January 2013 | Everyday Simple

Archive for January 2013

Handmade Valentine's Day Cards

Thursday, January 31

I'm finally starting on some Valentine's Day crafts! Ha, and it's not even February yet. I don't think I've ever really decorated for Valentine's Day before. But I'm loving all of the cute hearts and glitter and pom poms hitting the web right now. So I sat down and painted up some handmade cards. I figure come February, I'll make the rounds and drop off these cards with some yummy treats to our neighbors and friends.

Want to make your own? Just grab a few blank cards, some sharpies, and some fun little craft paint and have at it!

You could probably use nothing but colored sharpies and just skip the paint. But I noticed that the paint gives a lot more of a brighter "pop." The sharpie faded into the card and got just a little bit dull. And you'll need to make sure that your card is heavy enough to take the paint - you don't want it seeping through.

I used the sharpie to draw my shapes and to give me lines to paint inside. Once I started painting, though, I didn't worry about going over the tops of the sharpie lines. All I had were these big foam brushes - hard to be very accurate with those things. And I didn't feel like going to the store to get some better craft paintbrushes. But that's the beauty of sharpies - once the paint dried, I just quickly traced back over the lines.

Before I started painting, I ran the cards through the printer to include some custom little Valentine messages inside. My favorites are "you make my heart go boom-boom" and "all you need is ♥." I almost always print on any cards/envelopes I have. I think it's so fun and adds the perfect personal touch.

And that's all there is to it! Some sharpies, some paint, and you've got some cute, very fun Valentine's Day cards to give to family and friends.

Happy crafting!

Linking to: The Shabby Nest, 504 Main, Design, Dining and Diapers, Craftberry Bush, Crafty Scrappy Happy, All Our Days, Six Sister's Stuff, Tatertots & Jello, Little Inspiration, Liz Marie Blog, A Night Owl, Project Inspire, It's Overflowing

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11 Valentine DIY Gifts | for the missus

Tuesday, January 29

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11

So ladies, this list is actually for the men. I ran the ideas by the husband to see if he approved. He said most were pretty manageable, so I took that as a good sign. So if your hubby or boyfriend is looking for some inspiration for personal gifts he could make for you, here are a few to look over. Most of them involve wood and nails. There's even dirt and deer antlers. True man DIY items.

1. State Map Love

2. Wooden Bath Tub Caddy

3. Morse Code Necklace

4. Mini Potted Plants

5. Branch Necklace Holder

6. String Heart on Wood

7. Personal Flower Wrap

8. Lemon Salt Scrub

9. Seed-starter Valentine packets

10. Antler Jewelry Stand

11. Map Hearts (of important/special places)

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11 Valentine DIY Gifts | for the mister

Monday, January 28

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11

It's still January, but Valentine's Day is just right around the corner! It's crazy to think, but this year will be the 6th year that Danny and I have celebrated Valentine's Day together. Six!! Geesh. Seriously, where does the time go?

Do you and your sweetheart usually give gifts for Valentine's? Danny and I like to do something small, sweet, and simple. I thought a round-up of some of my favorite manly DIY gifts would be perfect if you're searching for some ideas.

1. "I Love You" Jar (my gift to Danny last year)

2. Upcylced Bicycle Handlebar Bag

3. Leather Journal

4. Coupon Date Book

5. Personalized Tie

6. Mini Envelope Love Notes

7. Dry Rubs

8. Personalized Grilling Apron

9. Cement Coasters

10. Wooden Pencil Block

11. Emergency Car Kits (not your typical Valentine's Day gift, but nothing says "I love you" like emergency preparedness)

A Valentine DIY gift list for the missus coming tomorrow. Because what girl wouldn't love a genuine DIY gift from her husband/boyfriend? Sweet as can be, I'll tell ya.

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DIY Tribal Print Mug

Friday, January 25

I need to get a start on my Valentine's Day craft projects. I'm loving all of the glittery hearts and pink sparkles hitting the blogosphere right now. But, as I was doing my spring cleaning (it's never too early to start, right?), I found a big bag of white mugs I'd bought back in September from the dollar store for a project that totally didn't work out. It'd been too long to return them, and they were only $1 a piece. I wanted to do something with them (actually, I kind-of just wanted to stuff them back in the closet and forget about them. Sometimes spring cleaning equals hiding things so you won't find them again until next year). So I hunkered down in front of the computer, grabbed a couple of ceramic paint markers, put on some "I Shouldn't Be Alive" episodes, and started doodling away.

I decided that for my first mug, I definitely wanted to do a tribal print. I'm kind-of obsessed with tribal patterns. I looked at this picture and this picture for inspiration, but for the most part I just went with what looked good.

I toyed around with the idea of baking the cup and actually using it as real mug, but the ceramic marker just didn't look as clean cut as I wanted. So I went back over the mug with a sharpie. Right now I'm just enjoying it as a cup holder for our markers.

I'm semi-happy with it. I like it, but I wish I'd gotten it a bit more crisp. But I'm happy to have something with a little tribal print in our decor, even if it is just a cup holder. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the other 6 mugs....

Hopefully I'll be back next week with some fun Valentine's Day crafts! Happy Friday, friends.

Linking to:

Whipperberry, The Shabby Nest, Design, Dining, + Diapers, Tatertots & Jello, DIY Showoff

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Sunday Afternoon Prepping | Healthy Snacks to Last the Week

Thursday, January 24

I'm on a kitchen/food kick right now. We've just talked about making freezer meals for the first time, so let's move onto another important part of meal planning - snacking. For a long time, snacking was not a part of my weekly meal plan. In fact, it's only very recently been included on it. For years, my type of snacking has consisted of grabbing some chips and salsa. Or eating a poptart. Or pouring myself a bowl of cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Reese's Pieces, if we're being specific here).

A while back, I finally had a talk with myself and decided that chips, poptarts, and cereal aren't the best type of snacking I should be doing. So, in an effort to snack better, I've included a lot more fruits, veggies, and nuts on our shopping list. Like Victoria from Green Plate Rule, I like to prep for clean eating on Sundays. It sets your kitchen up for healthy eating all week long.

For this week, Danny and I have celery sticks, apples, pomegranate seeds, pineapple chunks, grapefruit (those are more for breakfast), baby carrots, almonds, trail mix, granola bars, and mason jar salads. We're not going to eat all of this in one week for snacking, so we also like to use the vegetables and nuts in salads when we're running low or they're close to going bad. Also, I like to eat a few pieces of pineapple or grab an apple to satisfy my sweet tooth after dinner. We'll even pack a bag to use them as sides for our lunches. And, there's always the option of throwing everything into a blender and making smoothies!

Probably every one and their cousin knows how to cut celery. But for a long while, the only time I ever used celery was when I needed to chop it up for a soup. So in case anyone was wondering how to cut celery sticks for dipping (like in party vegetable trays), I thought I'd pass it along. Celery sticks have become a great snack for us; I like mine with a little bit of ranch, and Danny likes his with peanut butter.

- Wash the celery, then cut off the base and the leafy green tops (the tops can be too tough to eat).

- Cut the sticks into pieces small enough for dipping, then cut each piece down the middle along it's "groove."

- Store in the fridge. Place a bit of water in the bottom of the container to keep them crisp.

Now how about pomegranates? Danny and I have just barely started buying them for snacking. I've done all sorts of pomegranate flavored drinks, but I'd never actually bought a pomegranate as a snack before. Turns out, these little suckers are actually kind of difficult to eat. I had no idea how I was going to get all of those seeds out. I had a friend who would just pick her seeds out one by one, but I figured there had to be an easier way. So I Googled. And I found a fun little trick.

- Cut the pomegranate in half and lightly "stretch" it out.

