Super ant killing sugar bombs!!!!

I hate, hate, hate, hate ants.  They are annoying and bothersome. They can spread germs and disease. As soon as we moved in to our new house I noticed that we were going to have an ant problem. My husband likes to use boric acid as an ant killer, but I really couldn't put that powder around on my counter tops in the kitchen. With our three year old, I don't want anything he can get into or reach.

I came up with the idea of mixing half and half sugar and boric acid in a cup. Then I added a little water (just enough to dissolve the mixture). Once it was mixed, I dropped a handful of cotton balls into my mixture. Once those were soaked in the mix, I place the balls in soda caps and on small pieces of paper plate.

I placed them in hidden spots that my son can't reach and then waited. The sugar draws the ants to them. At one point I couldn't see the cotton ball for all the ants on it.  Within, about 12 hours, I had not a single ant in my kitchen.

Crock-Pot Roasted Chicken

 

It's so hard to make sure our families eat a good home cooked meal everyday. I LOVE my crock-pots(yes, I said pots, I have two). It's very very easy to produce a nice "oven roasted" chicken in your crock pot.

 

Put your chicken in the crock pot and season however you would like it. Put 2 cups of water in the bottom of the pot. With lid on cook on low for 6-8 hours or 4-6 hours on high.  Enjoy.

DIY Pepper Pen Fridge Magnet

 

DIY Pepper Pen Fridge Magnet

 

 

 

This is one of the easiest projects I've ever done and a great way to upcycle.  All it takes is a strong magnet, a metal pepper box, and  a hot glue gun.





 

Remove the lid from the pepper box.

 

 

Glue magnet on to the back of the container.

 

Now you can use it on the fridge to hold those pens your always looking for. I also want to find something that I can use to hold a post it note pad. I like the idea of using things that we would normally find in the kitchen in a new a creative way.   Any ideas out there???????

 

A Different Style of DIY Laundry Soap

OK, So we all know that laundry soap isn't cheap and that there are so many to choose from. I have tried so many different kinds and find something I like and something I hate about almost all of them. I've also tried to do some of the different DIY soaps out there. There are a few different versions going around on pinterest. I like the idea of making my own soap and it really saves me money. I add a little twist to mine by adding a little of my favorite smelling surf powdered laundry soap.

2 cups washing soda
2 cups borax
3 cups Surf (our your favorite powdered laundry soap)
1 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap

 Grate or cut Fels-Naptha in to small pieces. Put in medium size sauce pan with plenty of water. Place on stove over medium heat and stir frequently until all the soap is melted.

Add the other ingredients and mix until dissolved.

 

 Take off heat and mix in a bucket with 10 gallons of water. Mix well.

 Once mixed you can put it in smaller containers. I put mine in one gallon containers. I shake mine well before every load.

When I make this I get three batches out of the washing soda, borax, and surf. After the three batches I still have borax and surf left. I like adding the surf to the mix for the extra boost and smell. I still save tons of money and I use the extra surf in other cleaner mixes and for my carpet.  I hope you all find this helpful.
 

God Bless.

Grungy Prim Mason Jar Vase

So this was my first attempt at making something grungy. I think I did a pretty good job. I painted the jar with a brown paint that I liked. Then I mixed up a little homemade mod podge to that I added some vanilla extract, nutmeg and cinnamon. I covered the jar with two coats of that. Now I need to decide what to put in it.

Valentines Heart Garland

Heart Garland and my prim angel bunny. Country Crafting Momma

So I've been looking all over pinterest trying to find different ideas for decorations for valentines day. I've been seeing lots of different posts for paper heart garlands. I really liked the idea but wanted it to fit in with the prim style and to make it last longer than paper.( I like to be able to reuse them for a couple of years)  I used some light cardboard (food packaging) and painted it a country red color. Then I folded the strips in the center to form the point of the heart. Then I turned the other ends into each other and glued them together while also adding little yarn loops on the tops.  Then I  strung them all on a long piece of yarn and hung them up on my T.V. mantel. They look really cute. What I like best is that by making them out of cardboard I will be able to save them and use them again next year.

There are lots of other blogs out there with tutorials. If you need a tutorial or some inspiration check out some of these blogs.

Apartment Therapy

 

 

M double M

 

Or check out my Pinterest search for a few more great ideas.



 

Farmhouse Tables.....Lots of DIY's

I love farmhouse tables and really really want to build one for my little family to use as a dining table. We are getting ready to move soon so I can't get into building one right now, but in the mean time I've been collecting different websites and blogs with plans and tutorials. I hope to have a pretty good list here.

I found this on For Rent's contest link. I like the idea that this one has extensions.

 

I found this one on East Coast Creative. I like the idea of using an old table or two as your base. Makes the process easier. 

 

 

I really like the design of this one. It's an Anthropologie knock off. The only thing I don't like is with the  leg design on the ends it would be hard to pull your chair up too far on the ends. You can find all the info on this design on Shanty 2 Chic.

 

 

I found the next one on A Swell Place to Dwell. I love the way the color is on the top. I don't dig the two tone idea. I think it would look awsome all the same color as the top.

 

 

 

This next one is again an idea on using an old table for the legs and base. It comes from a blog called Garage Sales R Us. I like this idea, but once again I would like to see it all one tone. I really do like all the distressing that they did. Great job.

 



 

 

I hope that you have found this post helpful. I have tried to get a pretty good list. If you know of any other blogs that should be included with this list please let me know. I would love to add them. Thanks.