Sweet Everythings

How would you like to show up to work to find these in your drawer? Yeah, me too!!!

And another thing... Why is the phrase coined as "sweet nothings"? Seriously dummer than dum if you ask me - all that love talk means "everything" to me... so ive officially changed the phrase. phew...cleaned my hands of that one. Anyway, I made these for loverbuns last week. He got one Mon/Wed/Fri. I know...I know...poor guy for not gettin' candy all 5 days of the work week - but c'mon surriusly - too much spoilage leads to bratiness and ooper cavities.

All you have to do is: choose 3 of his/her favorite candies, get cute cellophane baggies (any craft store carries them - i also use these to package homemade cookies stacked on top of each other), stamps, and 3X5 notecards.

Then get your creativity crankin' and come up with a cute saying that includes a hint to the candy wrapped inside. Shh, I also slipped more love notes behind the phrase. Tee hee {heart giggles}.

You're loverly will be blowing you distant kisses from his joberoo. Awww, tender.

Thank you, Anthro!

My new BFF in a fashion slash home decor sense is Miss Anthro. Um...hi. Bubs and I did a lil' browsing a couple of wks ago and outta the corner of my blue eyed beauties I spotted these cans! Awww, how cute! Obviously, these were just for display and not for purchasing. Duh, why would I buy 'em when I can bust out a lil' DIY move and make 'em?!? So that's what we did. A'hem, yes...my handy husby perdy much did the hole thang. I added the finishing touch - the chalk! We're loooving them! It brought our darling dollhouse cuteness factor waaay up! Even better than how presh they are is how well they're growing my green lil' goodies! MAYJOR Tee hee's {heart giggles}!!

Eww! Contamination Station!!!

Ya'll know I like my body as well as my home healthy! Reading some recent jargin on protecting Arrr-selves and shelves from household bad-guys is SHoCKinggg! Ahh, Arrrm yerselves! Eeek! Beware this could be TMI for you Papercut Princesses out there [aka mwah]!

SPONGES
1st, let me just clear the air that before knowing any of this sickness 'bout sponges...i already loathed 'em. Yes, this includes the wandy kinds used to wash dishes!!! Gag me gross!!!

20 million microbes are setting up shop right now on your sponge! But here’s the dill: Your way of “cleaning” that sponge may be leaving it loaded with even more hazardous bacteria!!
The solush? Microwave that sucker for 1 min. or throw it into the dishwasher to kill 99% of the germies!

YOUR BED
Don't let the bed bugs bite!! Not such a cutie-ba-tootie sayins when it's actually THE TRUTH! Eww! Bed bugs are springin' up like daisies in hotels everywhere...it's becoming common-place. Hold the phone - here's the real kicker...they fall in love with you on your vacay and want a way home to your house {i.e. your clothes n' luggage} so they can sleep in your bed too!
The solush? Wash all your clothes and vaccum out your suitcase!!

LAPPY-TOP COMPUTIE
Um...hi. It's mine and I'm not durrdy at all! Guess again! It hardly ever gets cleaned. But how durrdy? The average public toilet bowl contains 41 germs per square inch. The average personal keyboard? Some 21,000 germs per square inch!!! Ahh, run!
The solush? Clean it daily with disinfecting wipies {Clorox makes great ones}

DOORKNOBS
Speaking of disinfecting wipeage - while you're at it...scrub the doorknobs! Germs can last upto 5 days on a knob. Ewww, how many peeps have touched it? And where did they touch before touching your darling doorknob? The mental pics are haunting!
The solush? Wipe 'em down with disinfecting spray and/or wipes. If you're one of the lucky duckies who has copper knobs then you're waaay cleaner! Copper knobs contain 95% fewer germs than other metals!

THE SALT N' PEPPAH SHAKAH
How oft do you use 'em to season your delish dishes DURING the cookin' process? A'hem...raw meat anyone? Ewww! Next, you bring 'em over to the kitchen Tabe to let your fam use! Have a dash of food poisoning, Husby!
The solush? Clean 'em daily! Yes, along with the doorknobs n' computie board!

Bridal Shower Planner!!!

