Homemade Wallpaper Paste

I was working on redecorating and organizing my laundry room. I found this old wallpaper boarder that I had. I just LOVED it but when I went to put it up I realized I had no wallpaper paste.

This project had been on my mind for 9 months and I just wanted to get it done! I need an organized laundry room! I remembered someone saying they had made homemade wallpaper paste. So sure enough I found a recipe and made some of my own. It was so simple and CHEAP! It just cost me a few pennies.

Homemade Wallpaper Paste Recipe

1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp alum*
3 cups of water

Combine flour and sugar. Slowly add 1 cup of cold water and beat out any lumps. Put mixture in a saucepan. Add 2 cups of water. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat. When stiff, remove from heat and add alum. Store in an airtight container. It should keep several weeks. If the paste hardens, soften by mixing in small amounts of warm water as needed.

*Alum is a pickling spice found in the spice section of your store. It’s a preservative.

To hang wallpaper:

Cover the surface you will be using with plastic or white paper. You don’t want to use newspaper as the ink will bleed. Spread the paste onto the back of the wallpaper.

Then “book” the wallpaper by folding pasted sides together.

Then let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the paste set.

Then hang. That’s it! Isn’t it pretty! It’s a fluke that it just happened to match my chocolate brown walls in my laundry room and I just LOVE it!! Now laundry is a pleasure (almost) to do!

One more tip. I’ve had this wallpaper for over 15 years. I used some of it in one house but not all so it’s been stored in a box all this time. When I took it out some of the edges had creased and left a line. What I did to fix it was just take crayon and maker and fill in the spots. You can see in the picture above that it just went away!

I hope you will make your own wallpaper paste now! It’s so simple and for a few pennies you can make it yourself! Even if you have to buy the alum it’s still much cheaper than $8 for a big tub of it from the store! Tawra

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Here are few free tips from Moving On A Dime to point you in the right direction:

ORDER IN WHICH TO START PACKING

Start with things you don’t use every day.

• Memories – Grandma’s dishes, quilts, old books and Bibles, childhood toys and photos
• Garage items – Christmas and Holiday decorations, camping equipment and things in storage
• Things stored in closets that aren’t used often and out of season clothes
• Knick-knacks, pictures, mirrors and wall hangings
• Seasonal dishes, canning equipment, roasting pans, good china, good silverware, large serving platters
• Unnecessary CD’s, DVD’s and video tapes.
• Sewing room and craft items.
• Home office – Pack as much as possible except bills that need to be paid. Leave office boxes open and tape them closed at the last minute before moving just in case you need something out of them.
• Children’s toys and games – Pack most of the toys they don’t play with regularly.
• One week before moving, pack all unnecessary kitchen items, clothes and linens (except what you need for one week).

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10 Steps To A Cleaner House: Preventing Messes

There really is some truth in the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. We may say that all the time but do we really know what it means and even more importantly — do we practice it?

There are so many times in our daily living if we would take one or two extra minutes to prevent or fix a problem, no matter how big a hurry we are in, it will save 30 minutes or more dealing with that same problem at a later time.

Little things like wiping that sticky spill you make on the counter immediately with a rag instead of waiting until later when you have to chisel off the mess can make your life so much easier.

Try these suggestions for preventing headaches later. They may sound like common sense, but it’s amazingly easy to throw them all out the window when we’re “busy”. These all may seem like little things, but they add up over the course of a day. Staying ahead of things can keep your home looking neater and make your whole day run smoother, saving you time and energy.

1. Use a spoon rest. Even a small saucer or dish works. Its is easier to wash one dish than to try and scrape 5 or more spots on the stove or counter where you kept laying the spoon.
2. Make and cut sandwiches on the plate you are going to eat them off of to prevent messes on the counter (or cut bread on a bread board instead of the counter).
3. Rinse dirty dishes right away. I couldn’t figure out why I see so many people fill their sinks full of hot soapy water and vigorously scrub them before putting them in the dishwasher. Then it dawned on me that since they aren’t rinsing them immediately after using them they have to scrub them before putting them in the dishwasher. Why even bother with a dishwasher then?

4. Empty the trash before it is too full. Too many of us wait until the trash is stuffed and overflowing. Then you put something in the trash and it won’t fit, so you stuff it in there. If someone less patient or less responsible throws something in the trash and it falls on the floor, they leave it. It’s not their problem. Soon you have trash piled everywhere.

