Weed your Garden with a Screwdriver! (The Easy Way!)

What You'll Need:

Weeds
Long Flat Head Screwdriver

How To:

1- Plunge the screwdriver into the dirt about 3-4 inches deep at a 30-45 degree angle aiming towards the group of weeds you're looking to pull up

2- Wiggle the screwdriver in an up and down motion until your dirt starts to pull up in a clump

3- Pull out the screwdriver

4- Grab the dirt surrounding the group of weeds you're looking to pull up and twist up, bringing the weeds up with you. Doing this will pull up the loosened weeds along with the root! Shake the excess dirt off the weeds and toss them into your yard waste bin!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Yields: 16 pies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 14-17 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Cans Jumbo Flaky Biscuits (the kind that make 8 biscuits each)
• 1 Large Chicken Breast
• 1 1/2 Cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables
• 1 Can Cream of Celery Soup
• 1/3 Can Chicken Stock
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 Tbs Butter
• Garlic, Salt, Pepper (to taste)
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut Chicken breast into small cubes. Cook thoroughly in a pan with butter and garlic.
3. Heat soup and chicken stock in a saucepan until blended into a gravy consistency.
4. Mix chicken, vegetables and soup/stock "gravy" together in a bowl.
5. Flatten biscuits and form into cupcake tins
6. Spoon filling into each cup, fill to the top and even out.
7. Top with cheddar cheese
8. Bake in preheated oven for 14-17 min

Enjoy!

Mason Jar Candle Holder

How cute are these candle holders? Mason Jars. Twine. Lace. Daisies. Fabulous. They look amazing at night on the front porch. Ahh. I love adding a little south to my house! 

Wanna see how I made them?

DIY:

1- Grab a mason jar! (Or spaghetti jar)

2- Grab some pretties! (Lace, ribbon, flowers, twine, rocks, beads)

3-Grab a candle!

4- Light and enjoy!

How I made mine:

 1- Hot glued ribbon around the jar

2- Wrapped twine around the top and tied into a bow at the front

3- Hot glued a daisy scrapbook embellishment to the front of the bow

4- Added some beads to the bottom of the jar and dropped a candle in

5- To light the candle I lit the end of a piece of uncooked spaghetti 

DIY Wedding Cupcake Toppers

Mr. and Mrs. Cupcake Toppers

(Tutorial)

Makes 12

How To:

1- Cut out (24) 1 1/2 in circles using a cricut cutter (I used Elegant Edges {Circle 4}

2- Cut 6 Cake Pop sticks in half

3-Embellish your circles (This can be done before or after step 4)

4- Hot glue one half stick to the back of a circle, and dab hot glue on the front of the stick and a dot above, to the right and to the left. Add a second circle on top of your glue

Done!

Stick in your cupcakes and enjoy!

Regrow Vegetables From Kitchen Scraps

You can regrow nearly anything with just a little bit of love and water!

Romaine Lettuce

When you're done preparing your lettuce for your meal, make sure you save the very end part (the bottom of the heart) and place it in a glass of water. Set it on a windowsill near some sun. In just about a week you should see some new baby lettuce sprouting up! Make sure you change the water every few days or so. 

Green Onions (Scallions)

When you're done preparing your onions for your recipe, save the end part (the white 'root' part) and place them in some water and set the glass on a windowsill near some sunshine. Make sure the roots are facing down. Green onions are about the easiest food to regrow, and will sprout up in about a week. Again, just like the lettuce, make sure you change the water every few days or so as well.

Tips from my kitchen:

You can regrow vegetables (or any kind of plant, really) in water alone. However, it is always best to give plants nutrients through the soil. I like to start my plants or veggies in water on the window sill then take them outside into soil once they start sprouting (or rooting)

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! Please share if you think your friends might like this too!

(Pin, Share, etc. below!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Yields: 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 Cup Butter, softened
• 1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• Peanut Butter Chips (to taste)

Directions

Prepare chocolate cake mix per box instructions, adding peanut butter chips to the batter. Fill your cupcake tins and bake accordingly.

Frosting

Beat butter and peanut butter together with a mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar. Beat for at least 3 minutes or until fluffy. (You can add additional butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, or even milk if the frosting is not to your liking.)

Free Shopping List Printable

(Click the photo to download and print)

Free Shopping List Printable!

