Good Idea #37: Pintrest

Have you heard of Pinterest?  If you are into design, art, party planning or anything else that wants for inspiration; if you just like collecting images from the web; if you are a blogger; you need to be on Pinterest.  Pinterest allows you to collect all those items, inspirations and good ideas in one spot and categorize them to create your own inspiration boards.  It also allows you to check out what everyone else is pinning and repin their ideas to your own boards.  Every pin saves the link back to the source so you and others will know where all your inspiration came from.  Finally, if you're a blogger, Pinterest makes it really easy to share your pins with your blog readers.  Each pin has a code that you can embed right on your blog and allows your readers to link back to your pinterest account and see where your pins came from!

Check out my Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/twoseekhome

happy pinning!

Good Idea #36: Alice's Bucket List

A while back I shared information about the Pink Polka Dots Guild, a group of young friends in Seattle out to raise money for brain tumor research in honor of their friend, Sydney who died from a brain tumor at the age of eleven.  Today I wanted to share another way that you can help kids (or anyone) fighting cancer.

Have you heard about Alice?  Maybe by now you have and if you haven't you probably would have heard about her soon even without my help.  Alice is a 15 year old girl in UK who has been fighting cancer for four years.  She is now terminally ill and has created a bucket list of things that she wishes to do during her remaining time.  Alice started a blog about her bucket list and her quest to complete the items earlier this week and within days has gained thousands of supporters from all corners of the world.

As I write, Alice's blog has over 10,000 followers and she has nearly 8,000 followers on twitter (she just joined last night).  Her sister, Milly, has raised over 24,000 pounds for Cancer Research UK through her Race for Life page.  Alice has been trending on twitter and is now drawing attention from the media. 

It's fascinating to read through the comments on Alice's blog posts.  Friends, relatives and total strangers offer her everything from moral support to suggestions on how to achieve her goals to money to help her complete them.  Readers offer free massages, haircuts and photos shoots (all items on Alice's list) as well as contacts to movie theaters.  Many readers comment that they have tweeted Cadbury World or contacted Alton Towers about her wishes to visit.  One friend wrote:

Hi Alice,

Can not manage swimming with sharks but I can organise feeding sharks!

Mind your fingers x

This weekend, Alice will get to cross one thing off her list after she goes to see (and apparently will meet) British pop group, Take That.  

The first item on Alice's wish list, however, is one that many of us can help her out with.  In Alice's words she wants "to make everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor."  In the UK, Alice is supporting The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Register.  Here in the US we can support Alice by signing up with The National Marrow Donor Program.  The process is simple.  If you are eligible to donate marrow, you simply sign up and are tested to determine your compatibility.  If at any time you are a possible match for a person needing a marrow transplant, you are contacted and further tested.  If you are the best match for that person you undergo a simple out-patient procedure that could save someone's life.  In Alice's words once again:

I'm excited about the things I am going to be doing, but the biggest thing has to be all the people who are joining bone marrow donation schemes because of me.  I read on someones post that it is really painful.  Well, mostly bone marrow is taken as cells via a needle and I have had it done.  I was 13 when I had my first transplant and because they used my own cells, I had to have them taken out (they call it harvested) and then stored and put back in some months later after more chemo.  I'm not just saying this, but it really didn't hurt at all.  I had a tiny bruise from the needles and that was about it.  I was a bit tired too but I'm always tired so that may not have been the cells.

So go ahead and check out Alice's blog.  If nothing else, it might make you feel a little warmth for this young girl and all the love that the world is giving her.  It might inspire you to knock a few things off your own bucket list.  Or it might inspire you to knock something off hers by joining a marrow registry.  Or it might just make you smile.

