Spare Toilet Paper Holder (Sewing Tutorial)

Is it weird to be excited about a toilet paper holder? Cuz I am...  Here's my newest sewing project:

Dish Towel Bib Tutorial

You know how babies are perfect eaters and never look like this? 

 

Oh, right. They always look like that. My little guy went through a phase of yanking off any and every bib, which didn't do any favors for his clothes. So I started using dish towel bibs. They are easy to pop on over his head but he can't yank them off (for now). And best of all, the towel is a generous size to cover his entire body from neck to leg. I just tuck it under him around the edges and his clothes stay clean.

These are super-easy to make... all that's required is a dish towel, a little ribbing, and a teeny bit of time.

A Freaky Look at Fast Food

Hey guys, remember about a week ago I posted my Top Choices of Cookbooks to ROCK your SOCKS off?!? Well, I hope you're all rockin' it out making some healthy food. But just in case you aren't, I HAD to share this little bit of extra motivation with you. Don't worry... it won't take long. And perhaps it will give you the extra nudge you need to cut back on the processed foods.

Are you ready to be grossed out? 

You know how real food goes bad? Over time it decays... it molds... and it stinks. Man-made "processed food" doesn't do that. And your body has to work harder to try to break it down and digest it than it does with "real" food. To demonstrate the difference between real food and processed food, one doctor set this processed food on her counter in 2010 and 2011 just to show people what they're putting in their bodies:

It's kept its original size, shape and texture. So tell me, what do you think of that? I say Blegh! No thanks. 


Updated July 2013: Take a look at THIS one-month experiment comparing McDonald's food with homemade food! 

My Top Choices of Cookbooks to ROCK your SOCKS off!!!

OK I have FOUR FABULOUS cookbook recommendations for you. But first, let me just tell you a little about how I roll. I'm not into all the packaged, processed, hydrogenated junk that turns us into chunky monkeys. But, my family likes regular food like pizza and enchiladas and I will forever be a mac & cheese lover. So where does that leave me as the main meal preparer? 

Well, I can tell you one thing... if I'm going to the trouble of MAKING food for my family to eat instead of getting take-out, it better TASTE GOOD or else it's not worth my effort! I'm not the kind of gal who eats rice cakes. I like real food with fresh ingredients. I don't want to diet or weigh out serving sizes. I just want a collection of do-able recipes that are yummy and nourishing too.

If you're ready to wean yourself from excessive processed junk that makes you gain weight and feel sluggish, but you don't really know where to go from here... then perhaps my cookbook recommendations will help. I've kindof bumbled around a bit in this area for a while, trying to find that happy balance between "healthy" food and "yummy" food... finding a recipe here and there that was fabulous, simple, and healthy. Now I finally feel like I have a couple of good GO-TO sources for recipes that fit my nutrition approach AND taste great.

So... Without further adieu... 

DIY Glitter Glass Ornaments

Something about Christmas begs everything to be sparkled, doesn't it? If you love sparkles but not the mess that comes with them, then these ornaments might just make your Christmas very merry! 

They're super sparkly, super easy to make, and best of all... all the glitter is on the INSIDE! So there is NO MESS! Woo hoo!!!

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

These super-simple ornaments are made from a dough with TWO ingredients. And they smell faaaaaaabulous daaaaahhhhling! Make a few for yourself and a few to give as gifts! 

Ready to make them? Ok here are the ingredients:

Super Simple Christmas Card Display

This is officially the quickest, easiest DIY idea on my site. If you have Christmas cards running amuck, try this simple way to display them! Just clip them to a ribbon running down your kitchen cabinets. As you get more cards, add another ribbon. I glued some spare ribbon on some clothes pins to use to attach the cards, but you could also just use paper clips.