Revamping Old Bath Towels

This afternoon I am dyeing a set of towels for my daughters' bathroom. Currently, we have light pink bath and hand towels and a set of 4 new, white washcloths. I bought the washcloths on clearance last summer in a set of 8 for $4.80, or 60 cents each ($2.40 for 4 of them).  (Story on the washcloths -- I was placing an order online and needed to spend a couple more dollars to get free shipping. As we wear out washcloths faster than other types of towels, I checked for sets of washcloths on markdown.)

I asked what color of finished towels would be preferable, and peachy-pink was the answer. So, I went through my craft supplies and found partials boxes of orange and light pink fabric dye. Now, I'm off to Value Village and Goodwill to find a bath mat in white, cream, pale pink, or pale yellow. I'll let you know how these turn out.

In Pursuit of the Hospitable Home: Upgrading the Appearance of Bagged Breakfast Cereal

Yesterday I had a dental appointment. It sort of knocked me off of my regular activities. I need more work done, unfortunately. Okay, back to regular life.

Keeping bagged breakfast cereal

I thought that I'd share this with you because I've been so pleased with how it looks and works in our household. This past fall I began buying bagged breakfast cereal. Up until this past year we haven't really been cereal eaters, but instead have opted for toast, muffins, and other highly portable breakfasts. For some reason I can't explain, one week I bought cereal at Dollar Tree. When I was shopping at WinCo later on, I discovered that WinCo's house brand of bagged cereal was less expensive per ounce than Dollar Tree's off-brand cereal. So I began buying bagged cereal. My family seems to really appreciate having this as an option at breakfast time, and it appears that we now have cereal about half of the time. (I still prefer cooked breakfasts, but will eat the cereal when I wake up tired.)

I know there are special plastic containers for storing cereal. I even have one, given to me by my sister-in-law. My container is currently in use holding paper grocery sacks in the trunk of my car, as it's the exact size to hold a stack of folded-up grocery bags to use at WinCo (where they give me 6 cents rebate for every bag that I reuse). So, I was looking around the kitchen to see what I could use for storing cereal and I came across my glass cookie jar, which I don't really use any longer. An image of the breakfast set-up at an inn at which I once stayed flashed through my mind.

The two glass containers just off-center on the buffet held cereal. I recall the breakfast buffet as being a very lovely way for the host to share the breakfast items with the guests. The glass jars were much more inviting than plastic dispensers. Although, I understand the practicality of plastic, and the need to keep food dispensers sanitary. But for home use, a large glass jar, such as a cookie jar, is a nice way to both store and display the cereal.

And here's our home cereal jar which has a permanent home on the kitchen counter. That's a shallow measuring scoop in the container for serving -- we leave it in there all of the time. This is just one of those little things in my kitchen that makes me smile.