Featured Blog: Life at the Zoo

First off, I want to let you know that I now have a button available for you if you have been one of my Monday feature blogs. The code is on my right sidebar; feel free to grab it (on a voluntary basis, of course).

Today’s featured blogger is someone I’ve “known” for quite a while, in the bloggy sense. Tricia from Life at the Zoo is a busy mom whose blog is funny and inspiring, and authentic.

Authenticity was her goal for 2010, but I really think she had it already. While you’re checking out that link for a look at her home in its authentic state, be sure to take note of what she did with the super cool chemistry lab chairs she scored for $4 each!

Tricia is crafty…here is one of her more recent projects:

And here are some of my other favorites:

Before and After buffet (you’ll see how she made the awesome lamp shades, too).

This table is soooo cool, you’ll have to see how she made it to believe it.

It took a lot of thought and planning to get this photo wall to look this good, and she shares her tips with us.

But Tricia is not only about projects and a pretty home. She is encouraging, and inspiring, and you can tell she truly loves her life. To get a glimpse of that read Things I Love…

On Saturdays, Tricia does a post about things she’s seen around the blogs that week, called Inspire My Saturday…it’s always fun to see some great things you may have missed. Recently, she celebrated her one year blogiversary, and did her Saturday post as a look back over the year. Inspire My Saturday, Birthday Edition is a good way to get to know more about Tricia and her blog.

Please stop by Life at the Zoo, take a look around, and be sure to leave a comment!

Winner

Random.org picked #2 as the winner of the sweater giveaway from Resweater.

That makes Treasia Stepp of Stepp Into My World the lucky lady!  Treasia said she likes the pillows people have been making with sweaters; now, if she likes, she can make one herself with her free sweater from Kris.

Coincidentally, I also felted a sweater recently.  The problem is, this time around, I didn’t mean to felt it!

I found this Ann Taylor LOFT wool/angora/cashmere hoodie at my consignment outlet for $1.  I loved it; it was soft, warm, and pretty.

Then this week I washed it.  I had done it before with no problem, but this time I accidentally left the machine on fast agitation, and I guess that’s what did it.  It shrunk.  I tried to stretch it out when it was wet, but it’s still just a little too small now.  Fortunately, I’m not out any money; I certainly got my dollar’s worth out of it.

I’m still hoping I can salvage it somehow…maybe get it wet again and just put it on and wear it to stretch it out?  Otherwise, I guess it will go into the sweaters-to-repurpose box.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

I Got Nuthin’

Sorry y’all, I’ve had a couple of sick kids this week, and there’s nothing of interest happening around here.

I will pick the winner of the Resweater giveaway tonight; until then, there’s still time to enter.

Thank You!

I’ve received a few awards recently that I need to acknowledge.  First, the Kreativ Blogger award was given to me by  Angie of The Country Chic Cottage, Melissa of Frugal Creativity and Kerri of Kerri’s Klutter.

Amber Waves of Grain gave me the Beautiful Blogger award.

I am honored that these ladies thought of me.  Thank you!

Both of these awards ask that you share 7 things about yourself, so here, totally randomly, are 7 trivial things about me.

1.  I like to sleep.  A lot.  I often take a nap in the afternoon.

2.  When I was in fourth grade, I came in second place in the school’s mandatory speech competition, with a 3-5 minute speech about robins.

3.  I still have two baby teeth (there were no permanent ones to take their place; dentists are always amazed that they’ve lasted this long).

4.  I have never broken a bone.

5.  I am a great-aunt 7 times over.

6.  I hate to make a salad, but I love to eat it if someone else made it.

7.  I don’t like to talk on the phone.

Okay, I’m going to offer these awards to anybody who has never received a blog award.  If you are reading this, and are as-yet award-less, take your pick of the two.  Tell 7 things about yourself, and pass it on to several blogs that you like.

Thanks again to Angie, Melissa, Kerri and Amber!  Please visit these ladies.

P.S.  Don’t forget to enter the giveaway I’m hosting for Resweater.

Featured Blog: Resweater, and Giveaway

Giveaway now closed!

Last week I was approached by Kris of Resweater to see if I’d like to host a giveaway for her. Of course I would! Her blog was new to me, so I decided to do it for a Monday highlight.

As you might suspect from the name, Kris’ blog is all about recycling sweaters. You know I did that several times, but she takes it to a new level.

Look at all these goodies she’s made!

Diaper covers for cloth-diapering mamas:

Adorable tissue pack covers:

Reversible purse:

Crazy-cute elf slippers:

Kris says these are dryer balls, but I think they look really fun to play with too:

Kris posts lots of tutorials so you can try your hand at making something from felted wool, and if you win her giveaway, you can start for free!

Kris sells wool sweaters for recycling in her artfire shop, and will give the winner the sweater of her choice. Just leave a comment on this post. Winner will be drawn this Thursday at 9:00 pm.

Please visit Kris’ fun blog and shop and see what she’s got going on!

I’m in Trouble Now!

 

Look what arrived today:

This is our first year selling cookies…I’m not a big fan.  Of selling, that is.  Cookies, I like. 

We were sort of chastised for not making the individual quota (trouble #1).  I’m sorry, but I’m not a salesperson, and I’m not going to take my 7-yr-old daughter door-to-door.  We did the best we could with people we know, and actually, I didn’t think we did too bad.

We, of course, got several boxes for ourselves, and let me just say that the Lemon Chalet Cremes and the Dulce de Leche are really good (trouble #2). 

Here’s an informal poll for you:

• Were you a Girl Scout?  (me: no)
• As a scout, did you like/do well at cookie selling time?
• What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

A Little Home Cookin’

For various reasons, I haven’t been doing too many Souper Saturdays this year, and I kind of miss it.  That’s not to say we haven’t had any soup…recently I made a big pot of ham and bean that was so good, I decided to share.

Ham and beans are a comfort food to me; my mom used to make it when I was growing up, but thick and not soupy.  I had never tried it myself until a couple of years ago.  I had a ham bone in the freezer and used this Basic Ham and Bean Soup recipe, with a few tweaks and great success.

This time around I had another ham bone in the freezer from a spiral ham we had back in the fall.  Basically, I considered that free, since it was inedible on its own.  A 2lb bag of Great Northern beans at Aldi is $2; I used 1/2 of that for this recipe.  So even including pantry items like onions and seasonings, it cost under $2 for a huge pot of soup that fed the five of us supper, plus several individual lunches.  Economical, delicious, and super easy…that’s a keeper!

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The night before rinse a pound of dried white beans, then cover with water and let soak overnight.  In the morning, drain and put in the crockpot.  Cover with water, or with a combination of water and chicken broth.  Add the ham bone, chopped onion, chopped carrot, chopped celery, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp mustard powder, and a couple of bay leaves.  Turn the crockpot on low and get on with your day.

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Later in the afternoon, the meat should be falling off the bone.  Take out the bone and remove the meat, chop it up and put it back in the pot.  If there is fat, skim off as much as you can.  Depending on how thick you like it, you may need to add more water or broth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  That’s it!

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Serve with cornbread and a salad—yum!  Even the kids rated it at 8 to 9 out of 10.

Enjoy!