Rantin' & Ravin': June 2013

MY CANVAS FLAG!!!

It's almost here!

The birthday of our nation!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

BBQ's. Popsicle's. Fireworks. Flip Flops. Swimming. Coconut Oil. Picnics. Camping. Sunglasses. Watermelon. Parades. Sand. Sunshine. Lemonade. Road Trips. Vacations. S'mores. Bonfires. Fireflies.

Yeah, Summer at his best!

Well, I wanted to add to my Summer decor by painting a flag. Well, sort of.

This was not too hard.

I used two canvas pieces. You can buy a 3 pack for just under $4 from Walmart.

Acrylic paint in Red, White and Blue!

And not pictured a star stencil and painters tape.

I took one piece and painted the whole thing navy blue. Then I let it dry.

Next, I took the other canvas and taped off two sections to ensure I had 2 white and 2 red stripes. I then painted the red stripes. I let it dry.

Finally, I went back and painted white stars on the blue piece.

Here is the stencil I made. Or if you have a Cricut or Silhouette, vinyl would be so much easier.

Find a spot to showcase your "hard" work!

CROCK POT RIBS!!!

My husband loves RIBS!

I do too, to be honest with you.

His most favorite rib joint is Texas Roadhouse. The ribs, the house salad and the rolls are all I ever eat while there. I gain 5 pounds just by smelling it!

Well, unfortunately for us, the closest TX Roadhouse is 25 minutes away, plus it's a good $50 every time we go. But I can now make some that taste just as good, if not better, for less than half of that!

And it's not that much work for me!

Here is what you need...

3 lbs. pork or beef ribs

1 c. water

1/4 c. liquid smoke

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. barbecue sauce

Salt and pepper ribs to taste. Place ribs standing upright in crock pot. Pour in the liquid smoke and water. Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce. Pour barbecue sauce over ribs. Cook on low approximately 7 - 8 hours.

After they are complete, put them on a plate or tray and smother on more barbecue sauce. The more the better!

Don't they look yummy?

Note: I have seen a recipe using sherry in lieu of the liquid smoke, I just prefer the LS, to me it gives it that BBQ taste without the grill.

WINNER!!! WINNER!!!

Thanks to all who participated in my first giveaway with Luv You Forever Baby Items & More!

And the winner is!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, Jenny R!

Please contact me, tammylu.rr@gmail.com within the next 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

4th OF JULY YUMINESS!!!

I may or may not have mentioned that I love everything that has to do with celebrating this amazing country!

I am an Early American History major, so it's kind of a big deal here at our house.

The decorations come out after Easter and stay up until the end of September.

My family is a military family. Most recently, I've had two cousins and an uncle serve in Operation Freedom. SO, yeah... I love this country and celebrating it's founding.

Even more awesome, is that the man who is credited as being "Uncle Sam" is actually Sam Wilson. And yep, we're related! At least that is what my mom has found by doing her genealogy.

Anywho... I wanted to put together some of my favorite, yummy treats for you.

Here they are in no particular order!

1. No Bake Treats - Love From The Oven

2. Patriotic Ice Cream Sandwiches - Living Locurto

3. Patriotic Cones - Noble Pig

4. American Flag Cake - Exclusively Weddings

5. Patriotic Cake - Great Birthday Party Ideas

6. 4th of July Trifle - Fancy Frugal Life

7. Star Spangled Pie - Snack Picks

8. Patriotic Pancakes - I Am Baker

9. Flag Cupcakes - The Girl Who Ate Everything

10. Patriotic Strawberries - The Girl Who Ate Everything

DOLLAR STORE FRIDGE STORAGE!!!

I usually only go to the dollar store for party decorations and prizes for my boys for whatever I want to encourage them to do... potty training, chores, good behavior.

This time I had my husband in tow and we actually walked through the store.

There are some great scores in there.

For instance, I did not know that there was a whole section dedicated to organizing bins.

Hello? Score!

So, I loaded up...

I got some for my boys room, some for the toy room and some for the kitchen.

Today I will show you what I did for the fridge!

My fridge only has two drawers, the crisper drawers. So, I have no place to store my cheese, lunch meat, canned biscuits... anything. Seriously, it's ridiculous!

This is before I go grocery shopping. With three men, (1 big and 2 little) this is about twice it's size.

Well, no more!

Stick on a label and voila!

I like it.

Total cost: $3 without the label. $10 without the label.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

I just want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of those amazing dad's out there!

Source

SHOUT OUT TO THE MOMS + A GIVEAWAY!!!

I know what you're thinking...

WHAT? This weekend is Father's Day... but humor me, please!

I saw this one day. For the life of me, I cannot remember where.

But the quote under it was amazing, that I saved it to remind myself of it.

