/**/ The Purposeful Wife: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Teaching My Child To Sweep


As a parent, one of my key responsibilities is teaching my children how to work hard and how to manage a home. Though only 2, S is responsible for cleaning up her toys and crayons. She helps throw away diapers, and puts her dirty clothes in her laundry basket. As she grows, so will the list of housekeeping tasks I require of her.

When I saw this pin for a fun way to teach your child to sweep, it seemed wonderful! S loves doing what mama does. She has a toy broom which she loves to "sweep" with {or dance to "Steppin' Time" with, alternately}. And she loves games. Perfect!

I purchased a roll of painter's tape and marked a square for her in the linoleum to sweep all of the crumbs into. I had even allowed a good week or so of dirt to build up, making it a timely exercise ;). Oh wait, maybe sweeping just hasn't happened as often as I'd like it to since baby #2 :). In any case, the floor was good and prepped for her sweeping game!

Bless her heart, my little girl just doesn't have the coordination for this activity yet. Oh, someday she will {and we will bring this game back out when she does- I still think it's a fabulous idea!}, but for now, one little hand holds the broom, swishing crumbs back and forth with no rhyme or reason.

Ah well. Guess she can't be my floor cleaner yet {drat!}.

What chores are your kids responsible for? Do you have any inspiring ideas for making housework more fun?

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Felt Mr. Potato Head


All you need for this adorable play thing is colorful felts and a good pair of scissors. The blogger who made the handy-dandy printable pattern for it double-layered her felts and sewed them together {darling!}, but I am no seamstress, and fairly anti-crafty, so I simply hot glued the pieces that needed sticking together, and kept each accessory single layered.


Hers was way cuter than mine, but mine works. So if you are super crafty, please go to town and make your Potato Head awesome. But if you are just a simple gal like me, I'll bet you can still make a semi-decent one that your kids still love playing with :). I love pins that can work for anyone!


S enjoyed playing with this today while Mommy was in the dentist's chair. Although I think she wished that the felt mustache would stick to her face too ;).

P.S- I have officially been slacking when it comes to this 31 Days business... as you know, October ends tomorrow, but to make up for my missed posts I plan to finish up the rest of the week with more pin-tastic posts :). Thanks for sticking with me!



Monday, October 28, 2013

Homemade Deodorant


I've been wanting to make my own deodorant for a long time. If you recall, it was even one of my 12 Projects for 2013 {woohoo! another checked off the list!}. I followed Passionate Homemaking's recipe, and used Kitchen Stewardship's suggestions for getting it into an empty deodorant container.

Many heavy sweaters claim that this recipe works great for them. What can I say- maybe I am the heaviest sweater of them all? Maybe I shouldn't have started using it during one of the hottest times of year. I don't know ladies... I just didn't love it.

Application of this deodorant is literally rough- the baking soda makes it a little abrasive. I had to store it in the fridge to prevent it from melting, so several weekends that we traveled, I ended up using my husband's deodorant instead. Smelling like a man {even a good smelling one} wasn't my favorite.

I thought I would continue to use it, and just buy the regular store bought stuff for travel. But once I had a sweet smelling tube of Secret in my house again, it felt so luxurious and smelled so good, that I haven't gone back. So if you're wondering what the random bottle of deodorant is doing in my fridge... well, it is my poor neglected homemade experiment.

Maybe now that the days are cooler I'll give the homemade stuff another try. I don't know though... part of me likes a soft and gentle deodorant that smells like flowers. Even if it does cause cancer or alzheimers or whatever it is people are worried about. Wow, that sounds horrible! Maybe I should rethink that statement? Hmm.

Do you make your own deodorant? How did the experience go for you?

Friday, October 25, 2013

Pumpkin Spice Lattes


I can officially say that this 31 Days of Pinterest experiment has changed my pinning habits. Instead of pinning and forgetting, I've been pinning with real intent and acting on more pins.

For example, I pinned this Pumpkin Spice Latte on Pinterest a mere 12 days ago. Two days after pinning it, I purchased the ingredients on my weekly shopping list, and whipped it up the following day.

Progress, people!

