Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Create a Focal Wall With Painted Frames

Courtesy of Jennifer and Kitty O'Neil and Liz Gray

Hi Friends,

Who needs art? Add a bold statement to your home this summer with empty, colorful picture frames.

Quick, easy and inexpensive...

Check back for more great ideas from your friends at Interior Design!

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Live well,
Yvonne

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Corral Kids' Toys, Stylishly

Courtesy of Jennifer and Kitty O'Neil and Liz Gray
Credit: Photo courtesy of Kelli Wilson

Hi Friends,

Summertime brings lots of outdoor playtime for kids, but that means toys can take over. Reclaim and reorganize your space by piling the kids’ toys into inexpensive galvanized buckets labeled with easy-to-read categories. Chalkboard labels make it easy to update labels as kids grow. A lightweight shelf, like this bright-white model, keeps the pails organized.

Great organization idea, right?

Check back for more great ideas from your friends at Interior Design!

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Live well,
Yvonne

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Create a Family Message Center

Courtesy of Jennifer and Kitty O'Neil and Liz Gray

Hi Friends,

Give your home a new look indoors and out with easy summer decorating projects you can tackle this weekend like this Family Message Center. Keep beach trips and summer camp schedules in order by creating a custom-framed chalkboard message center.

Inexpensive, quick and functional, have fun...

Check back for more great ideas from your friends at Interior Design!

Your kind contribution will allow us to continue sharing great, no cost and cost saving ideas for your space. Click the "Donate" button below to make a contribution. Thank you!





Live well,
Yvonne

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

13 Easy Microwave Mug Cakes Week 13: S'more Mug Cake

Compliments of theKitchn
Recipe by Kirbie's Cravings

Hi Friends,

Welcome back and thank you for following us during our series on 13 Easy Microwave Mug Cakes. It's been fun and we've enjoyed sharing these great recipes with you and thank all our contributors; the mug cakes are truly delicious. In our last week of the series we would like to remind you of those great family camping trips or relaxing around the backyard fire pit with family and friends. We all have a "setting in front of the fire" memory, right?

This cake base is a fluffy graham cracker flavored cake, with melted molten chocolate in the center topped with a toasted marshmallow. You can directly melt a marshmallow on top in the microwave and let it get all gooey over your cake too, but to really get that toasted look, which is a reminder of roasted S’mores in front of the fire, a toasted marshmallow will do the trick and won't require too much time - the few extra minutes is well worth it...

Suggestion: If you like more graham cracker flavor, add a graham cracker crust at the bottom and top the surface with more marshmallows so that the melted marshmallows really mix with the cake; maybe throw on a bunch of mini marshmallows.

Now, lets make our S'more Mug Cake...

S'more Mug Cake

Ingredients
  • 4 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp finely crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 tbsp fat free milk
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2-3 small squares of milk chocolate
  • 1 large marshmallow
Optional: 6-7 mini marshmallows

Directions
  • Combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, oil, milk and sugar in a large microwave safe mug. Mix with a small whisk until no flour chunks remain. Make a hole in the middle of the batter and stick in the chocolate squares. Cook in microwave for about 1 minute. Top of cake should look done and surface of cake should be dry rather than gooey.

  • Either add mini marshmallows or one large marshmallow and place on top of cake and heat for about 20 seconds until marshmallows are puffy. Or you can also take large marshmallow and toast in toaster oven for a few seconds until surface is light brown. Suggestion: Best result would be to use mini marshmallows to melt on the cake in the microwave and then add a toasted large marshmallow for garnish.

Well friends this brings us to the end of our 13 Easy Microwave Mug Cakes series but please check back for other great ideas on recipes, cost-saving designs and much more from your friends at Interior Design!

Your kind contribution will allow us to continue sharing great, no cost and cost saving ideas for your space. Click the "Donate" button below to make a contribution. Thank you!





Live well,
Yvonne

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Happy Friendship Day!



Hi Friends,

International Friendship Day is a day for celebrating friendship. The day has been celebrated in several southern South American countries for many years, particularly in Paraguay, where the first World Friendship Day was proposed in 1958.

Initially created by the greeting card industry, evidence from social networking sites shows a revival of interest in the holiday that may have grown with the spread of the Internet, particularly in India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. Digital communication modes such as the Internet and mobile phones may be helping to popularize the custom, since greeting friends en masse is now easier than before. Those who promote the holiday in South Asia attribute the tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends to have originated in the U.S. in 1935, but it actually dates from 1919. The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.

Friendship Day celebrations occur on different dates in different countries. The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July 1958. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day. However, some countries, including India, celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August. In Oberlin, Ohio, Friendship Day is celebrated on 8 April each year.

History
Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930, intended to be 2 August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. The second of August was chosen as the center of the largest lull between holiday celebrations. Friendship Day was promoted by the greeting card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance - given that it was too obviously a commercial gimmick to promote greetings cards. By the 1940s the number of Friendship Day cards available in the US had dwindled and the holiday largely died out there. There is no evidence to date for its uptake in Europe; however, it has been kept alive and revitalized in Asia, where several countries have adopted it.

In honor of Friendship Day in 1998, Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh as the world's Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations. The event was co-sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public Information and Disney Enterprises, and was co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford.

Some friends acknowledge each other with exchanges of gifts and cards on this day. Friendship bands are very popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of South America. With the advent of social networking sites, Friendship Day is also being celebrated online. The commercialization of the Friendship Day celebrations has led to some dismissing it as a "marketing gimmick". But nowadays it is celebrated on the first Sunday of August rather than 30 July. However, on 27 July 2011 the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 30 July as "International Day of Friendship".

The idea of a World Friendship Day was first proposed on 20 July 1958 by Dr. Artemio Bracho during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town on the River Paraguay about 200 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay.

Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade was born. The World Friendship Crusade is a foundation that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, color or religion. Since then, 30 July has been faithfully celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.

The World Friendship Crusade has lobbied the United Nations for many years to recognize 30 July as World Friendship Day and finally on 20 May, General Assembly of the United Nations decided to designate 30 July as the International Day of Friendship; and to invite all Member States to observe the International Day of Friendship in accordance with the culture and customs of their local, national and regional communities, including through education and public awareness-raising activities.

Happy Friendship Day from your friends at Interior Design!

Check back for more great ideas...

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Live well,
Yvonne