While researching and writing this article on how to add green space to your office I fell in love with the Cork Succulent garden. Great texture, original idea and seemingly easy.

You’ll need:

Corks, clippings of your favorite succulents (I have hens and chicks), a small amount of dirt and a knife.

Click here to continue reading over at MyTurnstone.com

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So, yes. This.

We happened upon a small diner last week with a soda fountain counter, burgers, fries and malts. They even had an old PacMan game and a Juke Box. We threw health to the wind and licked our fingers, dipped fries in vats of ketchup and slurped pop. It was gooooooood. For dessert? Hand-dipped paddle pops.

I just had to make them on my own after that. It wasn’t an option.

It’s crimincal how easy these are to whip together. So lets talk brass tax …

You’ll need:

Ice cream
Popsicle sticks
Chocolate chips
Coconut oil
Good Life Granola

I also had a small pan, wax paper and a sharp knife ready to go.

I started out by opening my half gallon of ice cream so the cardboard laid flat and I could get to the block of ice cream unhindered.

With your knife, cut one inch slices out of your ice cream and transfer the slab to your prepared pan – once on the pan, cut the slab in half. So you’ll get two “paddles” out of one cut.

Ready your popsicle sticks and insert them in the middle, bottom of your “paddles”.

My ice cream was a tad too soft so I did the best I could. You might want to stick your ice cream back in the freezer in-between steps just to ensure it’ll keep shape.

(At this point, once all sticks are in, place your Paddles in the freezer to harden up for 15 to 20 minutes depending on how soft it got.)

Now to make your Magic Shell! You need a small pan or microwavable bowl. 1 1/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips to 1/2 C coconut oil. Combine, heat til melted and let cool.

After you’ve let your Magic Shell cool down (it won’t harden – keep at room temperature, do not store in fridge) and you’re Paddles are frozen hard – you can either fashion a way to dip them or just scoop the magic shell over your paddles.

I didn’t wait long enough for my ice cream to re-freeze AND I didn’t let my magic shell cool all the way. I was very excited. So I had some melt-age. It’s ok. It’s still gonna work just fine.

Now for the topping! Nuts are fun and everything, I have nothing against them but putting Good Life Granola on my Paddle Pops took them to the next level. This is the best granola I’ve ever had (and no, I’m not being paid to say that. I’m not being paid at all for this post actually – just honestly the best ever).

Just sprinkle a bit over the magic chocolate shell and then stick your pan back in the freezer to harden up.

Your pops will result in groans, it’s that good.

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Free Compliments: I might just hang this on my mirror or randomly tape it on a box of cereal in the grocery store, to a telephone pole at a busy corner or in a public restroom. My fav is “Terrific Tattoo”.

Pretty sure it’s time for my daughter (less than a month from being seven!) to journal. Fill in the blanks is a great way to get started.

Great for long trips in the car, an afternoon that needs an activity or a waiting room: Fabric I Spy Book.

Flavored Tequilla: a great stocking stuffer, hostess gift or reason to throw a cheese party. Yes.

Need something new in your hair? A little indie maybe? Hair sticks.

I am always losing my earbuds. Not anymore.

Another way to use your toilet paper rolls – make these New Years Eve Surprises.

Babies to buy for? These are adorable felt booties.

Birthday Crowns: LOVE THESE.

Pinwheel wreath: I know just the girl to make this with.

So pretty.

You’ll need:

Egg cartons, emptied. Preferably the cardboardy ones. Scissors, paint and Christmas lights.

Start by cutting up the carton until you’re left with 12 little pieces per carton. I had two so I ended up with 24.

Then paint to your hearts content. Or not, you can leave them plain. You’ll poke each light, individually through the bottom of the carton piece and then watch magic happen.

We’ve all seen the mini Zen gardens or small Bonsai trees on someone’s desk before, possibly even a water feature or rock garden. Not only are these great stress relievers and oftentimes hobbies; they’re meant to personalize the space but to also bring in other dimensions or textures to your workspace.

This week I show you how to add texture to your workspace – it’s easy, frugal and I bet you already have everything you need in a cupboard at home. Click here to read more over at Turnstone.

I don’t have anything against wrapping paper, just that it’s over done. And everyone and their cousin’s brother has a closet full of the stuff. Except me? I gave away most of my stockpile in the wrapping department when we sold our house.

I’ve seen most of these ideas in magazines or around pinterest but got really excited about them when I saw an uber-creative and very talented friend gift wrap a present for her husband in an old blueprint.

Genius.