- Grab a spoon, and start whacking the back of the pomegranate (be sure to hold it over a bowl).

- Keep whacking all over the back of the pomegranate until all the seeds have fallen out.

- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

It works like magic. And holy cow - do you see how many seeds just two of these have inside of them?! It's crazy! And they are oh so delicious.

Probably my all-time favorite snack, though, are our mason jar salads. I make these every week. They are so ideal for lunches. I'd seen these around Pinterest, but really decided to make them after seeing Victoria's post. I cannot get enough of them now. They are so good and so healthy. And they are a lot more filling when I'm in that "in-between-meals-and-I'm-starving" mood. I have six mason jars, so when I fill all of them they last us 3 days if we both eat one a day, but I've had them stay good up to 5 days in the fridge.

And that's pretty much it! I wash and cut the rest of our fruit and veggies and stick everything in tupperware containers in the fridge (remember when I talked about coring/cutting pineapples here? I got so excited that I bought two more pineapples this week). Now we've got lots of good snacks right on hand in our fridge. In our cupboard are our bagged nuts, granola bars, and trail mix, and we've got some apples and grapefruit out on the counter. I've stopped buying chips and salsa and poptarts (although I probably won't ever stop buying sugary cereal). It's so much easier not having those temptations present. Now instead of reaching for a smores poptart, I reach for some carrot sticks and pineapple chunks instead.

Happy snacking!

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6 Freezer Meal Recipes + a Master Shopping List

Tuesday, January 22

Hi there! How was your holiday yesterday? Danny didn't have school, so we were able to go out on a fun hike with some friends of ours (six adults, a baby, and one dog!). It was really beautiful - I'm starting to appreciate the Arizona desert more and more.

You guys ready for some freezer meal goodness? This was my first time making a group of meals that I was specifically planning to freeze ahead. Occassionally I would freeze parts of a meal after making it if I knew we weren't going to be able to finish it all in one or two dinners. I've been freezing bread and dough for a few years now. But I hadn't jumped on the freezer meal bandwagon yet, even though I'd been wanting to for a while.

After getting encouragement from a few friends, I had a freezer meal cooking day over at my house. In since two of the three of us had never made freezer meals before, we started out small and only made 6 meals a piece (we all made the same meals). I'll include the recipes and the master shopping list below, but first let's talk about making freezer meals for the first time. Like a lot of things that seem intimidating at first, freezer meals are actually a lot easier than I expected. From my first experience, here are some tips and suggestions I'd give to anyone wanting to jump into making freezer meals:

// Have a Freezer Meal Party with a Freezer Meal Pro (or semi-pro) //

I probably would not have made a single freezer meal (even though I'd been planning for months) if it hadn't been for my friend, Allie. Having a friend to help pull things together and guide you through the process would be my #1 suggestion. It's so much easier to ask questions along the way. Bonus: They can also give you some really great tried-and-true freezer meal recipes. Allie was instrumental in helping us put everything together. She gave us some great tips and answered all of our questions about what you can and can't freeze, which recipes are better thawed out first, etc. Find a friend or friends who have made freezer meals before and plan a party! It's also doubles as a fun girl's day while the guys are out studying.

// Start Small //

I researched a lot on freezer meals before I put these first ones together. I got a little overwhelmed with what recipes I should try, how many meals I should make, should I shop stores/coupons for the best prices, etc. My advice is to not worry about any of that, not even coupons (unless you're already an avid couponer and this is just a natural part of your grocery shopping). Start small. If 4-6 meals are too overwhelming for you, then start with 1 or 2. The trick is getting the hang of it. Don't worry about some massive cooking day for fifty meals that will feed your family for the next six months. Make something that will last you the next week or two. Slowly, as you get more practice and learn the tricks of freezer meal cooking, you can work your way up to more.

