Magnetic Spice Rack Project & a Giveaway!!

Anyone else have the problem of finding just the right ingredient in a jumbled mess of spices in a drawer? No? Well, I did.

I mean, I had a nice rotating spice rack we got for our wedding, but the labels on it didn't represent the spices I actually used, so the rest of the bottles got thrown in a drawer, where I could never find anything. The disorganization combined with the unused spice rack taking up space on my counter got me thinking. Ideas posted on other blogs got me thinking even more. I can do better!

Inspired by ideas around the internet, I took the plunge. First, we bought Rustoleum "magnetic primer" and painted it above the stove:

And painted. And painted. Seriously, it took like 10 coats of the stuff to get it sufficiently magnetic-y. I tested it with a magnetic timer, the heaviest magnet I have. Upon further research, it sounds like there are better brands that don't require so many coats to get a good magnetism. Alas.

After the magnetic paint was on the wall, we painted it back the kitchen's yellow color. Surprisingly, this only took 2 coats to cover the black. That was a relief! In the meantime, my spice tins came! I was super-excited.



I ordered the tins from Custom Magnetic Spice Rack. After shopping around various online stores, these were the least expensive for exactly what I needed. Conveniently, they not only included food-grade tins with tight-fitting lids, they ship magnets along with them! I ordered a set of 22 2.5 oz containers with no labels- I picked up labels at Bed Bath & Beyond but opted not to buy the tins there. The tins with magnets at BB&B are $3 each, and tins from Custom Magnetic Spice Rack online, with shipping, were just $1.75.

The store's website also had lots of great alternative ideas for magnetic spice racks, besides using magnetic paint. They have ideas to attach to the wall, to a cabinet or pantry door, or, the simplest of all, to your fridge!

I put the tins up on the wall, and everything worked out perfectly! Custom Magnetic Spice Rack sent me a few other sizes of tins to check out (see picture above) and I was able to put the smaller ones on the wall, and the larger ones on top of my stove, which is also magnetic, apparently. I particularly like the Bravada square tins- I could see these working efficiently in a small space.



(And, in case you noticed, yes, they're alphabetized. I'm a librarian, after all.)
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And now for the giveaway!! Want your very own magnetic spice rack? Custom Magnetic Spice Rack is offering one of my readers a choice of prizes (because everyone's needs are different!)

• Twelve (12) 6 oz. Applause with Precut Rounds (these would work well on a fridge)
• Eight (8) 8 oz. Applause with Strip (With a magnetic strip, this is a ready-made rack!)
• Four (4) Pique Tea Tins (Mini-Canister which comes with precut rounds for stacking security) Not for mounting vertically (These would be good for storing larger amounts of ingredients)
• Twelve 4 oz. Bravada squares (choice of precuts or strips) (I like the practicality of the squares)

To enter: 

- Leave a comment with what you would do to make your magnetic spice rack! See all the ideas.

- For an extra entry, blog or twitter about this contest, and leave a comment with a link.

- For another entry, subscribe (see the RSS button above) or follow me on Twitter (@keepingfeet) and leave me a comment saying you did (or already do)

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

The deadline for entries is April 5th, and I'll announce a winner Monday April 6th.

Blue

Blue Bathroom


Blue Laundry Room



There's now a "Yellow Hallway/Pantry area" but yellow doesn't photograph well, and neither do hallways, so those pictures were boring and I didn't upload them.

Exciting, no?

The bright-ish colors make me remember summer is on the way! Don't they make you want to pull out the pool supplies, sunglasses, and beach balls? Well, maybe not, but it definitely brightens up a couple un-exciting rooms!

Project Weekend

Spring must be coming, followed quickly by summer, because the weekends are fast filling up with events, weddings, trips, and projects. Last weekends was a project weekend, in which lots was done, but I wanted to wait until everything was done before posting pictures. We'll see. Until then, here's a list:

• Painted the hallway behind the kitchen the same color as the kitchen (yellow). The pantry's back there, so I like to pretend it's part of the kitchen. It's not, really.
• Painted the 2nd bath blue. It's cute, I like it.
• Painted the laundry room/mud room blue. Again, very cute. I like the contrast with the white trim and closets. The stenciling hasn't been done away with- yet.
• Laid out the garden. I've had a plan on paper for a while, but I finally went out on Saturday (basically, to be outside and keep the dog out of Josh's way while he painted) armed with measuring tape and twine, and marked out rows. And, because I was getting really impatient to start planting, with all the nice weather, I directly-seeded some lettuce seeds and some herbs. 
• Started making a magnetic spice rack. This is the project I'm most excited about, and will get its very own post when the project is done, which may be early next week.

