Chindi style no-sew area rag rug

August 7, 2017 by 16 Comments

 

I have had a stack of these Dollar Tree rag rugs FOREVER.

They are in the “bin of conviction” (the things I HAD TO HAVE to make something cool then they sit for a long time)

Yeah, that bin.

Tell me I’m not the only one who may have more than one of these had-to-have-it stashes?

Oh good.

I have down-sized a bit over time but I am glad I have the stash of supplies that I have collected (yes, it’s an official collection of amazing stuff) because you never know when inspiration is going to STRIKE!

Yep, sometimes you get an itch to make something cool and there you are, lots of ideas and no supplies.

So, that is exactly what happened in this case.

I loved the colors of these small rag rugs so of course, I cleaned the store out however many months ago. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Boho Style, DIY, home decor, Thrifty Living Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to update a 1970’s dresser

July 21, 2017 by 4 Comments

how to paint furniture twelveOeight

 

Sometimes a piece of furniture comes your way and it takes a while to decide what to do with it.

Should I re-stain it, maybe a darker cooler color like a walnut?

Should I white-wash it and put new, fun knobs on it?

But this dresser had it’s destiny before it became mine. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, How to paint furniture, Thrifty Living

Gluten Free Cheesy Pasta + Kielbasa Dinner

March 7, 2017 by 4 Comments

Oh yeah….

It’s about to get really cheesy up in here.

And…

Gluten free y’all!

 

Gluten Free dinner ideas

 

I LOVE THIS RECIPE, there I did my all caps and freaked out a teeny bit about how super easy and kid friendly this skillet dinner is.

I love pasta, but pasta does not always love me back so much.  So I use gluten free pasta, and make something sensitive tummies and hard-core-wheat-tummies can eat too.

This is a 30 minutes or less recipe and there were no traces of this cheesy goodness on my family’s plates when we finished.

That is always a good sign right?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Thrifty Living Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How to make your own carpet cleaner

February 25, 2017 by 8 Comments

How to make carpet cleaner

 

I am probably a bit of a cleaning nerd but I like to clean.

Well, more the enjoyment over the end result perhaps than the process itself.

This last weekend I took full advantage of the 3 day weekend and did some serious deep cleaning in our home.

Lifting a layer of winter dirt and grime (and it never ceases to amaze me how bad it really is lol!) makes my house sparkle and my heart happy as I put my feet up and enjoy the end result.

This year I used a combination of store bought items and homemade cleaning supplies too. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, Homemade Cleaning Supplies, Thrifty Living Tagged With: , , ,

The BEST homemade sweet + sour chicken! (gluten free too)

February 19, 2017 by 17 Comments

Even before breaking up with gluten six years ago, I had tried numerous times to create a crispy and sweet version of one of my restaurant faves.

Each time it was ok, the sauce was pretty good but the chicken pieces were kind of……meh.

Not great and I would eat it of course but not be thrilled.

UNTIL NOW Y’ALL!

 

How to make sweet and sour chicken

 

Since making this a few weeks ago the fam has requested it over and over.

So I have had to get creative and use BBQ dipping sauce and a few other things to make this crew of chicken fans happy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Thrifty Living Tagged With: , , , ,

7 things you should buy at thrift stores

February 8, 2017 by 5 Comments

What are the best deals at thrift stores #thriftstore #secondhand #thrifting #thriftyliving

 

Walking around my home with my coffee recently I realized that I have more second hand items than not. 

If you have followed twelveOeight for a while or you are new here (yay thank you everyone for your love and support!) you will probably see that my PASSION is to turn nothing into something fabulous.

So…I began thinking that it would be fun to do a series on what a 30 year veteran of thrifting does to score those finds.  

When Macklemore came out with Thrift Shop a few years ago, I instantly loved the song, and him (ok there may be a secret crush going on too hee hee)  and listen to his music often.  While we don’t pop any tags lol, we do believe that paying full price or spending $50 on a t-shirt is getting swindled by an industry.  Not only that but look at how full our landfills would be if everyone just discarded their furniture, home goods, clothes etc… when they no longer wanted them.

YES!!! This is where it gets good.  One come up coming at you.  

I can remember the first yard sale in my neighborhood as a kid.  My family were not thrifters, in fact I was an only child for 15 years and my Mom loved her some Nordstrom.  So I was accustomed to all that came with having a Mom and Grandma to hang out with who LOVED to shop.  

I watched the neighbors set up their tables, then out came box after box full of dishes and lamps, and paintings, and some furniture.  After I could take it no longer (I am pretty sure this is the test for a lover of all things thrift.  Watch your heart rate and how fast you grab your wallet when you see a yard sale or new thrift shop.)  I had to see what they were doing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, How To Save Money, Thrifty Living

Peanut Noodles with Chicken (gluten free!)

January 29, 2017 by 5 Comments

Peanut Noodles with Chicken #pastarecipes #glutenfree #gf #twelveOeight #howtomakepeanutsauce

 

I love noodles, cover them in a million different sauces or leave them buttered with some parsley and you can count me in.

