ball and {key}chain tutorial

This weekend we went to a craft fair and 1 was totally inspired to make new keychains. They were super simple and I put together a tutorial as we did it.

The supplies were all from Hobby Lobby.

- wooden beads (the kind that weren't already varnished)
- leather
- key rings
- acrylic paint (and some gold!!)
- bamboo skewer
- Spray coating


Make it!
1. Paint the beads. I found that it was easier to paint the ends, skewer them, then paint the middles. And some colors take 2 coats.

We almost forgot to varnish them!

2. When they are dry, leave them on the skewer and spray them with glossy acrylic coating.

3. Cut the leather to 13". Fold it around the key ring, then feed it through the beads doubled. String on 3 beads, then tie a knot.

Voila!

Canning

Josh and I have become vegetarians in the last few months. We aren't super strict about it, but we also try to avoid meat if we can. This has meant days of Pinteresting new veggie recipes (note there are older recipes on that board that have meat). There are quite a few yummy ones out there!

 

A lot of them have beans. Obviously. So I decided it was time to turn my stores of dry beans into beans that I can use on a moment's notice. Unfortunately I didn't read any equivalence charts and soaked WAY too many beans.

In one day I canned:

5 pints & 4 quarts Black Beans (our favorites)
10 pints & 3 quarts Kidney Beans
3 pints & 2 quarts Garbanzo Beans (wish I had made more)
7 pints & 1 quart White Beans

I was still finishing processing at 1 am. Oops.

I decided to use Target's more papery washi tape for the labels because they adhere better (but still come off in hot soapy water). I wrote the first lot after the labels were on the jar. Not easy.

 

The easy way is to put your strips on wax paper, write the label, THEN put it on the jar. It was a D'OH! moment for me.

Here you can see the many iterations of label placement. At least the color coding worked out...

Unexpected

I have so much to share with you about what we've done to the house. A few projects just for fun, but most of them out of necessity. Like yesterday's project...

I noticed that the basement smelled musty, but wrote it off as basement smell and bought some DampRid. As I was putting it out though I squished in the carpet. Oh no. Good thing I was barefoot and noticed! I moved things out of the area and noiced the wet spot was larger then I had originally thought.

After emptying the room aand pulling up the carpet we found that about half of it was ruined, but only in that room (maybe 11' x 11'). More searching in the utility room next door revealed that the AC condensation pump was leaking. Probably for a while...

Quick trip to the hardware store for a new one and we're back in business. The good news is that now that the room is empty and carpet free it will make a great workout room. Although a guestroom as originally intended is not out of the question. 

Definitley not a glamorous Sunday!