and I think spraying it with the acrylic clear coat will prohibit any sort of chalk-ing. But I definitely got the chalky look I was going for and it worked great for me!)

Now let's talk about Alisa. Remember that time I made a wreath out of plastic easter eggs? She was the delighted recipient and she's a dear friend. So when she wasn't sure what to make for my Pinterest party, I remembered this pin and thought it would be quick and easy (and fun and delicious!)

The instructions on the pin say to fill a small empty container with non-petroleum jelly and add Crystal Light, adding and stirring enough to get your desired flavor. Easy enough, right?

Now, Alisa bought Petroleum Jelly instead of non-petroleum jelly. The only difference I can find is that Non-Petroleum jelly is more natural. There was an article that popped up on Google about petroleum jelly being potentially harmful but it was from the Huffington Post which I don't personally take SUPER seriously. Anyone know much about this? Comment below! I am, however, the girl who uses margarine not butter so for me it's not a big deal. If it's a big deal to you, by all means, use non-petroleum. Here is Alisa making her homemade lip gloss:

 In case you were wondering, petroleum jelly is NOT 

for eating. Silly Alisa! (I blame the fact that she's 

a BYU fan..since she puts the "I" in BYU. Ummmm...

am I missing something?)

Apparently Cougar fans eat more than just paste!

I joke, I joke. Here in Utah, we celebrate a "Holy War" of our own..between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. While Taylor roots solidly for the Utah State Aggies (and I can appreciate that) I am a Ute fan through and through! This requires me, on occasion, to poke a little fun at the Cougs. I have to do it or they'll take my card away. (Kidding!)

Anyhooo...let's move on shall we? So she put a spoonful of petroleum jelly in a bowl and added a packet of Crystal Light (actually she did this 3 times with 3 different flavors. This particular batch was Tangerine Strawberry powdered mix drink from Target's Market Pantry brand.

She mixed it all up...(this is her mixing face)

And mixed...

And, apparently with much shock, put it in empty containers. Now, I got these from Majestic Mountain Sage but apparently Sephora will give out sample containers for free about the same size? Dunno. Never tested the theory because I had these onhand but it doesn't hurt to ask!

Then she tried out her concoction and deemed it "delicious and exfoliating!" Apparently the drink mix melts and it's not as exfoliating after a bit but I really liked it kind of grainy! And it WAS delish!

So there you have it! Another Pinterest success and they were a hit at the Pinterest party!

(Official tagline: Homemade Lip Gloss--So Easy a BYU Alumni Can Make It!)

Okay, so finally let me tell you about this Pinterest Party I've been going on and on about! Every year I host a party where I give my friends the opportunity to actually MAKE the projects they spend so much time pinning! The way it works is this: Everyone makes 3 of the same project they've pinned. So Alisa made 3 lip glosses, I made 3 jars..you get the point. They bring those as well as some food to share that is ALSO something they pinned on Pinterest. I made these won-ton taco cups:

Sorry, I didn't take pictures. Anyhoo...everyone who comes writes their name on 3 pieces of paper and those papers are distributed among the guests (making sure they don't draw their own names). Everyone takes turns showing off what they made and then gives them to each of the 3 people whose names they've drawn. It's SO much fun! Everyone gets the chance to make some stuff they've pinned and everyone leaves with 3 fun gifties that someone else made! It's so much fun! I ended up with a cute tooth pillow, an awesome little boy tie with an elastic neck band and a super cute tic-tac-toe game! Here are some of the girls with their spoils:

So successes all around. The pins! The projects! The party! Winning. Until next time, Internets!

Taylor's Two Cents on Vinegar and Dawn Shower Cleaner

Oh hi there! Sorry I've been MIA also. While Peggy was Fancy Nancying it up, I was busy graduating from college with my bachelor's degree! (I feel so grown up!) So along with this graduation of mine, I also decided it would be a great idea to throw a graduation party for my brother and I. Seemed like such a good plan at first... More on that later. I don't know how many of you have experienced a college finals week, but it is hard. Really, really hard. You don't really sleep and your brain is just fried 24/7. Add that to working full time, and party planning and I was just running out of time to make my house sparkle and shine for when my mother-in-law, mother, and grandmother would all be inspecting my house. (Don't let me fool you, they're all awesome and relaxed and probably don't care at all, but it stresses me out when they see my house untidy.) One of my least favorite chores EVER is cleaning the shower. It's awkward and hard and you get yourself soaking wet by the time you're done. Or is that just me?

Here's the link I found. I think Peggy might have had a different one.

Peggy mentioned this particular shower cleaner in her last post, but she didn't use it for her shower, she used it for her stove. I, on the other hand, have been using this to clean my shower for about a year now. I LOVE it. Now, I'm not really one of those read the directions all the way through before you start kind of people. I'm more of a jump in, hope you don't screw anything up, fly by the seat of your pants kind of person. So, I didn't read the instructions at all. I just kind of made it up in my head after seeing the picture. So I didn't heat the vinegar up or let it soak on my shower or anything like that. I put the dawn in first, filling about half of the little tube, and then added vinegar, leaving just enough space at the top so that after I put the cap on I could just shake it to mix it all together. It still works like a champ.

Shake it, shake it, shake it like a polaroid picture... HEEEY YA! *cough* Oh. My bad. 

My bathroom has the worst lighting on the face of this planet so you can't really see the picture. Sorry. But imagine doing dishes with one of these scrubber things. That's how your shower looks.

And I just scrub away making sure to get suds everywhere. Then I rinse it off. And my shower looks like I just spent an hour cleaning it. (Reality check, it takes about 5 minutes!) Seriously. This stuff is magical. It gets all of the hard water spots, little rusty spots from metal shaving cream bottles, EVERYTHING, off. And you barely have to scrub at all. Total Pinterest win!

