Jenn's "Georgia Love" Art

I saw this on Pinterest done with Texas and I knew I had to do one for my home state of Georgia.  The original pin came from craftgawker.com, but I could never find a link that gave me instructions.  But it seemed simple enough....

Supplies needed:

    Canvas

    Spraypaint (I used black)

    White and Red Pins

    White Thread

    Glue Gun

    A lot of time and patience!

First I spraypainted my canvas black.  I used black because it goes with the black accents in my livingroom, but you could use any color.  Then I downloaded a map of the state of Georgia.  I took the map to Kinkos to get it enlarged to fit my canvas.

Then I started placing my white pins.  The pins I got were too long, so I had to use a wire cutter to shorten them.  For my 10"x14" canvas, I used about 240 white pins.  Because of the wooden frame holding my canvas together, the pins along the edge went into the wood and sometimes required a hammer (or really strong thumbs).  Map areas that were more than an inch or so from the edge, just went through canvas, so they were not secure.  I used a glue gun to secure these pins, inserting and gluing a few pins at a time. FYI: super glue does not work for this! (trust me)

There are a few strategies for getting your pins in the shape of your state.  You can just eyeball it.  You can lay your map over your canvas, pin all of it, and tear the map off.  Or you can do what I did:  I placed the map on the canvas and put in a few pins, then removed the pins and map.  This left a small hole in the canvas, so I could reinsert the pins without the paper map.  I did this for all the curvy areas, but I just freehanded the straight parts.  It's not perfect, but you can tell what state it is.  Later we figured that you could probably use some styrofoam or cardboard as a backing to secure the pins without having to glue them.  That might be easier when it comes to stringing the pins together.

Next, select your most loved city.  We chose Macon, GA because that is where my husband and I met (and it's conviently in the dead center of Georgia)! :)  Cut out a paper heart to use as a guide and place the red pins, but do NOT glue them!  Now get out your string and your patience.  If you are a perfectionist, like me, then you may want to plan out how many white pins will be strung to each red pin (count white pins & divide by number of red pins) or you can just estimate as you go. Cut a long piece of white thread and knot one end.  Add a small needle to the thread.  Remove one red pin and insert thread through that hole so that the knot is in the back of your canvas.  Go around the closest white pin and make a loop or eight around the next white pin and return back to your red pin.  This should give you two white lines from the red pin to two different, adjacent white pins.  Return the red pin to the hole and loop your string around the pin.  Repeat the loop process around two more white pins and back around the same red pin. 

You will likely need to hold the red pin to keep your string taught and keep your red pin from falling out - this is where it might be helpful to have a styrofoam backing to temporarily hold your red pin.  Continue for as many white pins as you want going to this red pin.  Then cautiously remove your red pin, keeping all the white string loops on your pin.  Pull the end of your thread through the same pinhole and then reinsert your red pin.  Knot your thread, keeping it tight.  You can now carefully glue that one red pin.  Repeat the entire stringing process for each red pin in your heart.  You're finished and ready to hang it!  :)  

Good luck!  About a fourth of the way into the stringing process, I was ready to hurt somebody.  I think using a temporary backing would have helped a lot, but I didn't think about it until later. If anybody tries this, let me know if it works!

-Jenn P.

Amanda's Red Sauce Chicken Enchiladas

Today, Amanda shares another great recipe she originally found on Pinterest and then altered in her own kitchen.  Here is her version of the original recipe, which can be found at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 teaspoon canola oil
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons sugar
2 cups V8
1 cup water
2 Large chicken breasts
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
1 cup pepper jack
1 cup mozzarella
12 corn tortillas
cooking spray
2 cups cooking oil


DIRECTIONS:


In a large saucepan, combine the onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions have softened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook until fragrant, less than 30 seconds. Stir in the V8 and water. Bring to a simmer.


Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12-20 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the chicken breasts you are using. Transfer the chicken to a plate, and set aside to cool. Continue to simmer the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.


Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the leftover onion mixture from the strainer to a large bowl and set aside.


Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to the onion mixture in the large bowl. Also stir in 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce, 1/4 cup of each different cheese. Toss to combine.


To soften the tortillas heat about 2 cups of cooking oil in a saucepan. Be sure the oil is hot. Drop in tortillas 1 at a time. when the tortilla floats to the top turn to the other side. lay them on a paper towel to drain excess grease. Should take about 10-15 seconds per tortilla.


Spread the tortillas on a clean work surface, and spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each. Tightly roll each tortilla and lay seam-side down in a greased 9×13 inch baking dish.


Heat oven to 400 F. Pour the enchilada sauce evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes, or until heated through.


Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes, until cheese browns. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with rice and beans and enjoy.




