Pink Pig

Cruel and unusual. Saw this at a Goodwill store today.

Pull up a chair, or two

After I had my son the postpartum hormones made me feel crazy. I had some major anxiety there for a while and one of the main things I worried about was that people would come over to our house and have nowhere to sit! So, for a little while there I was buying lots of chairs at yard sales. I still can't get out of that habit. Here are a couple of chairs I got at a sale. I've looked everywhere possible for the before pics. I did take them, but so sad that I can't find them. Oh and I got both chairs for $5!

The chairs were honey colored wood and the cushions were a very dirty gold fabric. Here is the after...

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

do-it-yourself tub refinishing

Above is the best before pic I had. I actually wish I had one of just the tub but oh well. For 4 1/2 long years I put off and dealt with my tub and it's horrible finish. When we bought our home it was obvious that the tub had been refinished at one time, but had not been cared for. The paint had chipped and turned off white. I got a quote from Miracle Method and it was going to be almost $700 to have the tub refinished.

I've never been able to talk myself into paying that kind of money for that. There's always something else that took priority over it. You know how it is. Well, I'm so glad I didn't pay it. One of my life phrases that I try to stick with and am always glad when I do and always beating myself up when I don't is "when in doubt, don't" I'm telling you if you stick with this you can't miss. I went to Home Depot and for $23.97... well... you can see for yourself the finished product. I'm so proud that I did this. I followed the directions on the package. It was hard work, but worth it!!!

A little bleach and a little faith

I came across these chairs a few weeks ago and it was love at first sight. I saw past the blue jean slipcovers. These chairs are oversized and so comfy! We were looking at a house that's for sale for Sarah and I liked a lot of the things that were there. I told the woman that if she were ever going to sell these chairs to let me know and I was pleasantly surprised!

The woman said she would take $50-$100 a chair and I was like hmmm well I could give you $100 for both that would work. :> So a few weeks later I finally got the chairs and wasn't sure what I was going to do about the blue jeans. It just didn't go with my decor. So I took a leap of faith and poured a whole jug of bleach into the wash with one set of slipcovers.

After a few cycles of taking the slipcovers out of the wash and putting them back in with more bleach I finally got them white. For some reason taking them out of the bleach and reinserting them into it did the trick. I could have let them sit in the same bleach for days and it would only take the dye out to a certain degree.

I washed them in peroxide to stop the bleaching process so it wouldn't eat away at the fabric. When I poured that first jug of bleach into the washer I never thought it would work. I knew I wasn't going to use blue jean slipcovers so I was willing to mess them up and experiment. These chairs retail for $699.95 per chair new and I got a heck of a deal. I love them and I can curl up in them. They are almost like mini loveseats... or are all chairs like mini loveseats?

Southern Brunswick Stew

1 boneless pork loin (plan ahead)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup ketchup
1 cup Jack Daniel's original BBQ sauce
1 green bell pepper diced small
3 cans cream style corn
1 cup lima beans (frozen or fresh)
salt
pepper
Tabasco sauce

Start early in the AM and cut the pork loin in half. Put in crock pot with a can of chicken broth. Slow cook all day. That night take out the pork loin and remove any unwanted fat. It should fall apart and be easily shredded. Put in fridge for tomorrow.

Put all ingredients in large pot and cook for a few hours. Salt, pepper, and tabasco sauce to taste.

You're gonna love it!

Mexican Soup

This soup is to die for. Simple to make.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 can Campbell's fiesta nacho soup (or cheddar cheese soup)
1 7.5 oz can diced green chilies
1 1/2 empty can worth of milk
1 lb (or more, or less) shredded cooked chicken

serve with a handful of tortilla chips over top!

put it all in a pot and your done. Throw all the cans away and kitchen cleaned.
For absolutely best results have the chicken cook in a slow cooker all day with a can of chicken broth. It will fall apart in shreds and be so tender.