I have found that time passes quickly if I read blogs on my phone whenever I am in a situation where I have to wait for a while (and blogs are so much more informative and entertaining than the magazines in waiting rooms). Below is a list of some of my favorites posts from the last week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Money Saving Tips
Knock Off Wood – If you have not seen this blog yet, you need to visit(but be sure to come back because I have more posts you will want to read). Ana shares her plans (for free) of Knock off furniture from stores like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Land of Nod. I actually think she creates furniture that is nicer than the originals.
More Dash Than Cash – Struggler shares 7 tips for saving money on your wardrobe and none of them involve a trip to the mall.
Top 5 Budget Decor Rules – They aren’t really rules, more like guidelines. This is a practical, fun post, but most importantly these tips are easily implemented.
Recipes
Crisp Cranberry and Carrot Oatmeal Cookies – My weird kids love “wholesome snacks”, so I knew that these cookies would be popular at our house. (The only modification I made was to use gluten free flour).
Jicama Slaw – This recipe inspired me to renew my search for jicama which I found it at Whole Foods for .99 a pound. Yay!
Repurposing
Book Bag Literally, Tutorial – Learn how to take the spine of a book and turn it into a bag. The possibilities are endless; I might be sporting a Jane Austen bag by the end of the week.
Blue ridge Mountain Mama – If there was a prize for most creative in sledding, this family would win it!
Eco-Friendly
Zero Waste Balloons – Because we don’t want to traumatize our children in our attempts to minimize waste. 😀
Encouraging (In case you are overwhelmed after reading all of the above posts).
Angela’s 90% Rule – I often tell my children that perfection is the enemy of good enough, however, I sometimes need a reminder myself. Angela shares her 90% rule as it applies to her attempts to be green, but this rule can easily be applied to so many areas of our lives whether it is diet, exercise, daily devotions, or frugality.
Did you find a great post this week? Learn a new tip? Leave me a link in the comment section.
Alea says
I don't have a very good phone at all. I am using an AT&T Pantech. The way to make it easier for me to read blogs on it is to readf them in google reader. Whenever I find a blog that I find interesting, I subscribe to it (using the RSS feed) with google reader. Then all of the posts are in one location. If I had to hop from blog to blog, I would find it very frustrating too!
RobbieKay says
May I ask what kind of phone you have? I find with mine that trying to read webpages is more trouble than it's worth.
Struggler says
Thanks so much for linking! I'm looking forward to checking out these other resources.
Carrie says
Thanks for the shout out! LOL! Who knew our "sled" would get us a shout out! 🙂
Alea says
Perhpas the librarians were in the same situation as me and have several books that have been loved so much that the pages are separating from the spine. I thought P&P would make a lovlier bag than Durant's The Age of Voltaire or Morison's The Oxford History of the American People.
Angela says
Thanks for including my post, Alea.
I love the book purse, but realized I can't imagine "defacing" a book. Strange, isn't it? Even the librarians in the comments section were itching to have at it. I guess I'm old, or old-fashioned.
Mr Remodelaholic says
Thanks for featuring my bag project! …and I hope yours is Pride and Prejudice, although Sense and Sensibility would also be lovely!
Alea says
No, I didn't post a full recipe yet, because I did not take accurate measurements when I was experimenting and I want to experiment with making the dressing with out using refined sugar.
What I used for the broccoli slaw:
I julienned the broccoli, carrots, a little bit of jicama (though I think apple would be good too) and some cauliflower stems. I diced green onions and celery. Then added some sunflower seeds and almond slivers.
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (I used Annie's Naturals because it is gluten free)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar
Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl, stir well. Pour dressing over salad, mix until thoroughly coated. Refrigerate at least 3 – 4 hours, until chilled (I let it marinate over night). Serve cold.
I think there is a lot of room for improvation in this slaw and the ingredients will vary each time I make it depending on what is in my refrigerator.
Rae says
Oh bless you – thank you for including our balloon post in your links this week – I appreciate it.
I saw your Food waste post about the broccoli slaw but I didn't see a full recipe – did I miss it? I would LOVE to have a go at this, but not sure on the rest of the ingredients…