How I Get Away With Shopping Once a Month

A number of you expressed surprised after I mentioned my monthly grocery shopping trip - especially in regards to produce.

These wonders definitely fall under my "favorite things" category.

Tupperware's FridgeSmart Containers. Seriously, they're amazing. Veggies, fruits, and even potatoes last longer in these things and stay fresh!



I hosted a tupperware party last year and earned myself a set of 8 of these - and I absolutely love them. When I had a CSA last year they were so helpful! Speaking of the CSA - I waited too late to sign up this year and missed out. So, my plan is to make the weekly Saturday morning trip to a Farmer's Market in a town over - I'm hoping I will find some good deals there!

I am trying a new budget plan this month which will have me shopping every week rather than once a month - so we'll see how that goes! This week's grocery trip's "big meal" was a variety of home-made pizzas that I made with a friend for a movie night - one of them turned out FABULOUSLY! I'll get pictures and a sort-of-recipe up soon (we didn't measure - but I'll give you estimates and tell you what we did.)

Magazine Boxes

This project did not turn out quite how I hoped and I may re-do it eventually. For now I'm going to leave it alone though and I thought I would still share it with you.

I ordered some plain white cardboard magazine files from IKEA. They look like this:

Not too exciting, eh?


So, I found some wrapping paper that I thought would match my living room to cover the boxes. I picked one with a pattern just to make my life difficult in covering the boxes. So that the pattern would line up I traced out the end of each box onto the paper - for the two boxes that would be on the end of the row I also traced the visible side panel. I outlined the hole on the front of each box to help me line up the paper on the box correctly when it came time to glue.




Then, cut out each strip of paper and glue to the boxes (I used modge podge). If you're using a patterned paper - be very careful to line up the pattern. I messed up on the first one as you may be able to tell.




And, then you have a pretty little set of boxes on your shelf to hide away all those magazine you keep around for some reason.





Ok, so what I didn't like about my first attempt at this so that I know for next time (I still have some extra file boxes) or so that you don't repeat that mistake:


The paper was too thin (you see all the cardboard bumps) and not very bright and interesting on the shelf. If you're looking for something kind of understated - that would be good - but in my mind I wanted something that popped a little more. I was hoping the blue butterflies on the paper would've sparkled more.


I'm not very good at small details - so - I should've gone with coordinating papers rather than trying to match a pattern so the imperfections were not so noticeable. I also think I will cover all four sides of the boxes next time rather than just the visible ones so that I have more diversity in where I place them/how I group them.



Let me know if you try this and how your's turns out!

Favorite Things: Jewelry as Decor

I have never been a big fan of jewelry boxes. They just don't seem to serve their purpose very well for anything other than rings and perhaps bracelets. Necklaces get tangled on the hooks. Earrings get lost and jumbled around. Plus, there never seems to be enough space - especially when bulky and large jewelry is the rage. A few years ago I started hanging my necklaces on an old accordion-style hat rack I picked up at a yard sale for 25 cents. I've hung the hat rack both vertically and horizontally (as it is now) - and it works great both ways. I really need another one as my necklaces are getting a bit crowded - but it works for now. This is in my closet so the only person who really sees it is me and the guest who goes snooping where they ought not to be.

I've been keep my earrings in a small clear case designed to store eyelets for the scrapbook enthusiast. This has worked well except for my larger earrings - and I was running out of space in the box as well. Taking a cue from my necklace rack I decided to make use of some blank wall space next to my bathroom mirror and put in some nails in a lattice pattern on the wall and hung my earrings from there. I just had six nails at first - but I liked it so much I wanted to turn some of my other pretty earrings into artwork and just kept going.

In general, I like how it turned out. I'm considering finding some simple fabric that coordinates with my bathroom and putting that on the wall behind the earrings and framing it all out with some simple molding from the hardware store - just to set off the display - but that may be a bit much for the space. I'll mull it over and if I give it a re-design I'll be sure to post pictures.


Those are headbands on a towel bar as well. i went through a headband phase for about a month before I stopped wearing them - - but I liked the headband there so they've stayed.

Anybody else have interesting jewelry and/or accessory storage ideas? Hats? Purses? Scarves? Pins? Do share!

Favorite Things: containers

When I first moved to my little apartment I found some magnetic spice tins at Ross and I fell in love with them. I could not find the same tins anywhere though to increase my collection! I looked thoroughly through the kitchen section of every Ross I entered and only managed to find three more - giving me a total of 9 spice jars. Well, this past weekend my mother and I were at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and she spotted my spice tins! They typically come in a set of 9-12 with a little magnetic board - - but I don't use the magnetic board. However, BB&B was selling them individually! So happy. I bought all but five of them.

The original set I bought at Ross had some labels - and I found a few more removable labels at World Market.


Aren't they just lovely? This is perhaps my most favorite thing in my kitchen. I love that they easily stay organized and in reach. I even have seven extras at the moment for when I buy more spices.


These lovely little things do not have to be used for spices of course. I'm considering using them in my office to store some craft things like beads, eyelets, buttons, etc. They're also great for office supplies (push pins, paper clips, rubber bands)


And, I know I'm a couple of weeks behind on my CSA postings. I must admit I'm a bit disappointed in the fact that it's almost always types of leafy greens. I like salad - - it's just not a very fun blog topic. Hopefully I'll be getting some other types of vegetables and fruits soon and I'll have more to write about besides "had salad again. . ." Or, when I'm finally done with work for the school year I'll have a chance to try some fancy salads.