I resolve to make no more resolutions.
April 4, 2007
So much for those big promises in the last post. Let’s just pretend there is no four-month gap and move on, shall we?
There are product reviews and articles forthcoming, but working 50+ hours a week and mothering a 1.5- and 2.5-year-old leaves little time for much of anything else.
While I’ve been off in my own little, busy world and failing to inform you, Internet, of great home improvement tips, the DIY-ers have still been at it, keeping old posts alive and well with interesting discussions!
Ralph Lauren paint is still our most popular topic to date. Check out the exchanges in comments following Michelle’s article, My Walls are Suede. There are some lengthy comments on her post, Ralph Lauren River Rock Paint Notes, as well. There are a few good tips around on how to touch up Ralph Lauren paint, too.
My post about the Ilo MP3 player has attracted some opinions - most of them negative. The funny thing is, my Ilo MP3 player bit the dust shortly after the review got a few comments from other users who’d had problems with it. I’ve since replaced it with a Microsoft Zune (product review to follow - no, really!) with which I am sublimely happy. In fact, we now have two of them - one for me, and one for Hubby.
The Baby Poop Decoder generated some fun comments and, eventually, a battle over breastfeeding, which is not a battle I wish to be involved in, but oh well! More amusingly (and fun for me), my little baby poop silliness became an entity of its own when I created the Baby Poop 101 lens at Squidoo. The lens was honored as a Lens of the Day and was later nominated as Lens of the Year. Woo!
To wrap up this unorganized post, here are some things I’m currently researching:
Step2 Naturally Playful Playhouse Climber
This Old Houseblog
November 6, 2006
What’s a houseblog?
Houseblogs are online diaries written by folks who are building, improving or restoring their own homes. Like other blogs, they are updated regularly and show the work unfold in real time.
If you’re interested in reading houseblogs or starting one of your own, head over to Houseblogs.net, where you can:
- Find people with similar homes, taste, or challenges via their community.
- Follow along as people renovate their homes by reading the latest blog entries.
- Get help with a DIY problem by asking a question or searching our discussion board.
- Show off your own house by adding photos to your member profile.
- Share your own home improvement adventures–start your own houseblog!
Halloween Link-o-rama
October 25, 2006
Here are some pretty spooky (and easy) prop ideas for your next Halloween party or haunted house.
If you’re having trouble coming up with anything, check out 101 Halloween Ideas for inspiration.
Looking for FREE pumpking carving patterns? Look no further.
Here’s an awesome Halloween zombie prop that you can make for just 20 bucks!
Who knew there were so many different ways to make fake blood?
For the true DIYer - how to make your own tombstones.
Make a cheap, motion-activated coffin.
LED ghosts: tiny lights give a new twist to an old trick.
Betty Crocker’s Jack-o-lantern Pizza
October 16, 2006
Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:40 min
Makes:8 servings
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup Old El Paso® salsa (any variety)
3/4 Green Giant® Niblets® frozen whole kernel corn
1/4 cup water
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/3 cup very hot water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
Toppings, such as orange and green bell pepper strips, sliced ripe olives and cherry tomato wedges, if desired
1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 450ºF. Grease 12-inch pizza pan. Cook beef in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. Stir in salsa, corn and 1/4 cup water. Heat to boiling; remove from heat.
2. Mix Bisquick, 1/3 cup hot water and the oil until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let stand 5 minutes. Press dough in pizza pan, using fingers dipped in Bisquick; pinch edge to form 1/2-inch rim. Spread beef mixture over dough. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake 11 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Arrange Toppings on pizza to form jack-o’-lanterns.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft) Bake about 15 minutes.
Substitution - No pizza pan? Just press the dough into a 13-inch circle on a greased cookie sheet, using fingers dipped in Bisquick, and pinch the edge to form a 1/2-inch rim.
Serve With - Cut orange gelatin into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters to make the perfect accompaniment to this pizza.
Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 375 (Calories from Fat 205 ); Total Fat 23 g (Saturated Fat 10 g); Cholesterol 60 mg; Sodium 770 mg; Total Carbohydrate 23 g (Dietary Fiber 1 g); Protein 20 g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 12 %; Vitamin C 4 %; Calcium 20 %; Iron 12 % Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1 Vegetable; 2 High-Fat Meat; 1 1/2 Fat
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
This is not your father’s jack-o-lantern!
October 9, 2006
If you’re looking for an alternative to cutesy pumpkin-carving this Halloween, have we got a link for you: the folks at ExtremePumpkins.com are into shocking, gross, and funny pumpkin carving designs, and they’re not afraid to show it.
They’re also into power tools, and with good reason. Have you ever tried to carve a pumpkin with one of those little plastic carving kits? I don’t know what kind of pumpkins the manufacturers of those things got their hands on, but I’ve yet to meet any pumpkin I could cut with a dull, plastic pick.
Here is what little girls use to carve a pumpkin. The small blade prevents them from spraying pumpkin guts on their plaid skirts and from spilling pumpkin seeds into their loose socks. It is OK if you want to use a little girl’s pumpkin carving set. I won’t judge you. I also won’t make fun of you for spending two hours carving a pumpkin that everyone else can do in 3 minutes using a jigsaw. Nope. I won’t say anything. Besides, this pumpkin carving set has some advantages. For example, when you are done using it, you can store all of the parts in your powerpuff girls pencil box.
Obviously, ExtremePumpkins.com is not a site for little girls. It’s pumpkin-carving for adults. (My little girl won’t be using a jigsaw any time soon, that’s for sure.)
Check out the pumpkin-carving contest winners from past years, and submit your own entry for the 2006 contest!
I would like to add a photo with this post, featuring one of the many cool jack-o-lanterns from the site, but I haven’t been able to get in contact w/the site’s owner for photo reprint permissions, and I’m not chancing it. So go check them out!
Cannibal-themed Halloween dinner party
October 6, 2006
I remember visiting “haunted houses” as a child, and I don’t know if it was just where I lived or what, but it seemed like almost all of them had a mad scientist’s lab, and sometimes, said scientist passed around bowls of “body parts”, which we were told to touch and taste.
Dipping my hand into a bowl of Spagettios in a dark room (while someone in a lab coat and Einstein wig tells me to FEEL THE BRAINS) would probably not provide much amusement at age 34. But as an 8-year-old kid, DUDE! - it was totally cool!
If canned pasta doesn’t cut it for adults, how do you freak them out with food? Well, how about a dinner party with a menu like this:
- Icy Hands Punch, Chilled Brain Spread, and Peppered People Pate
- Alien Autopsy Shooters
- Eyes in Blood Sauce
- Brain on a Plate, and Roasted Long Pig
- Chilled, Bloody Heart
That’s what worked for the project master at imakeprojects.com, who served up a freaky feast for his Halloween party guests last year… and he details the diabolical dinner so you can try you hand at it, too!
Food and Halloween props have something in common - a large part of success is the presentation. So it’s a natural combination. For my 2005 Halloween party I hosted a creepy supper - everything was guaranteed 100% edible and tasty (in other words, 100% “real food”) but those with weak constitutions might find out just how much the presentation affects their perception of food…
Click here to check out details, recipes, and more photos of this great project for Halloween.
Photos Copyright 2006 by imakeprojects.com
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