Fun Fact Friday: Fishmongers

Did you know? 

 Per pound prices of meat and fish are generally cheaper at the butcher's counter. It may take an extra few minutes, but you will save about $1 per pound. Also, pre-portioned cuts from the butcher's counter are generally more expensive than custom cuts.

Tip:

Always ask for slightly less weight than you'd actually like (except in the case of ground meat, which is easily adjusted on the scale). The reason for this is butchers/fishmongers are taught to err on the side of a larger piece of meat, because most people don't mind a little more. But think about how much money the butchery and fish departments make each day from selling a few ounces of extra meat per customer!

So next time you want a pound of salmon, try asking for 3/4 pound, chances are you'll walk away with just what you need, eliminating possible waste and saving a few bucks.

10 Minute Craft: Magnetic Recipe Holders

Fire up your hot glue gun, because heating it up is the most time consuming step for this quick and lovely craft!

You will need:

3-5 clothespins
magnetic tape roll
tacky glue
1-2 pieces scrapbook paper with a small print design
1 piece scrapbook paper in a coordinating color
scissors
a hot glue gun

1. Measure and cut your patterned scrapbook paper to fit the front of 1 side of the clothespin, repeat for as many clothespins as needed.
2. Glue paper on with tacky glue, smoothing as much as possible.
3. Trim magnetic tape to fit the back side of your clothespin. Glue with hot glue gun and press firmly to secure.
You could be finished at this point if you like it simple!

 But, if you'd like to add an embellishment, cut out a simple shape in the solid color scrapbooking paper (such as a butterfly or heart) fold it in half, hot glue along the fold, and glue onto the front of your clothespin. (I rolled some strips of paper into little rosettes).
Attach a cute note and you're done!

Makes a great gift (especially with a delicious recipe attached!) ;)

Lend Me Your Earrings

Apartment living can be challenging. How do you organize your home in a way that is both efficient and space-conscious?
 My conundrum this month has focused on how and where to store my earrings. They had previously been piled in a small box in a drawer; out of sight, out of mind. I would rarely wear them. Since we have a good amount of counter space in the bathroom, I wanted to find something to store them in that could be both functional and decorative.

I came across this cute box at Michael's, 30% off. It's made out of cardboard and has a magnetic closure. And it looks like a book! How cute and scholarly is that? The only problem was, how would I hang my earrings in it? Then I had an epiphany:

A wardrobe!

So I set off to find a small wooden dowel (29 cents), a few unpainted cardboard boxes (50 cents each) and a cute piece of scrapbook paper. Here's the end result, and I'm so happy with it!

I started by measuring the dowel to the width of the box (x3), then cut and painted them with a white acrylic paint. Once they had dried, I marked where to put them in, leaving extra room for the longer earrings. With a hot glue gun, I glued in the dowel bars. Then I painted the small cardboard boxes and glued some cute scrapbook paper to the front.

The boxes hold stud earrings, and the other holds rings! A great solution to my problem, for less than $10 (and less than an hour to make)!

Happy crafting!