Cutting An Onion Made Easy

I know there are probably many ways to easily cut an onion but this is the way I use most often for small chopped up onion. First cut off the end of each side so it sits without rolling, and so you have a flat surface to start with. Then make deep cuts in both directions. Like this:

Next turn your onion on its side and carefully cut full slices from top to bottom. Like this:

And there you have it- perfect diced onion pieces.

Spicy Polenta

This is a healthy way to prepare polenta and if you don't like your food spicy just don't add the jalapeño.

What you need:
a package of polenta (mine comes wrapped like a sausage, I forget the brand)
a red or orange bell pepper
3 medium sized mushrooms
half of a red onion
2 large garlic cloves
two green onions
1 small jalapeño
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Start by putting the polenta and oil in a large frying pan and using a masher to break it down. Chop up all your veggies and ground up your garlic and jalapeño and add those next. Sprinkle salt, pepper and cayenne pepper on top and cook on high until the veggies have all cooked through. Don't over cook. I recommend stirring frequently. Takes about 5 to 10 minutes to cook.

Fathers Day Picture Clock

I never know what to do for my husband on Father's Day and his birthday. He is tough to shop for. This Father's Day (today) I decided to get all DIY and make something special. I made a clock with a picture of him and our child in it. Well I didn't MAKE the clock, but I redesigned one I had laying around that I had been meaning to redo for months. I totally forgot to take pictures of the process (sorry!) but its super easy to do! I did not even spend a single penny to make it.

What you need:

a clock (mine was a small plastic one from the grocery store that I had on hand)
an image printed out (I used my printer and regular paper)
paint
paint brush
double sided tape
scissors
exacto knife

First I disassembled the clock. Then I found an image I liked and printed it on my printer. I used the glass from the clock to outline a circle on my image and then cut the image out just slightly inside the line so that it wouldn't be too big to fit the face of the clock. After that I had to cut out a small circle in the center of the image for the hands of the clock. I used an exacto knife for that. I also cut a straight line from the small circle to the bottom of the image because I couldn't take the hands off of my clock (once the image was taped on the face of the clock the line cut in the image wasn't noticeable.) I used double sided tape to put a few strips on the back of the image and then I carefully placed the image on the clock face and pressed it down. I then painted the clock frame red and once that dried I used a small amount of white paint on a brush to barely brush on some white, to sort of "age" the frame or make it look worn. You can add numbers to your clock easily with number stickers from a craft store. I thought about doing that but decided I would leave it very minimal inside.

And thats it!

Happy Father's Day!

Chalk Board Kids Table

We were looking for a kids table and chairs for awhile but had not found one we liked until I saw this Ikea hack entry at Kelly Lee Housewifery. Perfect! I had to wait a month for Ikea to restock the Latt table but it was worth the wait. I used a can of old paint we had leftover from painting our kids room so the table matches perfectly! I painted the chairs with chalk board paint as well. More surface to draw on- and chalky butts too I guess!

The directions are on the blog I linked to above. Pretty simple. Paint the furniture before you assemble it. I used about 5 coats of the chalk board paint because I noticed it scratches easily. I love how it turned out!

Cute Owl Wreath

I have been so busy this spring that I barely had time to make anything. I do have a couple new things to blog about though. First is this cute wreath I just finished today. I got the idea at Dollar Store Crafts. Thats where I got most the supplies too- at the Dollar Tree. I got my wreath at Joanns for about $3.

In this image the purple looks darker than it really is. In real life my wreath is a pastel lavender. I used glittery gold ribbon in the back instead of little flags like in the tutorial I linked to above. Its super easy to make. Just spray paint the wreath, hot glue the owl on and add any other decor you like!