January 2015 archive

DIY Jewelry Trees

At some point during my holiday shopping, I spotted a lovely small iron tree, designed to hold delicate baubles. It was super cute, but also super expensive. Even though I have been looking for something to help me with my tangled mess of a jewelry drawer, I thought I could turn it into a DIY project of some sort. Feel better about the expense, perhaps find a better storage solution, and take a little pride in what I created. Below is the result, and the step by step for the fast and inexpensive process.

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Materials you’ll need: branches or twigs; spray paint; Plaster of Paris; containers; moss (if desired).

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Cropped

I don’t know about you, but January is the time of year when things get cropped for me after the holidays – budget and diet, primarily. It’s the time when I’m more apt to take a swing through the clothing section of Target when I’m there to pick up hand sanitizer and cold meds. And at times I find something unexpected, yet just what I “needed.” Like this cropped sweater (pun intended). Although the look has been in style this season, it’s not something I’m going to spend a good chunk of money on, since the occasions for which I would wear it are pretty limited. So, to find one that was super cozy and soft, and at the whopping price of under $12.00 (!), it gave me more of a mood boost than even the best of cold meds.

DSC_3237_edited-1Target sweater (50% off plus an extra 10% off) | J crew top (old, similar here) | Greylin skirt (on sale here) | DKNY tights | necklace (old) | Ugg Australia booties (on sale) | Michael Kors watch | Tory Burch earrings (old) | Mark & Graham clutch

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Portobellos with Onion and Brussels Sprouts

The recipe is technically called “Polenta Portobellos” and for the first several times leafing through my favorite cookbook I passed by this quickly, as I’m on the fence about polenta. I recall that I like it at times (although never over the moon about it) and not at others. And I certainly had never attempted to make it. But the other key ingredients of the recipe – Brussels sprouts, onions, goat cheese and of course mushrooms – are right up my alley, and are favorites of the friends we recently had to the house for dinner. Even though I love appetizers, my usual approach is to leave that decision and preparation until the eleventh hour, at which time I’m left only with the option of stopping quickly at the store to pick up cheese, bread and olives – most of which gets packaged back up at the end of the evening and discovered a few weeks later, having to be tossed. With a little more time to plan this time around, I wanted to try an appetizer to have ready for them on arrival, since there would be a good amount of time between that and dinner (we needed to squeeze in bath and bedtime for the kids). They were a hit (even with my husband, who was initially skeptical), polenta and all. Recipe and prep tips included below, and original source link here.

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