Krista's Great Big Blog of Everything!

My daughter was cursed with my sensitive skin. When she was a baby, washing her clothes in special detergent wasn't enough. If we didn't wash our clothes in it too, when we picked her up she would break out in a little red bumpy rash. I loved Dreft, but that stuff is insanely expensive! I tried lots of hypoallergenic, "gentle", baby friendly detergents, but I never found one that I really liked. Some still made her break out, some I felt didn't get everything really clean. Hubby's uniforms get pretty gross, with jet fuel, oil, and other messes, I needed something strong enough to handle that funk, but gentle enough for my baby's skin. I didn't want to have 2 or 3 different detergents hanging around. I wanted it all in 1 product! Apparently that was too much to ask for, so I set off to find a 'recipe' for my own. I came across so many, some were way more complicated than I was willing to commit to. I stumbled upon this one. It's amazing! I s...

  Everyone knows I'm a sucker for FREE stuff. I just can't help myself. So when a post on a local Facebook Swap page said there was a free dresser on the curb, and gave the address, Annaliese and I jumped in the car still in our pjs and headed out! We were the first ones there so I snagged it up!  I was hoping to actually use it as a dresser. But the drawers were in much worse shape than I thought. So Plan B kicked in. I've seen lots of Dress Up/Play clothes storage systems online and on Pinterest lately. So I knew I could make my own. Determined not to spend money on this project, I definitely cut some corners and it's not exactly 'pretty' in some spots. Lol. My biggest thing was there were a few spots with pretty nasty mildew. So I wiped it all down with bleach, then warm water and let it dry in the sun. Then I sprayed it down with white vinegar and let it dry again. Once it was all clean and dry, I started trying to reinforce it. It was a bit wobbly an...

For something so pretty, this dress was so simple to make! Recently I went home for a visit, and while we were there I scheduled to have photos taken (if you're in the Florida Panhandle I highly recommend Jesus Nieves Photography!) The night before I had the bright idea to make a dress for the pictures. I had no supplies with me, so I set out for the easiest dress I could find. After a few google searches and a trip to Hobby Lobby, I had the stuff to get started.   I purchased 3 yards of white tulle, 3 yards of purple tulle. A purple crochet headband, some ribbon and a pretty bouquet of flowers I found in the wedding section on clearance! I spent less than $20!  I started off by measuring Annaliese from her armpit to her feet, then doubled that number, and that's how long I cut the tulle. So if it was 20 inches from armpit to floor you'd cut the tulle into 40 inch sections. Then I took those and cut them into 6 inch strips. This was actually the 'hardest...

Today I realized I had forgotten about a bag of apples at the bottom of my fridge, knowing I needed to use them all ASAP I figured applesauce was the way to go. Having never made it before I started browsing for recipes. I was amazed how simple it seemed to be!! Apples, sugar and cinnamon in my handy dandy crock pot... That's it!!! So I peeled and sliced my apples, we'll my awesome $2 yard sale find did it for me... I used about 10 apples, 1/2 cup of sugar and just a good sprinkle of cinnamon, I didn't want the flavor to be too strong.  Set the crock pot on high for 4 hours and the result was amazing! I actually don't have a picture of the final product because my little princess and I devoured it, straight from the pot... For lunch. It was THAT good!! Enjoy!

I LOVE IKEA! It's heartbreaking that the nearest one is over 2 hours away. Which is actually much better for my wallet! I could never afford every item on my wish list! Now I can check something off that list! I've been wanting a small table and chairs for my little troublemaker and the IKEA Mammut series is perfect. I was lucky enough to stumble on to one of these at my favorite local thrift shop. The actual one I found was VERY well loved and a bit of a mess. The previous owner was a public notary. I know this because her toddler 'decorated' the table with her notary stamps. Complete with her full name and other personal info. Good thing I'm not a creeper! But that's also why I'm not posting an actual before picture. It was also colored with black crayon and markers. Most of the crayon came off with a good cleaning. But the stamps and markers weren't going anywhere. I went through half a magic eraser on a 5" by 5" square, and after...

So maybe that's a bit dramatic! But I did find this Bakers Rack sitting at the dumpster at our apartments... I didn't get the greatest before pic, but it was a pretty basic black metal bakers rack with a wood shelf. It looked like it had been attacked with yellow spray paint. It was pretty ugly. But nothing a $5 can of spray paint and some stencils couldn't fix!! I taped off the shelf and spray painted the metal with a silver 'hammered' look paint. It took 2 coats to really cover up some of that yellow!      Then after it dried I set off to beautify the shelf! I recently got new curtains for the living room, which are actually shower curtains but that's not the point. Lol. They have a really pretty floral pattern and I love the colors. So I figured why not make the rack match! Here are the new curtains, AKA my inspiration!  I used a sample size of a cream colored paint I had and some stencils I got for $4 at AC Moore. The stencils definite...

I am all for my toddler exploring her creative side, just not the mess that goes with it. I've seen a lot of articles and blogs boasting about bath tub paint or crayons. I love the idea but they get pretty pricey! So I did a quick google search and found this genius idea! Take some vanilla pudding, divide it up and add food coloring. That's it! Quick, easy, fun, no worries if your kid eats it, like mine did. And it easily washes right down the drain!  SUCCESS!!