Nov 7

12-minute picture frame fix

You know those tasks you always say you will get to, but never can find the time to actually get to them? Well, this week I decided to bite the bullet and tackle on of my tasks – attaching wire to 2 picture frames.

If you have ever had anything professionally framed, you know that it always costs way more than you think it should. This includes taking frames in to have simple fixes.

A while back my mom sent me a bunch of artwork. Everything came framed, which was great since I wasn’t looking to drop several hundred dollars on framing. Unfortunately, the hanging wire had come off of two of the frames.

I went to the store and picked up a wire kit. The guy assured me it was a simple 5 minute fix. I was hesitant, but knew that the $3 kit was a lot cheaper than paying the framer to attach some wire. The kit and frames sat in my apartment for several months. Finally, I decided it was time to hang them. As it turns out, it was incredibly easy. So easy that any undomesticated goddess could definitely manage this DIY.

Tools

You will need:

  • hammer
  • hanging kit
  • tape measure
  • pliers

Steps

First, decide where you want to attach the wire. Since I was reattaching broken wire, I went up a couple of centimeters from the original holes. If your frame is new, I would recommend going about a 1/3 of the way down from the top.

If your frame is made of soft wood, you should be able to twist the screw eye directly into the frame. If your frame is made of hard wood (like mine) hammer a nail halfway into the frame where you want your screw eye. Remove the nail and begin twisting the screw eye into the hole. This is where the pliers came in handy. Use the pliers to get a better grip on the screw to twist it in.

Once in, repeat on the other side.

Next, pull the wire through one eye, winding the excess around the wire several times to secure in place. Loosely pull it through the other eye and then pull the wire up in a triangle (think how it would hang) and measure three inches down from the top center of the frame. This is where the center of the wire needs to be.

Once you have figured out where the wire till hang, pull the wire taut, keeping my finger on the center spot, trim the wire, and then loop the excess around the other side to secure.

And, voila. You will have a frame that’s ready to hang. The whole process for one frame took me about 12 minutes.

This is a simple task you can complete when you have an extra 15 minutes. You could also do it while watching your favorite sitcom. And, when your friends complement your great taste in art, you can tell them that you installed the wire. Of course, this will require you to then hang the artwork, but that is a tip for another day.

Nov 1

When life hands you olives with pits…

A couple of nights ago I was trying out a new recipe. It called for diced olives. So I went to the store and bought a jar of olives, figuring it wouldn’t be so bad to dice them up. When my husband walked into the kitchen and saw the jar of olives, the first thing he asked was who was going to pit them. My face fell and I realized I hadn’t even thought to look at the jar to see if they were pre-pitted. Sure enough, I had a jar full of olives with pits.

Not one to be deterred, I set to work trying to remove the olives from their pits. If you have ever tried this, you know just how tedious this is. And how poor the results are. 15 minutes and 3 olives later, I decided there had to be a better way. I knew a tool existed for pitting olives, but I don’t own one. So I searched the internet for ways to remove olive pits without a pitter.

I came across a comment on a message boarding recommending a simple olive pitting technique. All you need is a large knife.

Pits removed from 5 olives in less than a minute

Take your large knife (chef’s or something of that sort) and lay it flat against your olive. Smack the palm of your hand down on the knife and the olive will separate out from the pit.

Much to my surprise, it worked. Now, if you want pretty olives, this isn’t going to be the best technique. But if you need olives for a tapenade or something like that, this is the perfect solution.

As I was zipping through my olives, my hand started to hurt and I started getting paranoid that my knife was going to snap. That’s when I came up with an even better solution. My glasses have flat bottoms. I took a glass and pushed the bottom into the olive. I was able to use less pressure and it didn’t irritate my hand at all. Plus it seemed a bit safer than smacking my hand repeatedly on a knife.

So, if you ever have a recipe that requires the use of olives, there’s no need to be intimidated. This little trick for pitting olives will have all of your friends thinking that you know your way around the kitchen.

 

Oct 23

Miracle Cookie Sheet Cleaner

Removing grease from cookie sheets is near impossible. Remove the dishwasher from the equation, which is sadly where I’m sitting, and it is impossible. Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I saw this pin on Pinterest for a Miracle Cleaner.

The Hypothesis

This miracle cleaner will magically remove the grease from my baking sheet with little-to-no scrubbing

Before. Gross, I know

The Method

Combine 1/4 cup baking powder with 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Mix into a paste, then smear all over the baking sheet. Let sit for sometime (I waited an hour), then wipe with a sponge. According to Pinterest, the grease should just wipe right off.