This homemade pumpkin spice latte mix is super quick, easy, and inexpensive to make. One batch will keep for at least a week in your fridge, and makes 7 or more lattes. Once you taste it, you'll want to just eat the mix by itself :)... it is seriously that good. Tastes just like pumpkin pie!

My only issue is that I'm not a coffee every day kind of gal. While I love me a good cup of joe, I am a tea drinker first and foremost. A french press is our only coffee making device, and I am horrible at knowing how much coffee and water to put in. Due to my coffee making deficiencies, my latte never turned out right.

I knew that the problem had to be the coffee I was making, because on it's own the mix was so delish! So I took my jar of pumpkin mix over to several friends houses {friends who make good coffee}, and sure enough, this recipe is amazing.

Feel free to laugh at the silly girl who can't make a decent cup of coffee. Then go and make your own batch of pumpkin spice lattes, and enjoy these last few fleeting days of October!

Any french press coffee making tips for me? What's your go-to morning drink?

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Orange Peels + Vinegar Cleaner


The picture looked so bright and beautiful and perfect. How exciting to make your own natural, non-toxic, and yummy smelling all-purpose cleaner!

So I grabbed a mason jar, peeled a whole bunch of clementines, stuffed them in it, and poured vinegar over them. I ran out of vinegar when the jar was half way full, and then hoped beyond hope that it would still work.

Instead of leaving the peels to soak for two weeks as recommended, I think I left them for {count 'em} FIVE weeks... oops. I watched the peels get darker and not so bright or pretty. I hoped beyond hope that it would still work.

Tonight I *finally* drained the vinegar into a spray bottle, hoping beyond hope it would still work. The oranges, albeit brownish and dingy looking, had no mold. The only odor was pungent vinegar and citrus. I diluted it one part water to the vinegar, shook it up, and sprayed down my kitchen table and counters.


My kitchen smells {and looks} pretty decent. So despite my failings, I'm going to chalk up this Pinterest experiment as a success.

Unless if there is some nasty disease or airborne bacteria that my family could get from five week old orange peels soaked in vinegar? Please clue me in if this is possible, and I will discontinue use immediately!


Do you make your own household cleaners? What recipes have worked best for you? I'd love to know!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Pretzel, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Cookies


Please tell me this title made you just as excited as I was when I found this pin! If you love pretzels, peanut butter, and chocolate as much as I do, we could probably be BFF's. Truly. And these cookies are an incredible combo of three of my favorite edibles.

They are as delightful as I ever could have imagined them to be. I've made them probably three times so far, and I'm not sure I'll ever go back to plain old chocolate chips again!

The blogger who shared the recipe says that you can use any chocolate chip cookie dough as your base, and we have a favorite {passed down from family friend Beth, a.k.a Queen of the Kitchen}, so I used that and just added pretzels, cut down on the chocolate a tad, and added PB chips. Soo sooo good.

If you'd like Beth's cookie recipe {the secret amazing ingredient is vanilla pudding}, here it is:

1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
2 and 1/4 cup flour
One small package of vanilla instant pudding

Mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in a 12 oz. package of chocolate chips (or, for this recipe, 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate, 1/2 cup peanut butter chips, and one cup of broken pretzel pieces). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until slightly golden.

The original pin also suggested sprinkling the tops of the cookies with sea salt. I've done it with and without, and either way they were salty enough for me... so now I skip it, since I figure our diets are not lacking in salt consumption ;). 



Monday, October 21, 2013

Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers


I have officially made these Pinterest, string cheese-stuffed, mini-peppers not once, but twice. Once just to eat with my family, and once for a party. They were a hit on both occasions!

Very, very simple: Just cut your string cheese in half, slice peppers down their centers and remove the seeds, insert cheese, and broil.

The directions said to broil them for ten minutes. I did so the first time I made them, and the cheese spilled out everywhere... still tasty, just not as pretty {as you can see in my photos}. The second time I only broiled them for 7 minutes, and I thought they turned out perfect {boy I wish I had remembered to take a picture this time!}.

Watch them as they cook, know your own oven, and use your best judgment. Either way, you can't really mess them up. They are super tasty! Just note that mine are no where near as pretty as the original pin :).

