Our Daily Bread

Hello there and happy Monday!

Do you ever find yourselves with stale bread in your kitchen? Please don't throw it out! There are many ways to turn stale bread from blah to Tada!. For example, we can turn them into croutons:

Here's an easy recipe I used from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa at Home Cookbook):

You will need:
1/2 loaf of bread, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 large garlic clove
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the crusts from the bread slices and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Crush the garlic with the side of a large chef's knife and discard the peel. In a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, until the garlic starts to brown, and then discard the garlic. Add the bread cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until brown on all sides.

They make a perfect finish to a thick, warm soup.
Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Ribbon Recycle

It's Friday and the major blah this week was the closing of several magazines over at Conde Nast, Gourmet Magazine included. Really heart-breaking news! I mean, Gourmet is an institution! I'm going to miss it a lot together with their TV show "Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie" on public TV.

I hope those who've lost their publishing jobs band together and create something spectacular. Just like Lonny Magazine created by former Domino Magazine team members. Discovering it was a real Tada!

It's quite bittersweet that I'm transforming old magazines from blah to Tada! this week. I can't imagine the day when we've gone all electronic and flipping through a magazine ceases to exist. I can't bear the thought!

Now on to happier things...here's another craft project that I'm sharing with you and as I made them, I silently said, "Thank you for magazines!"

From bookmarks to bowls to framed art...there are so many uses for old magazines. Here's another idea: turn the pages into gift wrap & ribbon!

Black, white & ruffles spell elegance.

Bow tie and buttons for your favorite guy.

Find a colorful page.
Fold, snip, pile and glue together.

Tada! A fancy ribbon to dress up any package.

And finally, a pink page that looks like a pretty flower!

Hope these ideas inspired you for your next gift wrapping task.
Have a fun weekend!

Positive Thoughts

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! This week is devoted to re-purposing old magazines.

One can easily get absorbed in a good magazine -- intelligent articles, mouthwatering recipes, stunning photography and mesmerizing fashion! There's no doubt that you can find so much inspiration in this kind of publication.

When you're ready to get rid of a magazine, flip through the pages and cut out your favorite words and pictures. Glue them on a blank sheet of colored paper and Tada!:

You have your own piece of artwork!

Another option is to put together a list of positive phrases. Frame this. Hang it in your office. Look at it every morning. Use it as your morning pep talk. That way you can face the day with lots of enthusiasm and you can ignore any negativity that threatens you.

Sending positive energy your way! See you again tomorrow!

Keep the Change

This week on my blog, I'm finding new uses for old magazines.

Turn something blah into a Tada!

Okay, not so blah for Twilight fans out there if the stars are on the cover. But if you've read all the pages and turned photos of Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner into wall art, let's turn the magazine into something more useful.

A little bowl, perhaps?
Here's how:

Open it to the centerfold & remove the staple wires
binding the magazine.

Cut each page in half (lengthwise).

Fold each page into eight sections,
overlapping (not alternating) as you go.

Attach the ends together using clear tape
until you form one really long ribbon.

Tightly wind the paper ribbon into a spiral &
secure the end with tape.

Gently pull up the upper part of the spiral to turn it into a bowl.

Once satisfied with the shape, pour some glue on one side and spread with a foam brush to allow the glue to get into the crevices. Repeat and allow to dry. Do the same on the other side.

Tada! Your very own bowl!

It's a perfect way to store loose change.

Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Mark My Word

I have a magazine addiction and it isn't easy for me to get rid of old issues. I like to pull some out from a stack, look through them and find inspiration from its words and pictures.

If you look at it from a magazine editor's perspective, you'll know that so much blood, sweat and tears are involved in the creation of each page. While I really do have to move out old magazine issues from my home, I'm keeping some pages like fabulous fashion spreads. I glued them on a piece of cardboard and added some ribbon...

...Tada! And turned them into bookmarks!

That way, I can see my favorite looks everyday
without the extra clutter.

Make as many bookmarks for all your current reads and make a few more to give to your fashion-loving friends!

Lucky Labels

Happy Monday Everyone!

Let me tell you about a vice I've had for many years now: MAGAZINES. Flipping through the pages is simply addicting. If you lose me in a bookstore, you'll know I'll be at the magazine section. When flights get delayed, I won't be the first to complain, as long as there's a news stand at the airport carrying all those glossy covers. If you visit me at home, you'll find stacks of magazines and even if they're in neat piles, I must admit, they're invading the area designated as "free space".

So here I am in magazine rehab, learning to let go of my favorite reading material. But letting go is never easy therefore blah to Tada! is my easy way out.

Here are my old copies of Lucky Magazine. It's a style and shopping magazine that I used as inspiration for different looks using the clothes that I already own.

I love that there's a page full of "Yes" and "Maybe" stickers to mark the pages that inspired me. Now that I'm passing on these magazines, I'm saving the stickers.

Tada! I'll use them to mark cookbooks & recipes I want to try.

This saves me from using little bits of torn-up paper that can easy fall off when I turn the pages.

See you again tomorrow for another magazine project!

Tiny Thoughts

We're saying farewell to another week and bidding the "back to school" week on my blog goodbye. We've made a lot of useful things for the home and office using basic school supplies. Today, let's play around with these index cards:

If you can't stop by an office supply store,
you can easily get these at the supermarket or drugstore.

You can get the white ones;
I happen to like these assorted vibrant colors.
Here's how they go from blah to Tada!:

Decorate it and tuck it in a loved one's current read.

She'll be bowled over by your sweet note.

Or your can make a little card &
envelope for a favorite friend.

Tell her how much you appreciate her friendship.

Then secretly put it inside her purse.
Won't it be exciting when she discovers it?

And for your little one -- a surprise in his
or her lunchbox.

Fashion the index cards into a little lunch box.

Then add an encouraging note inside.
What a boost to the spirits this will be!

Thanks so much for visiting me this week.
Have a fabulous weekend!

It's Take-Out Tonight

There are nights when I'm too exhausted or just not in the mood to cook dinner. Thank goodness for take-out and restaurants that deliver! Maybe you're like me who has a bunch of these delivery menus holding on tightly to the magnet on the fridge door:

Not very cool especially if they're sliding off or
piling up on the kitchen counter.

Since we're in "back to school" mode on my blog this week,
I got this plastic envelope at my neighborhood
office supply store.

It's a simple but sturdy envelope...just a tad too plain.

Blah to Tada! time!

I added this decorative strip to the spine.

It provides a festive touch and tells anyone what's inside.

There's a pocket inside where I wrote down my
favorite restaurants that deliver straight to my door.

Tada! My menus now have a home, freeing the kitchen of clutter!

Cilp On, Clip Off

It's all about "back to school" this week and even if I'm not a student, a quick trip to the office supply store is always fun treat. I found these binder clips and just felt the urge to jazz them up:

Yup, you got it -- blah to Tada!

It's a project I found in blogland. I've seen a lot of bloggers make this simple transformation of wrapping cloth or paper around the base of these binder clips with just a little bit of glue. Isn't the result fantastic?

Bills, bank statements, letters...it will make organizing these items easier and not to mention, much, much prettier!

Thanks for visiting me today. Hope to see you again tomorrow!