http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com Housekeeping the smart way Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:06:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here's a cool project on Apartment Therapy: convert an old chair into a stool. Reader Hilary Hahn took the chair from this: To this: It's a pretty simply idea. Cut off the seat of the chair with a jigsaw, re-cover the seat with some fabric, and paint. Hilary uses ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/from-chair-to-stool/ It hailed in San Francisco the other day. So Alcademics took advantage of the situation and collected the hail to make a Hailstorm Cocktail. Ha! Talk about waste not, want not. San Francisco Hailstorm Ingredients: 3 oz bourbon (Old Crow Reserve) 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi) 1/2 oz Trader Tiki's Don's ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/making-a-cocktail-with-hail/ If your New Year's Resolution was to be more frugal in 2010, like many of us, you may be getting sick of it by now. There are good reasons for this. Being frugal is an exercise in discipline--telling yourself no over and over again for the benefit of a larger ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/5-ways-to-battle-frugal-fatigue/ We are having fabulous weather here right now. It is very hard not to start gardening, even though I know we will get more frost before April and it is too early. (Okay, I already put in some potatoes and a fig tree. But that is all I am planting, ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/what-to-plant-2010/ Turns out a Erlenmeyer flask makes a great vase. http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/erlenmeyer-flask-as-vase/ I always like the old suitcases I see in thrift stores, but they aren't practical for today's traveling needs. Well, here's a great way to re-use them--turn them into a pet bed. The idea comes from this Etsy site, Vintage Renaissance, where you can buy a pet bed just like ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/from-suitcase-to-pet-bed/ I am a huge fan of Lagunitas Beer, including their Brown Shugga special ale, which they release in October. My husband recently made a recipe of Brown Shugga mentioned on this "Can You Brew It?" podcast, and I gotta tell you, it's the best beer he's made yet. We knew ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/make-your-own-lagunitas-brown-shugga-beer/ Here's a way to cut back on using plastic: make some reusable bowl covers. Re-Nest has a how-to on creating your own bowl covers with cotton laminate/oilcloth and elastic. The resulting covers can be washed and re-used as much as you want, thus reducing the amount of saran wrap you ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/reusable-bowl-covers/ I love these sofas from Doshi Levien. Great colors and details. Here's the back of the sofa: They come in three sizes. Here is the smallest: Here's the back: According to the Italian company Moroso, which manufactures the divans: "The cushions are covered with Indian textiles and decorated with very ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/my-beautiful-backside-sofas/ I like vintage phones. We bought a phone from 1960-something for my husband's office--it works great--and ever since, I have been looking for a red wall phone for the kitchen. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find one that would work, so at last I turned, as I always do, ... http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/red-wall-phones/