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Menu Planning Board


My apologies for failing to post yesterday! I am officially a 31 Days cheater... Instead of blogging during naptime yesterday, this sleep-deprived mama followed husband's orders and took a nap :). And it was totally worth it! 

When I decided to tackle a month's worth of Pinterest projects, this menu board was my first pick in the project line-up. 

I am a religious weekly meal plan maker... but so often I find myself in a rut, making the same things over and over again. My poor husband is not very picky, but he has two requests when it comes to dinner: 1) Variety, and 2) Meat. I was seriously letting him down in the first category!

The idea of this menu board is to pick 7 different dinner themes, one for each night. Here's my thematic line-up, just to give you ideas for a starting point:

Sunday- Soup and Bread
Monday- Italian
Tuesday- Comfort Food/ Homestyle
Wednesday- Mexican or Asian
Thursday- Vegetarian or Fish
Friday-Homemade Pizza
Saturday- Sandwiches/Grill/Junk Food

Other possibilities include slow-cooker, salads, breakfast for dinner... whatever you and your family like!


After I came up with categories, I proceeded to pour over my cookbooks and dig through my recipe box, writing each {approved} meal I've made in the past under the proper category. To my shock, I came up with somewhere in the ball park of 70 meals! That is a whole lot of dinner options. How did I forget about all of these recipes???


Each dinner idea got its own half of an index card. I made sure to include accompanying side dishes and veggies. On the back of the card, I wrote out the ingredients needed for that meal.

Meal planning is now a breeze! All that I need is in one place. I quickly inventory meats and meal staples in my freezer and pantry, then sit down with the board, pick my meals, and make my shopping list. Brilliant!

As I make each meal, they go in the bottom box on the board. Once I've made all of the meals from the top box, I'll just start over again making each one. This should give me almost two months of a different main dish each night. 

The original pin used a picture frame for the board. I just used a heavy piece of cardboard, and hot glued magnets to the back of it so that it can be displayed on my fridge. I covered clothes pins in paper and hot glued them to the board. The meal card holders are paper covered crayon boxes.

It was fun to make, and has proved to be super handy so far. I also love how it looks in my kitchen.

How do you go about meal planning at your place? Be sure to check out our series "Meal Planning: A Week in the Life" for more ideas from a handful of women on what they make for dinner!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Pipe Cleaner Color Sort

Want an easy to make educational activity that will keep your toddler engaged on the road {or at home, for that matter}? Well, today's your lucky day ;).


The Pipe Cleaner Color Sort will take you maybe five minutes to assemble. All you need is an empty container {I used a "puffs" one, but I imagine that an oats or even plain tupperware would work}, a few pipe cleaners in assorted colors, round binder stickers, markers, and a hole punch.


 You may notice that my holes are not as evenly or neatly distributed across the lid as the original pin was. That is because 1) my hole punch is pretty small, and couldn't reach far enough, and 2) I am not a brilliant and amazing crafty person. You also may notice that I didn't bother to prettily decorate it's exterior. If prettily decorating your Pipe Cleaner Sort thrills you, than please, by all means, go to town with it and have fun. Personally I just didn't bother.


The good news for me and you is that you don't have to be crafty, and this project doesn't have to be perfect {or even pretty!}, in order for your child to have a good time. S figured out the matching business rather quickly. She spent 10 or 15 minutes playing with it when I first made it for her, and usually revisits it at least once a day since. I think this would probably occupy a younger toddler for even longer.


*Note: The blogger who originated this idea recommends folding over the ends of the pipe cleaners and twisting them tightly to avoid poking fingers. This has worked well for us so far!


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Vintage Silhouettes


This project has got to be the highlight of 31 Days for me. When I first saw these "vintage pop silhouettes" on Pinterest, I completely fell in love with them. I adore everything classic! To think that non-crafty me could potentially capture such beautiful silhouettes of my children was thrilling.

The silhouettes look impressive, but they are downright easy to make- an elementary schooler could do it. The *hardest* part for me was getting my 2 year old to stand still for her profile shot. It took us about 15 tries, no joke.

Because I am impatient and lack crafting brilliancy, I did smudge them a tad. FYI, you should probably wait for each layer to dry before moving on to the next step ;).

