Way too many spices!

That's what I usually have in my cabinets, way too many spices. I'm sure I'm the only one who does this but I always forget what I have and then end up buying more of the same stuff. So I took inventory and made a little list so I would always know what I have and what I need. I can just look at a recipe and then check the list to see what I have. Anyhow, it works for me.

I actually forgot to take a before picture so just take my word for it, it was messy!

***edited to say:
Rhonda in OK,
No we can't get these brands of spices here in Croatia. We have been here for 8 years and so I have brought them back little by little.

Nina,
Every time I go to the states I bring back some cans of non-fat cooking spray, they last a long time if you go sparingly!

Everyone,
I have so many cream of tarters because we had a group of people come once and they wanted a list so I gave them one and they all brought a little of each thing, so I got about 10 cream of tarters. So, if you have any unusual ways to use the COT, please let me know!

Wow, Great Ideas!

Hey check out these great ideas I found around Blogville.

Over at And Everything Nice, Megan had this great idea for organizing kids and they're chores. I wish I had thought of this when my kids were younger, oh well, you can benefit from Megan's ingenuity. I may even make one of these jars for me, hey maybe I will.

Make sure to drop by Megan's place and let her know if you use her cool idea.

And check out these super cute boys shorts made from bandanas. Over at Blue Yonder there is a complete tutorial for making these cute summer shorts.

These seem like such a great idea for little ones running around the back yard.

Have a great weekend Y'all!

New Work Space!

Well I finally did it! I finally cleaned up and organized my sewing space. Actually I'm not finished but I'm pretty happy so far. I was such a mess and when I wanted to sew I had to straited up first. I had been meaning to organize it but never could seem to make it a priority.

Because I use a small corner in Johnny's (wonderful hubby) office I had alot to fit into a small space. I figured the best way to fit it all in was to go up as in shelves. I didn't really have the money to buy a system but I did have some old wooden mounts and a board that fit just fine. After I put the shelf up I noticed that it really looked a bit lost on the wall.

So I took the shelf, mounts, drawers from the little chest and the thread board out side and stained them red. I wanted a real red but I got more of a mahogany/redwood look to the wood.
After it all dried and I was surprised that it only took a couple hours to completely dry, I moved it all inside. I finally got the shelf up and then thought about something I had seen.
You know in the super wonderful sewing rooms they always have rools of ribbon on a bar, well I figured a way to do it. Johnny and I went to the local hardware store and found a 3 ft. thing metal bar. I drilled holes in the mounts and inserted the bar, whala, a ribbon holder. The only thing I need to do is to cut the bar off at the end and use some bolts to finish it. I know it's not Heather's studio but it's functional and it's what I have.
So all that's left is to get busy creating. I have been doing some culottes for my sweet Hannah girl lately but after that I have some neat projects I want to start.

Anyhoo, thanks for looking!!

Homemade Bed Skirt

I miss lots of things in Croatia but one thing I miss alot is all the home decorating things. You know all those goodies at Hobby Lobby. :0)

Well I know a bed skirt isn't a decor piece but it sure does dress-up a bed. So after some looking and realizing they don't have bed skirts in Croatia I thought I would try my hand at making one. I had some dark marroon trigger like material and a flat, white bed sheet and so I began. It was a little hard to get the demensions right but once I did I managed. I'm pretty proud of it and it was really easy to do, well kinda.

this is my before picture, I'm sure you can see all the dust under the bed, looks kinda naked
Then after adding the bed skirt, I think it looks pretty good, at least you can't see the dust under the bed. Oh yea and that adorable Teddy was a gift from Johnny, he went to Build a Bear and made me that teddy with a special message inside, very special!

I found several tutorials online for your grazing.
Make A Pleated Dust Ruffle
HGTV - Making a Dust Ruffle
Crib Bed Skirt

Have a great Lord's Day!

Slowly Settling In

Well we have been here almost two weeks and we're slowly settling in. It's hard to find a functional place for everything so it takes some time. Plus I'm a little leary to put pictures on the walls until I know for sure where they go. It's hard here, once you put a hold in concrete there's no covering it up, so I must plan ahead.