// Create a Recipe List (with reheating instructions) //

I like to be very clean cut and organized when it comes to meals. I gathered all of the recipes we wanted to make onto one word document. I included ingredients, directions, AND reheating instructions. I printed the document off for reference while we were cooking, and now that document is sitting in an easy-to-access drawer in my kitchen (and it's available for you to download below - yay!). I know exactly what's in my freezer and what I need to do with each meal when it comes time to serving.

// Create a Master Shopping List //

Even making 4-6 meals can be quite a lot if you're not used to shopping for that many recipes at once. After I had created our recipe document, I went through each ingredient and created a master shopping list (available for download below). I even paired everything off into meats, vegetables, dairy products, etc. to make the list more streamlined. It was a cinch shopping for all of the supplies (which I'd been worried about, because just looking at all of the ingredients for 6 meals seemed crazy overwhelming). And bonus - with my list, I was able to go through my cupboards and "shop" my kitchen first to see what I'd already had. Turns out, I had more ingredients than I'd thought. All in all, shopping for those 6 meals cost me around $30 total. Booyah.

// Label Your Freezer Meals (with reheating instructions) //

This may sound obvious, but label each meal. My friend Liz started writing her reheating instructions on each of her bags/foil pans as well. Even though I had my recipe list with reheating instructions already on it, I thought this was brilliant. It's a great reference if your husband ever decides to cook dinner that night. He can pull out a freezer meal bag or foil pan, see exactly what it is and what he needs to do to get it ready and voila! Easy peasy. I followed Liz's example and wrote everything down on my meals, too. They all now say how long each meal needs to be put in the oven/crock pot, at what temp, and if it needs to be thawed out first.

// Know How to Store Freezer Meals in Your Freezer //

Buy ziplock freezer bags and temporary foil pans to put your meals in. Once your meals are all put together, lay your ziplock bags down and spread them out so they freeze flat, and stack your pans. I have seven freezer meals (we doubled up on some pizza dough) in my freezer and they barely take up any space at all. I'm picky about having an organized freezer and refridgerator; I need all of the space I can get.

// Make a Weekly Meal Plan //

I kind-of thought that making freezer meals would exempt me from making a meal plan each week. Even though I could estimate how long these meals would last us, I still decided I need to keep up with a meal plan. I think this is really important, because freezer meals aren't all "freeze and forget about it." Some meals do need to be thawed out in advance. Making a weekly meal plan allows me to see what's for dinner the next day - that way, if something needs to be thawed out, I can make sure I take it out the night before so it'll be ready when it's time to put it in the oven or crockpot. This also helps whenever your husband wants to cook dinner - he can see what you have planned, find it in the freezer, and get it ready for supper that night. Danny loves cooking, but I do most of the grocery shopping and plan out our meals. If he ever wants to take over dinner for the night, he can see what I've got set up for our next meal.

Woo - that's a little bit more lengthy than I was planning it to be. But hopefully this will help out if you're jumping into freezer meals for the first time! Now, let's get on to the recipes and shopping list, shall we?

Here are the 6 meals we made (technically 7 meals - the pizza dough makes enough for 2 pizzas). The first two recipes were adapted from recipes I've saved on Pinterest, and the last 5 are all from Allie.

1. Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken (adapted from: Six Sister's Stuff and Over the Big Moon)

2. Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken (adapted from: Pregnant.LiveJournal.com)

3. Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Sour Cream Sauce

4. Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

5. Chicken Pillows

6. Pizza Dough

Don't they all sound delicious?! I'm really excited to try out the pizza dough - Allie says it makes the best pizzas in the world. We've already tried the Chicken and Broccoli Casserole (Danny loved it - cheesy broccoli is his favorite), and I've got the Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken in the crock-pot right now. I have to tell you - so far, so good. I'm pretty sold on freezer meals. I'm hoping they'll be a regular part of our meals from now on.