And what’s better than combining a delicious peanut sauce with tender pieces of chicken?

Well you could make it gluten free.

And make it in less than 30 minutes.

Now we’re talking, and this dish is so darn good.

I love the flavors of combining the peanut butter with sesame oil.  This has become a dish my family asks for often and when the ingredients are easy to pull together and dinner is on the table that fast….I am more than happy to oblige.

Plus, if I haven’t said it yet, I LOVE THIS DISH SO MUCH.  And so does my gluten-intolerant tummy.

We are both happy and full, and even better, you can make a big batch and nom on this for lunch the next day.

Yep, everyone will think you were in the kitchen forever, and that you are a master of noodles and peanut sauce.

 

gluten free peanut noodles with chicken #glutenfree #asianrecipes #budgetdinner #twelveOeight

 

It’s ok, I won’t tell anyone how easy this is if you don’t.

Let’s COOK!

Peanut Noodles with Chicken

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces of gluten free spaghetti noodles
  • 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup of orange juice
  • 6 T. rice vinegar
  • 4 T. gluten free soy sauce
  • 4 T. hot chili oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 cups of diced cooked chicken (I like to dice and saute chicken thighs in a bit of coconut oil)
  • 2/3 cup sliced green onion to garnish
  • Optional: finely chopped peanuts to garnish

Cook and drain pasta according to directions.

 

Gluten free pasta #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfreedinners #twelveOeight

 

In a bowl combine peanut butter, sesame oil, canola oil, orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce and chili oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

How to make peanut Sauce #peanutsauce #spicypeanutsauce #peanutdippingsauce #twelveOeight #glutenfree

 

Toss cooked chicken, pasta, and peanut sauce together, fill your bowls and top with sliced green onions and chopped peanuts if you like.

Serves 4-6 main dish servings

Peanut Noodles with Chicken #pastarecipes #glutenfree #gf #twelveOeight #howtomakepeanutsauce

Voila! You are done and can enjoy a great meal with family and friends, and not spend all evening in the kitchen either.

Stay crafty-

xo, Tanya 

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linking up to: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

And these awesome parties: http://www.twelveoeightblog.com/awesome-link-parties

 

Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Thrifty Living Tagged With: ,

Slow cooker white chicken chili

January 22, 2017 by 1 Comment

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili #slowcooker #chickenrecipes #crockpot #chili #budgetrecipies #twelveOeight

 

We use our slow cooker year round, in the summer a big pot of pork carnitas or baked beans keep the kitchen cool by avoiding turning the oven on.

And in the fall and winter…well…it’s a slow-cooker-palooza every week and I find myself using ours at least three times a week if not more. 

I love to make big batches of beef chili, spaghetti sauce to freeze and homemade refried beans in my slow cooker.  Beans seem to work their way into many dishes as they are a great source of protein, easy on the budget and really good for you. 

I decided to do a little use-what-you-have cooking before we went on our monster Costco and Winco shopping trip recently.  I like to do a quick re-organize of my pantry shelves and deep freezer so things don’t get “lost” in the back and never used, and so I stock up but avoid over-buying.  Which is very easy to do at Costco.

I saw that I had some frozen chicken breasts, and canned white beans, along with a can of green chilies in hand I knew I had the makings for a belly warming pot of good for you white chicken chili. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Slow Cooker Recipes, Thrifty Living

DIY recycled t-shirt wall art

January 17, 2017 by 4 Comments

DIY tshirt wall art #upcycle #diy #wallart #twelveOeight

I graduated from High School in 1989.

That puts me at 45 today, and while some things have changed so much, my love of rock t-shirts, all things Stevie Nicks, and dreams of travelling Europe with a backpack and train pass have never changed.

I grew up on a small working farm, raised by my organic-gardening grandparents while my mom sorted fruit for a local orchard.

On sunny days you could find my running between the fruit trees and when the weather was cold, pouring over my mom’s impressive collection of records and deciding if I needed to sew a new halter top.

Years have passed and I think I still have her first Beatles record in my own collection buried between some New Order and the Doors.

Somewhere in my teens a love of thrifting and upcycling emerged, and I suppose some might say hoarding.  I have however purged collected items many times over, keeping a core group of treasures that I am sure I could not live without.  So we will not call it hoarding but curating a collection of things that bring us joy.

Yes, that sounds so much better.

Recently while trolling through my local Goodwill I came across a navy tank top that had an embroidery skull that caught my eye. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Boho Style, DIY, home decor, Thrifty Living

How to make the best Spanish Rice ever

July 11, 2016 by 5 Comments

How to make spanish rice #rice #spanishrice #twelveOeight #glutenfree

Rice seems like an easy enough thing to make.

For whatever reason, mastering how to cook rice has eluded me.

I love it, it’s gluten free (yay, makes grumpy tummies happy) and easy on the budget.

Enter my desire to make Spanish Rice.

I thought it was the recipe, so I tried every single recipe out there.  And I have had zero success in achieving the fluffy, non-sticky rice at our favorite Mexican restaurants. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Thrifty Living, Uncategorized
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