Peggy Gets Her Clean On

 Hello Internets! This post is super late because I've spent the week getting ready for Mademoiselle's birthday and have been up to my eyeballs in Fancy Nancy paraphernalia! I have this problem where I throw these huge and ridiculous birthday parties for my kids--I love doing it and they love the attention and their friends love the gift bags and everyone wins! But that's a post for another day!

Where I am in Utah it is FINALLY getting warmer which means I'm starting to get the itch. You know when the weather warms up and you can open your windows (and worry that now everyone passing by will hear you yell at your kids...what? Just me?) and wear short sleeved shirts and roll the car windows down when you're driving around town and you can have lunch in the park...ah Spring! It's also the time of the year when I think, "Okay, um, yikes. My house is disgusting." So I decided this week I am going to try out some of the handy Spring Cleaning helps you find on Pinterest! Now, I'm trusting this is a judgement-free zone. While I purposefully let one area get really gross to test the pin, my baseboards are really and truly revolting. I keep hinting to the Boy that it would be super great for Mother's Day to have someone come in and do my Spring Cleaning FOR me but he's never quite caught it. (Ahem! Cough cough!) So the moral of the story is, don't judge. I don't claim to be an amazing Supermom who has it all together. I'd MUCH rather play with my kids than scrub baseboards, although after actually photographing these bad boys, I think I'm fixing to repent of that sin.

Confession time over. On with the pins! So I tried 3 of them--here's the first one.

Link

I hate cleaning my baseboards and this pin sounded so wonderful! Just wipe those puppies clean with a dryer sheet and they smell good and the dirt and dog and cat hair gets repelled and every day you'll wake up to angels singing and birds chirping! (I added the last couple of parts) So I got my dryer sheets..

and I found my most disgusting baseboards..(make sure you're not eating anything before looking at this)

GAAAAA!! Did I seriously just post this on the Internet? 

My grandmother would be SO disappointed in me!

And started wiping with, believe you me, a fervor in my heart! This is what happened:

Not much. It dusted all the dust off but didn't clean the...I don't even know what that is. I scrubbed and scrubbed and it didn't actually CLEAN it. Now, in this pin's defense...my baseboards are a special kind of disgusting. It's possible I suppose that if you START with clean baseboards, the stuff from the dryer sheet will in fact REPEL the dust and pet hair but I'll tell you that for me for the purpose of actually cleaning my baseboards, this pin was unfortunately a fail. Sigh. I saw another pin that said you could use Scrubbing Bubbles to clean baseboards, but I much prefer the smell of Pine-Sol so I'll stick to that. I need my kids to do something naughty so I can punish them with some baseboard scrubbing! Moving on...

Have you seen this delightful little trick?

Link

Word on the Boards (the Pinterest boards that is) is that if you rub wax paper on a chrome faucet, it'll repel water spots which means you have to wipe them down less often. What? Less housework? Pick me! So I gave it a shot...this is what my faucets LOOKED like (again, I cannot believe I'm putting this out there for the world to see!)

I wiped that bad boy down, shined it nice and pretty and rubbed it down with wax paper

This is what it looked like the next day..

Water spots! Boo! Okay, so not a TON of water spots, but not few enough to encourage me to rub my faucet down with wax paper every other day. This isn't a huge deal for me (unlike the baseboard thing) because I've been "flywashed" by the Flylady  I'm pretty used to shining my sink every day when I do the dishes. Still, dang! I wish it would have worked. At this point, if you're keeping track, I'm 0 for 2. But don't you fear...drum roll please!

Link 

Have you seen this one floating around? The magic tub cleaner? I've also seen it called a "Blessing in a Bottle." So according to the instructions, you warm the vinegar and add the dishsoap and put it in a spray bottle. (I have to confess I skipped the warming step and just mixed it up...we've discussed my propensity for laziness, yes?) You spray it on your shower, wait 1-2 hours and wipe it off. Tada! Okay, well, I didn't spray it on my shower although I think I will probably do that this week-ish. What I DID do, though, is use it to clean my stove. This is what I let get dirty on purpose. I didn't clean it for an entire week so it got good and gross. (You're not judging, are you? If you are, stop it!) This is what it looked like:

Ewwwww....so I got my stuff together

And mixed it up. I tripled the recipe and it was enough to fill my spray bottle.  I gave the stove a wipe and got all the crumbs and stuff off (shudder!) and sprayed it with the stuff.

I let it soak on there while I loaded the dishwasher so, about 20 minutes and then I started wiping it down. This was my first swipe:

Look how it cut right through that grime! Hooray! So I kept going..

I found a particularly gross part and took a go at it with the wash cloth...this part was more stubborn and required me to use my little nylon scrubby but I didn't break a sweat or anything. So then I thought that since I was "spring cleaning" I should take those burner things off and clean underneath those...

Okay, THAT needs to be done more frequently. Gag. But the Dawn cuts through the grease amazingly. This was the finished result:

Shiny! Pretty! I was so stoked I used it to clean the front of my microwave (that is above the stove so it gets pretty greasy) and it was awesome. This stuff really IS amazing!! PIN WIN!! So I ended up 1 for 3. I guess it could be worse but hey, I got some Spring Cleaning done so everyone wins. This week I'm going to make a Mother's Day gift! Are you just super excited?? Control yourself, Internets. It's just a blog. :o) Talk to you again soon!

P.S. If you have a pin you want me or Tay-Diggity to try out, send it to me! My pinterest username is jackjacksmom!