The original pin used bright, stand-out colors. I chose to go with a simple black and white because I wasn't sure of where I was going to hang them {still trying to decide}, and black and white seemed safe for wherever they might end up.

This project was also very wallet friendly. I was able to purchase all of my supplies at Wal-Mart. The priciest necessity is the Modpodge. 


Oh, was it fun to capture my little girl's sweet curly locks and eyelashes!


Niall says our son looks like Alfred Hitchcock in his... and I have to agree. What do you think?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Shower Wand


Super easy life hack for you today, via Pinterest.

Step one. Purchase a soap dispensing dish sponge.

Step two. Fill halfway with blue Dawn, and halfway with vinegar. Shake up.

Step three. Store in your shower, and scrub walls as needed when you are already in there.

Step four. Enjoy a sparkling clean, sweet smelling shower!

It works. It was really easy. Now my house is that much cleaner!

My only word of advice? Put the Dawn in before you put the vinegar in. I thought, "Hmm... if I put the vinegar in first, the heavier Dawn will shoot right through it and I won't have to worry about it mixing."

Nope. Instead, vinegar leaked out everywhere because it didn't have the thicker soap to keep it in.

That is really the only thing you should know.

Happy shower cleaning!

See original pin, here

Monday, October 14, 2013

Pumpkin Donut Holes


Pumpkin is one of my favorite fall highlights. Give me a pumpkin spice latte, a pumpkin muffin, pumpkin pie or even a pumpkin candle and I am one happy girl; transported to a land of autumnal bliss.

Donuts are also pretty amazing :). I was super excited to try out this recipe for baked {not fried} pumpkin donut holes. They were the perfect treat for an early morning October play date.

Not at all difficult to make, the little munchkins were incredibly tasty. I ask you, how could a baked good rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar not be tasty? Seriously.

My daughter loved them. Her little buddy loved them. Her little buddy's mama loved them too. Definitely a winning treat!

My only complaint is that they aren't really donut holes. They are actually mini-muffins. You bake them in a mini muffin tin, yet something in me was really hoping they would still come out round. They did not.

Observe:


Even so, the cinnamon sugar coating is slightly reminiscent of donut holes. They were very delicious, very easy, and a big hit. Oh happy pumpkin goodness!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Coloring on the Go


Coloring is one of S's favorite activities. Last weekend we took her to a huge local farm that boasts a pumpkin patch, pig races, a petting zoo, homemade cider donuts, and hay rides {just to name a few}. Her favorite thing? In the bakery we ate our donuts at they had a giant coloring board on the wall. She colored on that thing for a good 40 minutes, happy as a clam. It's the little things, folks.


I'm always looking for simple activities to keep S occupied whilst we're out and about- in the car, at the doctor's office, in restaurants. This pin suggested putting crayons and post-its in a soap box, then slipping it in your purse/diaper bag.

Not only is it super portable and fun, it is tiny- a huge improvement on the stack of books or other toys I've lugged around at various times. Brilliant!

I picked up a hot pink soap box at Walmart for probably about $1. To my surprise, the standard size post-it note didn't fit. Is my soap box on the small side? Who knows. Good news- I have a humongous paper stash. I found some smaller sticky notes {colorful and in different shapes}, popped in a few crayons, and VOILA! Instant on-the-go entertainment.


We tested it at the pediatrician's office this week, and it worked like a charm. S has never waited so happily and patiently! From now on, the crayon soap box will be a staple in my diaper bag.

What simple things entertain your kids on the go?


Friday, October 11, 2013

Homemade Mozarella Sticks


I don't know about you, but mozarella sticks are one of my favorite appetizers. I mean, come on- hot, melted, gooey, cheese- deep fried.... need I say more? Really, I could have just stopped at "cheese"- isn't that enough?

You should know that this recipe originates with The Pioneer Woman, which instantly makes it awesome. Seriously, the woman is genius.

These lovely delicacies were easy to make, and a huge hit. I made them on a Friday when some of our best friends came over for a movie night. Everyone loved them!

