Sorry for the short notice. . . .

Anyone interested in setting up a craft or food booth on Saturday, August 7th in Firth, Idaho should contact me imediately for details.

Thanks!!
jackielikestattoos@yahoo.com

Braggin' about the finds. . . .

I haven't stopped thrifting but it seems like I haven't been finding many things that inspire a revamp. Thats ok though. . . .

Over the last month or so I have been finding some super cute, super cheap pottery/planters and have added to my collection.

. . . like this one. . . .

 

. . . 50cents and is now the home to some chives. . .

. . . and these. . .

 

.. . .those were 75cents each. . . .

. . .and these were 50cents each. . .

 

Last but not least. . . I paid $3 for this Jack Daniels pitcher. . .it is HUGE!

 

Awww. . . .I love me some sa-weet finds ;)

Its for the birds. . .

Check out this Sa-weet bird cage. . . .

 

I got it at the DI for $3 and it was full of crazy plastic greenery crap and birds. . .
I went to an aerobics class the night that I bought it and was showing it off to a friend of mine. We had a bored/creative/crazy moment while waiting for classs to start and came up with this ultra-cool (yeah right), trendy (tacky), decorating idea. . . (hahaha. It still makes me laugh. . . )

 

Oh yeah. . . I know you all are super jealous of my hot bird art thats turning heads on my truck. ;) Its made it done the freeway a couple of times and I'm only down the roadrunner. Magoo thought it was the greatest thing in the world so I thought I would leave it on there for awhile. Who knows. . . maybe it'll turn into the next 'big thing'. hahaha


Ok. . . .On to the real revamp project. . .

 

Kind of cute, huh??

 

I really wish I would have taken a pic with all of the goodies in it before I started tearing it appart. It was too funny. :)

Crazy Cheap Rustic Wreath

HUGE bunch of flowers. . . 50 cents. . .

 

Twig Wreath. . . .$1. . . .

 

Put them together with some hot glue and jute. . . .CUTE!. . .

 

How's that for cheap and easy?? My two favorite things. . . hahaha

New Blog needs some LOVE :)

Hey. . . check out this blog!!

There is only a couple of posts but there are more to come :D
Leave them some comment love and make it one of the blogs you follow!!

Shepperd's Hook Repair

We had a crazy, violent windstorm a while ago and it destroyed my mom's brand-new sheppards hook :(
It was made of a heavy gauge metal but appartently wasn't welded very well at the bottom and it snapped right off.
I wanted to try and salvage it so I filled an old planter with concrete and braced the hook in it until it could cure.

 

I left a little space at the top of the concrete to fill with potting mix and plant some flowers in.

Ta-Da!!

 

All in!

Christmas in July??

 

 

I found this serving tray at the DI for $1.50.


A little black spray paint, a deck of playing cards and some Mod Podge turned it into this. . .

 

One of these years, I am going to host a poker night or a casino party and use this to carry drinks and stuff in.

 

Grill Master Competition and Tips for Grilling Great Steaks

This Saturday was the Grill Master Competition and my Stepdad Jim did fantastic!! He took 2nd place but his Teriayki Tri-tip was definately 1st in my book :)

 

Jim took home 1st place last year with super secret steak rub recipe. . . his own blend of herbs and spices. Last year the competetors got to choose their meat and had the option of grilling steak or tri-tip. This year, everyone had to do a tri-tip so Jim came up with a new recipe.

 

Here are some tips he posted . . . take it away, Jim!!

 

These are some tips for great Steaks. Follow these simple steps and always remember to use them and you will have great barbecue every time.

1. Always purchase meat that has good marbling. and little fat around the outside, if it does you can always trim it later when preparing it.

2. If you freeze it make sure to use a Food Saver or something along the lines that sucks the air out of the bag to ensure keeping the freezer burn away. Bags of meat in the Freezer can last about a year, in the fridge usually about 4 to 5 days past the sell by date.

