Crickets Lil' Treasures

Homemade No Bake Granola Bars

2014-03-03T23:21:00.002-05:00

Take a look at the following ingredients found in Quaker Chewy Chocolate Granola Bars.

That's quite the list of ingredients in what is suppose to be a healthy snack if you ask me! Most of those ingredients are not even necessary and in my opinion, if you have never heard of an ingredient, not sure what it is, and/or have a hard time pronouncing it, how can it possibly be healthy for you?! I was determined to make my own granola bars for my family with ingredients that I already had in my baking cabinet. I used quick oats, rice krispies, honey, vanilla, peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips.

These are SUPER easy to make!! Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, add 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 2 tsp vanilla until melted. Next, stir in 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats, and 2 1/2 cups rice krispies.

Press mixture into lined baking sheet and top with either chocolate chips or peanut chips. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remove from baking sheet, cut into bars, and store in either an airtight container, or zip lock bag.

Although they fall apart a little easier than the store bought bars, they are SO delicious! I had a hard time not eating them while taking pictures!! We have been making our own granola bars for about a year now and definitely will not be buying the store bought ones again!

HOMEMADE NO BAKE GRANOLA BARS

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups rice krispies

4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

DIRECTIONS:

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, add butter, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla until melted.
Stir in quick cooking oats and rice krispies until evenly combined.
Press mixture into lined baking sheet and top with either chocolate or peanut butter chips.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Remove from baking sheet, cut into bars, and store in an airtight container, or zip lock bag.

Have you made granola bars or any other homemade snacks for yourself or family? If so, I would love to hear about it! If not, set aside 5-10 minutes to make these. I PROMISE you will not be disappointed!

DIY Wedding Card Box

2014-02-28T19:50:00.002-05:00

I love DIY projects, so when I found out that one of my best friends was getting married, naturally I started thinking about all kinds of fun projects that I could do! One of the first projects that I made for her was a wedding card box. Do you have any idea how much some of these babies sell for?!! A LOT!

Here are some of the inspiration pictures used for this project.........

This Wedding Card Box is $135

This wedding card box is $115

Or this one for $115

Or this one is only $113

While I appreciate that all of those wedding card boxes are custom made to order and very nice, this DIY girl could never justify paying that much for something simple enough that I could make myself, so that is exactly what I did! I gathered some supplies that I already had on hand and got my craft on!

Supplies used to make this: {not all shown in picture}

Boxes

Fabric
Tulle
Silk rose
Rhinestones

Adhesive spray

Glue gun & glue

Tape measure

Pencil

Scissors
Packing tape

I started by choosing a couple different sized boxes and stacked them to get an idea of how it would look. The top two boxes needed to be cut to create the tiers so I measured, marked, cut, and taped them. I cut a hole in the top of the bottom box and a slit in the front of the middle box for the cards to go.

Next, I cut the fabric to size and adhered it to the boxes using an adhesive spray. The boxes were attached together using tape and hot glue. I tied a piece of white tulle around the middle box, and then hot glued a white silk rose to the top. I added the rhinestone around the opening where the cards go after I took this picture so you will have to just imagine how it looked with a lil' bling!!

I absolutely LOVE how it came out, but most importantly........so did the bride-to-be!

By using what I already had on hand from previous projects, this wedding card box cost me a whopping $0.00. These are the projects I love the most!

DIY | Homemade Laundry Soap

2014-02-21T17:43:00.002-05:00

We have been making our own laundry detergent for about four years now and have been very happy with the results! It started out as an effort towards eliminating all toxic chemicals from our home and has also saved us a lot of money at the same time.

I love making things on my own for many different reasons. This includes household cleaners, many pantry staples and foods {I will be posting more about these soon!} There are so many advantages to making your own cleaning products. Knowing exactly what is going into your products, the significant cost savings, and no harsh chemicals is just a few advantages. It is very easy to make your own cleaning products and most people already have some of the basic ingredients right in their kitchen!

