Fun Stuff, Helpful Links, and Tasty Treats!

Homemade Paper Flowers

Just in time for cutesy St. Valentine’s Day decorations and card making.  These are a fun, simple way to enjoy the upcoming day of love sharing.  I used double-sided scrapbooking paper that I had in the closet.  My flowers in the photo range from 2 inch square to 12 inch.  The flowers may be used as table decorations, to embellish a card, or use glue dots to attached to a stick to make a unique bouquet for the season!  Visit Dozi for a simple tutorial.  I didn’t even use a pencil I just cut and rolled.  Be creative and enjoy!

No More Hesitation Gluten-Free Flour Mix + Banana Bread that Rocks!

I did a paleo diet for 8 weeks last year which lead to my realization that I have a gluten intolerance and boy o’ boy do I notice the gluten now!  Two weeks ago I was digging in the freezer when frozen bananas were getting in my way.  I decided to pull out all the bananas and to my dismay it totaled up to 27 frozen bananas!!  I love the Banana Banana Bread Recipe because it uses 2.5 cups of bananas per loaf!  However I didn’t want to make a gluten-bread.  So I looked to the Gluten Free Girl’s amazing formula for gluten-free all-purpose flour.  Using my combination of her suggested formula in this video I was able to make load of FANTASTIC gluten-free bread that very day!  Best banana bread I’ve ever had and I’m not just tooting my horn.  Everyone that tried it loved it.

Hello Outbox, Goodbye Clutter

After moving around from place to place since I graduated from high school and went off to college I began collecting “stuff” – I know you can relate.  Three college transfers, one marriage, one child, and one divorce later I’ve got MUCH clutter!  Although many times I’ve had some sort of outbox (my front porch, a laundry basket, or a corner in the basement), it has been years since I have used the system. Apartment Therapy’s recent blog reminded me of the effectiveness of a system and in just two weekends I was able to tackle a house full of clutter.  The great thing about outboxes now is that there are so many on-line swaps that you can easily make a profit and de-clutter at the same time!  Today my outbox is simply a temporary table in the basement (at least that’s the plan).  You can see mine is overflowing with de-clutter, but that’s okay because the rest of the house feels much better already.  Here are the simple rules they point out in their post:

OUTBOX RULES

1. Anything can go in the Outbox
2. The Outbox is allowed to get messy
3. Everything must stay in the Outbox for at least one week
4. After that time you have several choices:

• Take anything back out
• Leave anything you are undecided about for one more week
• Dispose of the rest by moving to the garbage, recycling bin, or giveaway pile – or post to on-line swap and make a little extra cash

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Pumie Scouring Stick!

Between my white (but stained essentially black with cooking scars) electric cooktop and the bottom of my rust-stained toilet bowl any normal person would have thought twice before spending a week at my house!  Both which had brought constructive feedback from close friends and family always wanting the help me with my “cleanliness problem”.  After little effort they too would inevitably give up.  And since I prefer not to use harsh chemicals, I was actually considering a new toilet because I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore!  Fortunately for me I discovered the Pumie Scouring Stick!  Both my toilet and cooktop were stain free in less than 10 minutes after I returned home from the store!  Maybe me, my friends, and my family are the only ones that don’t know about this amazing, chemical-free, must-have-in-every-household item, but as I see it, it’s too good not to share!  Each stick is less than a few bucks and is so versatile you should probably just pick up a couple!