Christmas Count Down – Only 2 Months Until Christmas!

Can you believe it?  Two months from today is Christmas.  Ahhhh! How are you doing with your preparations?  Right now I’m alittle behind.  Time to kick it into high gear. 

·        Finish up your gift shopping.

·        Wrap all your gifts and tag them.

·        Review your Christmas card list and make any necessary changes.  Purchase Christmas stamps.

·       Finalize your family letter and print enough copies to go with your cards.  Enclosing a photo?  Print those and get them ready as well.

·       Plan your holiday menus.  Incorporate what you need into your grocery budget.  You may want your meat, if expensive, to be a part of your Christmas budget. 

You might enjoy revisiting Last Minute Christmas Cookies. 

I set a target date of the day before Thanksgiving as the day to have my Christmas gift shopping complete.  I also like to have it all wrapped and tagged so it is ready to go under the tree when we set it up.  I avoid “Black Friday” shopping like the plague.

 

Another Great Thrift Store Find!

Last Saturday our power went out for 4 ½ hours!  We decided to get out of the house go thrift store shopping and see if we could find a glass milk jar to replace one of ours that broke.  We didn’t find one but we scored some great buys anyway. 

 

I found six pint (35¢ each) and three quart (60¢ each) size canning jars to add to our supply for next year.  Even though I bought several at thrift stores already and two cases at the grocery store with a $3 coupon we ran short this year and I didn’t have enough to finish the pears with.  Now I think I’ll be better prepared for next year. I also found a nice glass quart decanter for ice water to keep in our break room at the shop for $3. 

 

The best find was a huge bag of craft and sewing supplies my youngest spotted.  I was busy checking out a selection of yarn when she found it and then we were all over it.  The bag was a large zippered bedspread bag and it was crammed full with a price of $8.99 on it.  There were four brand new skeins of expensive yarn that sell for more than that so we snagged it along with another bag with three skeins of yarn for $1.89. 

 

The cat really wasn't in the bag. 

I spent two hours going through everything.  What a haul!

While still waiting for the power to come back on we had a blast going through everything and sorting it all out.  There was a ton of different items in it.  Lots of lace and eyelet trims, brand new packages of ric rac and bias tape, brand new spools of ribbon and a bunch of loose ribbons, a bag filled with embroidery flosses, several skeins of yarn, most new and a few leftovers, zippers, doll making supplies, a couple craft and cross stitch kits, two sets of tea towels to embroider, two iron-on transfers and a handful of buttons. 

 

Grocery bag filled with trims, ribbons and other sewing notions.

Most of these were in new unopened packages.

Several brand new skeins of yarn, one is mohair and two are chenille. 

One had a price tag on it for $7.99. 

Ribbon for gift wrapping.  5 of these spools had prices of $7.49 on them. 

Would you pay that for a spool of wired ribbon?

Almost all of it is stuff I will be using in future projects; especially all that yarn.  The girls got plenty of things to do craft projects with too.  It was a great haul and I am so pleased.

The Mission – My Bathroom

The bathroom wasn’t too bad.  The only thorn in my side was the packing box full of toiletries I had shoved under the sink.  Instead of unpacking it from our intended move I just put it there -out of sight, out of mind.  It made it really hard to get to anything inside of it.

Before

After

Extra toiletries, bandaids, vitamins, etc. in

a shoebox sized container with lid.

I got the box out plus took out everything else under there, wiped out the cabinet and then neatly put everything back in the cupboard minus the box.  It is now unpacked and being used to hold purged items. 

Because I had purged this bathroom in preparation of moving there wasn’t anything more to purge.  I did, however, replace my toothbrush and razor with new ones and set out a new bar of soap.  True to form I laminated the sliver of leftover soap to the new bar when I took my next shower.  No wasting soap in this house. 

 

What I did purge was my collection of earrings I do not wear.  I use a pillar candle holder to hang all my earrings on.  My rings and the few post earrings I wear sit in the dish while all the fish hook earrings hang along the edge.  I just love it.  Decorative and functional.

 

I have a cabinet in the hall that we keep our towels and wash cloths in so I went ahead and made sure it was all neat and tidy too.  I cleared the clutter off the top and dusted it as well.  I am one of those ridiculous people that has to have all the folded linens facing in the same direction.  I just think it looks neater. 

After scrubbing the tub and toilet, cleaning the sink and countertop, washing the mirror and wiping off the scale (hate that thing) all that was left was to mop the floor.  Done.  Mission accomplished! 

 

We have a rule do keep down clutter in the shower.

If it doesn't fit on the caddy then it can't stay.

A neatly organized bathroom is so much easier to clean and maintain.  More enjoyable too.

Next, the downstairs hall closet…..

The Stove Is Fixed!

The stove is finally fixed and we now have a working oven once again.  I cannot tell you how thrilled and relieved I am.  Thrilled may be an understatement; ecstatic would be more like it. 

I had challenged myself to earn the extra money to buy the part so I wouldn’t have to add it to my budget, use money from savings or put it on the credit card.  With Etsy and eBay sales so soft this summer I was beginning to wonder if this was really going to work.  I was able to earn half with my internet sales and the rest by doing some work for my next door neighbor. 