The three basic ingredients used are Borax, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, and Fels-Naptha bar soap. You can also add an essential oil if you wish. I don't use it in ours as it has a natural, fresh, and clean scent without it. These ingredients can all be found in the laundry aisle at either Walmart or your local grocery store.

We use to grate the soap by hand but now use a mini food processor which is much faster! We have one that is kept with all of our laundry supplies and used for soap only.

First, cut the bar of soap into small pieces.

Add a small amount of either borax or washing soda to the food processor prior to adding the soap. This prevents the soap from sticking.

Mix all of your ingredients together, store in an airtight container, and your done! If you would like to make your own laundry detergent, here is the recipe:

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE {POWDER}

1 cup grated fels-naptha soap

1/2 cup borax

1/2 cup washing soda

essential oils {optional}

Use 1-2 tablespoons per load {$0.03 - $0.06 per load!!}

It can also be used in front loading HE washing machines! Since homemade laundry detergent doesn’t contain a sudsing agent it is safe for a high-efficiency washer. For front-loading machines, use about two tablespoons of your homemade detergent and mix the detergent with two tablespoons of hot water before adding to the dispenser. {source}

Borax {source}

Borax, also known as sodium biborate, is a natural mineral compound. It is used as a natural laundry booster because of it’s unique ability to clean, and bleach, by converting some water molecules to hydrogen peroxide. Because of the boron, salt and oxygen in borax it is able to disinfect. Borax also has an enhanced cleaning power because its borates bond with other particles to evenly disburse its particles in a mixture. It is best used in hotter water.

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda {source}

“In laundry, washing soda accomplishes several things. The high alkalinity of washing soda helps it act as a solvent to remove a range of stains, and unlike bleach, washing soda does not usually stain. It is also used in detergent mixtures to treat hard water; the washing soda binds to the minerals which make water hard, allowing detergent to foam properly so that clothing will come out clean, without any residue. Sodium carbonate is also used by some textile artists, since it helps dyes adhere to fabric, resulting in deeper penetration and a longer lasting color.”

Fels-Naptha bar soap {source}

Grating up a bar of Fels-Naptha, and adding it to the laundry detergent, helps eliminate residual stains. It works as a stain remover, for tough stains and oil-based stains.

If you have tough stains that don’t come out in the wash you can rub the stain with a wet (whole) bar of Fels-Naptha soap to get it out. Let it sit for a few minutes and then throw it in the washing machine and wash as usual. A wet bar is also great for pre-treating greasy, oily stains, like perspiration and rings around the collar of a shirt.

Above photo taken a few years ago. We have made some changes since then, such as switching from liquid detergent to powder. All of these cleaners were made in just one afternoon! Many more homemade cleaning recipes to come.....................

Happy Valentine's Day!

2014-02-13T23:31:00.001-05:00

Today I am sharing some Valentine projects and a recipe with you! I had planned to share this BEFORE today but I thought I had lost SEVERAL of my pictures that I had previously taken with intentions of starting this blog one day! My hubby went through about seven or eight hard drives that we have trying to find my pictures but no luck:( The other night he took the micro SD card out of the phone I had two years ago, plugged into our laptop, and THOUSANDS of pictures starting loading!! 2,676 to be exact! I know.....craziness! Oh happy day;) Ok....back to the post now!

I wanted to do something fun and different for Alana's 'last' year of giving out Valentine's prior to going into middle school {you know.....because they are too cool for that kind of stuff!} I found this idea on Pinterest {how surprising!} Pop Rocks in a clear bag with a label that read, You ROCK, valentine!! Love, Alana. These free printable labels can be found here.

Girls putting the Valentine's together.

Alana felt the need to be on top of the table to work.....

How cute are these?!!

