Ditch Your Plastic Drinkware

Walk into any home with young children and you're likely to find a cabinet full of plastic drink ware.  Up until recently mine was no exception.  I mean, let's face it: plastic ware bounces when you drop it, glassware does not.  And if there's anything worse than mopping up spilled juice it's mopping up spilled juice mixed with little bits of broken glass.  Not fun..   

So despite the fact that health experts are strongly suggesting that we limit our use of plastic ware, lots of people haven't been able to find a suitable alternative. 

Today I am pleased to share my solution to this dilemma.  

In addition to the fact that I have young children, I also have a pool.  (I know, I'm very lucky.)  But if there's one thing that most pool owners know, it's that pool decks and glassware don't mix.  If broken glass on the kitchen floor is a hazard, broken glass on the pool deck (or, heaven forbid in the pool) is ten times worse.  

For that reason, my family used the cups pictured below for years.  

Then, awhile back I was at a friend's house and she gave the kids some water in a small metal cup.  When I saw it, my wheels started turning.  What an amazing alternative.  Why had I never thought of such a thing?  She told me that her sister bought them for her in India and she would get some for me. I was thrilled when, a few weeks later, she presented me with four of these:

And they were great!  But as much as I loved them, they were tiny--too small for an adult--and there were only four of them.  

So I did a little research and ordered myself four additional stainless steel cups:

You can order your own here.

And they've been great too--durable, safe--everything you'd want for your kids.  But for me one thing has been lacking: appearance.  They just aren't very pretty.  And let's face it, someone who spends her days blogging about "pretty stuff" cares about this kind of thing.  Not that it's been enough to make me revert to plastic, but I've always been on the lookout for a more attractive, unbreakable alternative.

I finally found it in the form of the enamelware tumblers pictured below.  They're pretty (to me), sturdy, safe, and as an added bonus, they remind me of my grandmother's enamel cookware, so there's a sentimental element as well.

If you're interested in buying your own you can do so here.  And if you have another unbreakable alternative to plastic ware, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.  

(Oh, and, as usual, no one paid me to write about this stuff.  I just thought some of you out there might be interested.)

Mason Jar Twine Holders

Not long ago, while browsing the internet, I came across a brilliant storage solution.  (Pinned here.)  I happen to be a huge fan of brilliant storage solutions so I knew I would eventually try it.  

The idea was simple: store baker's twine in a mason jar topped with a daisy cut-out lid.  (Buy them here (gold) or here (with jars) or here (silver) or here (choice of three colors).)  Then thread the string through the cut-outs for easy access.

If you've been keeping up with things around here, you're probably aware that I have a dozen vintage Ball jars in my garage just waiting to be filled.  (And it probably comes as no surprise that I happen to have daisy cut out lids and baker's twine as well.)

The problem is that my baker's twine collection is an assortment of small spools.  Putting one tiny spool in a 32 oz Ball jar would look ridiculous and putting multiple spools in at once would be a hot mess.

That is, it would be a hot mess unless I found a way to keep the spools organized inside the jar.  With a little creative thinking (and a trip to Home Depot) I came up with the perfect solution:  

At Home Depot I picked up a few 1/4" x 6" Hex Bolts, some 1/4" Hex Nuts, and a handful of 1/4" Cut Washers. 

The first step was to thread a bolt through the center of the daisy lid:

(I may or may not have added a jewel sticker to the top of the bolt to jazz it up a bit...)

Then I flipped the lid over and placed a spool of twine and a washer on the bolt.  I continued to alternate washers and spools until I had six spools of twine on the bolt.  

Finally I added a nut at the bottom to keep the spools from falling off.

And here is the end result:

As you can imagine I am very excited about this...

(Clearly it doesn't take much ;)

Update:  I would like to address the two biggest questions I've received regarding this project: 

Question #1.  Where did I get the daisy lids?  I have included three links above where you can purchase them.  One link takes you to gold ones, one takes you to silver ones, and  another takes you to a link selling the lids with the jars. 

Question #2.  Does the thread get tangled as you pull different strands through?  So far the answer is no.  And by "no" I mean that you can keep pulling strands through the lid and they all come out smoothly and uninterrupted.  They do, however, seem to get twisted around one another.  The twisting does not seem to be an impediment, though, as the strands still come through the holes just fine. 

I don't know if this is because of the washers I put between each spool or if there's some other reason it's working for me, but I have almost completely unraveled a few of the spools in order to test it out.  I hope it works as well for all of you!

Great News:  I'm now selling Mason Jar Twine Holders in my etsy shop.  Check them out HERE.

Looking for more fun mason jar projects?  Follow these links:

Mason Jar Wedding Kit

 

Mason Jar Gift Card Holders

Mini Mason Jar Twine Holders

When Life Gives You Too Many Lemons

Back in July I wrote a post about the fruit trees in our backyard.  In it, I expressed my profound gratitude for their very existence.  I love being able to pluck a lemon off the tree any time I need some lemon juice or zest.  

But sometimes life gives you too many lemons--way more than any recipe could possibly require.     

And that's when it's time to get a little creative.  You might remember my penchant for filling ice cube trays with fruit.  Well, I've done it again, but this time with lemon juice and now I have two full trays.  That's 28 (2 Tbsp) cubes just waiting to be popped out and put in a recipe or beverage.

