Author Archives: explorenewness

my NEW fabric organization

Posted on by

minibolts

Sometimes I get those moments….those BFO moments!  {BLINDING FLASH of the OBVIOUS} moments!  I had one recently when I saw the brilliant (yet obviously efficient) way to store fabric at Smashed Peas and Carrots blog!  Duh!  Mini Fabric bolts!  If it’s good enough for fabric stores to organize fabric on bolts, it’s good enough for me…and mini bolts work GREAT!  I don’t sew a ton, so I don’t even have very much fabric to store, but it sure beats this mess (fabric previously stored in plastic bins among other craft supplies)

fabricmess

….and this mess (left over matting sitting at the top of my framing closet):

matmess

You see, I do my own picture framing and matting and I have a hard time junking the scraps of matting that I JUST.MIGHT.NEED someday!  Well!  I did need it!…to wrap my fabric into bolts!  These mini bolts are 7.5 inches by 10.5 inches.  PERFECT for my NEW sewing cabinet shelves:

botls3

LOVE IT!  Try organizing something NEW today!

NEW green smoothie recipes

Posted on by

Ginger-Spinach-Green-Smoothie-200x300{source}.

Hi all!  Well, day 2 of my 28-day challenge was to make a green smoothie.  Although this wasn’t much of a ‘challenge’ at all (because I regularly make them), I thought maybe I’d research some NEW and different varieties to try in the future. When I signed up for this challenge, I had no idea what would be expected of me….but so far they’ve been very do-able… thank goodness!

Check out these green smoothie varieties:

Ginger Spinach Green Smoothie

Coconut Green Smoothie

5 other varieties

And last but NOT LEAST,  you should check out The Green Smoothie Girl website.  It must not be a coincidence that she’s doing some FREE seminars in MY AREA this week!  (Don’t you love it when stuff like that happens!?!)  I think I’ll check my calendar and attend if I can.

Try a NEW smoothie recipe or something else NEW today!

a NEW challenge and NEW photo of my day

Posted on by

flowershowdow1

I’m participating in a 28-day challenge which started today.  The first day’s challenge was to buy myself some flowers.  I don’t remember if I’ve EVER bought myself cut flowers!  I’m pretty much a cheapskate!…but Costco had nice flowers for relatively inexpensive, so I DID IT!  Then I took a photo of them to show you 🙂  I hope they last a long time!  I’ll try to post what the rest of the challenges are…I always LOVE doing NEW things, so this should be fun.  Have a great week everyone!

a few NEW stories

Posted on by

edstivender{source}

Have you ever been to a storytelling festival?  I’ve attended our local festival the last two years and they are really VERY fun!  Good stuff…Quite entertaining!!!  Last night we enjoyed listening to:

Bil Lepp, Josh Goforth, Liz Weir, Andy Offutt Irwin, Carmen Deedy, Barbara McBride Smith, Syd Lieberman, and Ed Stivender

They were ALL excellent!  HERE is a website that lists storytelling festivals.  See if there’s one close to you!  Listen to a NEW story TODAY!!!

a NEW recipe and a NEW use for an old kitchen tool

Posted on by

pbbarswithmilk2

I recently got this REALLY YUMMY recipe for Peanut Butter bars from a co-worker….and I’m not even that big of a fan of PB!  But, the recipe is quick, easy and delicious.  My kind of recipe!  The first time I made these, I was PLAIN-JANE and simply cut them in to squares; but this time, I used an old kitchen tool that rarely gets used and made them crinkle-cutted-ed-ed 🙂  I wanted to fancy them up a bit to take to a neighbor.  Whatdoyathink???  I know they’ll disappear soon!  They taste just like Reeses Peanut Butter cups.  If you like PB…try these! (or something else NEW)!

pbbars1

Recipe Card Template 1up 4x6

Linking up at:

Happy Hour Friday

Not Just a Housewife

Thursday’s Thought

Posted on by

distantheaven

I might have used this photo with a favorite quote before, but I thought it went rather well with this quote.  This quote is from the {fabulous} book, The Rent Collector, which I recently rated.  Have a great Thursday everyone!  Do or Learn something NEW!

OK…so I hit publish by accident, and I know it’s only Wednesday….but instead of deleting and scheduling this post for tomorrow, just PRETEND that it’s Thursday! 🙂

two NEW book ratings

Posted on by

RentCollector_cover-673x1024The-Island-at-the-Center-of-the-World-9780786268351

Oh my goodness!  When I have a book to read…NOTHING else gets done around here! 🙂  I think my family must cringe when they see me walking in from a trip to the library….thinking,  “Great!….Now how am I supposed to get Mom’s attention if I need her!?!”  HaHa!  Here are my latest reads.  I’m giving them both 4 out of 5 stars.  (Just so you know, I RARELY give out 5’s).

The Rent Collector is fiction based on real people.  I was hesitant to read it, thinking I wasn’t interested in a depressing story about extreme poverty, but that was not the focus at all.  It focused on learning and how the mother became literate even though she lived in a municipal city dump.  Very good book!  I recommend it!

The Island at the Center of the World is a longer read, but very interesting.  It’s a history book about the Island of Manhattan in the early 1600’s.   I don’t know about your history teachers, but mine didn’t even mention the Dutch colony….all I was taught was the English colonies….the pilgrims, the puritans etc.  I might be a bit more interested in this book than the average reader because I’ve been doing a fair amount of New York family history.  But if you like history books, this one is very good!

Again, I give them 4 out of 5 stars.  Learn or DO something NEW today!

a NEW delicious ham recipe

Posted on by

hamcarribean2

Wow! I really have no idea where the last few weeks have gone.  I have no excuses for not posting on my little blog here…I haven’t been out of town, I haven’t been overly busy on some huge project…..just normal life.  BUT, today I HAD to share this very yummy ham recipe.  My friend and I had our monthly  F&F TIME yesterday and instead of putting this dish in the freezer, we had it for dinner last night.  YUM!!!  I even had some for breakfast this morning, it was THAT good (the pineapple was especially yummy cold from being refrigerated all night).  Here’s the recipe:

Recipe Card Template 1up 4x6

TRY IT…or learn or DO something NEW today!