We also made some Valentine's Day Bark. Spread pretzels onto a cookie sheet that has been covered with wax paper. Drizzle melted white chocolate all over the pretzels, coating them well. Then, decorate with sprinkles, Valentine M&M's and crushed candy canes (optional.) Chill in the fridge to set and then break apart into bite sized pieces. ENJOY! Source found here.

Go here for these fun and free printables!

Alana made this box to put her Valentine's in.

How did you spend your Valentine's Day?!

How To Make Homemade Butter & Buttermilk

2014-02-10T17:03:00.001-05:00

Making your own butter is actually quite simple! All you need is one ingredient and either a food processor, stand mixer, blender, or you can use a glass jar, although the latter requires about twenty to thirty minutes of shaking by hand but it would be a great project to involve your kids in. Have them roll the jar back and forth to each other which will be fun for them and even easier for you!!

The one and only ingredient that you will need to make your own butter & buttermilk is.....HEAVY CREAM! Yes, that is it! I told you that it was simple. My hubs even questioned the simplicity of it when I told him about it so he googled it to see for himself!! I used a small food processor and one pint of heavy cream (I split this up into two batches.)

First, pour the cream into processor and blend on high for two minutes. You can see the cream separating into buttermilk and curds in the next picture.

Next, pour off the liquid into a glass jar. This is your buttermilk! We made Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes with ours and they were delish! (Recipe to be posted soon!)

Add 1/8th cup of ice water, replace lid, and pulse four times. Pour out the liquid. Repeat this step once more or until liquid is clear. This is called the 'rinsing' process.

Strain out all of the liquid using a strainer and cheesecloth.

Add a pinch of salt or flavorings such as chives, garlic, thyme, etc. if desired. Wrap in wax paper / plastic wrap, roll into a log shape, and refrigerate until firm.

I got approximately 8 ounces (2 sticks) of butter and 8 ounces of buttermilk from one pint of heavy cream which works out to be a $0.60 savings.

Trying out our fresh butter on some homemade rolls. (He couldn't wait to bite into his!!!)

What are your thoughts?! Have you made butter before or are you considering giving it a try now? Go for it!!

An Organized Baking Cabinet

2014-02-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

I love to bake! What I don't love is a super messy and unorganized kitchen cabinet full of baking ingredients, preventing me from being able to see exactly what I have. I decided to take the time to empty out two cabinets, one for all of my baking ingredients, one for my baking pans, and also a drawer for baking utensils.

First, I took note of what I already had and what I needed to purchase. Second, I figured out exactly how many storage containers I would need to store all of my baking ingredients. Third, I looked into some different storage containers and prices and ended up getting some round plastic containers with lids from the Dollartree. Mason jars are another great option for storing these items!

I decanted all of the ingredients into their new containers and then created some labels using the software 'paint' on my computer for editing and adding the different fonts. I just printed them out, cut them, and attached them to containers using clear packing tape, covering the entire label. This project was done last summer and they have held up quite well although I will be updating them soon by laminating them for some extra coverage.

Here are the containers all filled, labeled, and neatly organized in my 'new' baking cabinet! I love being able to see exactly where everything is and being able to quickly locate and grab what I need!

Using the empty space on the insides of your cabinet doors is a great use of valuable space, especially if you are limited on the amount of storage space your working with. When you stop to consider the square footage of level, usable space on the interior of your cupboard doors, you can start to envision new possibilities for controlling kitchen clutter. Using cork board, magnetic board, hooks, or clothespins are just a few other options to store recipes, spice containers, hang utensils, store lids, hang dish gloves and store other kitchen items.

I chose to hang all of my measuring cups and spoons for easy access by simply measuring the door, cutting a strip of wood to size, pre-drilling holes for the mounting screws and cup hooks, and then installing it to the inside of the door. I could have left it as is but I love to label everything and this was no exception! Nothing too fancy....I just printed it out and taped it up. I also typed up a common measuring chart by using a graph in a word document. I refer to this chart quite often, it has been so helpful and definitely a time saver. (Pictures will be added soon of the measuring cups and spoons actually hanging in here!!)

