DIY Art Hangings

Did you ever want to have art pieces hanging around your house?  Now you can do it for a low price.  Check out this easy step by step tutorial about how to make art pieces out of posters.  Please see apartment therapy with any questions you might have.

This tutorial is inexpensive, easy, and best of all: low-risk. I was in need of some art for our bathroom, and it needed to be rather large and until I can afford what I've really got my heart set on — rather cheap.

I decided to take a poster that I liked (picked up at a craft store for around $10) and skip the large expensive frame. Instead, I made it look like a wrapped canvas, using a cheap old thrift store canvas I had lying around. Warning: this project is not for the perfectionist! If you're looking for large-scale art on a budget, and can accept some minor flaws, this is the project for you! I completed this project in less than 20 minutes.

What You Need

• poster
• canvas just a bit smaller than the poster
• adhesive such as mod podge
• brush
• staple gun or stapler

Instructions

1. Lay out your poster.



2. Place canvas on top to be sure you have enough room to fold the edges around.



3. Spread out your adhesive.





4. Starting at the bottom or top, carefully press your poster onto the gluey canvas, taking care to smooth out air bubbles. Note: I didn't photograph this step because I needed both hands — and you will too!

5. Flip the whole thing over and smooth it out.



6. Flip back over and use your fingers, a dry towel, or a brayer to smooth out any extra wrinkles.



7. Flip back over, and carefully wrap the edges around to the back of the canvas. Secure in place with staples.



8. Fold corners neatly like wrapping a present and secure with staples.





10. Hang, and enjoy!

Read more »

Homemade Energy Bars

Do you eat a lot of energy bars?  Did you know that you can make your favorite energy bars at home?  Check out these great recipes below to make your own energy bars at home.

I am a huge fan of chewy, nutty, fruit-filled energy bars of the sort made by Lärabar. These little bars are enough to spur me on to an afternoon work-out and keep The Hangry at bay. It was looking at the ingredient list of my favorite Cherry Pie Lärabar that made me first consider making them myself. The ingredients were just dates, almonds, and cherries. So simple. So incredibly mind-blowing.

I tinkered with ratios a bit, but in the end, I decided to take the most straight-forward path: equal parts dried fruits, nuts, and pitted dates. Whizz them together in a food processor until they combine into a thick paste, press into a square, chill, and chop into squares for snacking. Done.

My favorite is still cherries, almonds, and dates (which are pictured here), but you can swap out the cherries and almonds for any dried fruit or nut. Keep the dates, though. They act as a binder and also sweeten the bars without needing sugar.

You can also play around with adding other ingredients into the mix: a few tablespoons of chia seeds, a handful of coconut, even some chocolate chips. Again, keep the same ratio of the base ingredients (1 part dried fruit : 1 part nut : 1 part dates), and add the extras a bit at a time until you get a taste and texture that you like.

Making energy bars really is that simple. You'll never need to buy them again.



How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home

Makes 8 large bars or 16 small square-shaped bars
What You Need

Ingredients
1 cup nuts
1 cup dried fruit
1 cup (12-15 whole) dates, pitted


Equipment
Food processor
Plastic wrap or wax paper
Sharp knife
Instructions
 
Roast the nuts (optional). Nuts can be used raw or roasted; roasting will add a toasty, nutty depth to the bars. If desired, roast the nuts at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant and golden. Allow to cool before using. (See: How to Roast Nuts in the Oven)
 
Combine the nuts, dried fruit, and dates in a food processor. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse a few times just to break them up. Separate the dates if they start to clump together.
Process continuously for 30 seconds. By this point, the ingredients should all have broken down into crumb-sized pieces. Scrape the edges of the bowl and beneath the blade to make sure nothing is sticking.
 
Process continuously until a ball is formed, 1-2 minutes. Continue processing for another 1-2 minutes, until the ingredients clump together and gather into a ball.
 
Press into a disk and chill. Lay a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and dump the power bar dough on top. Press the dough with your hands until it forms a thick square disk, roughly 8" x 8" in size. Wrap and chill for at least an hour or overnight.
 
Divide into bars. Unwrap the chilled power bar dough and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 8 large bars or 16 small squares, as desired. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or wax paper.
 
Store the bars. Store the bars in the fridge for several weeks or in the freezer for up to three months. The bars can be eaten straight from the fridge or freezer and will be firm, but chewy. 

Room-temperature bars are perfectly fine to eat and can be kept in a lunch bag or backpack all day, but will be more soft and paste-like.
 
Additional Notes:
Energy Balls: The power bar dough can also be shaped into small balls. Refrigerate until firm, then wrap in plastic for longer storage.
Try These Combinations! Cherry-almond, apricot-almond, cranberry-pecan, apple-cinnamon-walnut
Try These Add-Ins! Shredded coconut, chia seeds, chocolate chips, cacao nibs, cocoa powder, crystalized ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom, lemon zest, lime zest

For more information see The Kitchn.

Read more »

The Cleaning List

Everyone can get super busy during the week, and then cleaning a home can get put on the to do list.  Check out this cleaning schedule for you to keep up with your cleaning every day of the week.  These simple tips and tricks will help your apartment stay clean throughout the week, instead of just once a month.

Home Cleaning Schedule

Daily
Every morning when I get up, and right before I go to sleep, I have a routine that I stick to. It really doesn't take up much time, but doing this can help speed things along. Although this is not included in the 20 minutes, this takes no more than 10 minutes a day, and easily can become second nature. I've put these cleaning tips in order of how I accomplish them during my day.