So, a food friend asked for a lil' tid-bitty of advice for a Bride-To-Be Showah! Of coarse, I want to help you out! Here's what her Majesty Martha's Must Do Checklist...

First - pick a color for your theme! Duh, mine will be in pink!
2nd - the invites - obviously in the color theme! Make sure to tell the guests to wrap their gifty-poos in the color theme. This makes an easy decoration for the partay!

Here's My Suggesties 4 Food:

Fruit n' Yoggie Salad {or fruit kabobs on skewers}
Chicken Brocoli Tomato Salad {serve on fresh rolls}
Strawberry Shortcut Cake
Coconut Cake Couture {make into cupcakes instead - top with a small pink flower - serve on cake stands}
Watermelon Lemonade {label each glass w/hanging name tag}

Psst! Here's a tip! Label each food item w/a name plate

Here's My Suggesties 4 Decor:

Photo Garland {hang in a windows}:
A totally charming timeline of the bride and groom's childhoods -- and festive decorations. To make, sew glassine envelopes (with the flaps open) together, end to end, on a sewing machine; glue photos (or copies of them) to colored paper, and slide inside! Voila - totally presh! Awww...


Message Garland: create a totally sa-weet n' tender message for the bride-to-be using letters strung into what? Yes, yet another garland using pink ribbon! Darling!!!
Letters A-F
Letters G-L
Letters M-R
Letters S-X
Letters Y & Z

Pink Flowahs: create big rounded bouquets of pink blooms in low vases {gerbers, roses, peonies, sweet peas} tie each arrangement with wide pink ribbon. Psst! Try flea markets slash farmer's markets for cheap-o flowahs!

Pink Candy: This is totally a-dora-ball if done right! choose a vari of cutie-ba-tootie pink candy {watermelon slices, jelly-belly's, ole' school bubble gum, rock candy suckers, m&ms, etc} and fill diff sized glass jars! obviously, each jar should be tied in varied pink ribbons! make sure to put a candy scoop in each jar with cellophane bags nearby! it's a totally spesh partay favor!

Leftovers are Lovely

I love making my life easier. One way I do that is by organizing my meals around the same ingredients. Every week I plan out our menu in advance minimizing the amount of food needed to buy at the grocery store. The results are easy on the pocketbook, even easier on a hectic schedule, and yeld delicious meals! I always feel so proud of myself at the end of the week having a completely bare fridge because we've used up all of the food to make only necessary "planned" meals. But how do you get started? Do you have something in the fridge that needs to be used up and seems like a random ingredient? Well go for it! It will have a dominoe effect. Just you wait and see.

Take my fridge for instance. I had whole grain mustard that obviously would just sit and sit unless I pre-planned my meals. So I made the most awesome Grilled Chicken I've ever tasted! But I still had more mustard left that I wanted to uses up and more frozen chicken breasts. So I built our menu around these things So here's an example of what I do [my shopping list and menu]:

Weekly Menu:
Sunday: Mustard Dill Chicken, roasted potatoes, & artichokes
Monday: Tomato Broccoli Chicken Salad, chips, & fruit
Tuesday: Marinated Tomatoes in Angel Hair, Cesaer Salad, Fresh Bread
Wednesday: Tomato Brocoli Chicken Salad {tweek and put 'em on buns}
Thursday: Hamburgers {use the extra buns}, corn, potato salad {use leftovers}
Friday: date night!

Shopping List:
-bag of red potatoes
-corn
-yellow onion
-celery
-carrot
-artichokes
-grape tomatoes
-romaine lettuce
-basil
-taragon
-fruit
-french bread
-buns
-lunch meat
-then the weekly staples like: milk, yogurt, eggs, cereal, lunch items

Notice how the list consists of all fresh ingredients? That's all I have to buy because all the other items would already been in short term food storage: pasta, chips, oil, chicken stalk, frozen broccoli, frozen chicken etc.

We save A TON of money doing our meals and shopping in this fashion. Plus, I never have to think... "What's for dinner?"



P.S. I've taken a step further by planning my menu for 3 months (so that I can have only the necessary pantry items on hand) in advance...but this is a whole other post...