3. For good cuts of steak (New York, Ribeye, Top Sirloin) you may want to add flavor with a Seasoning marinade. The longest to marinate these steaks is 2 hours. Thickness on these steaks here are around 1" to 1 1/2 inches thick. So the two hour mark is a good cut off time. Thinner steaks less time. You want a tender and juicy steak not mush that tastes like steak, you still want the texture of the meat.

4 Other cuts of meat ( chuck, round, flank, skirt) You will want to use what is known as a tenderizing marinade. This is because those cuts of meat are tougher and need a little tender care to help soften them up. Here are some helpful things to remember when using a tenderizing marinade:

A tenderizing marinade contains a food acid or a tenderizing enzyme.

Acidic ingredients are lemon and or lime juice, vinegar, Italian Dressing, salsa,yogurt and wine

Tenderizing enzymes are present in fresh ginger, pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and figs

Tenderizing marinades penetrate down about a 1/4 inch into the meat.


For these cuts of meat the marinade process is longer. Anywhere from 6 hours minimum to no longer than 24 hours. After that then the meat may start to become mushy and remember we want steak not mush. There are tons of marinades out there on the shelves or you can make them yourself. Check out online as well, you will be amazed at what you find.

5. Always marinade your meat in either a Non-Conductive glass or stainless steel bowl or in a good Zip-Lock baggie that is then stored in a bowl in the refrigerator.

6. Before cooking the meat you need to allow it to warm up. SPECIAL NOTE: This is where most people will tell you no you cannot take it out and let it get to room temperature, it will get bacteria and hurt you. Well that is true if you do not clean your counters, but if you keep your area clean (kitchen work area that is) and work with the food with either gloves on or washing your hands frequently you should keep that from happening.

The reason for getting the meat to room temperature is, well have you ever had a good steak but the middle is a little tough? Well that is because it was not warmed up before throwing it on the grill. If there is a cold spot in the middle of your steak let it sit a little longer. I usually have mine in a baggie on the granite counter top that helps extract the cold out of the meat. ( yes it really does help get it where it needs to be on temperature). The baggie helps keep it safe while it warms up.

Now I KNOW there are people that will argue with that till they are blue in the face, but I will let you test it out if you want. All I can say is, if you allow the meat to warm to room temperature (65-70 degrees not above that) and when you are ready to grill, if you touch the center of the steak ( with gloves on or washed hands ) and it feels not cold cold but like about the temp of the room, your steak will be very juicy and not tough in the center.

With the grill ready you will want to have one side of the grill on a medium high to high heat and the other side either on low or off. Gas grillers one side on and one side off, Charcoal grillers coals on one side none on the other. This is Direct and Indirect Grilling.

Use a old CLEAN rag and put some EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) on it and coat the grates on the grill. This will help keep the meat from sticking. Then place the meat over the hot side for 45 seconds. Lift rotate 90 degrees and another 45 seconds. Repeat this on the other side. This will give you those great grill marks.

Once that is done then place the meat on the other side and let it cook with indirect grilling turning only once or twice.

There are two ways you can check to see if it is done. The first way is to do the finger test. If your fingertip presses into the meat too much then it is not time. If you press it in and it feels spongy and has some bounce you may be done. You can use a thermometer, but remember any holes on the meat will let the juices leak out and give you a dry steak. Here is a site that describes it a little more for you:

http://www.bbqreport.com/archives/barbecue/2005/07/24/how-to-tell-when-a-steak-is-done

Once the meat is then cooked you will want to place it all on a plate and then cover with foil tightly and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the steak and not leak out and give you dry steak as you cut into it. Also the steak will cook about 5 degrees more than when you took it off, so remember that when you use a thermometer checking the temp.

Well this is a sampling of how to grill a great steak. I may add something later on. My brain is currently shutting down for the weekend. OH, one last thing. NEVER, and I mean NEVER (my personal opinion) use any instrument other than a thermometer to poke the meat. Get a good set of long handled tongs. Any holes in the meat will defeat the purpose of a good juicy nicely done steak.