You’ll need:

Old blueprints, old sewing patterns, comics, scissors, tape and gifts!

I called up that favorite realtor of ours and asked if he had any old blueprints or if anyone in the office might? Maybe you know a contractor? Hoarder? Is it possible you know a realtor who is involved with a development?

He had a few laying around and agreed to give a few to me. GIDDY! (I have a few other ideas for them as well – but as gift wrap? AMAZING. So fun.)

Sewing patterns you either have in your basement or at your local thrift store for 10 cents a piece. And comics? If you don’t get the paper – your local paper is a great place to walk in and ask for day old or week old papers to sort through. Also, your parents? Grandparents? Anyone who gets the paper?

Your tree just got interesting.

It begs to be mentioned that this is a great alternative (and eco friendly version) for wrapping but it’s also mostly free. In my case, entirely. You throw away or recycle the gift wrap after opening presents but there’s no need to throw away your money too. Right?

Friends!! What are you doing differently this year?

I took it with me this week while I stopped in a few of my favorite thrift stores and drove around my favorite abandoned roads or warehouses.

Source: goodhousekeeping.com via Jodi

I remember seeing these rolls of what looked like Jeans, cut up, to me and wondered how I could use them. I didn’t know, so I passed them up – but kept checking to see if they hung around. Which they did. Apparently they’re used to make rugs which I didn’t want to do but I finally had an idea for what to use them for.

Looking back at the Pin, I like their fastening structure much better than what I ended up with – but it was bedtime and lighting was rough and I just needed to do something and finish it.

Ever have that? The need to create – but not only start the project?

I needed to accomplish it.

So – let’s get down to business:

You’ll Need:

# Whatever you want to use!
# A scissors

Simple? I chose the rolls of jean strips – a greenish, pattern and blue, 2 different ribbons (polka dot grey and bright green rick-rack) and I picked up a broken zipper from the thrift store too. Texture is very fun and the color was perfect.

Here’s my before:

The curtain rod was there from when we moved in the house. I re-used it.

I started by eye-balling my measurements for each strip … pull, cut. Rinse and repeat.

I was measuring about 1 1/2 arms length for each cut and then hanging each strip over the curtain rod.

I got done and then wondered how the heck I was going to do this. I didn’t consult the Pin I bookmarked. I just went for it – I tried to knot it like you would a shoelace but didn’t like how that made the ribbons hang down. So then I tried this:

And wasn’t loving the scarcity it showed on the curtain rod – but thought it was better than my alternative. I couldn’t leave them dangling there free because a certain 3 year old would think – oh hey! A swing! And pull them all down or try to jump to them and then fall and get hurt.

Those are literal though processes I go through when I bring anything into his room that’s new. How is he going to try and destroy this? Which means I have to know how to counteract that.

So – I had to fasten these to the curtain rod and fiddled with the knot enough to come up with a result where I was ok with the way it hung.

You put your ribbon under and then over your curtain rod:

Fold down and to your left:

Under and over to the right:

And then through your loop and pull.

I trimmed the extra ribbon after all knots were fastened …

Here’s my after:

I’m going to do this in my daughters room too but will try the necktie knot and let you know how it goes

I even stopped in during the process to show you some of my DIY stuff but then never came back to show you the finished product.

Well … here it is:

These shelves are in my mom’s house and she went and bought some art (deciding not to print and frame the freebies) but here’s a short tour of the what and where …

I did a How to Draw a MAP here and used my map of the lake my mom lives on in the redo. We bought cork boards from Target (they come in a pack of 4) and just glued them together to give it more weight.

The fabric on the corner is simply a quilting square I picked up from a fabric store that we folded down and pinned on the cork as well.

I DIY’d the Billy Buttons with this tutorial and my mom found the perfect vase for displaying them.

And do you remember my sewing pouf?

That little gem goes right here …

Simply taped or tacked to the shelf.

But my personal fav of the entire revamp project was learning how to make Monkey’s Fist knot. I’m just a little smitten with these and can’t wait to use them for a creative Christmas decoration pretty soon.

And there you have it! She has an antique photo of her lake framed and picked the other pieces at either Hobby Lobby, Big Lots or Tuesday Morning. She’s awesome like that.

What have you guys accomplished lately? SHOW ME!

We had my dad and {step}mom over for dinner last night and recently my {step}mom was given a list of foods that she needs to stay away from. (Think wheat, sugar, etc).

Having been through numerous rounds on the restricted diet circuit I knew that dinner was going to need to be creative and I was excited to deliver just that.

