Condo Blues

Thursday, March 22, 2012

One Small Green Change: Buy Shoes that Fit

Hi name is Lisa and I am a shoe gal, shoeaholic, shoe crazy, avid shoe shopper or whatever you want to call it. It’s genetic.

 These are two of few pairs of shoes that I kept that  fit.
Vowing to only buy shoes that fit my small and wide feet may seem like I’m reaching for a March One Small Green Change.

Not if you saw the large number of shoes on my shoe rack. 

Or saw the blisters on my feet from a day of heavy walking in shoes I bought that are the perfect width for the ball of my foot but technically too big in the foot bed or for my narrow heel.

There are many wasted resources in my closet. I have ill fitting shoes I settled for because I needed a dress shoe or whatever and was fed up shopping two malls and half a dozen shoes stores in between. I also have a big box of insoles and doodads to try to make those shoes fit my wonky feet with varying results. High end, low end, green materials, and not I have ‘em and I’m not wearing a bunch of them. Or I regret it when I do. This starts the shoe search all over again.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Make a Mini Wood Pallet Butterfly

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing everyday that scares you.” Today that challenge came courtesy of Scribble Shop on line craft shop. No, they didn’t challenge me to DIY with a chain saw, or fire, or anything mildly explosive.

 Pity.

Scribble Shop asked if I wanted to participate in an Iron Chef type of craft challenge. Except I didn’t have to go to Japan or compete against Masaharu Morimoto.

Double pity. The original Iron Chef is tops in this house!

ScribbleShop sent me and a group of bloggers a mystery box of supplies from their shop. They challenged me to use everything in the box to make one craft project.

Bitzkrieg helped me open the box.



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

It's Amazing What a Difference a Gallon of Paint Makes!

When I talk about painting, instead of replacing my kitchen cabinets everyone tells me painting kitchen cabinets is one of the most pain in the patoot DIY jobs ever.

That's why painting kitchen cabinets is near the bottom of my DIY To Do List. I'm waiting for them to magically transform themselves overnight.

Then I saw Mandy's kitchen cabinet transformation. With paint. From a painless to paint kit. It gives me hope peeps. Hope for my bland builder grade cabinet


Photo courtesy of  Suger Bee Crafts


Monday, March 12, 2012

Festive Fabric Plate

What a treat do I have for you! My friend Amy from Mod Podge Rocks is sharing one of her amazing transformations. What this gal can't do with a thrift store plate and a bottle of 'Podge is, well, why don't you keep reading and find out?

This is Amy from Mod Podge Rocks, so pleased to be here at Condo Blues today! I have been blogging for almost four years at MPR, and I am (as you can guess) addicted to crafts and DIY. I love creating, but I also love writing. I co-own Decor Hacks with Heather Mann, and I contribute to Babble.com's The New Home Ec. Not to mention that I have a new book coming out this June called Mod Podge Rocks. You could say I keep busy.

A plate like this can be made for a party – or any festive occasion! You can place treats on the top and then reveal the design as you eat everything (and then blame the eating everything on your guests). Just be sure to Mod Podge on the bottom of the plate, and always handwash as it’s not dishwasher safe. Here’s how I made it.