chic magnet

when i went to shut the fridge after grabbing some lunch the other day, a trail of photos and papers followed the door. actually, this scenario happens at least once a week. it might be because i pile three to four photos under one magnet (and let's be honest, i open and close the fridge door A LOT so there's quite a bit of turbulence for that lone magnet to endure). bottom line: i need new magnets. reality: magnets are stupidly  expensive! friends, let's be real--i'd rather spend $4.99 on a latte than on a pack of six magnets. 

creative moment: dip into my huge stash of random buttons that i've had sitting around since, oh, middle school.

 use that $4.99 to buy toxic super glue and a pack of ten plain magnets at the craft store.

glue the buttons to the magnets (and do not get any on my hand because it will take forever to come off).

 let them set for 24 hours...and voila!

now each photo/paper can have it's own magnet and will stay in place on the fridge.

cute. cheap. creative. it's how i roll.

aren't these adorable?

ever heard of chilean lemon pears? i hadn't. i was picking out some nectarines at the grocery store and in the corner of the nectarine/plum/peach display (is display even the right word? you know what i'm talking about) was a little bunch of chilean lemon pears. adorable.

pears and lemons make great looking babies, but honestly, they taste a little weird. they have the texture of papa pear, but the zing of mama lemon. my sour/spicy/tart-loving husband enjoyed them. i guess you need the right taste buds to appreciate them. i just liked looking at them in the fruit bowl.

(oops. this one snuck in. it still works under this post title, right?)

chalkboard paint strikes again

friends, the chalkboard paint made another appearance this weekend.  if you follow my blog or know me remotely well, you know that i have a thing for chalkboard paint (see this post and this post). chalkboard paint is a cute and creative way to organize and decorate. in our apartment, certain individuals have been known to have trouble distinguishing between flour, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar in a row of five unlabeled jars containing baking goods. it's helpful that the jars are always placed in the exact same spot in descending height order on the top of the cabinet. but if i were to ever swap the sugar and flour locations, we may end up with extra pasty scones or granular non-rising pizza dough. so, i decided that our baking jars needed labels. but not real labels because in the same way that i have a thing for chalkboard paint, i have a strong thing against label makers (except in the case of organizing office supplies or filing cabinets, which is boring anyway). so i whipped out my beloved chalkboard paint and gave it a go...

naked jars begging for some adorable labeling.

 don't judge me by that lovely torn sweatshirt sleeve. it was a rainy saturday morning. what's a girl to do?

 okay, the paint kind of looks like electrical tape here, but it's much cuter with the actual chalk writing on it. if i were to go back and do it again, i'd make chalkboard circles rather than blocks. 

actually, the chalkboard blocks kind of remind me of the "censored" screening blocks, as though my naked jars had something to hide.

baking supplies with identities. success! (much better WITH the chalk, right?)

the finished product. chalkboard paint to the rescue...round THREE.

remember when winter looked like this?