-Amanda

Becky's Dining Chair Cushions

I should preface this post by admitting that I am not a seamstress at all.  I have some general knowledge about the correct ways to complete a sewing project, but I don't have the tools or the patience to follow those guidelines.  I take shortcuts and if it looks good enough, it IS good enough in my house.  If you are reading this and shaking your head at my sewing ineptitude... I am sincerely sorry to vex you.  Maybe one day I'll learn.

Our dining table is from Ikea, and it has small chairs with narrow seats.  I've been searching for chair pads for the last few years, but I can never find something that matches our decor and respects our budget.  Chair cushions have always been that extra thing that gets pushed back- as in, "if one of us breaks our tailbone, we'll get serious about cushions."

Fabric #1

I finally decided that I could make better seat pads than I could find to purchase.  I priced some upholstery fabric at JoAnn's and bought it when it was 40% off.  I picked a yard each of two contrasting fabrics, a 32 ounce bag of poly fill, and some dark brown upholstery thread.  When selecting fabrics, I looked for upholstery-quality fabrics that could be laundered at home.  It was overwhelming to wander the racks of huge rolls of upholstery cloth- I felt like I was on Project Runway.  I don't have a sewing machine but I do have a generous friend who was willing to loan me hers for this project.

Fabric #2

To make my cushions, I didn't even get out a ruler.  (This is where I start ignoring rules.)  I laid the fabric on my chair and decided where to cut.  I started with the fabric that is striped, as it was simple to cut in straight lines without the use of any special cutting guideline.  I used that first square as the pattern for 7 more squares- 4 of each style- and checked them for sizing against the chair periodically.

Look, I'm using a sewing machine!

Once my cushion squares were cut out, I used the scrap strips to make eight chair ties.  I stitched the ties by folding the fabric inside-out and sewing down one side.  The most challenging and frustrating part of this project was getting the ties turned.  I tried a number of makeshift tools to flip the fabric, and in the end I had to use a pair of tweezers to pull the fabric through the tube, about a quarter inch at a time.  It was painful (my hand actually hurts!) and annoying and I'm glad it is over!  I think the finished product looks pretty great though, and was very likely worth the effort.

Chair tie inside-out

Half way through the flipping process

Tie right-side out

For my cushions, I stitched three sides of each one with the fabric facing inside-out.  On the fourth side, I only stitched in the center of the edge.  I left a hole large enough on one side for me to flip the fabric and stuff the cushions, and a smaller gap on the other corner just to stitch my tie-on to the cushion.

Cushion sewn with stuffing and tie holes on one side

My son helping Aunt E to stuff a pillow

Once the fabric was turned inside-out, we stuffed the cushions with the polyester fiber fill.  My son helped with this step, though if he had done the work for each cushion we'd still be waiting for him to fill them with his tiny little fists of fiber fill.  I stitched up the ends of the ties so that they don't fray apart, and folded them in half to be stitched at their mid-point to the pillow.  The final step was to whip stitch the ties into the holes on the back corners, and close up the hole I left to stuff the poly fill.

The finished product, side view

Full disclosure is that I've only completed one pillow, and I am so excited to share my triumph that I'm blogging this project before all four pillows are completed.  I will soon have four matching, reversible, custom-made dining chair cushions for my table!


-Becky

Sara's Dishwasher Detergent Experiment

We've got an amazing, thorough comparison of homemade dishwasher detergent courtesy of Sara! You can find more from the domestic diva at OPERATION: Domestication!

I’ve already joined the craze of everyone making their own laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets... Now I’ve moved on to Dishwasher Detergent!

So, I’ve found about 8000 various versions of this “recipe”, but the majority of them were fairly similar. Minor variations: kosher vs epsom salt; pure citric vs Kool-Aid vs Fruit Fresh; basking soda vs washing soda... Then all the questions poured into my head:
Do you/can you add LemiShine to the mix or does it HAVE to be added to the bottom of the dishwasher?
Vinegar as a rinse aid?
How often do I have to refill the vinegar?

So I broke this down..

1) I absolutely refuse to use Kool-Aid in any appliance. Sweetened or unsweetened -  it stains. I ruled that out IMMEDIATELY!

2) I may be efficient, but I’m also very lazy. I will NOT be adding stuff to the bottom of my dishwasher EVERY wash cycle..

3) I’m indifferent on the effectiveness of baking soda over washing soda, but due to the fact that baking soda reacts more than the washing soda and the fact that I had more washing soda on hand than I did baking soda - guess which one I picked? ;)

So that brings us to our starting point...

I use white distilled vinegar on the regular as it is, so I have the stuff on hand to use as a rinse aid. I also had 5 of the ingredients on hand, so I bought the Fruit Fresh and got down to it!

Now, most of the recipes called for similar amounts of the ingredients, so I cut them down by 75% to use as samples before making a HUGE batch of something that could potentially NOT work for us - what a waste that would be! (not to mention it would defeat the purpose of this!)