Frequently used items such as the rolling pin, cookie scoop, a few cookie cutters, spatulas, and beaters to the mixer go in a nearby drawer.

Below is the cabinet where I store our baking sheets, muffin tins, mini loaf pan, and cake pans using a metal file folder organizer.

Having everything organized makes it so much easier to find what I need and has also been a big time saver! How do you organize all of your baking supplies?!

Healthy Homemade Dog Treats

2014-01-29T11:38:00.003-05:00

Why buy dog treats when you can make them yourself?! Not only are they less expensive to make and super easy, they are also healthy and you know exactly what you are feeding your dog!

HEALTHY HOMEMADE DOG TREATS

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS (makes approximately 3 dozen treats)

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup ground flax seed
3 eggs & shells* (optional)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup water
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, and flax seed. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, combine honey, eggs, oil, water, applesauce, and pumpkin puree until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.

Form into a disc and roll out on a well floured surface until about 1/4" thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until treats are very brown and hard.

Let cool completely before giving them to your pooch to try out. Store in an airtight container out of reach from your puppy or in your freezer for up to 2 months. Microwave treat for about 6-10 seconds to soften.

*Egg shells are an excellent source of calcium and protein for your pet. For strong bones and teeth, crush the eggshell and add to your homemade treats or dog food.

We made some regular size treats and some small letter shaped treats for our puppy, Brandon and my sister's puppy, Nala as well! They both LOVED them!!

Do you make homemade treats for your pets?!

My Studio | Part 1

2014-01-11T23:12:00.003-05:00

I originally started setting up my studio space in our basement about a year ago, which turned out to not work very well for me as it was a smaller space, right near our wood stove, and worst of all.....no windows! Too dark and dungeon like for me considering the amount of time I would be spending in there. We have a front to back living room on the main level of our home which we only used the space towards the back of the house for our living room. The room in the front has always just been a 'sitting room' as I have never really known what to do with it. It definitely was not the greatest use of space.

Enter my idea to use it as my home office/studio. With three big windows, it was much more practical and much less dark and depressing. The primary use of the space is for me to work on my online eBay store. I needed a space with good lighting for pictures, a place to take pictures of my items, a desk with a computer for posting my listings, and a nice and organized set up to keep my shipping and packaging supplies.

I hung two long white rods across to hang some sheer white curtain panels to separate the space just a little. In below picture, you are looking into the living room.

Here is the space getting a fresh new makeover! All of the walls, trim, and baseboards got a coat or two of primer which completely brightened up the room even more as all of the trim was wood which I loved at first but now prefer all white trim throughout the house.

One small wall needed to be a chalkboard wall just because I love chalkboard walls!

I love this large wicker basket with handles that I purchased awhile ago at the Christmas Tree Shop. Perfect for holding my eBay items that have been packaged and ready to ship! Of course it needed a pretty chalkboard label so I knew it was my 'out' bin!

Below is a dresser that my dad got for free for me to use in this space. It was in desperate need of a makeover! It was the perfect piece of furniture to use for storing all of my shipping and packaging supplies in the drawers, weigh and package up my items on the top, and the perfect little open cubby for my new basket to live.

Adding some wood filler to a very large crack that went right across the top of the dresser. There were a few other cracks that got filled as well and then I sanded the entire dresser in preparation for paint.

The dresser handles were a gross brassy color so I gave them a quick coat of gold metallic spray paint to clean them up and make them look pretty! I did like the gold, but later decided to spray paint them pink as I wanted all of the furniture white with pops of gold and pink throughout the rest of the room.

Here is an 'in progress' picture of the dresser after it got one coat of primer and two coats of white paint. The basket could not fit there more perfectly! LOVING the white so much!

The pretty pink handles were added for just the right pop of color!

