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January 19, 2010

Two Tips Tuesday

Tip #1: A Very Decorative & Different Guest Book


I saw this idea is Real Simple magazine a few years ago (July 2006 Issue) and put it away in my little inspiration notebook of fun ideas. I tried to find this on their website and could not or I would link back to it.

Anyway, this is a glass container filled with river rocks. The original idea from the magazine is to have each person sign their name with a paint pen and put the rocks back in. This way you can keep your guest book on display. Last summer, my friend Jenny and I did the decorating for a baby shower. Our friend was having her third baby and this was a shower to celebrate HER. The theme was more for Mommy than baby. I remembered this fun idea but we put a different spin on it by having each guest put an attribute of the guest of honor on each rock. After the shower, she took it home to display and remember all her friends who love her.

This is what it looked like when you walked into the house. Wasn't it lovely?

Tip #2: Making Bar Soap Kinda Fancy...Shred it. Yes, Really.



I am giggling. Right now.

Just completely tickled over this random and possibly questionable tip. But I have to do it because I so love this and I am nothing if not a bit quirky.


First off, I don't have a lot of bar soap lying around. I am the girl that stocks up on the Bath and Body Works pump soaps and use them throughout the year. I just love anything that smells good and those soaps got it going on.


But my Dad, God bless him, is not a fan of antibacterial soap so I try to have on hand some natural soaps for when he comes around to visit. And really, nothing is wrong with a good old bar of soap. But if I leave it on the sink it gets messy, if I have it in a soap dish, I gotta clean it, blah, blah, blah. So I have these wonderful soaps...
Love 'em because they smell so good. I also love that they cost .99 at Publix. Honeysuckle is my fave. Well, the other day I got this crazy idea to peel it with a peeler. I just wanted to see if I could. When hubby came home that day, he comes out of our room and says,

" Far be it from me to question you in your craftiness but why is a vegetable peeler in our bathroom?"


Good question, hubster
. The alarming part is when he does not even bat an eye when I told him what I was doing. He is way too used to my enormous level of weird. I just thought it might look fancy like chocolate shavings on a dessert.

But alas...no.


Yet it smelled so goooooooooooooooooooood! Then I thought, "No. Not a peeler. Lets grate it like cheese!" I am brilliant!
So I did.

Two things I love about this discovery (a discovery that only I find fabulous). One, is if it is in the right dish or bowl, it looks lovely and unique. The other is that not only does it smell heavenly, but when you wash your hands it dissolves quickly. Fragrant, simple, and useful.

This is my only worry... will some guest think it's a bathroom snack chip and eat it? Do you post a sign that says, "Not for consumption?" I am thinking that will ruin the aesthetic.


Happy Tuesday My Friends!

18 comments:

  1. LOVE IT LOVE BOTH TIPS!!! I LOOK FORWARD TO UR 2TIPS TUES AND HAVE GOTTEN MYSELF AND SIS SUCKED IN!!!

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  2. I LOVE the bar soap idea! You may think you're crazy, but maybe it's just a whole other level of brilliance. I cracked up, btw, just because I could totally picture your hubby saying, "Far be it from me...." with a smirk on his face! So much fun.

    Oh, and I just smile still when I look at the photos of the river rock guest book. It really was so pretty, wasn't it?

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  3. Oh no... why is my id now coming up as "The Buggs"!!! Seriously, and why am I leaving this as a comment on your blog???!!!
    (It's me... Jenny... Mom2Drew, you know!?)

    And now it's working... whatever...

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  4. ok so this is totally random, but how do you get the pics of your girls in your header? I can't figure it out. www.usandourthree.blogspot.com

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  5. you have some great ideas there. I love the river rocks idea:) love your blog:)

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  6. Aloha,
    How fun are you?? loved stopping in to visit you!! love the cute ideas...
    I look forward to my next visit
    Aloha wishes from across the sea
    Brandi

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  7. so do you just grab a couple of shreds to wash your hands with? Or is it supposed to be for looks only? and then if you don't use all your shreds do you put them back in the dish?
    love the rock idea!

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  8. hahahahahahahahahaha Prudence! Oh my word, that was so funny!!!! Yes, that is what I do. I would think the best use is for when you are halfway through the bar of soap and it does not look pretty anymore. Just shred it finely to use or just smell good. I just take a little bit and wash until it dissolves into suds. When I used the veggie peeler I put those pieces back and that is why I am laughing because I felt weird about that too. But wouldn't you do that with a bar of soap anyway? Oh how that made me laugh. Especially since you had all these questions about the soap and then say you love the rock idea.

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  9. These are such great tips. I absolutely LOVE the picture of the shavings in the dish on your very cool towels. You are getting very artsy in your photo taking. Sorry I missed your call today. I've been in sugar overload and totally crashed today. I have my study tonight at Calvary. Yup, you read that right. I'll be there.

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  10. I love the idea about shredding the bar soap!! So cool... I don't totaly have a great entry way table for the guest rock idea, but I love that too!

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  11. How awesome is that! I have so many not fully used soaps lying under my sinks in the bathrooms, this would be GREAT! Except..I'm thinking that Liliana would have a field day EATING IT!! = )

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  12. double the treats, 2 very sweet ideas, Thanks for sharing. Love the rock idea....deborah

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  13. ok. I just LOVE that soap idea. I'm totally ON it.

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  14. LOL re: the soap. It is vaguely weird, but kind of brilliant at the same time. I wouldn't do it where my 2 year old might get the wise idea to try to eat some, but when the kids are older I could see using this. We have a bar of soap out for guests and I hate looking at it half used. It's soap, but it seems dirty. Does that even make sense?

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  15. I love your blog! It really is a great read (: I nominated you for a Beautiful Blogger award on my blog page. Have a great day!

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  16. Awwwwwww! I love it! I feel like I should have all my featured items autographed!
    xo
    Jenn N

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  17. okay this riverrock idea rocks my socks! thank you so much! i'm tucking it a way to use for my friends future bridal showers :)

    - Elizabeth

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