Loose Change Around the House

Last year I blogged about Coinstar machines and how some of them are set up to convert your change into Amazon gift certificates without charging a fee. Well, the kids and I decided to gather up our change into plastic shoe boxes over the weekend and headed to the nearest Coinstar machine. We converted it into a $166 Amazon gift certificate! Now the kids are obsessed with picking up change all over the place and we can't wait to visit the machine again. The gift certificate is good for two years, but I'm sure we will have used it within the next couple of weeks. I've got my eye on the Infinity Upright,for part of the take, but we haven't fully decided on what to use it on. Take the Coinstar challenge yourself and post in the comments area your outcome too!

Staub 5 Quart Cocotte - Love at First Sight!

The UPS Man stopped by the house today and dropped off THIS Gorgeous Turquoise Work of Artpictured to the right! We have SNOW here in Southern California today (yes, you read that right!), so I can't think of more of a perfect opportunity to break this wonderful pot in.

January means time for organizing

So, I'm attempting to re-organize the house since the old systems aren't working like they used to. On the bedside table are The Beverly Hills Organizer& HGTV's Mission: Organization book.I've just had the carpets cleaned, the custom made blinds in the bedroom installed and the repairman out to fix the heater that decided to stop working during record breaking cold temperatures here in Southern California. The kids are home from school today and have already been roped into helping me out in the garage in exchange for their choice of Ben & Jerry's miniature ice cream. Sure, everyone wants ice cream in the dead of winter!

Another new photo toy!

Oh how I love free things like this! Try your hand at Museumr and view your photos inside an art museum!

Crafting with the Kids

With a two week winter vacation the kids have been on, I was on the hunt for a craft project or two to do with them. I stumbled across Crafting With Kids: Creative Fun for Children Aged 3-10 online and decided to order a copy even though I hadn't heard any reviews about it yet. The kids LOVE this book! Ooh! Ahh! Mommy, look at this! Sure, like any other craft book on the market today, some of the projects can be found online, but the combination of the beautiful photography and great project samples is more than enough reason to purchase a book like this. The kids have already done several projects (on their own I might add) from the book and I'm sure they will be doing more before their winter break is up. For less than $12, this book is a great investment to keep boredom at bay.

"New" Vintage Labels

Via HP, Retro Citrus Labels you can customize!

Random Links of Interest

New links I've recently discovered:
- Road Food
- The Condiment Packet Museum
- Top 100 Confucius Says Quotes
- The Find
- Dogs Who Care
- Wired Berries
- Saucy Magazine
- Sugar Daisies
- Leavenworth Jackson Rubber Stamps

Kitchen Appliances

I just discovered a website called HeatEatReview and it reminded me that I've been wanting to post about my microwave - or lack of. 15 months ago I decided to challenge myself to see if I could go without using it for a year. Well, that was September of 2005 and I'm still going strong. In fact, at this point I don't even notice that I don't use a microwave anymore. The oven and stove are my new best friends. For heating water, I recently bought THISand I don't know how I went so long without it! In about 60 seconds I can have a piping cup of water for my hot chocolate with marshmallows craving! Practically instant gratification by my standards.

Snowflake soaps

Via Sunset, adorable snowflake soaps. Ahhh, why didn't I see this before Christmas?!?! What a neat idea! I think it would also be cool to add a small amount of ultra-fine glitter to the soap to give the pieces some shimmer. I suppose I will give these a whirl next Christmas.