Links:

http://alicepyne.blogspot.com

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/millypyne1908/1

Follow Alice on Twitter:  Alice_Pyne

UK:  www.anthonynolan.org and www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow

US:  www.marrow.org

Good Idea #30: Real Simple Couponing

As I've mentioned, husband and I are saving up to buy a house in the very near future.  One of the ways we're saving is by taking some time out to clip coupons for our everyday shopping.  If you use coupons, however, you may be able to sympathize with how frustrating I find it.  How do you walk through the grocery store, push the cart, juggle all those little scraps of paper, keep track of your shopping list and have any idea whether you're actually getting a good deal on something all at the same time.  Here are a couple of tips that work for me:

The first is a little on the OCD side, but it is really helpful for me.  You know when stores put things on terrible sales just to trick you into buying them?  Or they raise the price then put the item on sale for the same price it was last week?  Or when you buy a certain brand just because you have a coupon for it and it turns out another brand would still have been cheaper?  I have a really bad memory for numbers and I can never remember what I paid for tomatoes last time I bought them so I keep track of the prices I pay for the items I buy on a regular basis.  After each time I go shopping I come home and record how much I spent on cereal, soup, vegetables, pasta sauce, etc in a simple excel spreadsheet.  I also record where I bought it, what brand it was, whether it was on sale and whether I used a coupon.  I take this list with me when I go shopping and if I'm wondering if that sale on bagels is really any good I can look back at what I've spent on them in the past.  Maybe I will realize that $.10 off really isn't all that special or that bagels are that price at another store even when they're not on sale and I'll wait until another week to buy them.  Or I might realize that this is the best price I've ever found bagels for so I might buy several bags and put them in the freezer to save for the future.  Taking a few extra minutes to do this each time I go shopping has definitely saved us a good handful of change and relieves a lot of shopping anxiety for me.

Speaking of shopping anxiety, how are you supposed to keep track of all those coupons?  And even if you know what coupons you have, how do you juggle them with your shopping list and the calculator you're using to check the unit price of everything you buy (OCD, I know)?  Then you put your coupons down in the cart and they slip right through the slots and end up all over the grocery store floor.  Sometimes I think I will pay the money I'm saving with coupons just to not have to deal with this mess.  Then I found this little item:

This coupon wallet (I have the green one) from Real Simple is a brilliant little lifesaver.  It is cute and well-made and small enough to keep in your purse or in the glove box in the car.  It has file pockets for your coupons with changeable labels and it has pockets for your lists or store loyalty cards and even a place for your pen.  Best of all, the strap folds back and it will attach right to your cart - so no more juggling!  One tip:  don't try to attach it to the handle of the shopping cart like the picture on the tag indicates, it doesn't work.  However, it attaches beautifully to the child seat.  Brilliant!

Happy Shopping!

Good Idea #28: Preserving Vegetables and Herbs

I was planning on doing a little spring cleaning today, beginning with my kitchen, but I am easily distracted.  I don't know if I opened my refrigerator or if I was thinking about what to make for dinner tonight but somehow it occurred to me that there were several things in there that were most likely not going to make it until we get to eating them.  So instead of cleaning I spent the afternoon making sure I don't have a whole bunch of food going to waste.  Here's what I did:

Asparagus:   Asparagus is an easy one.  It can be frozen if you really want to hang on to it for a while - do it the same way I freeze celery (keep reading) - but I have never had asparagus go bad on me.  The trick is to remember that asparagus is a flower.  It's simple, trim the ends (just a little - you don't need to trim off as much as you will before eating), put it in a glass with a little water in the bottom and keep it in the fridge.  If you're keeping it for a while, changing the water now and then doesn't hurt and it will last for weeks.  I promise.

Cilantro:  You know how cilantro comes in those giant bundles even though it is such a potent spice?  I never have enough uses for it before it wilts.  I got a curious about whether I could freeze it for later use and started doing some research.  First, I discovered that storing cilantro in water, the same way as with the asparagus above helps extend its life in the refrigerator.  So I did that with the small portion I might envision using in the near future, but what about the rest?  The general consensus seems to be that cilantro is the most difficult herb to freeze because it wilts, turns black, and most importantly loses all of its flavor after a relatively short time in the freezer.  However, apparently it can be done so I gave it a shot.  I combined a few different suggestions and started out by blanching the leaves, then separating them and letting them dry on paper towels.  I froze the leaves in small batches spread out on plates so that they didn't all stick together (this only takes about ten minutes or so for each batch).  Then I put all the leaves together, wrapped them in a damp paper towel and stored them in a freezer bag with as much of the air squeezed out (carefully) as possible.  Frozen cilantro won't work for garnish, and maybe not even for my favorite fresh pico de gallo (keep reading), but with a little luck it will be good in a cooked dish.  Any recipe suggestions out there?