The containers are mixed as follows:

C o n t a i n e r   1
1 / 4 c   B o r a x
1 / 4 c   W a s h i n g   S o d a
1 / 8 c   C i t r i c   A c i d
1 / 8 c   E p s o m   S a l t

C o n t a i n e r   2
1 / 4 c   B o r a x
1 / 4 c   W a s h i n g   S o d a
1 / 8 c   F r u i t   F r e s h
1 / 8 c   E p s o m   S a l t

C o n t a i n e r   3
1 / 4 c   B o r a x
1 / 4 c   W a s h i n g   S o d a
1 / 8 c   C i t r i c   A c i d
1 / 8 c   K o s h e r   S a l t

C o n t a i n e r   4
1 / 4 c   B o r a x
1 / 4 c   W a s h i n g   S o d a
1 / 8 c   F r u i t   F r e s h
1 / 8 c   K o s h e r   S a l t

 

 

This yielded 3/4c of experimental detergent per mini batch. I’ve read varying recommendation from 1-2 tbsp per wash, so I’m starting with 1 and working from there. Considering I run the dishwasher almost daily, 1 container could potentially last 6-12 days. This should be enough time to produce fairly accurate results and allow me to determine which blend will work best for us!

Other factors we have to take into consideration. We live in Colorado and have VERY hard water. Taking heed to the warnings of hard water I’ve read - I upped the citric acids slightly and from what I gather the LemiShine help immensely! (So crap, I have to go back to the store now!)

So let’s begin shall we?

First observations: I was prepared for the hardening, but it breaks up very easy. However, Container 1 was the only one of the 4 that hardened... In 3 hours! Ironically, that was the first recipe I found.. I’m so glad I continued my search (as I did with all my other recipes)

******************************************************
CONTAINER 1

Day 1: okay, my dumb ass forgot to put vinegar in the rinse compartment! However, 1 tbsp of detergent did a fantsic job! I inspected every piece thoroughly and did not notice of any of the cloudiness others have complained about.. So far so good! 

Day 2: Noticed hardening in all the other continers except #4.. Maybe the combination of Kosher Salt and Fruit Fresh is the key, or maybe it's just the Fruit Fresh, as I noticed while there is some clumping in #2, its far worse in the other 2 - particularly the ones with Espom salt and pure citric acid. Vinegar has been added to the rinse compartment (so I don't forget again and I did throw a tsp of LemiShine at the bottom, just to test it, and I wasn’t disappointed! But I really cant say for certain if there were any changes, 
since I added 2 factors and noticed the same result.

Day 3: One of the biggest questions Ive had so far is how often do i have to refill the vinegar in the rinse compartment! I guess we will answer this question soon enough. However, I did not have a full enough load to run it last night, so I have no results to report for this day!

Day 4: ran same as day 2, but I have no results to report because, while he was just trying to help, my husband emptied the dishwasher. However, he knows we are experimenting and did not say if there was anything weird about the dishes... I did notice he rewashed the inside of my lunchbox, so I'm guessing the dishwasher didn't get all the cream cheese off. But considering how it was in the dishwasher and dried for 2 days, I don't think regular detergent would have worked! Cream cheese is tricky stuff! LOL

Day 5: no load today!

Day 6: no new results. I'm trying to find something, anything, but I can't. The stuff works - end of story. However, I did figure out why my dishwasher wasn't drying the stuff on the top rack... Jackson decided to turn off the heated dry feature! Stupid button.... And I also calculated how much of the LemiShine I would need to add per mini batch I've made (again, I'm lazy and I don't want to add it each load! LOL! But I think it's something that needs to be added when you first make the batch, due to the hardening...

Day 7: OY! So, I'm thinking I may have to scrap Container 3 all together. I had the bright idea to post a 1 week consistency photo, but I wanted to see how much I could break them up - just so anyone reading this would know if they used any of these recipes and they hardened, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

 
Now, Container 1 (upper left) has been used 1 tbsp per wash about 5 times now. It doesn't appear I've made a dent in the amount. There is considerable hardening and clumping, but it's effectiveness is worth taking a few moments to break apart.

Container 2 (upper right) also has more hardening than it initially showed to have, but it is also super easy to break apart.

Container 3 (lower left) is all I could do after 15 minutes of attacking the mass with a knife. I gave up. I think it's out of the race, just because it pissed me off. (Note: I used PURE citric acid in this one)

Container 4 (lower right) is my favorite due to the fact that it is still maintaining a very powdery consistency. I may skip #2 and go straight to #4 to test it's effectiveness. But, seeing as I haven't even hit the halfway point of #1, who knows how long this will take! LOL

Day 8:

Day 9:

Day 10:

Day 11:

Day 12:

Day 13:

Day 14:

Day 15: so we've all figured out I am bad at keeping up with this log.. Im still using the first batch, but upon a week 2 constistancy check, I discovered in addition to the 3rd batch being completely solidified, so is the 2nd batch!! #2 was deceiving at first, it solidified in its powdery form, but I had the hardest time breaking it up!! ARGH! #4 was hardened, but I could get a scoop in there and it broke up even. So I'm at this conclusion right now: Epsom salt and Fruit Fresh is a no go combination, as is the kosher salt and pure citric acid combination. Epsom salt reacts less with the pure citric acid I think and the kosher salt reacts less with the Fruit Fresh.