By the way, all our vehicles are all home safe and sound. Here's hoping they stay that way.

Gardening Links for Friday

• I've mentioned my church's gardening project before. This year will be bigger than last, and will be a CSA of sorts. I wish I had the time to help out, but I fear my own garden will be all I can handle! If you're local, look into joining up!
• Speaking of my own garden, I want to make a compost bin that's smaller and more manageable than the one I have now. Compared to the others on sale, this one would be cheap alternative!
  
• Seems like everyone's jumping on the organic gardening bandwagon- even the White House! Here's the plan.
• And, from a gardener I admire, a post I can deeply relate to.

Adventures in Car Ownership

See what happens when I post about a "quiet week"? It inevitably means that a storm is on its way.

Sunday night, we were headed out to dinner, and started up the 2000 Camry. The car made a funny noise and smoke was evident out of the tailpipe. We quickly shut the car off. Josh did a little investigating and came away with a grim prognosis- the smoke out of the tailpipe combined with wetness around the engine valve pointed to a leaking seal or valve- the car was probably "burning oil" and needed to be taken into the shop, stat. Bright and early (or, to be more specific, "so Early it wasn't Bright yet") Monday morning, we took the poor little Camry to the dealership to get the problem "officially" diagnosed. After doing a "cold start test" yesterday morning, the word came in: Josh was right. Seals in the engine (and other stuff I don't remember) need to be replaced, resulting in most of an engine rebuild. The price? About half of what we could get if we sold the car on our own, and 70% of trade-in value.

So what to do? Do we fix it? or sell it in its current burning-oil condition and look for a replacement?

Buying a comparable car from a dealer with similar miles & a similar age comes out to more than we have in our emergency fund (well, practically, since we're not comfortable with TOTALLY depleting the emergency fund), so we'd either get an older & higher mileage vehicle, or a car loan- an option I'm opposed to. We do, however, have enough in our emergency fund to cover the repair. But the rule of thumb says to give up on a vehicle if the repair cost is more than half its value. We could go without a car for a while, which would win in the "net cost" category, when you do a car registration, maintenance, or car insurance comparison.

We made a decision. The Camry stays. We'll have it fixed. The mechanic at the dealership said the car was in amazing shape besides these problems, and that it will be "like new" when we get it back. Here's hoping he's right. Until next Monday or Tuesday, Josh is driving the Huge Truck, and I'm hoping gas prices don't shoot up for this week. If we had bought a comparable car, we would have spent lots more and ended up with a car with 95,000 miles on it and no idea where its been or how its been taken care of. This way, we'll know.

So what's new with you?

Once upon a time, I said cars were silly. I hold to my theory.

Quiet Week

I'm such a super-slacker. I haven't blogged since Monday. I apologize.

What's been going on?

Not much. Seriously.

Bible study was at our house Monday, and I helped watch the kids.

Josh had a piano lesson Tuesday, and I went along then we went out for a late dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. We don't go there very often, but I snagged a Restaurant.com gift certificate, & it made it worth it. Here's what I did:

• I found a Restaurant.com code, MENU, good through Mar 15 for 80% off the gift certificates.
  
• I logged into CashBaq and clicked on the Restaurant.com link
  
• I selected a "$10 off $20" gift certificate to Ted's Montana Grill (normally $3) for 60 cents
  
• I selected a "$25 off $35" gift certificate to Mudsocks Grill (Another favorite!) normally priced at $10 for $2, thanks to the coupon code.
• Because I went through CashBaq, I'll get 25%, or 65 cents, back.
  
• Total: $1.95 for $35 worth of coupons, for places we would eat out anyway.
  

Wednesday, I fixed Breakfast For Dinner, and used the last of the free-range eggs in the fridge from our wonderful friends. I marveled and their bright orange color. After dinner, I knit while watching Changeling This was my first knitting in ages, and I was glad to be back at it.

Last night we spent having dinner & visiting with my parents.

See? It's been a quiet week, and this weekend looks like it will be quiet, too. I'll keep ya posted if anything exciting happens!

Meet & Greet Monday: Jenny & Andy

The official excuse we had for this Hawaii vacation I keep talking about was a family wedding. Josh's cousin had a destination wedding planned on the Big Island. He had been stationed on Oahu while in the military, and still has friends out there. Some family and friends flew out to celebrate with the couple, and it was a lovely, relaxed ceremony. The "reception" was actually a luau everyone attended together.