Download the Recipe List HERE

Download the Master Shopping List HERE

Any questions or concerns? Feel free to ask away! I'll answer as best I can from what I've learned so far, and for everything else I'll probably ask Allie and get back with you :) The girl needs to start her own blog - she makes killer meals, bakes like crazy, crafts things I would expect to see in a store, and she has the best fashion sense. And she just had a baby and makes cute little cardigans for him. We're all trying to convince her to start a craft/recipe/fashion blog asap.

Happy freezer meal making! Oh, and ps: If you'd like to see the rest of the freezer meals I've saved up on Pinterest, click HERE.

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Freezer Meal Party

Friday, January 18

Happy Friday! Got any fun plans for the weekend? I've had the same weekend plans every month for about 3 months now - have a freezer meal cooking day. These "plans" haven't exactly materialized, though. Every Saturday I think, "Hm. I should go grocery shopping..." And then I usually end up at World Market or Home Goods trying to convince myself that I need a new basket or wall mirror. And then I realize it's too late to go grocery shopping, much less grocery shopping for a bunch of freezer meals. So we end up having spaghetti or tacos for dinner. Or we order pizza. And drink lots of soda. Not exactly the type of healthy eating I wanted to get us started back on after the holidays.

Finally, I had a golden moment when I was out with my friend, Liz. She mentioned that our other friend, Allie, made freezer meals. I called up Allie, she got excited about the idea, and later that afternoon Liz, Allie, and I had a freezer meal party planned. Yesterday we got together at my place and within four hours went from this:

and this:

to this:

6 recipes of freezer meal heaven for each of us. Next week I'll share what I learned, along with the recipes we used and a master shopping list. Have a great weekend!

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DIY Celery-Stamped Wrapping Paper

Thursday, January 17

Have you guys seen all of the fun celery art that has been going on around Pinterest? I'd seen a few, and I thought some were cute. But when I saw Geninne's DIY celery-stamped wrapping paper over at Geninne's Art Blog, I was smitten. I knew I had to try it out.

via Geninne's Art Blog

How gorgeous is this wrapping? The white rosettes mized with the recycled paper... I think it's extremely lovely. I decided to make my own for a little package I wanted to send off to my Mother for her birthday.

Isn't it pretty? I got a celery stalk that was nice and open at the bottom. I like the big, flowery look. I only wish I had stamped each flower a little closer together. They look lovely on the package, but I think it would have been beautiful with a little bit more coverage.

Before I sent it off, I wrapped it up with some simple twine for a subtle look. I kind-of want to celery-stamp my entire roll of kraft paper now. I also have a nice tupperware full of celery sticks in my fridge for snacking. It's a pretty sweet craft when you can get lovely packaging and some food out of it at the same time.

Be sure to head on over to Geninne's Art Blog to check out her DIY wrapping paper. Happy crafting!

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Lettuce Talk | Storing Lettuce in the Fridge

Tuesday, January 15

Hey guys. Let's talk lettuce. I love lettuce. Weird, right? Or do other people love lettuce as much as I do? If a sandwich doesn't have lettuce, I'm not as inclined to eat it. I also get a little giddy whenever I go to a restaurant and their salads have just the perfect lettuce crispness. My husband isn't as big of a fan as I am. He could do without that green stuff. But I'm quite partial to it.

One of the problems I had with lettuce was that I just simply didn't know how to store it. A lot of the times I would just leave it in the bag. I would pull out a few pieces when I needed them, rinse them off, pat them dry, and try to use them. Didn't work so well - the lettuce was still damp and lost it's crispness. Other times, my lettuce would turn limp and go bad before I could even get to it all. So what's a girl to do when she wants nice, crisp lettuce whenever she wants it? She Googles, of course.

The Paupered Chef was the first place my search landed on. I took their tip of washing and storing lettuce and created my own method. It works wonders - my lettuce stays crisp and fresh and I've got clean lettuce on hand whenever I want it.

Step 1: Grab your lettuce, a hand towel, and a large cutting board and set them out on the counter by the kitchen sink.

