2011 Ultimate Blog Party

Welcome to everyone visiting from 5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party! If you're NOT visiting from the party and wonder what this is all about

...this is a big party for thousands of bloggers! Where you can meet new friends and possibly win some prizes.

To introduce myself, my name is Kindra...I'm a wife and momma to 2 beautiful boys. My blog is all about creating and decorating on a budget with a few odds and ends thrown in. I.heart.junk. :) Garage sales and thrift stores are MY THING! The thrill of the hunt is such a rush and then transforming them into something wonderful for my home. 

So please take a look around at some of my past projects. Follow me if you like. (Hint: I have a fun 500 follower giveaway coming up! I'm almost there.). You can also find me on Facebook.

Thanks so much visiting! 

Cabinet Door Picture Frame (and Feature Friday)

I worked on another FREE makeover this week. I made this fun cabinet door picture frame!

I got this cute beadboard cabinet door at my local salvage center during their Free week last fall.

I've been brainstorming forever what to do with this. Then a light bulb finally clicked this week. How about a picture frame?

So I decided what sizes to cut my squares. I chose to cut a 4''x4'' square in the middle and (2) 4''x6'' rectangles. I just used a ruler to draw my shapes that I needed to cut out. Then a jigsaw was used to cut out the openings.

I took some scrap 1/4'' thick leftover plywood that I had lying around and cut them a little bitter than the square/rectangles in the cabinet door. Then I glued them to the back side of the cabinet door. I would use a heavy duty glue like gorilla glue.

Before I added the back plywood pieces, I painted the door first. I left the outside trim the same black but painted the inside beadboard and plywood pieces an antique white. I then sanded down the cabinet door to give it a good distressing. Then I applied some Early American MinWax stain to give it a richer look.

After it was dry, then that's when I added the back plywood pieces. Also add a sawtooth hanger to the back for easy hanging.

Now it's time to get your favorite photos out to enjoy! I use poster putty but you can also use photo safe tape as well. Then they can easily be changed out.

If you don't like it vertical then enjoy it the other way! 

This was a fun and easy project...and don't forget FREE!

So be on the lookout for those old cabinet doors at salvage centers/garage sales. Garage sale season is coming up! Woop! Can't wait!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again for all who linked up to Terrific Under Ten Tuesday this week! Here are a few projects I would love to feature today.

Lori from Make Prim Happen gave this $1.99 Thrift Store find a great black makeover! Love the arrangement as well.

Pam from Be Colorful showed off her awesome painting talent with this fun birdhouse. I love the quote to added to the side of it. "There is nothing half so pleasant as coming home again."

 Lucy from Lucy Designs made these FAB dragonflies from a little bit of everything. Can you guess what the wings are made of? Ceiling fan blades. :)

Heather from Summerstead provides a tutorial on this fun hanger! I love the look of the old barn wood and the elegant knobs together.

I love lemonade. It's my favorite drink. :)

Colleen from And Baby Makes Five shares a cupcake recipe with a lemonade twist. Can't wait to try!

If you were featured today, please grab an "I'm Featured" button for your blog!

<center><a href="http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/MommasPrimitives/linkybutton.jpg"/></a></center> I'll be linking up to a few of these linky parties. 

Recipe Swap - Mongolian Beef

The theme for this week's recipe swap was Asian food. I received Cooking Light's Mongolian Beef from Amanda.


I didn't want to buy hoisin sauce since ingredients I don't use often end up dying a slow death in my fridge, so I searched online for a similar recipe and found this one for P. F. Chang's Mongolian Beef.

I've never had Mongolian Beef before so I can speak to how close the end result was to the restaurant version, but it was a good meal. It was a little sweet for my taste and I think I let the cornstarch sit too long on the meat because it didn't add a crispy coating, but SP loved it. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.

Thanks Amanda!

P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions, sliced

Make the sauce by heating 2 teaspoons of vegetable in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into thin slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.

Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon or a spider to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.