placemats don't have to go on the table, you know

I've been staring at these placemats from Walmart for forever. As soon as I saw them, I was in love. Yellow and white (also in green) on a round piece of cork? I mean, think of the possibilities!

But they were $12.97 (I think) and that was entirely too much for me to be spending on decorative placemats. So I scoffed and decided to keep an eye on them. I'm definitely not the only one who won't pay that much. They'll go on clearance. Oh yes.

Sure enough, a while later, they were on clearance. But for $10. That's still too much. By that time, the green option had been whittled down but there were still a lot of yellows left.

I waited longer, and they came down again. $5. Now we're entering panic mode. All the greens are gone and there're only a few yellows left. But $5 still seemed a little pricey. I know, right? Five bucks. Pricey.

So I waited longer, and gasp with me when I found them reduced again. This time to $2, and there were only five left. Two of which were ripped and damaged along the edges.

Can you believe I still wrung my hands and fondled them and talked about it and weighed the pros and cons? Well, I did.

I walked away from them yet again and went for a read in the magazine aisle.

I started thinking about where I could put them and what I could use them for in the new house. And suddenly, I got all excited about them again. They fit amazingly well into my new favourite colour scheme, purple with yellow accents, and they're cork! I could put them in the kitchen or the office and use them as actual cork boards! It was exactly like how I felt when I first saw them.

I dropped everything, and went scurrying back. Luckily, no one had taken them during my absence, so I was able to get the last three undamaged placemats for only $2 each!

I hadn't really thought of what to do with them in the meantime, so they've been sitting on the dining room table for a couple weeks now, up until today. 

I was changing the sheets in the bedroom when I thought they kinda matched that pattern.

Or almost exactly matched that pattern.

So I grabbed some nails and threw them up:

startlingly similar, no?

Here's where they'll stay until we move. It looks so different in there now. We've definitely gone too long without a headboard.

kinda genius

I don't remember where I read about this. I tried searching for it, but it was a near impossible search. Anyway, some blog I read was talking about some little kitchen tricks she uses for saving counterspace, keeping things clean, what have you. And she mentioned using a bowl by her cutting board for scraps. She does it so she doesn't have to carry handfuls of stuff to the garbage 50 times while prepping food and it also saves from having to keep a pile of scraps on the counter which takes up useable counterspace.

I thought that was kinda genius. It was such a simple idea and I have a ton of extra bowls to use, so I thought I'd try it out for a week and see whether it was as smart as it sounded.

I chose one of my more awkward glass bowls to use. I wouldn't use it as a mixing bowl because the sides are too short, and I wouldn't use it for salads cuz it's just too big and wide.

It's ended up working perfectly for this. Anything I'd carry over to the garbage goes in the bowl. Peelings, tops of onions, egg shells, that sort of thing. It's also made clean up super easy, too. Peeling carrots? I just pull the bowl over and peel into it. Wiping the counter down, I just brush all the dry crumbs into the bowl and wipe away.

When I'm done cooking for the day, I take the whole bowl over to the garbage and throw everything out. It's saved a lot of back and forth trips to the garbage, yes, but I think the best thing that's come out of this trick is that it's helped keep the counter mess free -- there's less juices ending up on it, so I don't have to wipe it down as much (from egg shells as an example, or even that weird dirty starch mess left from potato peelings).

It's been a huge revolutionary update to my kitchen routine.

I'm also working on a little project that involves this fantastic colour, but like all little projects, it's turning into a multi-step headache. Stay tuned!

don't do this

I thought I could grape up some leftover blueberries while cooking my granola at the same time.

I couldn't.

The good thing is that this granola tastes like a blueberry pie.

The bad thing is that this granola may start to rot due to all the juicy blueberries sitting around in it.

I think it's best if this chills out in the fridge.

when did I become this person? I blame the internet

I just saw this super cute commercial last night

adorable! did you see them in the bumper cars?! omg!

Then I found another one!

the pigs! the pigs sleeping in their too-tight jammies! gah! I'm dying from cute overload!

I'm not your personal taxi, dragonfly

So I'm walking along, and I spot this:

He was such a pretty shade of blue, I took another picture

He kept rubbing his face (?) so I knew he was alive, but I wondered if something had happened to him since he was pretty chill with me swooping a camera around him

So I inched a little closer for this picture and then...