Step 2: Begin pulling off my lettuce leaves one by one. I like to rinse off each leaf individually, then lay them on my cutting board.

Step 3: Once all of the lettuce has been rinsed, leave them out to dry for a bit. Usually I'll use this time to do other things around the kitchen (wash and cut up fruits and veggies, clean up after dinner, etc). The lettuce won't entirely dry on its own. When I'm ready to move on to the next step, I usually pat them dry with a paper towel (you could also place them in a salad spinner).

Step 4: Once the leaves are decently dry, pile them up on one end of a clean kitchen towel.

Step 5: After all of the leaves are on your towel, roll them up! Make sure that no ends are sticking out of the top or bottom of the towel.

Step 6: Place the towel in the fridge drawer that holds your other vegetables and pull out whenever needed.

I used to wrap my lettuce up in paper towels instead of a kitchen towel; it worked great, but I wasted a ton of paper towels. So I switched to my green towel instead. It's a simple trick for your kitchen that will hopefully save you from anymore spoiled or un-crisp lettuce!

Also, if you buy iceberg lettuce, I would recommend getting another type instead. I prefer romaine. Romaine lettuce has "approximately 10 times more vitamin A than Iceberg." If you'd like to read more about the nutritional value of romaine vs. iceberg, click here.

And here's another tip - one that probably the rest of the world knows about and I've only recently discovered. Did you know that there is such a thing as a pineapple corer/slicer? I just found this out, people. And it's amazing. My pineapple slicing days have forever been changed.

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Life Lately

Monday, January 14

Danny and I are loving our new smart phones and all of the camera/Instagram apps we've found. It's fun documenting the tiny tidbits. One day, I'd love to compile all of our snapshots into a little photobook. There are few things that make me happier than looking through old photos of past memories. Seeing your loved ones' faces and expressions and discovering a moment you'd long forgotten... it's the best kind of joy.

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A Few Favorite Pins

Friday, January 11

1// DIY Stenciled Pillow via Nesting Place

2// Spicy Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats via The Comfort of Cooking

3// Birch Votive Candle Holders via Design Sponge

4// Gauze Swaddle Blanket Tutorial via This Little Miggy Stayed Home

5// DIY Polka Dot Jeans via House&Hold

6// Homemade Vanilla Extract via Adventures in Cooking

7// DIY Cutting Board via Oh Happy Day

8// Antler Stamp via Etsy Shop: PerrodinSupplyCo

9// Handmade Herb Garden Labels via Esty Shop: Paulova

10// "They will find you..." via The Meta Picture

I've come to learn that Pinterest is more than just a way to hoard a bunch of pretty pictures - it's a great resource for finding some awesome DIY tutorials and amazingly delicious recipes. Here are a few of my favorite recent things I've pinned. And yes, I finally bit the bullet and started pinning funny pictures (like #10 on this list). Seriously - they give me a good laugh.

You can see the rest of my pins here.

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It's Here!

Thursday, January 10

This prettly little package came for me in the mail this week. And I'm pretty darn excited about it.

Also, a quick shout-out to my Mom - it's her birthday today! Happy Birthday, Mama! :)

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Pots, and Pans, and Cooling Racks - oh my! | Organizing the Kitchen

Wednesday, January 9

I love organizing. A lot. I can organize closets and bedrooms and bathrooms and anything else that's gone too long without a good purge-and-rearrange treatment. But kitchens? Kitchens are a whole other story. I secretly don't think that kitchens like me. The pots and pans and lids and cutting boards and bowls and muffin tins and blenders and mixers and fruit bowls... they just won't fit the way they're supposed to. And I try to make them. I beg and plead and coax them into their assigned spots, but they won't listen. I always give it a good effort every few months. But those efforts usually find me on the kitchen floor around 10pm with a lemon zester in one hand and a potato peeler in the other, mumbling incoherently to the refrigerator. Just kidding. It's not that bad. I only mumble at the stove.