I ordered the part last week and guess what?  The price had dropped $10!  Whoo hoo!  A little bonus for waiting.  It arrived in two days and I immediately got to work. 

I disassembled the back of the stove (yes, I pulled the big plug first) and put it in using the broken one as my guide for where to plug everything back in.  Then when I went to put the new part back into the stove I couldn’t find the screws.  Where in the heck were the screws?  I had them right there! 

Youngest daughter was helping me.  They were in her hot little hand and she was in another room.  Once she heard me in near panic she quickly returned to “help me”.  I just love her!!! 

I only put in the first two screws and then I plugged in the stove to test everything.  The moment of truth…. 

The clock was flashing 12:00.  That was something. 

I checked the burners, they all came on.  I set the clock, checked the timer – it worked and then….. I put the knob back on the oven control and turned….. waiting, waiting, the element started to glow….Eureka! 

I did the happy dance and them unplugged the oven, put the rest of the screws in the motherboard and reassembled the back of the stove.  Then, of course, I had to completely clean the stove and floor underneath before I pushed it back into place.  It looks gooood, like new! 

I celebrated by baking two dozen cupcakes for the Harvest Dance at school and I can tell you that LIFE IS GOOD!  I know I made the right decision to fix it rather than replace it and I’m pretty proud that I did it myself. 

 

Sunday morning cinnamon rolls

Now I can add stove fixer to my resume. J

The Mission – Project #1 – My Purse & Coupons

On my 30 Things To Do list was to clean and re-organize my purse.  I got that done along with my wallet too.  Going through the receipts in my wallet prompted me to get busy and get some items I didn’t need returned so that was a very good thing indeed.  I don’t like returns and have to admit I tend to procrastinate when it comes to that. 

 

Before

After

My darling oldest daughter bought me a plastic expandable wallet at a thrift store one day when we were shopping for items for our break room at the shop.  She thought it would be perfect for my coupons which were stuffed in an envelope.  Smart girl! 

She went through all the coupons, tossed out the expired ones, gathered up the soon to expire ones for me to go through and decide if I was really going to use them, and filed the rest.  We discussed labels and categories for the organizer.  After a month I decided to just sit down, take the time and make the labels.  She was thrilled when I showed her. 

 

Although I don’t use a lot of coupons I like the option.  More importantly I like the organizer my thoughtful daughter bought me and how it tucks into my purse perfectly.  She knew I would enjoy it and she was right. 

I used it for the first time and it was nice to go to the category and pull out a few coupons instead of going through all of them to find the one I needed. 

Do you organize your coupons or stuff them in an envelope?

Easy Chili Con Carne – A Slow Cooker Recipe

With fall in the air and football season going strong it is time to make some chili!  We love chili.  This recipe is not only simple but economical too.  It also freezes well. 

Chili Con Carne 

3 cups pinto beans

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey

1 small onion, diced

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 envelope chili seasoning 

Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight in cool water.  Drain and place in large slow cooker.  Cover with warm water and cook on high for 4 hours.  Stir occasionally. 

Once beans are tender, brown meat and onions in olive oil.  Drain any fat off and place in slow cooker.  Add remaining ingredients and stir.  Cook additional two hours stirring occasionally.  Serve. 

I love this with cornbread and a nice spinach or cabbage salad.  Topped with a little grated cheddar or a dollop of sour cream is a nice treat too. 

This recipe easily doubles for a larger crowd or as an investment cooking meal to put up in the freezer. 

You can certainly substitute the envelope of chili seasoning for your own homemade version or this one: 

Homemade Chili Seasoning 

1 Tbs. flour

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp minced onion powder

1 tsp salt

½ to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flake (optional) 

Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl.  Add to chili recipe.

My Mission – My Bedroom

I completely went through my bedroom – closet, shelves and everything on them, linens, dresser drawers, night stand, etc.  I discovered my poor room had become the dumping ground for things needing to be put away.  I don’t like that. 

A friend of mine had given me a bunch of work slacks that she had put in her yard sale last summer.  They had been sitting there in a heap ever since.  I went through all of them and kept what I wanted and bagged the rest for donation.  Then it was time to go through and add clothing I no longer like or wear anymore.  Since I had already done this not too long ago this task was pretty easy. 

Moving on – after I had gone through everything in my room I had a huge pile of stuff that actually belonged downstairs in other rooms so down it went.  What a lot of wasted effort to haul it all upstairs to begin with. 

In my linen closet I had two guest pillows that I have wanted to make pillowcases for and put out in the trailer for the girls.  Then they won’t have to take the ones off their beds and risk forgetting to do so, which has happened, more than once.  When we have company it won’t be a big deal to go out to the trailer to get them when they are needed. 

I purged a box of books, organized the gift wrap tote (on my 30 Things To Do This Month list) and the gift box, and put all that stuff away that belonged in other places.  After a good dusting and vacuuming this room was good to go.  Mission accomplished! 

Next room, my bathroom…