Cricut Mat and Tacky Spray. A Pinterest keeper

I am sure many of us own a Cricut machine.  Wether it may be the mini or the newest Cricut Expression, but the 9.99 and up cutting mats can be a little expensive even when the mat is used all the time.

A few months ago I needed to save a little bit of money and reuse the mat in some way, especially keeping the adhesive side sticky.  So I decide to look on Pinterest to see what I can do to make use of the Cricut mats.  Low and behold, I found that using Krylon Tacky Spray and blue painters tape does the trick.  

Rubbing a magic eraser to get the old adhesive off the mat and spray where the current adhesive was and wait 1 to 2 hours to dry before using the mat.  Well since I had no magic eraser to take off the unsticky adhesive, but I did have the painters tape and the spray adhesive I wanted to see how it worked.

Well, it worked just as good even if I had no eraser to work on the mat.  But if you have extra Mr. Clean magic erasers, go right ahead and use them.  (Before taping and spraying of course)  When using the spray, make sure that you do this in a well ventalated area, like outside or in the garage.  (when living out in the Midwest, the weather likes to make tricks on us especially during the fall and winter months)

The life time when using this spray will last just as long as purchasing a new mat.  But please make sure that you place the plastic on so dust or other small things will make the mat less sticky.
Feel free to comment on this and let me know what other adhesives you have used in the past.

Until next time and happy crafting!!

~Nicole

Sunday Funday Split pea soup

Today was one of my days where I had to do something with a bag of green split peas.  The only items that I didn't have was onion and celery.  Of corse I had about 1/4 cup left of chopped carrots left in the fridge so I decide to use the rest.  

The most less exiting thing about these little peas is that when you rinse and go through them,  they will fall out of the strainer and into the sink.  A couple of missed peas will not me missed, I promise you.  

What I did a little different this time is I used 4 cups of veggie stock and one cup of water after adding the peas and carrots.  

Of corse the water and stock will give it some flavorto the soup.  After the broth and water was added,  I just added a little of sea salt in. 

Let the soup cook for 6-8 hours until the peas have become more soft when you stir.  When it's all done you can add some black pepper and eat it with your favorite bread and butter on the side.  Lunch or dinner will be waiting the same day or left over for the week.

Let me know what other favorite things you put in your soup.  Love to share other ideas. Does not hurt to try different things, right?

~Nicole. 😊