Celery:  I always buy celery because it's an inexpensive snack but it just ends up sitting in the fridge waiting to be cut up.  I went to do just that today, only to discover that the celery was all floppy.  In doing a bit of research, I discovered that celery, too, can be stored standing in water, just like asparagus and cilantro (as can other leafy herbs, such as basil).  I also found rave reviews for wrapping celery stalks in tin foil for extending life.  However, now that my celery has already expired, what to do?  Similarly to the cilantro, I cut the celery into pieces that would fit into freezer bags and blanched them.  I did the leaves, too, since I can use those in making broth for soups.  I dried the pieces on paper towels and froze them spread out on plates for just about 15 minutes or so.  Then I packed them up in freezer bags and stowed them away.  They won't make good snacks, but these will be great for any kind of cooking for several months.

A word about blanching:  I had never done this before, but it is incredibly simple.  Blanching is simply cooking something in boiling water for a short period of time and then placing it immediately in cold water for an equally short period of time.  Use a mesh strainer or similar contraption to transfer easily from hot to cold.  This kills bacteria in the food and in the case of freezing vegetable and herbs, helps preserve color.  It seems that the time for blanching is determined by the consistency of the item.  For something fragile and leafy, place in hot water for one minute and then cold for one minute.  For something sturdy like asparagus, do three minutes in each.  For celery (right in between) do two minutes in each.  It's that easy.

Peppers and Tomatoes:  I could have frozen the peppers and tomatoes I had lying around, too.  Tomatoes can simply be thrown in freezer bags whole, halved, or quarters and put in the freezer.  Peppers can be seeded, sliced, blanched and frozen the same way as above.

However, I decided to use some of that cilantro and make a big batch of pico de gallo to freeze instead.  This is almost easier then blanching vegetables.  Just throw together whatever tomatoes, peppers, and onions you happen to have lying around.  If I'm going out of my way I might pick up some nice looking heirloom tomatoes for taste and looks, but tonight I just had a few regular old vine tomatoes and it's really not much different.  I find that three small tomatoes, one large pepper and about half of a smallish onion is a pretty good ratio for a small batch, but alter it to what you have an what you like best. Just chop everything up then add cilantro to taste.  I like to add a little fresh garlic if I have it, or some garlic powder; it gives it a little something extra.  And that's all there is to it.  I'll be freezing the pico de gallo in freezer bags instead of in a storage container to try to keep as much air out of it as possible.  We'll see how it tastes in a few weeks!

For more info on freezing veggies and herbs check out these links:

Kalyn's Kitchen's posts on Freezing Fresh Herbs

This Summary of How to Freeze Vegetables

The National Center for Home Food Preservation's guide to freezing food

Good Idea #27: Appalachian Adventure

A good old friend of mine has just set out on a six-month hike up the Appalachian Trail.  Grace and a friend left Athens, Georgia on Saturday and will end up in Katahdin, Maine in mid-October.  The pair will be using the time to channel their creativity and find inspiration for art, photography and writing.  The journey is inspirational and I envy the months that they will spend in the great outdoors.  Follow Grace and John's fascinating journey at:  www.awayfromtheclank.blogspot.com

To learn more about the Appalachian Trail: Click Here

Update: Eco-vacation in the Virgin Islands

Hi folks!  We're back from vacation and back to life.  I thought you'd like to check out a few pictures from our stay at Maho Bay Camps on St. John, USVI.  I would recommend Maho to anyone looking for a serene, simple vacation and who is concerned about the impact that big resorts have on the environment.  Maho does its best to conserve resources, recycles glass and paper through craft projects (recycling services are not available on the island) and uses elevated walkways and structures to reduce its impact on the surrounding landscape.  The attitude is laid back and focused on the outdoors and a simple way of life.  This is not a resort for the spring-breaker looking for a week of partying but is perfect for families and anyone else looking to avoid that type of experience.  In short it was a wonderful week of hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, swimming and true relaxation.