What a difference a couple coats of paint can do! Of course a side by side before and after picture is necessary to show the awesomeness!

The next piece of furniture to get a makeover (there may have been just a few!!) was this wood desk that I found on the side of the road awhile back. Of course I drove by it and had to turn around to go get it!! My mom was with me that day so I pulled over and had her get out to grab it while I sat in the car hysterically laughing as she was walking back to the truck with it (had to be there....it was a good time and we both laughed so much!) Anyways.....The desk was nice solid wood and just needed some PAINT! I did the usual steps prior to painting, I filled any holes, sanded, wiped down, and then started priming.

I surprisingly did not get anymore before or in progress pictures of the desk or as I lined the insides of the drawers to add some prettiness, so here it is after a couple coats of white paint, lined drawers, and spray painted pink handles.

My very favorite picture of the desk {almost} complete, looking fresh and new!

I absolutely LOVE how it came out but decided to give it just a little more of this pretty color......

......by dipping all four legs into the paint and then letting it completely dry.

Who doesn't love some legs dipped in pretty pink paint?!! I sure am smitten with the outcome!

Next up is a wooden microwave kitchen cart that I scored at a yard sale for.....you guessed it....FREE! This was also in great condition, just waiting for some paint loving.

Looks all nice and new with some fresh white paint!

Side by side before and after......

All done and ready to be used. Printer on top, my laminator lives on the next shelf, and a basket on the bottom which holds my label maker and extra printer ink cartridges. My craft bag hangs from a hook on the side. There is also a bar on the side and wheels on the bottom which makes it very easy to just grab it and roll right over to my desk when needed.

I already had a couple of black filing cabinets which store a lot of our important files although they were looking a bit too plain for me so I taped off diagonal stripes and grabbed my ~~best friend~~ spray paint, sprayed away, peeled the tape off while still wet for a nice clean line, and voila.....a 'brand new' piece of decor for my new studio!

I purchased this very, very ugly dirty green colored stool for $0.99 at Goodwill. Nothing that a can of spray paint couldn't fix! I used a gloss black spray paint which definitely made it look a whole lot better instantly. It did take awhile to dry and it was quite sticky, although, that stickiness did go away after some time. A flat spray paint or even a fabric vinyl spray would most likely prevent it from getting sticky.

There's definitely still a lot more to go, hence this post being Part 1, but painting the walls, trim, and all of the furniture was definitely the biggest project to tackle so it feels great to have that completed and now I can focus on some fun, crafty projects to get all of my supplies organized and add some decor.

The wicker chair in the below picture was also found at Goodwill for around $5, that and the small stand next to it both got a fresh coat of white spray paint as well. The black sheer curtains I already had on hand and I just hung them to see how they would look and also for some privacy but they will not be staying. I plan to get some fun, colorful fabric and make some diy roman shades using mini blinds. I think I will also move that white storage unit to another room and replace it with a tall counter which will probably be diy as well.

Here's a shot of the other side of the room as is now but that will likely change around until I figure out exactly where it will make the most sense to keep all of my supplies so that the more frequently used items are within reach and easily accessible which, in turn will result in increased productivity!!

Be sure to check back in as I have lots of upcoming posts already planned!!!

Welcome To My Blog!

2014-01-07T09:09:00.001-05:00

Hello and welcome to Cricket's Lil Treasures! Thank you so much for taking a second to check out my new blog. The purpose of this blog is simply to document and share my adventures towards organizing and simplifying my home and life.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a huge list maker of 'things to do' but not always so great at actually doing them! I am hoping that documenting my steps along the way will help keep me accountable and motivated to continue forward.

This blog will contain before and afters, old, current and new projects that I am drumming up related to family, home, organization, crafting, and anything else that might come up along the way! I am excited to share my projects, ideas, and journey and hope to provide some inspiration to others. I also see this as a great place to gain some new ideas and get your opinions! Thanks again for taking some time to read this!

-Cindy

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