"Good moms breastfeed. Good moms formula feed. Good moms vaccinate their kids. Good moms don't vaccinate their kids. Good moms co-sleep. Good moms use cribs. Good moms have hospital births. Good moms have home births. Good moms adopt. Good moms have natural births. Good moms have epidurals. Good moms have c-sections. Good moms have 10 kids. Good moms have 1 kid. Good moms use cloth diapers. Good moms use disposable diapers. We all do the same research, but we can each come to our own different conclusions. We are all doing the best we can. Each situation is different. The last thing we need is to bash one another on our mommy decisions."

This post is dedicated to those moms who have chosen to work from home.

I would like to start doing a little series on moms who have business that are just starting to grow.

The first one I want to show you is Luv You Forever Baby Items and More.

Let me give you a little background to Saralyn. She and I have known each other since high school. I won't tell you the exact year, but we've known each other since the 90's, LATE 90's! We lost track of one another and then found each other again through social media within the last 4 years. We were both pregnant at the same time, her with her first, and me with my last. I melt every time I see her little guy! He's just a gorgeous little boy! I can understand why she would prefer to stay home and work from home.

Saralyn loves finding and making unique products for her family. She uses these products herself and has decided to help supplement income by selling her favorite items to you.

Here are a few things she's made through her ETSY shop.

I wish her shop would have been around when I got married. The table centerpieces are gorgeous!

And the personalized rustic wood hearts would have made this country girls heart jump!

Can I have a wedding redo? Is that allowed?

Her second shop is one of my favorites; Mostly because it focuses on who I shop for.

My boys!

Do you love Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blankets?

She has a wonderful selection of blankets for your precious baby! And the selection is always changing.

As a mom of two boys, I swoon over the bright, beautiful colors for girls. Is it wrong to get one of these pink & orange blankets for myself?

But blankets are not the only thing she sells on her site. Be sure to check it out, here.

This is not all she does/sells, be sure to check out her website's About Us page to see what she can do for you!

Here is the best part!

She and I have come up with a GIVEAWAY!!!

Do you know anyone having a baby? Are you having a baby?

We are giving away one (1) Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blanket from the Jungle Jam Collection!

Here's what you need to do:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to follow us on Pinterest, here are our pages.

GOOD LUCK!!!

We will announce the winner on Monday, June 24th.
So don't forget to come back to see if you won!

{This giveaway - [Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddle Blanket] is only open to those within the United States. You must be 18 years or older to participate. The giveaway will run from June 15 - 22, 2013. The winner will be announced on June 24, 2013 at 8 am est. The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter. Once the winner has been announced it is the winner's responsibility to reply within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. The winner will choose one (1) of the swaddle blankets from the Jungle Jam collection pictured.}

PANTRY STORAGE!!!

A while back I mentioned that I'd do a series on cleaning and organizing.

I did my Let's Clean series which included cleaning grout, cleaning the dishwasher, cleaning the carpet, cleaning and getting rid of the mold, and cleaning and disinfecting the humidifier.

I have also started the Organize Me series which has so far included diaper storage and toy storage.

I've decided to move on to the pantry.

My first pantry after I got married was a nice sized pantry.

It was walk-in.

The room was 4ft x 5ft.

I didn't realize they were not all like this.

When we moved into our apartment, I quickly learned this.

My pantry is currently 2ft x 3ft.

I had to come up with new ways to organize everything.

This is what I came up with.

I started slowly because these canisters cost almost $4 a piece. But I slowly accumulated just what I needed.

But something was missing.

I needed to label them.

I've seen so many different types of labels and could not figure out which one I preferred most.

Then I found these...

I went to Avery's website.

It allowed me to design my labels without having to log in to Microsoft.

{Am I the only one who still creates labels via Microsoft?}

This is what I chose...

I.LOVE.THEM.

It confirmed my desire to have a blue/green kitchen!

They printed off so nicely.

Here is how it looks.

I'm incredibly happy with it!

I decided to extend my label love to my canisters.

I can't get enough of it.

I think I am on a label frenzy... I want to label everything!

Am I the only one?

BYE BYE GOOGLE READER!!!

Hey guys! Did you hear the news?

Google Reader is going away on July 1st.

That's how I read all my favorite blogs, so now what am I going to do?

Well, if you're like me, what are we going to do?

Well, it seems as though the majority of the blogging community is headed towards Bloglovin'!

I've been using it for about 3 months now. I'm a fan. Let me tell you why!

Bloglovin' is SUPER EASY to use. You can import your Google reader subscriptions painlessly without missing any posts from your favorite bloggers, just follow this link. The site is so nice and clean and organized, just how I like things. They also have several options for you as to how to follow your blogs. You can read directly from their site, have the posts emailed to you, or just use their app!

The app is UH-mazing. {You can download via iPhone or Android} It's really simple to navigate through and leave comments. All around, I give Bloglovin' two BIG thumbs up.

And yes, you can follow Rantin' & Ravin' on Bloglovin'!

Do you see the social media icons on the top right? The one labeled with "+" is my Bloglovin'! Just click and Follow! That simple!

Also, if you look below the icons you can also subscribe to get my blog posts sent directly to your email!

Happy Monday everyone!