Click below to check out more beautiful pictures of our trip to St John!

Good Idea #26: Eco-vacation in the Virgin Islands

I'll be taking a hiatus from blogging for the next couple weeks, but I wanted to share a little bit about where I'm going!  I'm not just excited to got to the Virgin Islands for the first time and spend a week on the beach during away from the rainy Portland spring, but I'm also excited that the resort we'll be visiting is entirely environment friendly.  I'll share pictures of our trip when we return, but for now check out more about the resort at www.maho.org.

Good Idea #24: Getting Rid of Fungus Gnats

Hi my name is Caroline and I have fungus gnats.  Gross.  But actually not all that gross.  If you have houseplants you may be familiar with this pesky little problem.  Fungus gnats are little flies, similar to fruit flies, that live in the moist soil of house plants.  They are completely harmless but are annoying and can quickly get out of control if you don't take action (note:  by "out of control" I really just mean "very annoying and difficult to get rid of").  Today however, I came across some very timely help for getting rid of fungus gnats.  Let me begin by telling you the story of this very sad little lemon balm plant:

I've had trouble with fungus gnats in the past and have often resorted to throwing out entire plants to get rid of them (sad story, I know).  This time, however, I am determined to save my little plant.

Lemon balm is supposed to be an extremely easy herb to grow.  It grows quickly and can be invasive if planted in a garden but on it's own it thrives.  Recently, my lemon balm started to deteriorate and I discovered that it had been growing so well that it had outgrown its little pot.  So I re-potted it in this nice big terracotta pot, but now I have a new problem.  The number one way to get rid of or prevent fungus gnats is to let the soil dry fully between waterings.  But this pot is so big and the terracotta hold so much water that I can't seem to get the soil to dry completely before the plant starts getting very thirsty.  Now I have fungus gnats AND my plant is dying. 

I was just noticing a few little gnats flying around my apartment when I sat down at my computer to scan through a few of my favorite blogs.  Almost immediately I came across a post by Ashli from Maillardville Manor on getting rid of fungus gnats!  Ashli suggest a few things that I already knew about like drying soil thoroughly and using those little yellow sticky fly catchers, but she also gave me two new tips.

I will now by adding potatoes and sand to my fungus-gnat-fighting artillery.  Apparently, if you cover the top of your soil with fast drying sand the gnats will think your soil is dry and won't lay eggs there.  Also, the larvae are apparently attracted to potatoes, so placing a fresh potato wedge on top of the soil each day will allow you to easily throw away many of the little guys before they become annoying adults.

I will be trying both of these tactics and I hope they will help other plant owners out there, too.  Check out all of Ashli's tips at her original post by CLICKING HERE.

Now I'm off to meet with a real estate agent for the first time about possibly buying our first house!  Have you been following all of those new developments?  Check it out at: www.twoseekhome.blogspot.com!

Sweet Home 3D Update

I've been working on finishing up my apartment in Sweet Home 3D and wanted to share the results.  Now that I'm done, if I want to rearrange my apartment all I have to do is move furniture around in the program and see how it looks.  Here are the photos of my finished product as my apartment is now:

Read my original post on Sweet Home 3D or visit www.sweethome3d.com to learn more about it and download the program for free!

Good Idea #23: Sweet Home 3D

This week design sponge contributor Kate Pruitt shared her Top 5 Apps for Design Lovers on My Life Scoop.  One of the five is a free, downloadable room design program called Sweet Home 3D.  This program is so much fun and, once you get the hang of it, very easy to use (I recommend watching the video tutorial first).  You can start from scratch or upload a floor plan of your house or room as a guide.  I found a floor plans for my apartment building on a rental website.  It was a slightly different model apartment, but I only had to measure a few walls to make the corrections.  You can change the wall and floor color, add doors and windows and then start adding furniture.  The furniture database is pretty complete, and you can manipulate the dimensions and color of pieces to match your own.  This is my apartment so far:



It's a bit time consuming to get all the furniture right (I've been at this for a couple hours now and this is as far as I've gotten).  But once you get all the furniture in there you can start having fun.  Has there ever been any easier way to rearrange your furniture?  You could try endless configurations and even move things from one room to another with no sweat.  This will be great for figuring out how furniture will fit into a new place, too!