For realz, though, people. Kitchen cabinets are not the easiest spaces to organize. I've found a brilliant way to organize my spices that has worked for me for years (which I'll share later), and our countertops are all nice and pretty-fied with the proper appliances and just the right amount of fruit. But pots and pans? And everything else hidden behind our cabinets? It's madness.

Well, I'd finally had enough. I decided to go all Jackie Chan/Chuck Norris on my kitchen. It was time those cabinets learned who was boss. The main thing I wanted to accomplish was organize my pot lids and find a better way to store my oven pans. The pans in the oven drawer may not look like a mess, but there are about 15 different items stuck together in there. It sounded like the noise of death trying to get the one pan I needed out of that drawer anytime I wanted to cook. I felt like my earbuds were going to explode every.single.time I reached to grab something in there.

The first thing, my pot lids, were pretty easy. I was in Target, wondering aimlessly around the kitchen/home aisles (a dangerous place for me to be), when I found a little wire rack labeled "lid rack." Badda bing, bodda boom. My lids were organized.

I bought a second lid organizer to try and tackle my pans. Unfortunately, they didn't fit under the cupboard like I had hoped. The shelf was too low and the pans were too big. I really wanted to store everything under this cabinet - it's got the best location for cooking. But in since they weren't fitting, I had to find somewhere else.

I settled on our tupperware cabinet - this itty bitty cupboard space just to the right of the fridge. The Target lid rack wouldn't fit, but I found a smaller dividing rack at Wal-Mart that barely fit. It took a lot of coaxing to get that sucker in there. But once I got it in and put all of othe pans in their place, it was perfect. And it works beautifully.

On the right side is a picture of the only 2 remaining pans now left in our oven drawer. They were still a little too big to fit underneath the shelf. Oh, and that big black spot in the middle of our cookie sheet? I set it down on the stove while one of our stove burners was still on. I've also burned my fair share of tupperware on open stove burners in my day. And plastic. And one time, a bag of sugar. Those were our early marriage days, though. The husband is no longer worried that I'm going to set the kitchen on fire (hopefully).

The only problem with moving all of the pans to our tupperware cabinet is that our tupperware had to be relocated somewhere else. I'm not thrilled with where it's at, but Danny thinks it's more convienent in it's new spot, so it'll stay for now.

Just one more thing to share about our kitchen: as of 3 days ago, we now have a broken sink. The faucet snapped - clean in two. Don't let that steady little stream of water trick you - it can shoot all the way from the sink to our garage door down the hall. And I'm totally not even joking. I was just trying to wash my hands last night after mopping up the water that had sprayed all over the floor (and our couch). I figured if I just turned it on a teeny-tiny bit I'd be safe... nope. The water jet propelled itself across the room again. Danny was just mopping up the rest of the water from the first time. He wasn't very happy with me.

I'm linking up to:

The Shabby Nest

Six Sister's Stuff

Tatertots and Jello

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Home Decor Shopping Trip

Tuesday, January 8

World Market, Home Goods, Stein Mart, Ross, Target... all such dangerous stores when you've got some loose change in your pocket and nothing to do on a weekday afternoon. I was supposed to be grocery shopping, but somehow, before I even really knew what was going on, I was parked in the World Market parking lot. I almost didn't go inside. Almost. But hey - I was there, right? What was the harm in walking in?

You see, I've been on the hunt for a few things lately: a nice pretty basket, some good kitchen rugs, a mail station, and a hallway mirror. I found none of those things. Of course. When do you ever find what you're looking for when you need it? Hardly ever.