Check out the newest free printable I made using Google Drive's Drawing App! It's yours to use, if you think anything can be added to it, let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

Passion Tea Lemonade Skinny Recipe

Skinny Starbucks Copy-Cat Passion Tea Lemonade
Makes 4 Quarts

5 Calories per serving!

Ingredients

• 4 Passion Tea Bags
• 1 Pouch of sugar free lemonade mix (the kind that makes 1 quart)

Directions

 Boil 4 cups of water and steep tea. Add lemonade mix. Add another 1 quart of water. If it's a bit tart for you or not sweet enough you can add some splenda or other sugar substitute. 

Serve over ice!

Cat Card Tutorial (Cricut)

How Cute!

This simple cat card was made with the help of my favorite paper crafting tool, the Cricut. I used the Doodlecharms cartridge to get the cat face, whiskers and nose. I even cut out a little mouse and put it on the inside of the card!

Gather Materials

What I Used:

• Cricut
• Doodlecharms Cartridge
• Cardstock
• Darice Permanent Adhesive Roller (I swear by this product- I LOVE it! Everything sticks so well!)
• Double-Sided Adhesive Foam Squares
• Ribbon
• Pom-Poms (small)
• Button Brads
• Brad Hole Punch
• Cricut Tool Kit

Making Your Card

First

Using your cricut, pre-cut two cat faces using the shadow button. (I made mine the same size [3in] but you can make the background head larger if you'd like. I liked just the pop of color from behind so I used both 3 in heads. 

Also, grab 2 pieces of cardstock (your choice- but I like to make one plain so it's easier to write on the card on the inside) Cut to the desired length ( I made mine 8 1/2 x 11 for the card base and  made the card cover 8 1/2  x 10 1/4- to give a little room for the ribbon I added at the bottom) Glue the two pieces of cardstock together and press down on the fold to make your card.

 

Next

Add embellishments to your cat

1- Glue the whiskers and nose you cut out to the face, Poke holes for the eyes using one of your cricut tools (the hook works well- you can skip this step and just use a pen to mark the eyes), Punch the holes with your brad punch, Insert the brads for the eyes

2- Add double-sided adhesive foam to the back of the cat to add height and dimension to your face

3- Glue the cat face to the card and add some ribbon if you'd like and DONE!

This is all yours! Create it how you want it!

Envelope

You can add a bow closure to your envelope to add a fun touch!

How I did it:

1- Glue the ribbon to the card

2- Punch holes in the top flap of the envelope

3- Thread ribbon through and tie!

Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet

Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet
Serves 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 13-14 minutes

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 2 pounds polska kielbasa, cut into pieces
• 1 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion cut into pieces
• Garlic
• Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Mustard

Directions
Spray or coat a large nonstick pan with olive oil and set at medium-high heat. Add kielbasa slices. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside

In the same pan (do not rinse or drain)  add the cabbage and onion. Season to taste with garlic (about 1 1/2 tbs), sugar (just a pinch), old bay seasoning, salt, and pepper (a few shakes each). Stir to combine and cook for  10 minutes. Add a squirt or two of mustard (any flavor) and add the sausage back to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes to heat through.

This dish is great served over wide egg noodles or mashed potatoes. My honey likes it by itself too!

How To Make Free Computer Art

How To make this print for FREE on Google Drive

1. Open 'Drawing' (program) in Google Drive- If you don't have a Google account, I highly recommend getting one. You can use so many of their features and programs all free!

2. Find Your State- go to google.com and search for your states. Below you can see how to search for transparent only images. This will help make sure there is no background in the way. I use this search feature all the time when searching for embellishments for photos. 

3. Insert Your States- Add your states to your page by uploading and inserting a photo. (You can also just copy and paste from the web if that's easier)

4. Add Hearts- Add hearts to where the city/cities you lived (This will be our starting point for our scribble dotted lines!)

5. Draw Dotted Lines- In order to make these lines, use the scribble line feature (don't worry about making your scribbles perfect, they automatically smooth them out for you!) Make the line then make the lines dotted by using the line dash drop down menu. 

6. Add Text- You can make this say anything you want, just add a text box and edit the text, size and font!

If you have any questions or need help creating your own, send me an email! I would love to hear from you and I'd be more than happy to help!

Thanks,

Katie Lynn

Ps! Don't forget to follow my blog for more ideas, tips and tricks!

Another example:

Coleus Care (Tips and Tricks)

Colorful Coleus

Coleus plants are by far one of the easiest plants I've worked with. They are so beautiful and come in many different colors. They can grow in full sun, shade, anything works well. You just have to adjust your watering schedule accordingly.

Tips and Tricks:
(From a new-found green thumb---you can have one too!)

1. Water, water, water. Coleus love water, so make sure they get plenty. A little miracle grow in the water will help, too. (But that really goes for any plant you're growing.)