   Then along comes the “trash emptier person” (That’s a new term I made up — like it? trying to step around trash to get close enough to the trash can to empty it. This person then proceeds to stuff, push, pull and stretch until everything is squeezed into the one bag to avoid making two trips. What happens next? Of course the bag splits open or gets dumped in the process of stuffing it. This happens all the time. I know because if it didn’t they wouldn’t have invented “Hefty, Hefty, Hefty.” If you’re a “stuffer” you’ve probably experienced this personally.

   How much easier would it have been to take a moment to take it out before it was overflowing? Most of us have done this because when we don’t want to mess with it we convince ourselves that it is easier than having to make an extra trip to the trash can, but it isn’t.

5. Eat only in the kitchen or dining room. Don’t allow family members to drag food all over the house. I don’t think we realize how much of a mess we make when we eat all over the house. Besides the crumbs and spills, eating away from the table usually means that people leave empty wrappers, cans and containers all over. And don’t forget about the sticky rings and spots all over the furniture.

   I like to eat while watching TV. We all do. That’s OK, but try to keep it under control. Have the kids eat their after school snacks at the table or if you want to let them watch TV, then put a small table in the family room where they can eat their snacks.

   Make sure that all extra messy and crumbly items (like crackers) are eaten at the table. Leave the less messy things for the family room or bedroom.

You may find that it doesn’t work well for you to use all of these specific examples. The point is to try and think of something different you can do that will work for you. Every little thing that you can do to make your home function better will make your life easier.

      -Jill

For more easy cleaning tips to make your life easier, check out our Keeping It Clean e-books.

Read Part 2 of “10 Steps To A Cleaner House: Preventing Messes” here.

Photo By: John Rees

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Strawberry Leather

3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries*
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Place strawberries in a blender and process until smooth. Measure 2 cups of strawberry puree. Stir in lemon juice and corn syrup. Line a 15×10 inch jellyroll pan with heavy-duty plastic wrap and tape plastic wrap to the pan at the corners. Pour strawberry mixture in prepared pan and spread thin, leaving 1 inch on all sides. You can adjust this to fit your dehydrator or another pan; be sure it is spread thin on the pan. Dry in an oven at 150° or a dehydrator for 7-8 hours or until surface is no longer sticky. Remove leather from pan while still warm and roll up jellyroll fashion. Cut into logs and wrap in plastic wrap. Make five 2 inch logs.

*Any other fruit may be used in place of the strawberries.From Dining on a Dime

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www.LivingOnADime.com, Homemade Eye Glass Cleaner

Homemade Eyeglass Cleaner Recipe

Have you seen how expensive eyeglass cleaner is at the store? Did you know that you can make your own homemade eyeglass cleaner for just pennies?

Here is the best recipe we have found and use on a daily basis! With four people wearing eyeglasses in our family you know we go through a lot of eyeglass cleaner!

Homemade Eyeglass Cleaner

Fill a small spray bottle with:

• 1/2 isopropyl alcohol
• 1/2 water
• 1 drop of  dish soap (optional)

Gently shake. Spray on eyeglasses and wipe with a clean 100% cotton cloth.

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Several readers have asked about our church. We go to church at Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale. When we lived in Kansas, we joked around that we were the Andover, KS branch because we watched it home with mom and my brother and his family.

We’ve decided to post a teaching from Pastor Bob here each Sunday for those of you would like to enjoy it also.

If you don’t have a church home and can’t attend then you can watch their services live here.

Eastern Standard Time:

Saturdays – 6pm

Sundays – 8am, 10:15am, 12:30pm

Wednesdays – 6:30pm

If you can’t watch it live, here is a message you might like:

From Pastor Fidel Gomez

“Take A Stand”

What kind of Christian are you? Are you like a lemon meringue pie that looks good on the outside, but lacks real substance? Or are you a true believer that will stand up for righteousness? Through the examples of Daniel, John the Baptist, and Joseph of Arimathea, Pastor Fidel calls us to examine our willingness to take a stand for God, even when it may cost us.

      Enjoy!