I have a theory about shopping. And this theory works for clothes, home decor, kitchen gadgets, etc. Basically, anything you can buy. Want to hear it? Okay: Whenever you need something, you will never be able to find it, no matter how many stores you go to. Whenever you're just aimlessly shopping, you will find a million things you fall in love with, even though you don't necessarily need them at that time. Alright, so not an earth-shattering kind-of theory. Everyone who shops knows this. It never fails. It's like a system. I can search and search for that perfect little piece of whatever I desperately need, and I won't ever be able to find it. So I have to buy a not-so-good second choice, or go without. But - the second I don't need that item anymore is when I see it sitting out all cute and innocent-like on the very front row of the very first shelf in the store.

After years and years of suffering against this horrible shopping system, I thought of and embraced a new type of shopping: if I see something and I like it (and I have to really like it (and also have the budget for it)), I buy it. Right there. No questions asked. If I don't need it, no big deal. My theory is that I'll eventually need it, and it'll be perfect because I already have it and don't have to go scrambling around trying to find it (because it won't be there once I need it). I tested this theory out a few years ago when I first came up with it, and it worked. Like a charm. I found a cute dressy shirt I absolutely loved, so I got it. A few weeks later and it was the perfect shirt for a church outfit I needed. I found 2 jackets at Old Navy that were kind of pricey, but I loved both so I got both. They turned out to be my two favorite (and most essential) jackets in my closet. I once bought a striped duffel bag that I was absolutely smitten with. I had no reason for having it, but later on I needed a new carry-on for a trip I was taking to see my family and bam - I had the perfect thing.

So I didn't have high hopes for the things I was looking for. I did find a nice pretty blue basket and a stylish black zig-zag basket that were potential candidates, but they were both kind of rough on the inside. I'm looking for something to stash my scarves and belts in; I don't want the basket to catch and rip any of my scarves. So I had to pass. I did run across these adorable door stops, though:

I don't need them. At all. But I am in love with them. I can't decide which I like more, the squirrel or the bird. I eventually passed on these little cuties, though. Which means one day I am going to need them and they will no longer be on the shelves. But I was ok with not getting them; they were super cute, but I wanted to see if I came across anything else I liked even more than these.

I hit up World Market, then Home Goods, then ran to Ross where I found this pretty baby. Although I've been looking for baskets, I wanted a scarf-basket and a blanket-basket. But this - this was the perfect coffee table-basket. And at only $10, I snatched it up. Those colors weaving around the top just spoke to me. When I reach for something before I even think about, I know that it's meant to be.

After Ross I went back to Home Goods. I had found a cute lantern in the clearance aisle that I almost bought, but walked out on. It kept popping up in my head, though, and when I thought about how pretty it would be on a dresser in our master bedroom, I decided I had better go back and get it. Plus, it was on clearance. It doesn't get better than that, right? I had to doctor it up a bit, though; it was a little wobbly on the ends. With some tissue paper and tape, I Macgyver'd that baby up. It now sits very nice and non-wobbly on our coffee table. Eventually I want to move it up to our bedroom, but I like how it complements the new basket.

Also at Home Goods, I found these baskets. I-am-in-love. I want them. They wouldn't work as my blanket basket because they're too rough on the inside and they're too big for my scarf basket, so again, I didn't have a reason for buying them. Plus, I'd already decided to get the lantern and coffee table basket. If these little beauts are still in Home Goods in a month's time, I am taking one of them home. I'm sure I can find something to use it for. And that mirror! I'm quite fond of that blue color. Too bad I'm not $129 fond of it. But it was so pretty that I had to snap a picture.

After my second trip to Home Goods, I hit up Stein Mart and Target. I found another pretty starburst mirror at Stein Mart (but at $150 I had to pass), and grabbed a few groceries (and by groceries I mean frozen family dinners) from Target, then headed home with my haul. I'm pretty happy with how they look, all cozy and being friends together on our coffee table. Now I just need to buy a few pretty books for it and add some decorations to the bottom shelf. I also need to buff out and stain the table; it's a pretty color, but it too closely matches the color of the tile on our floor. I'd like a little bit more contrast. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit up Home Depot for a nice, deep, mahogany stain.

Linking to: Beneath my Heart