Make bed - 30 seconds
Put away clothes and jewelry from night before - 30 seconds
Swipe toilet (I only clean out the inside if it looks dirty) -30 seconds
Wipe bathroom mirror with Windex wipe -15 seconds
Wipe bathroom sink with GreenWorks Wipe -15 seconds
Spray shower with shower spray - 5 seconds
Wipe fingerprints off table in living room - 5 seconds
Wash, dry and put away dishes -5 minutes
Sweep floor - 1 minute

The longest part of this list is obviously washing the dishes. If you are severely pressed on time, you can always use paper. I've found the easiest way to keep the dishes in control is to wash them as you use them. Otherwise, by dinner time, you can wind up with a big, uninspiring pile.

Second Nature
Some parts of my home cleaning schedule, are things that I don't really think about, but just do. These also help to cut down on clutter and allow you to spend only 20 minutes a day cleaning.

As I mentioned already, wash the dishes as you use them
Wash laundry on the go (either throughout the day over the week, or all at once at a laundromat)
Pick up your stuff whenever you leave the room
Sort the mail as soon as you get it

These are all a part of my daily routine. As for weekends, sometimes I do them, sometimes I don't. I enjoy sleeping in on the weekends, and generally have found my home cleaning schedule to get in the way. Home cleaning can be enjoyable, and even a bit Zen-like, but there are so many fun things to do. Who wants to clean all the time?

Weekly & Monthly

Okay, here come the biggies, my Weekly and Monthly home cleaning schedules. For the week, I have my days divided like this:

Monday-Home Sprint
Tuesday-Special Room(s) Day
Wednesday-Bills
Thursday-Home Sprint
Friday-Declutter

As you can see, Saturday and Sunday are not here. Why? Because I don't like cleaning on the weekends. Monday thru Friday, I organized my home cleaning so that I only need to spend 20 minutes to keep my home sparkling. You can too! Let me explain what each day means.

Home Sprint
Monday and Thursday are my Home Sprint days. On each day, for 20 minutes, I focus on completing ALL of the following:

Cleaning the Fish Tank
Dusting
Wiping all mirrors with a windex wipe
Wiping all door handles and light switches with a GreenWorks wipe
Wet Swiffering the kitchen floor
Emptying the trash
Watering the plants
Vacuuming

In only 40 minutes a week, I can race through all of these. I bet you can too!

Special Room(s) Day
Every Tuesday is Special Room(s) Day. This is actually my entire monthly schedule, right here! Each Tuesday of each week, I focus on a different section of my home, for a total of four sections.

Week 1: Porch & Kitchen
Week 2: Bathroom & Study
Week 3: Living Room
Week 4: Bedroom

For 20 minutes, I'll focus some particular parts that need a deep cleaning, like the inside of the kitchen trash can, or polishing the silver in the living room. For busy people who have more rooms, you don't have to just limit yourself to 4 Weeks, take a few extra if you need. The idea here is to only clean for 20 minutes and then STOP. You'll be surprised at how much of a focused home cleaning you can do in just 20 minutes. If you need a more in depth list on how to clean these areas, check out Flylady.net. She talks about something called "Zone Cleaning" which is similar to this idea, and she has detailed cleaning lists and cleaning tips that are great for people that aren't sure where to start.

For more information see Yahoo.

Read more »

Ten Quck and Easy Meals

Running from school to soccer practice to piano lessons can make it very hard to cook a meal fast.  However, there are ways for your family to eat healthy in as little as ten minutes.  Here are ten great recipes that you can make in ten minutes or less.

1. Quick and Easy Fried Rice: Fried rice can come together even faster than 10 minutes if you happen to have a good selection of leftovers floating around. It's the end-all recipe to using up leftover rice and is tasty enough to eat for any meal of the day — yes even breakfast.
2. Apple-Arugula Salad Wraps: Although wraps seem more like a lunch food, for a quick dinner they can contain actual food groups and even do away with dishes if needs be. Perfect, no clean up!
3. Thai Crab Salad with Chili, Ginger, and Coconut: Since this meal merely needs to be chopped and tossed, it's quick to throw together and has big bold flavors that will satisfy without a laundry list of ingredients.
4. Miso Soup: Miso soup is perfect for those worried about over cooking tofu as it simply warms in this rich broth and suddenly, dinner is served! Check out this version with a poached egg — extra tasty!
5.The BEST Pancakes Ever: Pancakes might traditionally be breakfast food, but they're perfect for any meal in fact... we want some right now!
6. Egyptian Tomato Soup: This recipe just barely passes the 10 minute mark, but it can be made entirely from your pantry so there's minimal chopping or prep — making it a winner in our book!
7. Friday Night Slow-Cooked Brisket and Onions: So technically speaking this meal takes 5-8 hours to make, but there's really only 10 minutes of prep work involved. Make it before you head out the door to work and when you return dinner is already done for you!
8. Spicy Grilled Shrimp: These shrimp get a quick brine before hitting the grill, but since they cook up so quick, we're willing to overlook the extra brining time (only 30 minutes). Just make sure to drop them in the brine the second you come home from work or possibly lessen the salt and brine them while you're away (so they don't get too salty) to make things extra easy.
9. Thai-Style Omelet (Kai Jeow): This recipe comes together in less than 10 minutes which might even leave you time to walk the dog or check your email before dinner!
10. Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Corn, Goat Cheese, and Oven-Roasted Tomatoes: This meal is labeled as a 10 minute dish and mixes up with many things that you probably already have on hand.

For more recipe ideas see theKitchn.com

Read more »