      -Jill, Tawra and Mike

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Packing for a Picnic

Picnic season is upon us. Here are a couple of tips to help make things go more smoothly:

• Bring a box or picnic basket filled with non perishable things and a cooler for your cold things.
• Pack the picnic basket with the things you need first on top with everything else stacked in the order you will use or need it. For example, always put your table cloth on the top so you can spread it out first.
• Your cooler needs 25% ice and 75% food. Place the ice on the bottom of the cooler and on the sides if you can. Place the items that are heaviest or can spoil quickly right on top of the ice. Be sure to use the smallest cooler you can so it is packed full. Like a freezer, the more it is packed, the colder it stays.
• Larger chunks of ice melt more slowly.
• Make your picnic as elaborate or as simple as you choose. A loaf of bread with a package of bologna, some fruit and cookies can make just as great picnic memories as a full blown picnic with fancy barbecue and all the assorted side dishes.
• Bring plastic bags to store everything — including dirty dishes, trash, wet clothes or dirty diapers.

It can be frustrating to arrive at your picnic and find you have forgotten something, so here is a list to help you remember some of the most important basics. You can add to this list or take away, depending on your own needs.

Don’t Forget These Things:

Matches, charcoal and lighter fluid
Hand towels or large towels if you are going to be near water. Trust me, someone will get wet.
Sunscreen, insect repellent and a small first aid kit
Bottle opener
Paring knife
Serving utensils
Condiments– sugar, salt and pepper
Plates, cups and silverware
Paper towels or napkins
Tablecloth and/or blanket

If you are going to be someplace where the kids could get lost then provide each of them with a whistle to wear around their necks. Also don’t forget the baseball bat and an assortment of balls, sand buckets, shovels and Frisbees.

What do you need to forget?

Hand held electronics gadgets and games. Also leave your stress and worries at home. You can deal with them later when you get back.

Last, but not least, bring lots of sunshine, fun and love!

      -Jill

photo by: myklroventine

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Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms and grandmas out there! I know I’m early but I figured I would wish you a happy Mother’s Day today day because by Sunday you will be too busy to check the website.

You will be lying on your couch, eating your bonbons while your children and husband are fanning you and taking care of your every need. : )  In our dreams! : ) Well, maybe you will at least get to eat some bonbons.

One year I spent most of Mother’s Day cleaning up my kitchen, which the kids destroyed trying to make me breakfast in bed. I know it was the thought that counted. I really appreciated it and thought it was so cute until I crawled out of bed and saw my kitchen. I didn’t say a thing to them because they were so proud of themselves but I was so worn out at the end of that day. In spite of that, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. (Well, maybe the cleaning the kitchen part) : )

Here’s a Mother’s Day story I think most moms will appreciate and relate to!

      -Jill

Mother’s Day Cake Recipe

Light oven, get utensils, and measure two cups of flour.

Remove Johnny’s hands from flour, wash flour off him.

Remeasure flour. Put flour, baking powder and salt in sifter.

Get dustpan and brush up pieces of bowl Johnny knocked on the floor.

Answer doorbell. Return to kitchen.

Remove Johnny’s hands from bowl. Wash Johnny.

Answer phone. Return and remove 1/4 cup salt from greased pan.

Look for Johnny. Grease another pan.

Answer telephone. Return to kitchen and find Johnny.

Remove one hammer from bowl.

Take up greased pan and find layer of nutshells in it.

Head for Johnny who flees, knocking bowl off table.

Wash kitchen floor, tables, walls, and dishes.

Call Baker. Lie down.

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Delicious Mother’s Day Breakfast!

You discreetly open one eye and scan the room. Maybe if you don’t move they will think you are still sleeping. Crash! The door flies open, the scrambled eggs go airborne and you know they have found you out! There they stand in the doorway – your family, grinning from ear to ear. It’s another Mother’s Day and once again they are treating you like a goddess- bringing you a tray full of burnt offerings (known in our culture as breakfast in bed).

There’s blackened toast, large brown lumps you think may be scrambled eggs, coffee “paste”, and oh, are these strips of bacon, beef jerky or dog treats? Then of course you look at their smiling faces full of love and you are reminded how blessed you are. Gratefully, you pick up your fork and start eating. Has anything ever tasted more like manna from heaven?