I guess maybe there's no such thing as "too many" lemons after all...  

DIY Camera Bean Bag

If I were to pick the single biggest improvement in my blog since it began, I would have to choose the photography.  Now I'm not exactly Ansel Adams over here, but when you compare this...

Original post here.

...to this, for example...

Original post here.

...you can tell that there's been progress.  

There are a number of things that account for the change but most significant is a photography class that I took last month.  It was only nine hours total but it was a good starting point and helped me get over my fear of the camera's manual settings, etc.

On the last day of class, the instructor took questions about equipment.  One of the questions that came up was about tripods and whether or not to invest in one.  While the instructor didn't try to dissuade us from purchasing a tripod, he did recommend something we could use as an alternative.  

He suggested that we make a "Camera Bean Bag."  All you need is some neoprene fabric (because it's "grippy") and some lentils.  He told us to create a pocket with the neoprene, fill it with the lentils and sew the whole thing up.   The bean bag then serves as a stable place to put your camera if you want to take pictures using your timer, etc.  And because it's filled with lentils, it's malleable, which enables you to point the lens exactly where you want it.  

Of course doing this on my own would have required me to take my (six-year-old) sewing machine out of the box... and learn how to use it.  And since I can only handle learning one new piece of equipment at a time, the sewing machine (and thus the bean bag) was going to have to wait.  

But then I had an epiphany!  On a recent trip to Marshall's I had admired a neoprene bag designed to protect an iPad.  I set out to find another one and see if it could save me from the clutches of my sewing machine.

Imagine my delight when I found one at Tuesday Morning.  (You know how I love Tuesday Morning!)  And check out the price:  

Hmm... this picture is kind of crummy.  Let's just pretend I was trying to be ironic.

That's right, $4.99.  As my husband likes to say, "I couldn't afford not to buy it!"  (<-- He usually says that while making fun of me, but I digress..)

(As an added bonus, it's pretty!)

Shortly after finding the bag, I hightailed it over to Smart & Final for some lentils (which they were out of) so I got myself some split peas instead:

Then I poured them into the bag and zipped it up, no sewing required!  (I ended up supplementing with some rice since I was short on peas.)

And that's it!  Now I have a stable place to rest my camera until I'm ready to pull the plug and buy a tripod.

DIY Faux "Mantel"

Have you ever noticed how obsessed bloggers are with decorating their mantels?

Seriously.  

What's up with that?

Back in the day (before I became a reader of blogs and peruser of Pinterest) I thought people only decorated their mantels for Christmas.  

Silly, silly me!

Turns out mantel decorating is a year-long affair.  

But what do you do if you don't have a fireplace?  You kind of need one in order to have a mantel, don't you?  

Not necessarily!  A little creative shopping and you too can have a mantel to decorate to your heart's content.  

I give you my DIY faux mantel:

Step one, purchase a pretty mirror.  (I got mine several years ago at Cost Plus World Market.)

Step two, purchase a shelf ledge.  (I got mine at Pottery Barn.)

Step three, decorate like a mad-woman.  (Okay, so I haven't quite embraced this yet, but I'm going to.  For now, though, my "mantel" is a repository for some family photos and my DIY "zinc" letters.)

How about you?  Do you have a mantel?  Do you decorate it?  Leave me a link in the comments if you've done a mantel post.  I'm looking for ideas for mine.  :)

Random Art I've Made with my Silhouette

In the two months since I received my Silhouette I've really been enjoying it.  

Though my favorite project has to be the DIY photobooth props that I made for my daughter's 12th birthday, I've also made a few other things worth noting.  In fact, one of those items was actually a byproduct of the photobooth props.

You see, after I cut out these mustache props...

...I was left with a mustache "template" of sorts:

And of course I had to save it.  (Yeah, I am about one mustache template away from making my debut on Hoarders...)

But in this case my hoarding instincts proved spot-on because I wound up using the template to make this cute little canvas for my younger daughter's room: 

All it took was the template, a small blank canvas and a Sharpie paint pen (both of which I already had).  I think she's going to love it.

And of course what you do for one you must do for the other, so I also made a little somethin'-somethin' for daughter #1.  Again, I grabbed an existing canvas from the craft warehouse that is my garage.  Then I used the Silhouette to cut the word "love" out of a piece of blue card stock.  A little spray adhesive and this bad boy was ready for its closeup:

Pretty nifty, huh?

Surely I'm not the only person who got a Silhouette for Christmas.  Did you get one?  If you've made any fun Silhouette crafts feel free to link them up in the comments.  I'd love to drop by for some inspiration.  

This is Me!

My good pal Amy over at While Wearing Heels is doing a series of linky parties with the theme, "This is Me."

As you might expect, the idea is to post a self-portrait which you then link up at her monthly party.

And I have to admit, this is a little out of my comfort zone (because I don't usually post pictures of people on my blog).

Oh there's the occasional sighting of my kids and/or husband, like in this little gem...

...but for the most part I stick to photographs of things.  

Sometimes it's good to step out of one's comfort zone, though, so I present to you my first, "This is Me" self portrait.  February's theme is your reflection.

Somebody's car needs a washing...

And yes, Amy also posted a picture just like this but, truth be told, of all the reflection-pictures I took this month, I liked this one the best.  So there you have it:  this is me.

Want to link up to the party yourself?  Check out Amy's blog here: