Everybody Loves Cake!

While we were making cotton candy, a lady came up and asked if a coworker and I would like some cake. Said coworker looked at me, unsure if she was allowed to take free sweets in front of a manager. 

"Oh we never say no to cake!" I told the lady. 

After making cotton candy, there's always a half bag or so left over. We like to pick a kid to give the extra to. Guess which little kid got the free cotton candy that day :) 

It wasn't the greatest cake in the world, but to us it was wonderful. I wasn't going to get a chance for a break, so some mid-shift food was a welcome energy boost. For Deni, it was proof that there are good people in the world. No, really. Work retail on a Saturday night and tell me you don't need the occasional reminder that people aren't really hateful, mindless monsters. So when another big group made a huge mess for Deni to clean up, I told her to just pretend it was our cake gifters. (We never begrudge people a mess if they gift us with cake!) She did, and was able to deal with the unexpected extra work without too much stress. 

So a little life lesson to those of you who have never worked retail, or those of you who may have forgotten what it's like. Be nice to staff. Yes, they are there to serve you in some capacity, and should provide good customer service, regardless of how their day is going. But sharing your cake, or candy, or whatever, is guaranteed to make someone's day better. You could possibly improve the day of the entire staff if they share. (which we didn't because we are lame, and also because no one asked even though we didn't eat the whole piece) I've seen workers get more excited over someone giving them leftover cupcakes than getting a tip. Not that you should leave leftover food in place of gratuity It's just that when you're exhausted and hungry and having a bad day, junk food given out of the goodness of someone's heart is the most amazing experience in your little world.

Be kind. Share cake. 

-Dear Lady Disdain

"And what have I to give you back, whose worth
May counterpoise this rich and precious gift?"

4,000 Saturdays

Have you heard about this 940 Saturdays thing? Apparently that's how many Saturdays you get with your child from birth to age 18- and college. And this got me thinking. B and I always say we want to do something every week. But we get busy, and even if we do something, it's usually not anything new. So I wondered how many Saturdays there are in general. A life expectancy calculator, and a simple multiply by 52 got me to about 4,400 Saturdays in my life. Hence the title.
So for my new years resolution this year, I want to do NEW. New things. Every week. I am going to try to do at least one new thing every week. Life is made up of experiences right? They may not huge, life-altering experiences. It's more of a motivation for me to turn off the electronics and live life to the fullest.

Speaking of which, I'll end here. It's Wednesday night, and I need to figure out what my new experience will be for this week!


-Dear Lady Disdain
"Well, as time shall try"

Freezer Cooking

If you follow any blogs, have a Pinterest account, or look at your Facebook feed, you've probably heard of freezer cooking. I've been freezer cooking for a couple years now, but how dedicated I am to using my freezer meals changes constantly. Right now we're renting a place without a dishwasher.... As much as I love cooking, I am NOT okay with washing several pots and pans every night. So now, I almost exclusively cook from my freezer. I was asked to give a little talk about my freezer meals during a meal planning & cooking night for my church's women's group. I brought along a new favorite FM of ours, and had a lot of requests for the recipe. I also had a few women who thought freezer cooking sounded great, but wanted to know where to start. I realized that most of my recipes are my own, or some that I can't remember their origin. So I thought I'd add some to my Pinterest page, so I'm posting them here first.

Sorry the pictures aren't great. It's midnight, and I just opened my freezer and snapped a couple shots.

Want any easy way to save time every morning? Try freezing your sandwiches. We do bread, deli meat, and cheese. I've read you can also do small amounts of condiments like ketchup or mustard (put between meat & cheese, not next to the bread). PB&Js freeze too! Wrap sandwiches in plastic wrap, then put in freezer baggie. (Apparently, this baggie is not a freezer baggie. Well, the double wrap worked!) Drop in a lunch box in the morning, and sandwich will be thawed by lunchtime. 

My husband LOVES soup. I'm not a huge fan. So I decided to make him soup for lunch! Use chicken or beef stock (I mixed one of each), add whatever veggies you have on hand. (I used baby carrots, mushrooms, celery, and canned corn) Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Once cool, pour into jars or bowls and freeze. Defrost in fridge the night before (or let defrost in lunch box then microwave at lunch time)

Mini Corndog Muffins: These are super easy, but taste great! They can be time consuming, so I prefer to make them in a big batch. 

1 Box of your favorite cornbread mix (I use Jiffy) 

5-6 Hot Dogs

Honey

Mini cupcake liners (to save time)

Eggs/Milk, according to cornbread package. 

Follow the directions on your cornbread mix to make the batter. Add 11/2 TBS of honey to the batter and stir. This gives the batter a sweet taste, and keeps the muffins moist through freezing and reheating. Slice hot dogs into 5-6 pieces. 

Preheat your oven according to package directions.

Line your cupcake pan (you can also grease the pan, but liners save time)

Fill liners halfway with batter 

Then add your hot dogs to the center of each cup. 

Bake according to directions (check them regularly for the last 5 minutes, since they are much smaller than normal. After a couple of batches, you will know how long to bake them)

Let cool, then flash freeze in the pan, or on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, place in a freezer baggie. 

To eat, microwave for 30 seconds.

These should last about 3 months, but they never stay in our freezer that long. One box of cornbread makes about 24-30 mini muffins. 

Again sorry for the bad pics! I will start keeping track of how I prep and cook my meals. I never like to stick to recipes, but I will work on that so I can share the ones we like best with others.

-DearLadyDisdain

My lord, will you walk? dinner is ready.

Duct Tape Wrapped Picture Frame

I made a stop at the craft store to pick up a couple items, and score! they were having a sale. Their Duct Tape was on sale. I grabbed two rolls of Redskins tape for 50%! (That came to $10 for both)  While I was waiting in line, a lady asked me if I was going to make a wallet with the tape. I know I can pass for a few years younger, but I had no idea I looked 13! I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do, I just thought it looked cool and I would figure out something later. Of course I didn't say that. I just said the first thing that popped into my head.... "I'm going to wrap a picture frame with it!" She loved the idea and told her friends who also loved it. So, it was settled. I was going to decorate a picture frame with duct tape.

I did this in about 10 minutes, while watching TV.

 

I've never seen this done before, but I knew I wanted the frame to have a wrapped feel. It's going in a room dedicated solely to the Skins, so we don't need to see the logo or team name on the frame. 

Wrapping the tape around the frame would have made it too bulky, and would make it harder to get the angle I wanted. So instead, I cut the tape into short strips. That also gave me some control over what part of the design would show. I wanted it to look random, but I did a little adjusting. 

I am so happy I got the background color of the art right! I don't like to steal other people's work, but I couldn't find the original creator of this design, so I made my own. Using just Microsoft Word starter, I made my own color maroon (score it worked!), decided on a font that I liked for the words, and arranged them. Then I cropped and added the logo. I printed it off at Staples for 50c. 

It turned out better than I thought it would, and I can't wait to see how DH likes it! 

("Hail to the Redskins" is the saying, hence the "Hail On") 

-DearLadyDisdain

...that you make yourself: it is needful that you frame...

Memory Shadow Box

After finishing our travel map cork board, I decide to finally make a memory shadow box like I've seen all over Pinterest. This took me a few minutes, and was so simple. The longest step was gathering the supplies.

You need


A shadow box. I snag these whenever I see them in good condition at thrift stores. I know this one says $1.91, but I bought it on a 50% off day! Can't beat a $1 project!

 Your memories. Most of the ones I found were from a few years ago, when I decided I was going to scrapbook. That didn't make it past three pages, but I did at least have all our little mementos well organized.

Embellishments. I decided to go with some stickers and scrapbook paper.