Friend Amy, Son W, and Mum-In-Law Cathy enjoying cheesy goodness
 The only issue I ran into while making them was that my hands got all eggy and floury clumped, and I think that got in the way of the Panko sticking flawlessly and evenly to the mozarella. But I have that issue with everything I've ever breaded- chicken strips... and I actually can't think of anything else I've ever breaded. So never mind.

You get the picture. Delicious, tasty, a for-sure must try!

Anyone else out there have my issues with breading? 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Sock Bun


My sister Anna first introduced me to the sock bun. Her heavy, ridiculously curly, and out-of-control hair looked beautifully smooth and sleek in it. While she planned on teaching me how to do it on our vacation together, time got away and the tutorial never came to pass.

So naturally, when I saw a sock bun "how to" on Pinterest, I pinned that sucker. Beautiful, chic, no-hassle bun? Yes please!

Turns out, the sock bun is a bit more hassle than I imagined.I guess my sister just made it look easy! She wore it so well.

My first attempt was pretty messy. I've tried to trouble shoot it- I've done it with my hair both wet and dry. At this point the best I can come up with looks pretty much just like any other messy bun I could make without a sock. It just doesn't stay in as well as other messy buns I've made. Boo!

I guess some looks require practice... and silly me wants instant gratification ;). Have you tried the sock bun? Was it awesome, or not-so-much?

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Baked Oatmeal To Go


If you like baked oatmeal, you will like baked oatmeal to go. These are nothing like granola bars. They aren't at all like a muffin. If you've never tried baked oatmeal, it's kind of mushy and spongy. I like it. My family doesn't.

If you like baked oatmeal, you will be pleased to find that this recipe makes a ton of individual servings that will last in your freezer for a good long while. If your family doesn't liked baked oatmeal, you will, unfortunately, be eating them out of your freezer by yourself for a good long while.

If you like baked oatmeal, I think that frozen blueberries would be super tasty in these mini baked oatmeals. I didn't have any, so chocolate chips were a nice alternative. You know me and chocolate ;)!

If you like baked oatmeal, please come on over and help me eat mine? Thanks a bunch friends :). 


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Refreshing My Mattress


Who doesn't love the sensory experience of crawling into a freshly made bed with clean sheets? There is nothing like being greeted by sweet laundry smells as you lay your weary bones down at the end of another long day.

When I came across this brilliant idea on Pinterest for freshening and cleaning your mattress, I imagined the delightful experience of clean sheets magnified to the umpteenth degree.

My imagination wasn't too far from reality.

With a simple shake-up of baking soda and lavender essential oil sifted over the top, set for an hour, and then vacuumed up; my mattress was left refreshed and smelling divine. If you've tucked this pin away on your boards, I highly recommend implementing it. If you haven't pinned it yet, it's not too late to do so ;).

Vacuuming the baking soda up off of my mattress was a bit more tedious than I expected, but it was doable, and definitely worth the work. It's a simple fix for cleaning an often neglected {yet pretty important} area of the home!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Sidewalk Chalk Paint


It amazes me sometimes how the smallest amount of effort on my part can mean the world to my little girl. Parenting can be so complicated. It is *by far* the hardest job I've ever had... yet when I pause for S and give her my undivided love and attention, many wrinkles sort themselves out.

Take sidewalk chalk paint. It looks so easy- 1 cup of water, 1 cup of cornstarch, and a little bit of food coloring. Yet how easy is it to pin, plan on spending an afternoon playing with your kiddo, and then just forget about it? We mean to make the time for our kids. We intend to plan and execute special activities that lend themselves to sweet memories. But then life gets busy, and our to do lists consume our days....

Well, thank you 31 Days, because you were the fire underneath me that I needed to just do it. One lovely sunny day, S and I enjoyed an afternoon playing away with our sidewalk chalk paint.

Can I tell you that it was a super easy project? It required minimal effort on my part, but S had a blast! Definitely worth the opportunity cost mamas!








She started off painting the sidewalk ("Just like Mary Poppins!" she said, thinking of Bert's sidewalk drawings), and then moved to the grass, then ended up painting her little play house. A special afternoon, and one I hope to repeat often throughout S's childhood.

What simple activities do you and your kids love to do together?


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