EPISODE #107 -
SATURDAY APRIL 21, 2012
How are you
doing on your spring projects? Kinda slow? I thought so… the
weather during the weekends makes it hard to focus on getting
those projects done around the house. The weather has been too
nice, it just makes you want to go out and enjoy the sun! That
actually was a good thing last weekend as we welcomed everyone
to the 10th annual GardenPalooza at Fir Point Farms. We had a
great turnout with close to 7,000 fans coming out to join us.
We rewarded some of those fans with some free violas! We hope
you got yours. We also gave away some other prizes too. We
would like to congratulate Nancy Turner and Patt Davis who won
our other prizes. Patt won a class at Geranium Lake Flowers and
Nancy won a set of the
Natural Home EaziStore cookware. This cookware is produced
to be environmentally friendly! Plus, because of its design, it
saves you up to 67% of the space needed for storage. We will
actually be giving away another set in the near future, so keep
checking back for how you can win.
Unusual Slip Covers
You can
re-decorate easily or just change the look of something by using
slipcovers. Now, I’m not talking about the big ones that you
see on old furniture (just like at Grandma’s house). These are
slip covers with a twist! We found out about these from Sara
Tetreault who writes the website GoGingham.com. She finds these
cool ideas and then shares them with her readers. Her twist on
slip covers is to use them for the ‘unusual’ pieces of furniture
and décor. She started by showing how well they can change the
look of something. She had an older table in her bedroom and
she simply made a slip cover to go over the top and it made the
piece look totally different and she didn’t have to refinish the
piece! But the real interesting part was coming up. Sara took
us to her dining room where we saw how she made slip covers for
Kleenex boxes. You only need 3 pieces to make the cover and you
can get a copy
of her pattern on her website. These are great décor
items. You can use these patterns to match your décor for any
time of year, including the holidays! Check out her website for
more ‘Stylishly Frugal Living’ ideas.
Sedum Terrariums
We are
always looking for ways to bring the outside ‘indoors’ to
freshen up our interior decorating. One way of dong that is
with terrariums. We stopped by
Geranium Lake
Flowers (503-228-1920) to visit with Kim Foren as she was
getting some sedums ready for a class on terrariums. Using
sedums in a terrarium is a good idea because they are such a low
maintenance plant. Kim showed us how you could use almost any
pot to create these wonderful indoor gardens. She had pulled
out a huge apothecary jar for us to plant. Kim had some sand
from the fish store which contains some live bacteria in it.
The sand was a good choice for the sedums because they don’t
need soil to grow and they like a good, fast draining medium to
grow in. If you have plants that need more of a root system you
may want to layer small rocks, sand and then soil to help them
grow. Once you have the sand in the container you can add your
sedums by gently pressing them into the sand. Once your plants
are placed you can add other decorative pieces like shells and
rocks to dress it up a bit. Then you are done. Just lightly
water it once a month and it should be fine. If you would like
to see when Kim is having her next class and to see what other
projects she is doing you can check out her website.
We would
also like to thank Kim and her staff for donating a pass for one
of her classes to our drawings at GardenPalooza.
OVO Kitchen
If you have
been anywhere in the Portland area in the last few weeks you
have probably heard about the new
Cirque du Soleil show, OVO, which is appearing at the Expo
Center for the next month. This show is one of the most
kid-friendly shows they have ever had and takes you into the
world of insects as they try to figure out what is in the egg
that appears in their world. Of course there is much more than
the ‘egg’ to see as well. Cirque shows are known for their
great stories, and for their incredible athletes that are part
of the cast. That got us wondering, how do these performers get
fed? With a little bit of help we found ourselves in the
kitchen of the OVO show with Chef Paola Muller. She is one of
the 4 Chefs that travel with the show and serve up to 300 meals
a day. When the show first arrives in town they start by
grilling outside until the kitchen is set up. Depending on the
show and the site their kitchen could be a tent or in the case
of the Portland show they have 3 large shipping containers that
have been modified and connected into one large kitchen. One
container has a cooler and food storage, the middle one is a
food prep area and the third is set up for cooking, with ovens
and stove tops. The cast and crew eat in a tent area that is
attached to the containers!
