Here’s a great DIY project from Re-Nest: make your own Jonathan Adler-Inspired pottery.

My love for Jonathan Adler is well documented, and I have to say, this is pretty clever. The “pottery” is made from ordinary containers like a beer bottle, a tin can, and so on. They added the bumps with puffy paint, like so:

And then they sprayed the whole thing with white spray paint:

This might make a good Christmas present.

In my continuing efforts to have Enough, I have adopted what I call the Drawer-by-Drawer Organizing Method. It is making a big difference in helping me organize my kitchen. The best part about it is that you don’t have to torture yourself about what to keep and what to get rid of because the method does it for you. At the end of a couple of weeks, you will have a clear idea of what you really use and what is just taking up space.

Here’s how it works.

1. Empty out one drawer (or cupboard). I started with the utensils drawer. Put everything in a neat pile and leave it out. I only do a drawer at a time because if I emptied out everything in the kitchen, it would be too messy to function.

2. Clean the drawer.

3. For a week, whenever you use a utensil, put it back in the drawer.

4. At the end of the week, look at what is in the drawer and what is still in the pile. The things in the drawer are your essential tools, the ones that you use the most. The pile are the things that you don’t use as frequently.

5. Go through the pile. Remove the things that you don’t ever use or that you know you want to get rid of. As for the things that you still aren’t sure about, set them aside in a new pile that you will call the “maybes.”

6. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have gone through your entire kitchen. If during that time, you use something from the pile of maybes, you know it is a tool that you use enough to keep. Put it back in the drawer.

At the end of that time, you will have your essential tools organized in clean drawers and cupboards, you will have gotten rid of all the things you obviously don’t need, and you will have a big pile of maybes. One by one, go through the maybes and ask yourself if you want to keep it. Because so much time has passed, you may find that things you were hesitant about keeping three weeks ago have crystallized in your mind one way or the other. If you still aren’t sure, keep it. What the heck?

This method works for closets, bathrooms, garages, or anything where tools are stored away from the eye. I find that it works great. Of course, the downside is that it takes a long time and you have to look at little piles of things while you are doing it. But in the end, I think a cleaner, more organized place is worth it.

It’s too bad I have already made an apron, because I would totally buy this funny, useful apron from Perpetual Kid. It has all the cooking information you need–converting ounces to grams, Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature conversions, cooking times, etc.–and it is printed upside down so you can read it while cooking. Brilliant. (Via Baking Bites)

I am intrigued by the El Chivito, a popular sandwich from Uruguay. According to this recipe on We Are Never Full, it has: steak, bacon, ham, mozzarella, tomatoes, mayonnaise, lettuce, onion, and a fried egg … !

What do you think? Too much? I bet it is delicious. (Via Tasteologie)

I posted this story on the Frugal Living’s Forums a few weeks ago and decided to share it here, too.

Six years ago or so, I found the above bureau in a dumpster. Someone had decided to get rid of it, and instead of selling it or donating it, they decided it should end up in a landfill instead.

There was nothing wrong with it, and I happened to need a bureau, so we brought it home, cleaned it up, and used it in our bedroom. Use number 1.

Not long after that, I refinished the bureau. In fact, it was the first thing I ever refinished, which means that not only did I gain a bureau from this dumpster dive, I learned a new skill. (I kind of did a crappy job, to be honest, but this is how you learn, right?) Use number 2.

We used the bureau for four years, then we upgraded our bedroom set and no longer needed it. But my husband needed something to hold his tools, so we moved the bureau to the garage and loaded it up. Use number 3.

Then last August, someone gave my husband a nifty cabinet for tool storage, so we decided to get rid of the bureau. I put an ad on Craigslist and we sold it that same day for cold hard cash. Use number 4.

So to recap: we got the bureau for free and used it for six years. During that time, it had four separate uses that benefited us, not the least of which is that we came out of the endeavor with a profit!

Compare that to people who buy furniture for high prices and then throw it out when they are done with it. This is frugality in action, don’t you think?

If you have a similar story, please share!

I really like this bike shelf from Knife & Saw. This is a great way to store your bike. Most bike holders are so ugly, and look, this one can also hold books.

For some people I know, that is all you need in life, right here. (Via Bookcase Porn)

As I have mentioned, I have a lot of basil this year. My method for preserving it is simple: freeze it in ice cubes.

The best thing about this method is that you can use the basil as needed. All I have to do it remove the ice cube from a bag, stick it in a strainer, and let it melt. The basil will be wet and soft, but it will add a fresh basil taste to your cooking that you can’t get with dried basil.

How To Freeze Basil:

Equipment:

Basil for preserving
Ice Cube Trays
Scissors or knife
Water
Plastic bags or other freezer-safe containers

Directions:

Cut the leaves off the basil plant. Discard the stem (they are great in vegetable broth). Cut the leaves into pieces and push down so they are packed into each indentation of the ice cube tray.

Slowly fill the tray with water, then freeze until the ice is solid. Remove the basil-ice from the tray and transfer in a plastic bag for storage. Use the basil as needed.

A friend pointed me to this trick on Life Hacker for getting stains out of your carpet.

1. Make a solution of 1/4 white vinegar and 3/4 water.
2. Spray the spot in the carpet with the vinegar solution.
3. Lay a damp towel over the spot.
4. Put a hot iron on the spot and let it sit for a few seconds.

Apparently, the stain transfers right onto the towel. My friend tried this this weekend and says it works great. Beats buying a carpet cleaner at the store.

Looks like vinegar wins again as the most useful household item.

Talk about using the resources at hand. When a fire at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands destroyed part of the library, they had to purchase a new collection of books. Instead of throwing the old books out, however, they stacked them to make a new administrative desk.

Now that’s what I call recycling. (Via My Modern Met)

Here’s a great how-to for making your own felt argyle pillow from Bugs and Fishes. Laura Howard shrunk two old wool sweaters in the dryer to make the felt, then she cut them into diamonds, laid them out, and sewed the above design. It’s very nice looking. The tutorial goes over it all in detail. (Via Craft)