Because we got there early (as always), I helped put together platters of munchies:




I like to pretend to be Martha Stewart every now & then.

Jenny's son & daughter were the only other participants in the wedding, besides the couple and Josh's uncle as the pastor.



The wedding was poolside, with a beautiful backdrop of flowers:


Being poolside, the guys inevitably ended up IN the pool. Luckily the bride was amused.



Cheesecake was for dessert, and the whole (new) family quickly partook



After the festivities, everyone went to a luau in the evening, where there was a hula show, complete with fire dancers!
We were there!






See all the wedding pictures!

See who everone else is introducing, over at Beth's blog.

50 years later

Fifty years ago today, Barbie entered the toy scene. Who woulda thought- she doesn't look a day over 17.

But really, "Barbie" is bigger than just a doll. She has wardrobes of clothes, countless cars, houses, pets, even a few movies and computer & video games. She's got a whole family, if you're keeping track- sisters and cousins and friends and boyfriends. She's brought us more than just clutter, though- she's given little girls a vision.

Barbie is the ideal. She is what little girls- as soon as they're old enough not to swallow the plastic shoes- will play with, then aspire to. No matter that her dimensions are totally unachievable (unless you happen to be a busty 7'2" woman with an eating disorder ...), she is Beauty as our culture defines it.

Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, calls Barbie out on this deception:

"The most basic problem with Barbie is the fact that she lies. Constantly. The entire Barbie package presents one huge lie about the nature of true beauty. According to the Christian worldview, beauty and truth and goodness are identical. A lie cannot be beautiful and the truth is never ugly. Barbie's total presentation represents a lie about feminine beauty, suggesting in not-too-subtle ways that external attractiveness (even artificial attractiveness) is the foundation of true beauty."

A professor who I got to know in college has two little girls- at the time, they weren't even school-aged. When they were given Barbie dolls for Christmas by relatives, their parents took the girls to the store and made them return the dolls and pick out another toy. Now, when they play Princess like every girl, they are princesses themselves, rather than aspiring to be "Princess Barbie". When they twirled in heir princess gowns on the dance floor at our wedding, I understood their parents' decision. The Barbie Ideal would stay out of their home as long as possible, and the girls could and would be beautiful. Their spirit could shine "Princess" rather than having to conform to an ideal in the mirror- an unrealistic, shallow, plastic ideal.

Hawaiian (Not-So-Wild) Wildlife

After getting up at 4am to leave for the airport, we pulled into our bed and breakfast in Kona late, close to 10pm Hawaii time (2am Indiana time). Needless to say, we were exhausted and ready for bed. The almost-24-hour trip actually aided in getting a good night's rest the first night, and helped with adjusting to the time change. The first morning, however, I was awoken by a surprising sound. We're in a tropical paradise, right? There should be birds chirping to welcome the beautiful sunrise? Well, sort of.

I awoke to the distinct sound of a rooster. Upon emerging for breakfast, I discovered there were lots of roosters, and hens, and chicks, and turkeys wandering around the bed and breakfast's grounds.


These were VERY free-range chickens.

On our driving tour of the islands, we saw other not-so-wild animals:





OK, I can't explain the zebra.

The more unusual animals we saw weren't exactly "wild"






To end, I leave you with this picture and just one question:

Why?

Signs of Paradise

To be clear, "computer monitor" != "mechanical typing machine." Don't be confused.


What do you want to rent?!


"BEE"ware of the dangers of Pali Lookout


This cookie store in Kailua (where we stayed) was started by Wally Amos of Famous Amos fame. We bought 1/4 lb of chocolate chip cookies.


Given the choice of beaches in Hawaii to swim, I wouldn't choose this rocky one. The signs seem to imply someone would.


Obama the Riveter?


Do you think they train the peacock to sit there all day, by the sign?


What happens when you let LOLcats name a street: 


The Matsumoto Grocery Store shave ice is a classic. Can't be passed up while on the North Shore. I have the same picture of me on a bench outside the store as a kid- back then, my shave ice flavor choices were Root Beer, Banana, and Bubble Gum- each good on their own, but not so much where they mixed. My choice this time, Lychee , Guava, & Banana, made for a much better treat.


My alma mater.



Which of these 3 doesn't belong?




More to come! 
See the rest of the Hawaii pictures , and the wedding pictures