About Tricia

I am Tricia. Momma of nine, homeschooler, artist, foodie and maker of all kinds of things. It's a pleasure to share here our family homesteading adventures, the things we make, and what inspires our days. Read more about my family and work here. Thanks for visiting!

Author Archive | Tricia

Feather your nest- Spices revamp

By on August 30, 2011 in Home, Tutorials and Patterns

 This project came out of frustration over every spice I needed being M.I.A. the moment I need it. My pantry is pretty but the shelves are way deep and everything in there gets lost. For the past few months I have been working on solutions to get it all organized but no matter what I tried those darn little spice bottles were always falling through my slatted shelves or just plain missing. I also dislike the fact that all the bottles are different and after seeing the prices at Ikea for little bottles I started thinking of a better cheaper way.

Baby food jars! Yes, that would be perfect but we do not have a baby eating baby food and have not bought any for the past 4 babies anyhow. I posted a wanted add on free cycle and a very cool girl wrote me to tell me she had 40 which was the exact number I needed.

 so of course, I cleaned out the jars really well

 placed them on newspaper outside

 and sprayed away.  All I had was matte white, which I am not crazy about because you can’t really wipe them like semi gloss but I forsee painting them a vintage mint tiffany blueish shade of mint green (I know what it looks like, I just can’t describe it) in the very near future so I will at least get my spices done and in the drawer for now.

 for some reason the expiration date pops up once the paint is dry but I was going to cover the tops with labels so no biggie.

I used these Martha Stewart stamps I had in my stash and stamped the design onto label paper and then traces circles around each one and cut them out.  I have a few circle punches but they were too big or too small.  It did not take that long and now all my spices are in one drawer and they look better too.  We grow the majority of our spices and these jars are so easy to just open up and add the dried herbs to.

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Orange cleaner recipe

By on August 28, 2011 in crunchy, Recipes

I’m back, if anyone missed me.  As mentioned two posts ago (before I  dissapeared) we were planning on going camping in the Tennessee mountains.  I am back and promise to share some pictures once I get them all sorted out. I must say that I missed home (I am not big on going away too often) but I dearly miss the simplicity of living in a one room wood cabin with my family.  I guess maybe it would not be too romantic after a while but one week of living together and being outside all the time with almost no belongings has made me think how I need to simplify alot more.  It was so beautiful there and the super cold nights on the mountain top were amazing. But, I could not stay there because I live here so I am back and of course back means back to everything, farm chores, house cleaning, laundry, cooking… you get the picture.

I was in the process of making my favorite orange vinegar cleaner when I thought of sharing it with you. The van needed a good cleaning after a round trip from here to Tennessee total of 20 hours.  This spray cleans well and smells good.  Vinegar is a good cleaner but not too many people enjoy the scent (me included) so here is how I make my own orange cleaner for about $1.00.

Whenever we eat citrus here, the peels always have a second use. Organic produce is pricey so I try to not waste anything I can get another use from.  Lemons and limes get zested and I dry or freeze the zest for desserts, cooking and liquer making.  Oranges, tangerines and grapefruit are a favorite here in marmalade or candied peels but I have another use, orange vinegar cleaner.

When I am getting low on cleaner, I peel as much of the citrus pulp off leaving only the white under the orange peel and I add them to a big mason jar full of white vinegar.  I’m not talking about organic vinegar here (though you may use it if you like) I use the cheapo white viengar you can buy in a big jug.

 just plop the pieces of orange or citrus peel into your jar, put the lid back on the jar and shove it back into the back of your pantry until you have more to add, no waste : )

 when you have a bunch in there let them sit a few days and then strain out the peels

 to this you can add water for a simple and gentle cleaner but I use mine straight to clean all mirrors, windows and glass and it is nice in the bathrooms for my little cleaning helpers to use. Just like Dr Bronners, our cleaner for everything)  if they spray it on themselves there is nothing to worry about. 

 pour into your spray bottle (note to self, look for metal or glass spray bottles instead of yucky plastic).  Does that even exist?  If it does somebody let me know, its on my list of things to get rid of from our lives.

I promise this will smell like citrus and cleans well.  I may add cloves to my spray during the holidays…. or now.  I love the smell of orange and cloves.

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