Ok now I am done...for now...

 

Thanks, Jim!!

Oh crap. . .

Son of a. . . . !!!!
I had a slight accident a few days ago with my poor computer chair. (I re-upholstered it a few years ago to match an ottoman I re-did.)
I honestly don't have an idea how, but, I tripped over this sucker when I was attempting to walk through to the bath room and CRASH!!
The back was distroyed as well as the eardrums of 10 of my neighbors. . .

 

But-- The best thing in the world happened. While setting up for a garage sale, a good friend of mine wheeled in an identical one that was broken also and marked it with a sticker that said "FREE"
(OoOOooooh Thank You, Brit. You are a life saver!!)

♫♪Hal-e-lu-YAH!!♪♫

 

 

I only needed the plastic part on the back rest to fix the chair and I was left with this. . . .

 

. . . .Lightbulb Alert. . . .

The kids are always looking for a hard surface to color on at home or when we are in the truck. . . (its no fun to sit at the desk or the table, ya know?)
I took an old pant leg from some jeans I cut off into shorts and then just slid it on and tied off the ends with some jute.

 

Too bad I didn't have a few of these. . .
The girls are in love with their new little 'lap desk'. :D

Stepping Stones

What have I been up to lately? I have still been crafting but its basically more of what I have already posted so I didn't want to bore anyone with multiple posts of the same old-same old.
Here is something new though. . . .
Garden Stepping Stones!

 

I've been putting a lot of time in with helping my mom in her yard and I absoulutely LOVE it!! I just wish it was mine and not hers though. . hahah.

We all had fun putting these together and I think they turned out great! They were really easy to make too.

 

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

-molds to make the stepping stones in. You can buy these cheaply at craft stores or at a dollar store like I did.
-Concrete. I used quickrete. One bag goes a loooonnng way!!
- Water to mix the concrete with.
- An old serving spoon, to fill your molds.
- A large plastic tub to mix the concrete in. I used an old kitty litter container.
-stuff to decorate your stones with. I used glass gems I found at the dollar store.

There are two types of concrete that you can use for the manufacture of stepping stones. One, quick-setting concrete, is available at hardware and home improvement centers. The cheapest to buy is Quikrete, at about two dollars for a 60 pound bag. It is, however, a bit pebbly, and you may wish to purchase a large sieve to filter out the larger materials. I was fornate enough to have been able to borrow a large sifter so it worked out great :) . . . Thanks Jim!!

 

The second is stepping stone concrete, available at many craft centers. This type of concrete is made especially for stepping stones, so is of course a bit more expensive. You are in to it about $5 per stone if you go that route.


The best way to mix concrete is to measure the concrete first and place it in the mixing tub. I used a 5parts Quikrete and 1part water and it worked well. Add the water last - you want to end up with concrete at the consistency of cake batter. Too much water, and the concrete will fail to cure.

 

Allow the concrete 15-20 minutes to rest before adding your choice of decorations for the stepping stone. You have to use a little bit of force to press in the stones so they'll stay in there after the concrete has cured.

 

 

I found these molds at the dollar store. The plastic ones were plant saucers that came 6 to a package and the foil ones are mini pie tins that came 4 to a package but were a little bigger in size.


Allow 30 minutes of drying time before you attempt to write your name or a witty slogan in your stepping stone. If the imprint fills with water, then simply smooth it out and wait an additional 5 minutes or so and begin again. Allow 30 minutes of drying time before adding hand or foot prints.

Allow the stepping stone to dry for at least 48 hours. Turn the mold over, placing an old towel on the work surface. Gently tap the mold, and it will release the stepping stone. You can now paint the stone if you wish.

I think it would be fun to decorate some using those plastic glow-in-the-dark moons and stars too. The possibilites are endless. I can't wait to do some more of these!!