Why I love Tarjay!

I mean, really, any chick with a frugal cell in her body has to love Teh Tarjay. Today I was looking for some Lysol spray and happened upon these sweet frames on clearance. How much were they, you ask?
$1.24 and $2.48.

I also found a nice black frame with three 5x7 openings but for some reason the photo is not loading. ANYhoo, that one will join my husband's side of the office, along with all his other black frames. And it cost me $6.24. Not bad at all.

The 80/20 rule

We've all heard of different versions of the 80/20 rule - you wear 20% of the clothes in your closet 80% of the time while the other 80% of clothes only gets trotted out 20% of the time. 20% of people do 80% of the work in any given work setting. Kids only play with 20% of their toys 80% of the time. This is a universal truth that applies to most settings.

In my kids' case, it definitely applies to their toys. Sure, everything gets trotted out - and makes for a big mess - every day (God help me), but they only actually play with a fraction of their humongous stash.

Given that my oldest is about to have a birthday (which means, more toys coming into the house), I proposed that we get rid of some of that 80%. Of course I didn't present it to him that way, what I said was "we need to make room for your birthday presents so let's give some of the toys you don't play with to Ms. Camille's schoo1, ok?"


Ms. Camille is the director of the special needs school where Alex first went a couple of years ago. Aidan was allowed to attend as a model peer so the students could see how a non-special needs child functions and reacts to various situations. They both LOVED the school and everyone there. Some of the staff have moved on but we love to keep in touch and I thought it would be a good idea to share some of our abundance of toys with them. Aidan dove into the project and we put together a whole grocery bag full of dinosaurs and animals that he no longer wanted.


But before anyone feels sorry for this poor deprived child, please know that he chose everything to be donated himself, and that this picture above is only about 10% of the number of indoor toys he and Alex have. We have been blessed with generous friends and family, and it's a good thing for the boys to start learning to share those gifts.

Pretties for Valentine's Day

It seems that every time I start looking around on Etsy for pretty jewelry I end up browsing around this shop.

Shlomit Ofir has beautifully made items with a touch of quirkiness and a lovely, delicate sensibility. And no, I am not being paid or given anything for this post. I just happen to love her stuff. If you're looking for some pretties for your significant other or yourself, here are some ideas that won't break the bank:


Just check out these adorable and very timely earrings - I love the spray of tiny holes on each heart, and how beautifully they probably swing once they're on the ear.


Or look at these absolutely gorgeous earrings - I love the different colored stones swinging from each individual setting. And the price, $24. That's $24 for a very unique and feminine pair of earrings that will serve you well for seasons to come.


If it's bracelets that make your heart race, here is a showstopper - the detail work is so sweet and delicate, I love it.


There are many necklaces to fawn over, like this sculptural piece with three linked leaves. Delicate enough to wear to work, but unique enough to be eye-catching.


My favorite item in her shop, though, are these fabulous filigree earrings - she will even customize them with the bead of your choice, so you can have the stone as shown in the picture or switch to one in your favorite color.

So there you have it, beautiful jewelry at very reasonable prices, and you get to support an independent designer. Take it as your mission for this Valentine's Day to order something from Shlomit Ofir, and revel in the compliments you will get.

The best part

We recently got some new plants for our garden, some spinach and chard. Both are definitely foods I want my children to try.

The boys loved the whole process. From choosing the plants at the nursery, to bringing them home - "dad, don't hit the bumps on the road!" - to finally, putting them in the ground.


They each have their own tools, smaller versions of ours, and they helped get the ground ready for their new inhabitants.

My oldest learned how to balance himself while standing on a big shovel, while my youngest happily sprinkled dirt all over himself and then looked up at us proudly.

This is truly the best part of gardening, sharing it with my kids and hopefully instilling in them a love for growing a bit of our own food.

Organization obsession!

My dear husband bought me a magnet board. I have one already but he got me one for the backsplash area, if you will, of my desk. Of course, a plain, ugly, industrial looking magnet board will not do, so I leave you with some ideas of what I intend to do. I love the look of a board covered in pretty fabric and ribbons, nothing too frou-frou, everything subtle but feminine.


Check out this super cute idea from Beneath My Heart - Traci made this with burlap, which would make it go with just about every decor.


Here we have a beautimous pair of boards from Kate at Centsational Girl, am loving the coordinating fabrics!


And of course, The Martha has a transformed pair of boards using decorative paper, something I had not considered. I am lucky to have a Paper Source fairly close and I know they carry gorgeous papers in huge sizes.

What do you think, any color/print ideas?

It's the smell

I brought the first handful of spring onions in the house on Christmas Eve, and placed them in a bowl to chop up later. My husband immediately turned and asked me what that smell was.

These homegrown onions smelled so delicious, so pungently fragrant, that we were shocked, being used to our fragrance-less, store-bought spring onions.

Never again. It's the smell. We're sold on homegrown.

2010 de-stuff-ing our house has started!

With the new year there are always resolutions to honor and a clean slate to reminds us that new beginnings are there for us, if we want them.

For me, frugality is not just spending less and making my own, but I am also striving, and it goes again the very grain of our society, to Live Frugally. Meaning, I want to have what I need, and not overflow my closets and dresser drawers with the much dreaded, and hard to get rid of, STUFF.

I began yesterday, cleaning out the superficial clutter in my bedroom - including putting away my husband's soccer cleats because he hasn't played in a year, for goodness's sakes - and got quite a lot cleared out.

Then I took my lot of trash to the bins and realized my husband had filled them when he cleaned out the garage. Arg. Oh well. The rest of the trash now has to wait a few days but I am spending this morning collecting clothes to donate.

I am incredibly lucky that my children are gifted clothes by relatives on a regular basis, I think we just buy socks and jammies for them ;D, but they are also growing boys and every month (I kid you not) there is at least one grocery bag full of clothes that don't fit them anymore.

My craft stash is definitely overloaded and I know I won't use everything, so I am giving my mom my current jewelry stash. I used to make jewelry big time, but now I don't really feel the pull to create anything blingy. I made a few things earlier this year and it was, at best, a half-hearted attempt. So I have owned up to the fact that currently I am just not in the mood, and will give my stash to my mom, who is going gangbusters making jewelry.

My kitchen . . . oh jeez, do we really need to talk about my kitchen? Why don't we leave that for tomorrow ;D