Step one: Apply a background to your frame. I used a green paper and glued it to the frame backing

Then add your embellishments. 

We don't go to many movies, so I didn't use the "admit one" quote that a lot of people use. Do whatever you want! It's your memory box!

Step Two: Add your memories! I had to restrict ours to tickets and wristbands only to keep it from looking too cluttered. 

Step 3: Hang!

Everything got a little shook up when I set the frame down on its side, but I gave it another good shake and got a new pattern! 

Here it is, next to our travel map. I love all the memories being in one place. 

A lot of tutorials call for cutting a slot in the frame (or buying one that comes with a slot already) I decided to go the easier route and just place them inside and close it up. I knew it would hang in the hall, and I was worried that too much dust would get into the frame if it had an opening on the top. But mostly, it just seemed like too much effort for a small convenience later.

It was such an easy project, I'm annoyed that I didn't get to it earlier! Now I have to go on a hunt to find all the other tickets we wanted to keep but didn't have a place for.

-DearLadyDisdain
Now you talk of a sheet of paper, I remember...

Cork Board Map of Our Travels

I love the look of old maps. So does DH. I always see adorable crafts on Pinterest with old maps, but I never got around to making one. Until this weekend.

EDIT: I got some requests for more info on this project, so I decided to add some more details!


DH picked up a pack of 3 laminated maps at a yard sale two months not that long ago. I planned on using one of those, but it was too big to fit on my bulletin board. It was also laminated and too new looking.

Then I remembered a stack of old travel maps we bought awhile ago. One of them was a National Geographic map of places to vacation. From 1966, it had just the look I wanted.


So here's the how to. (Sorry for the lack of photos)

Supplies:

• Glue (I used a 4 parts glue, 1 part water mixture)
• Paint Brush (I prefer sponge so no hairs get left behind)
• Mod Podge (I used matte for sealing)
• Straight pins (I looked at a few stores, then finally founds some at JoAnn Fabrics. I got the multi colored packs (on sale for $1.50), but they also have packs of all one color)
• Cork Board (I've had mine for 10 years, and it was pretty beat up, but it worked great)
• Map! The one I found that worked best was an old travel map, the kind that fold up.
• Something heavy (to flatten out the creases)
• Patience! 

Lay out your map over your cork board. Be sure that Maine to Florida fit. Place books or something heavy on the creases to flatten them. Leave over night (the hardest part for me)

Now to glue! This is when being a folding map really came in handy. I did one panel at a time. Apply glue to the cork, and to the map itself to be sure it sticks. Flatten it out. 

My board had a metal frame around it, which I left in place since it had hangers in the back. I then wrapped the map around the edges and glued it to the sides of the frame too. Add a layer of Mod Podge or other seal. Let dry. I still had some air pockets, especially at the top, from doing the edges before the part on the cork finished drying. Luckily it's a topographical map, and little bumps disappear into the mountain ranges. 

DH and I had a lot of fun placing our pins on the map. Red is for me; green is for him. Yellow is places we've been together. I wish there were more yellow dots, but I think we're doing good for having been together 5 years. You decide what warrants a pin. We were both in the military, and did a lot of cross- country travel. We decided airports or driving through doesn't geta pin. And no pin if you were too young to remember the trip either.  

All finished and hanging in the hallway. 

I absolutely love the way it looks! I can see the places where I messed up, but since there will be lots of little pins, I don't think it matters too much. The best part? This got us excited for planning trips to visit friends and family next year and looking for new places to stop along the way! 

-DearLadyDisdain

God help us! It is a world to see.

Getting Cheap Baby Gear Post #1

While out shopping at yard sales and thrift stores, Benedick and I often see amazing baby furniture for very cheap. This always brings up the conversation of how much our future little ones will cost us. Of course, we will want to give our children everything. But for us, "everything" includes a house to grow up in, a college education, and good financial sense. So splurging on the years they won't even remember is something we're not willing to do.