Speaking of which, did you know that you can find out more about my current place and my hopes to move at my newest blogging endeavor?  Click here!

Good Idea #21: Love of My Life

One of my favorite bloggers, Jen, got a pretty awesome Valentine's gift from her husband Kev.  He set up a website where people from all over the world can share their love.  Participants simply print out the Love of My Life flyer, take a picture of it wherever they want, upload it to the site and dedicate it to a loved one.  In just a few weeks there have been posts from all over the world.

So get in the Valentine's spirit and dedicate a flyer to a loved one.  Head over to withoutyouitsjustnot.us to see all the posts and to share the love!

Good Idea #16: Pink Polka Dots

www.pinkpolkadotsguild.net

This week three lovely young ladies from the Seattle area were on The Nate Berkus Show to share their mission of raising money for the research and treatment of brain tumors at Seattle Children's Hospital.  They are the creators of the Pink Polka Dots Junior Guild, created in 2006 in memory of their eleven year old friend Sydney, who died from a rare form of brain tumor.  The Guild raises money through donations, events, and the sale of handmade crafts including a collection of cards.

If you're in the Seattle area look for the girls and their products at local farmers markets and craft fairs, as well as at Seattle Children's Hospital.  Otherwise you can donate or buy the cards online at www.pinkpolkadotsguild.net.  I'm excited to buy some of these cards myself and to support these amazing young ladies and their cause.

Good Idea #13: Get Rid of 50 Things -or- Use It or Lose It

This is a great idea for anyone trying to declutter, organize or simplify (and who isn't?).  It's kind of like doing a detox to jump start a diet.  Just getting rid of a couple things here and there might help, but it's not going to make a major difference.  Getting rid of a full 50 things on the other hand, you will notice.  Yes, I'm saying if you detox your belongings and your home will get skinny.  It's not as easy as it sounds, either.  Does it sound easy?  If it does, just wait.  Start making that list and you start running out of things to get rid of real fast.  And no cheating.  The trash from the back seat of your car doesn't count.  You have to get rid of 50 real things.  And I'm making it even harder for myself by grouping similar items.  It would be a lot easier if I counted all of the old magazines I want to get rid of individually.

 

So here's my personal twist on the Get Rid of 50 Things idea. I may want to live clutter free and I may be restricted on storage space, but I am also budget conscious and environment conscious.  Going around just throwing things out left and right doesn't necessarily mix well with saving money or saving the earth.  For example, if I get rid of all my old t-shirts that I wear to bed, I'm just going to have to buy new pajamas sooner, right?  And what a waste if I throw out magazines that I've never read.  Professional organizers around the world just cringed.  But I came up with a solution to this dilemma and I'm calling it the Use It or Lose It plan.  All those old magazines?  If I can't get rid of them without reading them first - read them!  Then I can toss them in the recycling bin in peace.

I'll get to work on those magazines, but my first Use It or Lose It project is the bathroom.  My bathroom has a pretty decent amount of storage compared to a lot of city apartments and apparently this has turned me into a hoarder.  I'm a pretty minimalistic beauty product using / makeup wearing kind of girl.  I don't need a vanity full of lotions, sprays, perfumes, lipsticks and hair products.  But somehow I acquire these things; things I needed for a certain occasion, was given, or got as sample.  Ohh the samples.  I absolutely can not turn down free stuff and I'm not afraid to admit it.  The problem is, I'm always saving this stuff for a special occasion so I never end up using up any of it.  So here's my plan:  I put out a little organizer right on the counter top in my bathroom and I put all the stuff I want to get rid of in it.  Right where I can see it all.  And I'm going to use it.

