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How to Fold that Hoard of Plastic Bags that Lives Under Your Kitchen Sink

by M.E. Gray

Life Hack: The quickest and easiest way to fold plastic shopping bags

I am pretty good about remembering to bring my reusable shopping bags with me when I pick up groceries. I walk in the store with my canvas bags, and I leave with my groceries and only those bags (and usually a pint of Ben & Jerry's - don't judge me). No matter how hard I try, plastic shopping bags still seem to magically appear under my kitchen sink. While tiny bags are handy to have around (fellow pet owners may agree with me here), keeping them from looking like a literal wad of trash is tricky. I'm here to share with you a folding technique to beat all others. It's by far the fastest, and definitely the easiest, way to fold a plastic shopping bag.    

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DIY Easter Egg Planters

by Alicia Lacy

DIY Easter Egg Planters

Plastic Easter eggs are abundant this time of year. You can find them in a variety of colors and sizes, and with a medley of super-heroes and princesses plastered across their round bellies. But when you strip Batman and Cinderella away, you're left with a beautiful shape - the incredible egg. And, it turns out, it's the perfect vessel for lovely arrangements of spring flowers!

Here's everything you need to know about how to take a...

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Make These: Surprise Easter Egg Bath Bombs!

by M.E. Gray

How to make homemade bath bombs using plastic eggs as molds

DIY Bath Bombs - these come with a little something extra!

What sounds better: Soaking in a hot, bubbly bath? Or eating chocolate out of a plastic egg that used to be sitting in your backyard? Yeah, we thought so. These Easter eggs definitely have the better treat inside - DIY homemade bath bombs! Bath bombs are easy enough to pick up at the mall, but are much more affordable to make at home. Plus these Easter egg bath bombs come with a little surprise chick inside. I mean, c'mon. That's adorable.

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Make These! Feminist Easter Eggs (+ Free Printable)

by M.E. Gray

Feminista Easter Eggs (+ Free Printable) | Curbly.com

Eggs are inherently feminine, right? They are a direct manifestation of a female creature walking around, just doing her female thing. Easter, back in its day, was pretty feminine too. Originally a celebration of the spring equinox, it's a day that used to be set aside in reverence of the Sumerian goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar. You know what else is pretty womanly? Me! The author of this post! With all of these elements combined (plus a dash of energy from the influx of female empowerment that I'm feeling everywhere around me), I decided to decorate my Easter eggs in pink and symbols of power. Girl power.     

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How to: Make a Modern Family Chore Chart Your Kids will Actually Use

by Lidy Dipert

How to: Make a Modern Family Chore Chart Your Kids will Actually Use

As our kids are getting a little older, I thought it might be a good time to introduce a simple chore chart to teach them shared responsibility, goal setting, and following through on commitments. Sometimes parents can be so hard on ourselves (and others) when it comes to the idea of putting our kids "to work" at a young age. I've even heard the term "child-labor" thrown around...which is, of course, silly and even dangerous.

I never thought I would say this, but "when I was their age..." I did chores around our house all. the. time. I started helping to clean at six, babysitting when I was 12, and was expected to cook for the whole family as a teenager. (I began working at a fast food restaurant when I was 14 and I'm still alive to talk about it!)

I'm proud of those experiences, and they taught me a deep sense of gratitude and a positive attitude. I think those are all experiences we want to give our children.  So! This is a super simple DIY to help your kids visualize their responsibilities and celebrate their little achievements along the way.   

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Make This: Minimal Clothes Drying Rack

by M.E. Gray

Perfect for small spaces - a collapsible wooden drying rack for laundry.

If you're looking for ways to save money, or working on shrinking your environmental footprint, air-drying your washing is a great place to start. Dryers, while they are handy, use a ton of energy to operate. Plus, you might own delicate clothes that aren't suited for aggressive machine drying. A clothes drying rack is a must-have asset for your laundry room - and bonus, you can make your own.     