With all the
different dietary needs of the cast the kitchen tries to make a
little something for everyone. There are different salads
offered along with cold cuts and cheeses. They also have an
offering of different hot dishes and soups as well. They even
bake their own breads! The best part is that they look to shop
‘local’ when they arrive. The staff will work with local
suppliers to make sure that they get the freshest local meats
and produce to use in their meals. They have to offer a wide
range of foods not only for the performers, but also their
families, since many of them travel together during the show
season. It truly is a village on wheels! The question we had
was, ‘who eats the most desserts?”. Chef Paola, said it was a
toss-up between the staff and the performers, but the performers
burn theirs off quicker!
Another
question had to do with all the different nationalities that are
represented. How do they prepare special foods so the performers
don’t get home sick? Chef Paola told us that they have theme
nights most of the week and then they will throw in a special
night featuring foods from specific countries including her own,
Brazil.
As you can
see, they try to offer everyone involved with the show a treat
when they sit down to eat. If you want to see a treat, stop by
and catch the OVO show while it is in Portland!
Quick Tip – Resistance Bands for Travel
Our quick
tip this week has to do with keeping in shape when you are on
the road. Kim joined us from
Exercise Equipment Northwest (800-659-0421) to tell us about
resistance bands. These stretchy exercise bands are good for
getting in a quick work out without leaving your room. They are
also good if you don’t have a large space in your home to
workout. To learn how to use them, stop by any Exercise
Equipment Northwest store.
Al’s Fairy Gardens
You can add
a bit of magic to your garden either inside or out by making a
portion of it a fairy garden. A fairy garden is supposed to
attract and make a home for good fairies so they stay and bring
luck and good fortune to your garden and your home. They are
made up of small homes, furniture and chairs. You can build one
in a pot or in a secluded part of your garden (to give them a
little privacy). We stopped by
Al’s
Garden Center (503-726-1162) in Sherwood to chat with Amy
and her daughter Rachel to learn more about this phenomenon.
Since fairies need a space of their own you will want to include
pathways, fences and arbors. This will encourage them to stay
in your garden. Letting your kids build the garden will allow
them to use their own creativity and imagination. Rachel built
one in a large container, but they also had one on display in
the nursery. It looked like some of the pieces had been moved
since they set it up. That is a good sign since it shows that
the fairies had been there and using it. Getting one started is
easy. You can even get a kit that has everything you need to
get started. In a time when some people think that bigger is
better, you can take the opposite route and make a home with
your kids for the ‘wee people’ and have a great time doing it!
DIY – Ping Pong
Having
family fun doesn’t have to break the bank. Sara Tetreault
shared an easy and quick way to set up a ping pong table in your
home without having to buy a big piece of equipment. She built
hers out of a 4 foot dowel and a couple of juice containers.
First she took 2 clean and empty juice containers and filled
them with some pennies. This gave them the weight they needed
to become posts. Next she punched holes in the side of the
containers and threaded the dowel through the holes. This
became the ‘net’. Then she just set it up on the dining room
table. A couple of paddles and a ball from Goodwill (or you can
get new ones from the local sports store) and you are ready to
go! Check out Sara’s website,
www.GoGingham.com, for more tips and ideas.
Organizing Mail
I like to
think that our house is like everyone else’s. We have piles
scattered everywhere; things to read in one pile, unopened mail
in another, scraps of paper in a third. To help get some tips
on organizing these piles we stopped at
the
Container Store (503-620-5700). Natalie joined us with a
few products to help us put our mess in order. The first tip
she had was to designate a space. This area is where you will
set up your organizing area. This is where you will deal with
the mail when it comes in. Next, set up a system. A simple
drawer with files will work. Mark the draws so you can keep
things in order. Hers were labeled ‘To Pay, To Preview, To
File’. Then every day when the mail comes in your can put it in
one of the three drawers to organize it. It is also good to
have a calendar near this area so you can write down those
appointments and important dates that come in the mail. She
also had some shredding scissors so you can cut up the mail that
has personal information on it before recycling it.
Natalie also
had some files that will help you beyond your mail problems.
The larger cabinets and organizers will help you with more
categories like separate school and work files. You can even
look at smaller organizing systems like ones for your coupons
for shopping. A portable system allows you to keep your coupons
and gift cards all together so nothing gets lost. They even had
organizers for on the wall in case you are limited in space.
They really do have a place for everything so everything stays
in its place! |
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