So I can make any day a special occasion and try out that little lipstick sample.  And next time I go out to dinner I won't forget to spray on some of that old perfume that's only about 10 sprays away from being empty.  And next time I get out of the shower I can use the lotion out of that little hotel bottle I swiped instead of the lotion that I just bought.  And soon enough those little things will be gone and I won't have any moral dilemma about getting rid of them.  Anything that I can't use when it's sitting right in front of me gets chucked, too.  Use it or lose it, sister.  Good idea.

Good Idea #11: DIY Dresser Makeover

Update:  July 6, 2011

Thanks for visiting These Good Ideas!  My husband and I recently bought a house and I've since transferred most of my writing energy over to our new joint home-owning blog.  If you want to see more of my designs, DIY projects and good ideas check out the new blog:  www.twoseekhome.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

Original Post:

This dresser makeover has been a long time coming.  The dresser is a thrift store find, and while it is in good condition, it's not the highest quality construction.  Over the three years that I have owned it, the bottom of the top drawer has warped and broken free of the rest of the drawer, leaving my delicates free to wander out into the depths of the back of the dresser.  Our attempts at fixing this problem include both packing tape and slightly more successful gorilla tape, and finally some drawer organizers that simply kept small items contained rather than wandering free in the still sagging drawer.

Recently, however, a few things happened that moved my dresser makeover along a little bit.  First, the second drawer of the dresser broke completely.  The back of the drawer fell clear off, leaving no support for the flimsy bottom or the clothes contained therein.  Then I came across an old DIY tutorial on Design Sponge describing how to construct drawer dividers out of cardboard (click here to see the article).  While I was not in need of dividers, I was inspired by the suggestion to cover the bottom of the drawer with wrapping paper.  This was just the motivation I needed to pull those drawers out and get fixing.  Furthermore, I recently inherited some jewelry from my grandmother who moved out of her home a few months ago.  This left the top of my dresser in disarray and in need of organization, so I figured I might as well find a fix for that too.

Keep reading to see my full dresser fix-up and clean-up project and for some helpful tips.

Good Idea #10: New Year's Resolutions

I mentioned before Thanksgiving that I wanted to Take Advantage of the Holidays this year and I think I've done a pretty good job.  At Thanksgiving I kept track of the things that I am thankful for, at Christmas I gave, although there is always more we can give, and now at the start of the new year I'm making some resolutions.

1. Watch less television.  We don't even have cable, and I still manage to watch hours of TV on some days.  Now mind you, this isn't the sitting-around-staring-at-Judge Judy-doing-a-whole-lot-of-nothing kind of TV watching we're talking about here, but it's not much better.  I think I've just become accustomed to the sound of voices in the house, especially when I'm home alone.  The problem is, whether it's The Today Show, reruns of I Dream of Jeannie or the news, it can be distracting.  Especially when your daily chores are things like laundry, dishes and vacuuming it's easy to procrastinate when Matt Lauer is talking about dog wardrobes for winter.  So this year I'll be leaving the TV for movie nights and other such special occasions and, I hope, getting a whole lot more done.

2. Save more money.  I hope that in the near future I will be able to quit barista-dom once and for all in the interest of focusing on writing, school and family.  However, choosing to enter the world of the starving artist takes a little practice.  Living off one salary will be a little bit tight, and if we want to continue saving for a house it will have to be even tighter.  So with my new found time from watching less TV, I will plan our budget more carefully, clip coupons and hunt for bargains.  Save more money now, worry less later.

3. Read more.  For someone with a degree-and-a-half in English (yeah, that's right), my Goodreads list is pretty pathetic.  To make matters works, Portland has pretty much the worlds best bookstore and I've had very little opportunity to take advantage of it.  But, in the interest of resolution #2, I'll start by reading all the unread books I've collected over the past few years and go from there.

4. Write more.  I want to be a writer, so I should probably be writing... right?  Yeah, probably.  I've been saying for a while now that the key to writing is to do it every day.  Well, what better time than the new year to start sticking to it.

5. Be more conscious of what I eat.  This isn't a weight-loss kind of thing, but rather a health kind of thing.  When your second resolution is save more money, eating nothing but pasta and potatoes sounds like a pretty good idea.  Fresh vegetables, lean chicken and fish, not so much.  But there must be some kind of balance and I aim to find it.