If you’d rather be able to identify your Mother’s Day breakfast this year, then discreetly slip these recipes to your husband or children so that he can make sure that this heartwarming moment is also a tasty memory for you!

Recipes:

Pancakes

2 eggs
2 cups flour, all-purpose or wheat
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

In a bowl, mix ingredients just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Mixture will be thick and lumpy. Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat and lightly grease. Cook on a hot greased griddle. Flip when bubbles break on the surface and the edges begin to dry. Makes 15-18 medium pancakes.

Scrambled Eggs

8 eggs
4 Tbsp. milk or water (optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tsp. margarine (or bacon grease)

Stir all the ingredients except margarine in a bowl until well blended. Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add margarine to the skillet. Pour egg mixture into skillet. Stir constantly about 4 minutes until eggs are fluffy and set. Serves 4.

Country Fried Potatoes

6 Tbsp. bacon grease or margarine
6 potatoes, peeled and sliced
salt and pepper

Melt bacon grease or margarine in a frying pan. Add the potatoes in the pan and cook over medium heat. Flip potatoes and cook until golden brown. Remove from pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4-6.

Creamy Orange Shake
(like Orange Julius)

1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water (optional)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
5-6 ice cubes
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Combine ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serves 4.

For more easy money saving recipes check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

photo by: agizienski

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Easy Mother’s Day Breakfast Recipes

Tips:

• You can do so many things with breadstick dough. One of those things is to take a sausage and wrap it with bread stick dough and bake at 350 until brown (about 15 minutes). You can also take these on a camping trip. Stick the sausage on a stick, wrap with dough and cook over the campfire, turning until golden brown.
• Coffee cake isn’t just for breakfast. Serve it for dessert with ice cream or drizzle it with some caramel or chocolate syrup.
• To use leftover coffee cake, cube it to make bread pudding or in a trifle.
• If you are in a hurry, most coffee cake recipes can be made into muffins. Pour the batter into muffin cups and if it calls for streusel topping, sprinkle a little over each muffin. Bake at the same temperature as the coffee cake but only bake for about 1/4 the amount of time or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• To kick any coffee cake up a notch, sprinkle it with powdered sugar or brown sugar or drizzle with a glaze.

Menu:

Serve any of the recipes in today’s post with some fruit, juice, coffee or tea or add these recipes to your buffet spread if you are having one.

Mother’s Day is coming up. Instead of a menu (because I know all moms will be served their favorite dishes) I thought I would give you a couple of simple recipes that are easy to make but are also something special for your family to make for you.

Don’t be afraid when you notice that the directions on this next recipe are long. It really is simple.

Breakfast Muffins Recipe

1 can biscuits (10 biscuits)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon (we used turkey bacon and veggie bacon)
salt and pepper

Cook the bacon until it’s almost done. Chop into small bits and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together eggs and milk and a pinch of salt and pepper (to taste). Roll out each biscuit until it’s slightly bigger than the circumference of your muffin tin. Grease the muffin tin and push one biscuit into each muffin cup, being sure to push it all the way down and to the sides. Leave the ridge hanging over the edge. Divide the cheese evenly in each of the biscuit cups and then pour in egg, filling each cup only half way. They will look empty but resist the urge to top them off because they will puff up when baked. Sprinkle bacon atop of the egg and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and eggs are set. Use a butter knife to loosen each muffin and serve warm.

Note: If your egg does overflow, just let it bake the rest of the way and then remove the extra egg when you are loosening the muffins.

Crescent Cinnamon Rolls

1 can crescent rolls
melted butter
cinnamon and sugar
Glaze

Brush each crescent roll triangle with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and roll up. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake according to the package instructions. While baking, make a glaze of about 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. milk. Drizzle on rolls while warm.

Another variation on this crescent cinnamon rolls recipe:

1 can crescent rolls
2-3 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp.cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar mixed (to taste)
1/4 cup strawberry or raspberry jam or jelly
nuts

On a pan with parchment paper or greased foil*, lay out crescent roll dough into a large rectangle shape, pressing perforations together. Melt butter and jam in a small bowl. Add cinnamon and sugar. Spread on dough. Sprinkle with nuts. Roll up like a jelly roll and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Cover with glaze while warm if you want.

*Things can ooze out while baking so it really helps to use the foil.

Photo By: emerson12

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