Guacamole Hack

Cookie Jar

Supplies:

Large Pickle Jar- clean of all labels

Stencils of Puppy and Paw (dollar tree)

White Paint

Black Paint

Chalkboard Paint or a chalkboard label sticker (martha stewart makes these)

Sponge and paintbrushes

Tape- household is fine

Spray-on clear topcoat

Directions:

Tape around the jar where you want the label to be, top and bottom. Try and make the line as even as possible and connect smoothly where it began. 

Remove the lid and set aside if you haven't already.

Sponge the white paint between the tape lines on the jar (at least 2 coats). Sponge the white paint all over the outside of the lid also. Rinse the sponge and wait for the paint to dry.

Center your pawprint stencil in the middle of the jar lid and gently sponge black paint over it. Remove the stencil.

Using a round brush or the butt end of a paintbrush, paint dots all over the lid around the pawprint. 

Tape the dog stencil to the back of your jar, careful to avoid anywhere you have painted. Sponge black paint over the shape and remove the stencil. Allow all paint to dry.

Spray clear coat over everything and allow to set.

Either use your sticker now, on the opposite side of the jar from the dog stencil, or use a pencil to draw the shape of your chalkboard onto the front of the jar. 

If you used the sticker, you are finished, but if not, paint chalkboard paint within the lines. Do at least two coats with a brush. Then, go over with the sponge for a more uniform writing surface. Allow to dry, erase or paint over pencil marks, and fill with dog treats. Voila! 

Some other finished jars:

Redneck Summer #2: Pool time on a budget

This year our redneck waterpark has grown! For around 30$, we've added on to last year's purchases to have a pretty nice setup. The large pool was 16$ at Walmart. Noodles, buckets and other toys all came from the Dollar Tree, and the tarp was about 10$ at Walmart. The smaller pool, the umbrella, chairs, plastic table and sprinkler are leftovers from last year. Collectively, those probably cost around 30-40$ at Walmart. 

Setup:

Stake down the tarp at all four corners to make it more secure. This also makes a great splash pad in a pinch! For 10$, how can you go wrong?

I put the baby pool on the tarp very close to the large pool so that my little one wouldn't feel like I was far away if she was too afraid to go in the larger pool. 

I set up chairs and an umbrella nearby in case the water was a no-go altogether. 

Completed "waterpark"

Enjoying the sun!

Our Lifeguard

Asleep on the job. I don't feel very safe.

Just splashing around

Our system for keeping the pool clean: step in the baby pool first before hopping into the larger pool. So far so good with very little grass ending up in the water! This only works because she only wants to be in the big pool now. I wouldn't use it this way if she was going to be spending any time sitting in her own pool. (Also great for cleaning dirty toys)

Banana Oatmeal Cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts

This has to be the simplest and healthiest cookie recipe I've ever whipped up... And they taste great too!!! I found the original recipe on pinterest, which I couldn't help but modify. The basic recipe was simply bananas and oatmeal, which would probably be great too, but we loved these. 

Here it goes:

2 bananas (mashed or pureed)

1 cup of oats

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from a cookie sheet and allow to cool. Enjoy!

Stepping Stones

Backyard improvement for this years redneck summer adventures. 

I'm going to break this one in half so it will stand up like the one in the Lorax book:

I also created this one because my husband is a die-hard seminole fan:

 

I'll post more pics as they dry, and I'll also share pics of the finished walkway.

Baby Toilet Seat Covers

Using a clean seat cover I took from a bathroom, I traced a template onto a piece of leftover gift tissue paper. I traced about a half inch inside the line of the original seat cover beacause I want it to cover more, and I'm leaving the tissue paper its original size so that it covers the sides of the toilet when she goes (this way she doesn't touch the nasty potty at all when she grips the sides for stability). Keep in mind, I would not flush these because of the size and material. Just wad them up and toss them when you are finished.

Materials:

1 Toilet seat cover for template

Tissue paper

Crayon

Scissors

Step by step:

Lay out original seat cover on a large flat surface.

Lay the tissue paper on top, centered with longest sides on sides of template and shorter sides as front and back. Keep the front longer than the back for better coverage.

Trace inside hole with a crayon or soft pencil (pen may rip the paper).

Cut along line and tear completely off from main piece (this way nothing touches the toilet water so you can easily wad and dispose of after use).

Fold. Carry in diaper bag or purse.

Taste-Adjustable Garlic Deep Fried Mushrooms:

 

Ingredients:

Sliced Mushrooms

Oil for Frying

1 Cup Flour

¾ Tsp Baking Powder

½ Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Italian Seasoning

Salt to Taste

¾ Cup to 1 cup Milk

Extra Flour (optional if you like extra crispy Mushrooms)

 

Directions:

Warm Deep Fryer. Mine does not tell me the temperature of the oil, but for those of you doing stove-top or outdoor deep-frying, just get the oil to the temperature you usually fry at- just whatever you are comfortable with.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, baking powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and salt. Add ¾ cup of the milk to the flour mixture and blend well. You should have a smooth, thick batter that sticks to your fingers. If it isn’t as smooth as you like, add a little bit more of the milk, but I wouldn’t add the whole cup or it will be too soupy.

Now for the optional part: I like mine a little crispier, so I put some flour (up to another cup) in a Ziploc bag and toss the battered mushrooms, individually so they don’t stick to each other, in the flour. Seal the bag after each mushroom, leaving plenty of air in the bag and shake it gently to coat the mushrooms. Once each mushroom becomes covered in flour, you can add the next one.

Now that you have a prepared the mushrooms to your liking, you can drop them in the oil. There was little splash-back when I dropped them in the hot oil of my tabletop fryer, but you can lower them with a perforated spoon if you are afraid of burns.

They should float immediately, so keep an eye out for browning on the underside. I cooked each side about 3 minutes and they turned out a perfect deep gold color with the batter and mushrooms cooked through. Serve with Ranch dressing or your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!