I once saw a tv program on how to avoid spending $10,000 preparing for baby. Wait. What? 10k prepping for baby? Looking online, I see that that number isn't so far out of line for many families. The show's main advice was less is more. Skip the changing table and the nice stroller. You really only need a few outfits of each size. Ok, that's probably good advice. But what about those of us who feel the urge to nest? If we have room for all the gadgets and gizmos, and if they will make life easier, why can't we have them?

I told Benedick that when the time for nursery decorating came, I would try to do it all for $1000. I have no idea why I came up with that number, but it sounded good in my head. The oldest in a large family, he very clearly doubted I could do it. So for the last 2 weeks, I've been taking note of anything baby related I found for free on craigslist. I didn't go out of my way to look for any of these items. I just saved anything I found on my normal checks of the free page.

In addition to many carseats (which should never be purchased used), I found several ads for unused diapers and unopened formula and baby food. Here are the pictures of what I found for free, all within a  30-40 minute drive, in 2 weeks. 

Dressers: There are always listings for free dressers, in a variety of conditions. I plan on using one as a changing table/storage combo. I found this one on the first day of my project. It would be perfect, and wouldn't need any work AT ALL. 

Strollers: Tons and tons of strollers. Some were obviously stock photos, some ads had no pictures. From easy-to-fold to jogging, I was impressed with the number of strollers for FREE.

Cribs: Now this is when you have to check for recalls, but I did find a few cribs.

High Chairs: As long as it's in decent shape, I see no reason not to get one of these for free. They're made to be washed down regularly, so you can give it a good scrubbing before your baby uses it.

 Toys & Play Mats: Toys are ALWAYS showing up free. Your baby is too young to beg for something on a commercial, so why buy everything brand new?

Blankets & Sheets: Who do we decorate nurseries for? The baby or the parents? As much as you really want the crib sheets that match the curtains and mobile, do you really need them? And are you going to buy two sets to swap when you do laundry?

A few other things: Again, these are all things I happened to see while browsing the free section. I didn't search for these. AND these are only the items that had pictures. 

Potty seat. 

Walker

Cute lamb seat 

Unopened Formula

I see a lot of rockers. I saved this one
because I had an aunt who used a glider
like this and LOVED it! 

So what would all this cost? If I got all this for free instead of buying it, how much of that average $10,000 would I save? I'm checking prices on the Babies R Us & Toys R Us website, and going with the cheapest, most basic product. 

Changing Table(I'm counting this, since it needed no additional work): ON SALE! $89.99 

Folding Stroller: ON SALE! $12.98

Jogging Stroller (DH loves to run, so this will be a must for us): ON SALE!  $79.98

Swing(you can see one in the stroller pics): $69.99

Crib: ON SALE $149.99

High Chair: $42.99 

Bumbo Seat: $44.99 

Pool: ON SALE! $7.99 

Playmat: $24.99 (and it only has a one star rating) 

Jungle Gym: ON SALE! $84.99

Basketball Hoop: ON SALE!(almost 50% off) $29.99 

Crib Liner: $29.99

Blankets: ON SALE! 4 pack- $9.98

2 Crib Sheets: ON SALE! (almost 50% off) $11.96 

Potty Seat: $9.99 

Walker w/ toys: ON SALE! $29.58

Animal Chair: ON SALE! 75% off (and a tv character) $20.98 

Glider: ON SALE! (and only one star rating) $159.99

2 cans of Formula:  ON SALE! $23.98

So, even shopping sales, and getting the cheapest item, that's a total savings of $935.32(plus tax) No, you certainly don't NEED all of these things. But you really can't beat free! 

I'm going to keep my eye out for other free baby things, but I think my next project will be to look for things that could be re-purposed for the nursery. I know we have a great vintage bookshelf that will make its way there, but what else can I find? 

-DearLadyDisdain

You have no reason; I do it freely.