 
 

In light of this, Ive made this command decision: I am going to make a second batch of each #1 and #4, and add the appropriate amount of LemiShine per batch to see how that works in terms of effectiveness and hardening.

And that's where we're at now folks!
****************************************************** 
Day 19? I really shouldn't keep track of days anymore.. LOL! So having high hopes, I went ahead and made a batch of #4 with LemiShine... 

 
 

The bad news: spongey hardness... Within a few hours! 
The good news: for those looking for a way to make efficient tablets - THIS should be the recipe to do it! 

So for tablets:

• 1/4 c borax
• 1/4 c washing soda
• 1/4 c LemiShine
• 1/8 c Fruit Fresh
• 1/8 c Kosher salt

(This is the plan in theory) Take an ice cube tray (you can get the cheap packs at the dollar store) and fill the tray with the mixture almost immediately - since it does harden fairly quick. The sample batch should fill one tray easily.. 

We're still at #1 and #4 as best in the hardness category, but I don't like having to put the LemiShine in everytime... So I'm seriously considering making a batch of tablets and testing those!

Okay, no - I WILL make a batch!
******************************************************
WEEK 3:
Attempted 2 batches of tablets, one using the made I had already made, broken up and smooshed into the ice cube trays... Which was a feat in itself, since its very sticky! Then I made a fresh batch and poured that in, assuming it would clump up within a couple of hours and VOILA - instant tablets right? 

 

Wrong. So I leave the ice cube trays out on the counter instead of sealing them in an airtight container and stashing it under the sink like I have been doing with the other batches!! There is obviously no saving the first batch of #4+ - that's pretty much just premeasured clump of soap (however I did use one in the dishwasher tonight - we're still on heated dry, but I'll post that update later!), but maybe the extra moisture under the sink is the key to why everyone (not just myself) is having clumping issues with this stuff!! Because where does EVERYONE keep their dish detergent - UNDER THE SINK!!! I may have just figured out the way to properly store this stuff!!!!!!

This experiment has evolved way beyond my initial expectations! LOL - I'll be back with more! Stay tuned! (like you have a choice since this is all in one blog! HAHA!)
******************************************************
Okay, so left out overnight, the fresh batch made yesterday STILL has no clumping and is still very powdery (!!!!!!!!!!), so now I'm going to empty it out of the ice cube tray and break up the batch into smaller groups and place it in various parts of my kitchen, to further test my under the sink theory!

The first batch of 4+ however, turned rock hard on me... I had to throw it away!
******************************************************
Week 4:
So I broke the second batch in 4 groups, put some in a container and placed it on top of my cabinets, placed some in a container in a top cabinet, and one container in a bottom cabinet - that wasn't under the sink. All got that spongey hardness overnight.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!

I never covered the fresh batch and I left that under the sink for 2 days. The location is not the issue - COVERING it is the issue!!! Its been 1 week, I've left this stuff uncovered all over the kitchen and it's still powdery!

Having said that - I'm still nervous to dive in and make a huge batch though. I know the key to preventing hardness now, but after all the failure - I don't want to make a big batch only to have it wasted!!!

Decisions decisions...
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WEEK 7:
I've pretty much abandoned this whole idea. The recipe works, but the kosher salt is not as abrasive as the epsom salt, and I noticed that if it didn't get everything off - it added stuff it my dishes, especially the silverware..

I'm going to try another batch of #1 with the LemiShine pre-added.. And test my theory about leaving it open - as the batch I left in the open is STILL powdery in texture!


However, if that doesn't work, I'm moving on to my liquid recipe I found! LOL
*****************************************************
WEEK 8:
#1 with LemiShine added? Fail. Insta-hardness! I tried leaving the mixture out in the open like I did with the #4+ batch... I swear it actually expedited the process. What the hell?


So conclusion? I quit. I blame the hard water mostly and I have a feeling that if I lived in a soft water area, we wouldn't even be having half of these issues trying to find a working formula. The hardening is annoying, but tolerable. The fight against the cloudiness I started having after a couple weeks. (which I'm still trying to figure that out - even extra vinegar didn't help!)

Oh well... 

So my recommendations: #1 or #4, use LemiShine separate and stay on top of the vinegar and it should be just fine - providing you're willing to remember to do that almost every wash cycle! (I'm not. I'm lazy!!)


-Sara