Obsession Alert: Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co.

It’s in New York City and they basically take frozen ripe bananas and somehow turn it into delicious soft serve like ice cream that is dairy, gluten and artificial anything-free.

Totally reminded me of this gadget—the Yonanas machine–I saw on HSN a while back…

Since I neglected to take a before photo since I wolfed it all down, here’s what it looks like.  Lots of yummy flavors, but the original is what I love: a very subtle banana taste, super creamy, light and feels like a guilty indulgence but really isn’t.

Fruit and Water: That’s it.   How can you go wrong?

Welcome to my new obsession…..

An oldie, but a goodie project: wood grain tile coasters.

All you need a few ceramic tiles (these were about sixty cents each at Home Depot), a bottle of Porcelaine glaze (from Michaels), a brush and a wood graining tool (in the paint dept at the hardware store).

Apply a generous, but not thick, layer of the glaze on top of the tile.   Does not matter how neat you do this.

Rock back and forth the wood graining tool on top while it is still wet.   Hate what you see?   Just reapply glaze and do it again.

Try lots of different colored glazes… on different colors of tile!

Bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Turn off oven and let it sit inside and cool completely down.

Add felted feet to the bottom and you’re done!

Here’s a fun idea from one of my older books Simply Green Parties that I’m going to be doing very soon:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY illuminated bags.    Simply trace the letters you want on a variety of old shopping bags using a stencil kit from the hardware store.   Cut out the letters using an X-acto knife, tape tissue paper inside, and illuminate the inside with fire-safe LED lanterns or solar lights.

Eco-friendly disposable plates now come in a variety of natural materials and recycled plastics.    You an jazz them up a little for a party by punching a pattern design along the edges uses hole punches of different sizes and shapes.

If you don’t want a cake for your party but like the idea of blowing out candles, upcycle an old trifle dish by placing candles inside the dish.    They’ll stay lit and can be blown out when someone is making a wish.    I also like this idea for a simple illuminated centerpiece for the table for any party.

And if you are like me with a “no shoes” rule in your home, make sure guests are comfortable by offering them a pair of clean, unworn, brand new socks.    And let them keep the socks as a thank you gift at the end of the party.

We listen.  We hear you.  We made ‘em.

Over at our Facebook page for my signature line of home products, we do listen to customer comments and read all the emails that come in asking for specific products for our product development team to make.   And we heard you loud and clear.

May I present my  line of  BPA-free, non-toxic food storage containers?

There are several types of containers to choose from (all in the fresh lime green color we use across the entire line). This includes a 14-piece food storage container set ($9.99), a 7 piece food storage container set with a cool pack ($4.99) both pictured above.   As you can see, the containers are designed to nest inside of each other for easy storage.

This guy is one of my favorites because you can store delicious crunchy granola on the bottom, greek yogurt in a separate container and it comes with a cool pack to keep it all nice and chilled.    Then when you’re ready, just mix and enjoy!     This guy is just $3.99 (and at stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls).

And for pantry staples, we also offer a 6 piece line perfect for holding coffee, pasta and any other pantry staples you always like to keep on hand.

I forget where I shot this image, but I know it was somewhere fancy and it was somewhat expensive.   But I liked the idea of leafing the edges of a slice of geode to give your natural coasters a little razzle dazzle pretty easily.

Since I had a small collection of geode slices at home, I thought I’d figure out a way to do this at home.

Geode slice.  Check.

Krylon 18K gold leafing pen (from Michaels).  Check.

Shake pen.  Rub on surface.   It really is that simple.   It’s like liquid gold going onto the edges of the geode slice.

:30 seconds later.

Off to gold leaf the edges of something items in the house…