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Renter-Friendly DIY: How to Customize Your Own Removable Wallpaper

by Holly Wade

Customized Removable Wallpaper

Living in a rental is not my ideal situation, but I’ve learned to make the best of the space that I have and still make the customizations that I want. One of the best ways to customize a space is with a fun accent wall, and for renters who cannot paint or apply wallpaper, removable wallpaper is king! I wanted to create a completely customized accent wall without painting it, so instead, I created customized removable wallpaper using a form of solid-colored contact paper.

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IKEA Hack! Turn a Shower Curtain into an Outdoor Rug

by Holly Wade

IKEA Hack! Turn a Shower Curtain into an Outdoor Rug

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect pattern for something? Then you see it...but it's the wrong product? That happened to me when I was searching for an outdoor rug, so actually decided I used an IKEA shower curtain to recover an outdoor rug, making a simple statement rug that was exactly what I wanted! Because shower curtains are already waterproof, you can makeover any rug with the pattern from a simple shower curtain. 

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Make Cleaning Less of a Chore with this DIY Household Cleaner Organizer

by M.E. Gray

Handmade cleaning caddy - keep all your cleaning supplies in one place with this cute carrier

 

There are a couple rules-of-thumb when it comes to successfully keeping your home clean. One of those rules is that you should always keep your cleaning supplies in one place, and you should always put them back when you're done using them. A cleaning caddy meets both those criteria, and - bonus - makes carrying household cleaners from room to room super easy! I've been wanting to incorporate a carrier into my cleaning routine for a while now, and rather than purchase a cheap-looking plastic one that will surely break over time, I opted to make one instead.     

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Make This: The Half Hour Half Apron

by M.E. Gray

Easy half apron tutorial (no pattern needed!)

Are you ready for a crazy-quick sewing project? I'm calling this the "half hour half apron" because it's one of the fastest sewing projects I think I've ever completed. Honestly, if I busted out a few more of these half aprons, I believe I could get my time down to 15 minutes. No sweat. My point is, this half apron is a breeze to make. This is a perfect project for beginner sewers. Plus, who doesn't need an adorable handmade apron in their kitchen?   

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Organize Dangling Earrings with this DIY Concrete Earring Tree

by Holly Wade

Organize Dangling Earrings with this DIY Concrete Earring Tree

I've tried multiple techniques for organizing earrings over the years, but dangling earrings tend to be more difficult to organize in an easy-to-manage way. Luckily, this simple DIY concrete earring tree does the trick and makes the perfect spot to hang several pairs of dangling earrings in a way that's easy to grab what I want and head out the door.         

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Make This: Scandinavian-Inspired Hand Printed Tablecloth

by M.E. Gray

Make This: Simple Swiss-Cross Patterend Stamped Tablecloth

Make This: Scandinavian Tablecloth

I can't get enough of Scandinavian design, and I'm on the hunt for ways to bring this style into my home. The decor in my house hasn't had a theme until very recently (unless you consider furniture inherited from past roommates a theme). Now that I'm almost 30 (panicked bells ringing as I type that), the items in my home are brought in with more intention. I love all things monochromatic, so the Scandinavian look fits my mostly-gray furniture perfectly. This dining table needed a new tablecloth, and the Scandinavian-inspried Swiss cross pattern seemed the perfect fit.      

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IKEA Hack: TARVA Nightstand Gets Tech-Friendly

by M.E. Gray

IKEA HACK: Tarva nightstand gets tech-friendly with built-in charging station

Hide ugly cords by your bed with this IKEA nightstand hack!

Before I bought this nightstand, I had never stepped foot in an IKEA (gasp!). It wasn't for lack of wanting to, I just never had the opportunity before. As a former small-town gal, I haven't lived within driving distance of an IKEA up until I moved to the big city (more specifically, the Twin Cities) about a year and a half ago. Since moving, I've been putting off a trip to the IKEA because I know myself too well. I know that I love cute home decor, and I knew that I'd want to take everything in that store home with me. Impulsive purchasing aside, I needed a new nightstand. Let me tell you two things: #1. IKEA is awesome (and massive and a bit confusing at first - but they have Swedish Fish which totally made up for me getting lost), and #2. I love this TARVA IKEA nightstand because it is so hackable.

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