The magic ingredients

Applying the miracle paste

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Conclusion

This was an epic fail. The baking sheet is a tiny bit cleaner, but it definitely was not a miracle. I’d say skip this not-so-quick fix.

After. Hmm, not much improvement

Oct 20

The 6-Minute Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so we are constantly told. But we all know that mornings are not easy, even for morning people. Once you are up, you just want to get to work. You don’t want to mess around with breakfast. Why make something when you can just grab a bagel on the way?

That’s where my delicious 6-minute breakfast comes in, and that 6 minutes includes both prep and cleanup. And I’m willing to bet that your bagel will take just as long, if not longer once you factor in waiting in line.

I got the idea for this shake from several Pinterest posts advertising shakes for breakfast. Then when I got my immersion blender, the recipe book that came with it included a couple of shakes. Of all the ones I have tried, this is the easiest, especially for people on the go.

Easy Banana Shake (you can sub in other fruits, but the banana is by far the fastest for prep)

1 cup milk

1 banana, peeled and torn into a few pieces

1 scoop protein powder (I use Trader Joe’s Vanilla Whey Powder)

A couple squirts of honey (optional)

Tools: 1 immersion blender (a regular blender works too, but will add a minute or so to your clean up time)

Directions

Pour milk into a cup. I use the plastic container that came with my Cuisinart Immersion blender. Drop in chunks of banana. You can use the whole banana if you want, but this will take a little longer to blend. Add scoop or protein or whey powder. Add honey. Stick immersion blender into cup and blend, following your blender’s instructions. The Cuisinart requires up and down movements and I blend for about 10-15 seconds, until the banana is smooth.

Immediately after you are done blending, rinse off immersion blender. The banana and protein powder have not had time to harden yet. Transfer shake to a travel mug if you are drinking on the road. Immediately clean the cup you used for mixing. Leave these prep objects to dry and you are ready to head to work.

Add all ingredients to mixing vessel

Blend ingredients with immersion blender

In about 10 seconds, you have a delicious breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I love about this shake is it is fast, it gives me a little sugar, it has protein to keep my feeling full, and the immersion blender actually mixes in the protein powder, instead of leaving soggy, powdery chunks like my full-sized blender. Plus, it is pretty healthy. Depending on the type of milk you use (I use 1%), the size of the banana and the brand of protein powder you are using, the caloric stats will change mildly. For my recipe without honey, there are 290 calories, 47g of carbs (mostly from the banana), 20g of protein, 19g iron, 32g sugar. With honey it bumps up to 350 calories, 53g carbs, and 37g sugar.

If you are on a low sugar diet or a low carb diet, this shake probably won’t work for you. But if you believe like I do that sugars from fruits shouldn’t count as bad sugars, and you want a fast, nutritious breakfast, then this 6-minute breakfast is for you.

Let me know what you think of this shake and if you have any other suggestions for quick breakfasts.

Oct 18

Welcome!

Congratulations! You’ve made it. Now you are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. You probably want to know why you should continue reading. So here’s the skinny.

When my friends think domestic, I am the last person to pop into their heads. My nickname growing up was piggy, and not because of my love of sweets or my affinity for pigs, but rather  because of the trash dump under my bed and my tendency to literally sweep things under the rug.

Not to be a cliche, but now that I’m a married woman, I figure I should probably learn a thing or two about being domestic. It’s not that I plan on being a house wife. My husband and I both work, but he is the high earner in our family. As such, it only seems fair for me to do more of the housework. This would be fine and dandy, if I had a domestic bone in my body.

Enter this blog. If you’re here, I’m going to guess you are like me – undomesticated. And I’m going to guess that a little part of you, or maybe even a big part, wishes you could be just a little more domestic. All those helpful tips on Pinterest and the look-so-easy crafts and meals on Martha Stewart are so enticing. But do they actually work? Are they really meant for beginners like us?

I’m not going to lie. I’ve tried quite a few of these seemingly easy tips. And not all of them successfully. I figured, why not share my ups and downs? Why not help you learn from my failures and successes?

In every post I will share a tip I’ve tried and the ultimate results, including the actual time it took versus the oftentimes unrealistic time frames provided by the experts. And who knows, maybe in the process we will all become just a bit more domesticated.