On our menu we had:

# Sausage and quinoa stuffed squash
# Fruit salad
# Green salad with #GrilledEssential Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast from Hillshire Farm
# Garlic bread (for the wheat eaters)
# Cabbage
# Apple crisp for dessert

The green salad we had is one of our favorites with mandarin oranges and dried cherries but cooking chicken breasts usually means I won’t eat them. I’m weird like that, handling raw meat for consumption makes my stomach turn.

And I had heard about Hillshire Farm’s Grilled Essentials but couldn’t find them locally … until now. We went to Walmart to pick some up (near the lunch meat).

They have a variety of seasonings but I knew I wanted the Lemon Pepper package for my salad.

Quick jaunt to another aisle for oranges and then we were done! But my helper had other plans….

Tangent: They make BACON SPAM?

I’m officially disgusted.

After that we headed to the produce where my daughter decided we needed a few more things.

Like 3 pounds of kiwi, for example.

And my cart just kept growing …

Seeing the day-old bread carts in the bakery and all of a sudden I was part of the problem. It’s so cheap!! I can’t help myself.

We finally make it to the check out counter but not before I’m accosted with yet another SOMETHING I must try. Nutella to go?

And I always thought the checkout was a trap for my kids.

I finally made it out of the store with everything I needed and everything I had no idea I needed … went in for two items and came out with 31.

Surprisingly it still cost under $40 – and I left a happy girl.

You see those coconuts? Yeah, they had milk in them and I couldn’t wait to show my kids how to drink from them. It was delicious. And adorable. And so much fun.

When my dad and {step}mom arrived I asked my {step}mom to help with the salad – she’s Peruvian and an expert cook. I love her cooking and watching her in the kitchen – she tore the Romaine because cutting it browns it faster (TIP!) so in order to save leftovers, she tears for freshness. I love picking this stuff up from her.

Then we got out our #GrilledEssentials Hillshire Farm Lemon Pepper Chicken and sliced it up.

Added our mandarin oranges, dried fruit and put it on the table.

Along with our stuffed squash, fruit salad and everything else.

It was a great dinner.

I’ll definitely be adding the Grilled Essentials to my menu rotation. It’s so easy, I don’t have to mess with raw chicken, it tastes amazing and it’s fast. Considering I’d pay $8 for a salad at a restaurant I have no problem paying less than $4 for two pre-cooked and seasoned chicken breasts (which I’ll usually only use one at a time).

I could have used the chicken instead of sausage in our stuffed squash too – or made an easy grilled sandwich. I can dice it up in chunks for snack time or add it to my daughters school lunch with some dip … The ideas really are endless.

Your turn: How would you use it?

I spent ZERO dollars on this project and I didn’t pull out one tool. I used my muscles; which are huge, for the record, and my hands (not huge).

In our last house (that we owned) we had a 3 season breezeway that was on it’s way to becoming our laundry room/mudroom/kitchen prep room Place of Amazing. We paid our favorite contractor around $1,200 to build a custom cubby situation with shoe storage, a mail sorting desk, pantry shelves and lockers.

It was b-glorious. I loved it. We ended up painting it an orange, yellow and I probably would have repainted it something cleaner (more cohesive to the rest of the room) had we stayed. But oh well! Someone else’s problem now.

Only – now that we’re renting and shlepping 18 million pairs of shoes around and no longer have the room for custom built cabinets (nor the budget as a renter) for a permanent solution to the ongoing suffering of our back entry … well. I did this.

And here’s how:

Welcome to our back entry. A place of many insurance problems, I’m sure.

We were about to hang a liability disclaimer on the back door letting folks know that any fall or mishap was their sole responsibility.

In short: it’s a mess back there. And we trip over eachother and shoes and our CSA crate and I dump stuff there that I don’t know what to do with or for a trip to the garage when the weather turns …

I went on a hunt this morning for a pallet thinking I’d need two but only had room for one in the van – you should have seen my daughters face when I pulled over (in the Lowes parking lot at their dumpster pile) and ruffled through the pallets laying in the rain. I think she was half mesmerized that I was actually doing this and half mortified that I didn’t care who saw me.

We found one and I lugged it to the van for use in our back entry.

Then I just kicked around the shoes and whatever else was laying around to make some room for the pallet.

And simply leaned it against the wall.

Stuck our shoes in the slots, toes first, and was amazed that they all fit on one pallet with room to spare.

A totally free solution!

Now I just need to vacuum …. and hang a new sign ::Welcome to our home::