I did take a few pictures of the outside of the house and the kitchen. So that there is no mistake, we are not rich missionaries we just serve a rich God. We are renting this house for just a little more than the last old raggedy one we lived in .

house from the street

I always wanted a yellow house ever since I was a kid and God just seen fit in His goodness to give me one even if it's just for a few years. I like it and it's first class compared to normal Croatian standards.

from the front door looking toward the garage

front yard looking toward the road

The yard is really nice and landscaped very nicely. We signed the contract today and it has to be exactly the same when we leave for the next city in 3 years. I'm not the best gardener, I wanna be but I usually kill more than I grow. Hum, better fix that. Oh yea the yard is really nice, the gate can only be opened if we BUZZ the visitor in and then there is the garage we can go through and those are the only ways into the yard, good for kids.

I know you all wanted to see KD, she's our Croatian Golden Retreiver. She's Croatian only because she was born here but she has an American heart. She's bilingual too. :0)

the front door

It's prety modern but we like it. The kitchen, dining and living rooms are all together. The outward wall is pretty much all windows. I have lot's of sewing to do to get the curtains ready for that wall.

Oh yea the kitchen. It's samll but very functional. I love the way the cabinets open, from bottom to top. Oh yea that pot of the stove is hot beef stew, we had it with corn muffins. Yum!

One more, this is the stairway going upstairs. I have to figure out what to put on that wall between the windows. Any ideas are greatly welcomed.

So that's a few pix of the new house, I'll post more and I clean up all the clutter everywhere. Thanks for being so interested!

The Most Wonderful Church Family!!!

And yes I do have the most wonderful church family in the world!!

Well it all started back a couple of months when we were in a mission conference in Duncan, Oklahoma. We were blessed to have our fellow church member-missionaries in the same conference with us. Bro. and Mrs. Horton are missionaries to the Chiappas Indians in Mexico and dear friends of ours. I got to spend a lot of time with Suzanna (Mrs. Horton) during the conference and we wasted alot of time chatting. :0)

Well while talking about appliances and cooking we got on the subject of KitchenAid mixers. I told her that I had always wanted one but really knew they were out of our price range and even if we did have the money to buy one the shipping to Croatia would be insane. Anyhow, the conference ended and we said farewell to our dear friends and headed down the road.

Well it had been a while (actually months) since we were at our home church Trinity Baptist in Texas and we were excited to see friends. After a wonderful sermon by our pastor, Bob W. Smith and prayer time, he drew our attention to a huge silver box someone had placed on the platform. Preacher joked about the package being for him and then he looked at us and called us up to the platform. We we surprised but knew he did this kinda thing often so new members would know who the missionaries were when they came home. Anyhoo, he went on to ask me if I liked to cook and bake and I do, then he directed me to the big silver box now placed on a chair in front of me. As I opened the package I was shocked to find a new 6 qt., pearly white KitchenAid mixer just for me.

Come to find out, Suzanna had told a Kristy another dear friend about our conversation and she ran with the ball. The church folks raised the money to buy the mixer and enough money to ship it too. I know that I really do have the most wonderful church family ever!

Oh yea and last week, I made my first successful loaf of bread and it was good!

Thank you Bro. Smith, Suzanna Horton and all of those at TBC who sacrificed to be such an incredible blessing to me. Love y'all!!

Away with Kool-aid Mustaches

The other day my kids had some huge kool-aid stains on their faces. Have you ever tried to scrub those things off??? Really you can take off half the skin in the process. So the other day i sent the kids to clean their clown like faces and after a while my oldest son came to me with a great hint. Aparently while brushing his teeth he got a pretty good amount of tooth paste on his kool-aid stained lip and guess what happened when he wiped it off?? Yep, it came off.

So when cleaning off kool-aid stains, use a little tooth paste, not gel but old fashioned tooth paste and a damp rag and watch the stain disappear.

Thanks alot to Cody for this great hint. No more avoiding kool-aid for me.