2. Pinch the leaves. When coleus starts to grow larger, two tiny baby leaves with pop up at the top. Pinch them both off and four will grow in its place! (This helps your coleus grow nice and large and bushy!)

3. Start new seedlings. You can trim off stems of your coleus (about 4-6 inches worth) and place it in a small glass of water that's near bright, but indirect sun. Once you see roots growing off your clipping you can transplant them into some moist, damp soil.

Enjoy!

Twine Pears Tutorial

I love a good three step anything! Recipe, craft, you name it. This is pretty self explanatory, and you can't really go wrong with it. As you can see my twine was not wrapped perfectly around my light bulbs, but that's okay! Pears don't have a perfect shape anyway. It helps them look less like a light bulb wrapped in twine!

Try something new! Let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you! I'm always looking for new tips and tricks for decorating on a budget.

Enjoy!

Thanks for viewing and don't forget to follow my blog for more tips and tutorials!

Loss of a Furry Family Member

When a furry family member passes away...

Here's how I'm trying to make it a little less hard. (I know how hard it is, and my thoughts are with you if you're going through this.)

Make it Special

Even though it's hard and you're sad, try to remember the best things. The great times you got to share with your pet. Use photos to create a collage or scrapbook page or even print some photos to hang in frames as a reminder of the love you shared. If you have other pets in the home or children, you can use this time to include photos of the rest of the family too, create these projects and new memories together. Having a creative outlet can take your mind off the giant gallon bucket of ice cream you'd like to dive right into. (Trust me, I know the feeling.) It can also bring a family closer together by spending time enjoying each other's company.

--- The collage today was on Fotor. Check out my blog review here.

And don't forget to follow my blog!

Best Photo Free Editing Software (And Review)

Fotor - Photo Editor

So I've been trying to find the best photo editing software out there that is (of course) free.  Fotor.com is the best one I've found thus far. It has all the great features that I look for, basic editing like croping, fine-tuning, and it has advanced options (that are still free) like blemish fixes, red-eye remover, [it even has lip tinting  mascara, eye shadow, wrinkle remover, smoothing, reshaping, and so much more, still free] all while having an easy to use, clean cut interface.

What really caught my attention was the "try it first" demo/thing. When I first went to the page it didn't bombard me with popups making me sign up or anything like that, I could just go and try the website and see how I liked it (which made it helpful because this wasn't the first website I went to) It gave me some of their pictures in the 'basket' for me to try out on the canvas. It didn't take me long to scan all the features before I stopped my search. This was the one. Plus, you can upload photos from your computer, dropbox, facebook, picassa, flickr, webcam or the web. 

The program also has a free app for your smartphone that you can download and edit from there as well! They still have some great features available (all free) [not as many on the web, but that can be expected]

Here is a photo I edited from the smartphone app!

(After)

(Before)

Enjoy!

Try something new, you'll like it! Don't forget to follow my blog for more tips, tricks and ideas! :)

Weekend Beach Date!

Our Day at the Beach!

 We had such an amazing day at the beach yesterday! It was great to have a day all to ourselves and enjoy some relaxation by the ocean.

Breakfast

They day started off by making some fresh banana muffins for breakfast. They were just too good! Along with our muffins we made some eggs and sausage. 

(Click the photo to see how we made these muffins!)

Ready to Jump in!

I had everything all packed (Towels, blanket, dry clothes, a zipper pouch to hold sunscreen, lip balm, etc, and a bag for wet suits all in one big bag [a Thirty-One Large Utility Tote- I highly recommend]). My honey likes to say the women in my family like their bags, totes and 'containers for containers'.  I like it. Organization is a good time! We also packed a thermal tote with some fresh fruit, veggies and sandwiches and made sure it would stay cool with frozen water bottles (Those came in handy with the warm weather!)
Once we got to the beach we laid out our blanket and headed right for the water. We had an excellent time swimming (even though my bathing suit bottoms kept falling off me!) [Oh well- gives me an excuse to buy a new one with the Real Women Lane Bryant Dollars I earned last shopping trip! Oh and I can't wait for more of the T3 Capris!- I'll make sure to post my curvy girl shopping experience with you all! I know sometimes shopping can be a bit of a pain..]
After we were done swimming we went back to our blanket and enjoyed some nice cold fresh fruit and laid out in the sun for a bit. We even had some time for my honey to fly her kite! It was such a beautiful day!

Can't wait for our next Weekend Beach Date!

Try something new, you'll like it! Don't forget to follow my blog for more tips, tricks and ideas! :)