6. Exercise more.  When you pull a muscle reaching for something on the top shelf, you should probably be taking advantage of those yoga dvds you have lying around.  Just saying.

7. Leave the house every day.  I have this problem where I REALLY like being at home.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to like to be at home; the home should be a sacred space.  But leaving the house at least once encourages things like exercising and socializing... and putting on real clothes. I think these are good things to aspire to.

8. Learn more about design.  I've always had an interest in design, but for some reason it has never occurred to me that I could do anything with it other than redecorate my bedroom.  This year, I plan to make a full-blown hobby out of it and if it takes me nowhere else, at least I will have the most awesome house in town.

9. and 10.  I don't want to jinx it.  All I'm saying is, if I stick to these resolutions 2011 will be a very good year.

Good Idea #9: Design Sponge

I just discovered a great website. Since Grace Bonney began her blog in 2004, Design Sponge has squeezed out much more than just design advice. Along with several contributors, Bonney supplies readers with everything from recipes to gift ideas to diy projects to current trends and even a brilliant guest blog. It's really everything a blogger could hope to aspire to and is an awesome inspiration for so many parts of life.

Check out Design Sponge now at:

www.designspongeonline.com

Good Idea #8: Happy Blankie

Not only is this a GREAT idea, but it is an idea that started from a 7 year old boy's wish to satisfy his little sister's love of both stuffed animals and blankets with one great product.  Out of David's wish came Happy Blankies: adorable blankets shaped like the faces of happy animals.  There is Giggle the Happy Pig, Stomp the Happy Frog, Tumble the Happy Bear and Chase the Happy Dog.

But 7 year old David's good idea didn't stop there.  For every Happy Blankie purchased, David and his mom donate a Happy Blankie to a child in need.  David and his mom have already given way thousands of Happy Blankies.

So if there are children on your gift list this Christmas or in the future, Happy Blankie is a good idea.

Happy Blankie Mission from Happy Blankie on Vimeo.

Learn more about Happy Blankie and their "One to Love, One to Give" mission at www.happyblankie.com and check them out on facebook!

Good Idea #2: Take Advantage of Holidays

I've always thought that making a big deal about being thankful at Thanksgiving was kind of cheesy.  Maybe it's just that passing quarter-life makes you a little bit more open to cheesiness, but this year I'm doing it.  Each day until Thanksgiving, I'm naming something that I am thankful for.  I'm using facebook to share my list, so maybe that helps minimize the cheesiness, or maybe it just lets all my friends know how cheesy I am. 

Cheesy or not, using Thanksgiving as an excuse to think about all the things you are thankful for is a good idea.  And in the coming weeks, using Christmas as an excuse to give an unexpected gift to a friend or charity is a good idea and using New Years as an excuse to make a change that really needs to be made is a good idea.

Good Idea #1: Start a List of Good Ideas

You watch morning talk shows. You read magazines, self help books. You listen to public radio and have dinner with friends.  You have random strokes of genius throughout your day.  You think "that is a good idea!" And then... you forget it.  You wonder how many ideas have come and gone, never to be thought of again.

Of course I am describing myself here... but maybe I am describing you, too.  If I am, here's an idea.  Keep a notebook or just a piece of paper, handy where ever ideas tend to strike you most.  In your magazine rack (or in my case in the stack of magazines piled haphazardly on the coffee table/bookshelf/floor), next to the bed, in your purse, in your wallet, on the table nearest to where you usually watch TV, in the car (for use at stop lights only).  Whenever a good idea comes to you, write it down.

If you keep several of these lists, it might be helpful to compile them all in one place for easy review... a master notebook, a manuscript for you future Book of Genius, or say, a blog where you can share all your awesome ideas with friends, family and other loyal readers (ahem).  But at the very least, even if you never do anything with your lists and they eventually become unreadable due to wear inside your wallet, are lost at the bottom of your purse, or are destroyed by a curious house cat, the very act of writing your good ideas down will help you to remember them and just maybe put them to good use.