Distilled White Vinegar - C. Phaisalakani

Ordinary & Amazing: Vinegar Cleans Up Good

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When it comes to certain kinds of cleaning jobs, distilled white vinegar really is the liquid miracle it’s touted to be.

Distilled White Vinegar - C. Phaisalakani

 

THIS STUFF WORKS | What is it about ordinary distilled white vinegar that encourages list making? Google “vinegar” and you’ll see what I mean. Here are a few of the crazy numbers vinegar lovers throw around in their effort to woo you to their website:  “74 Little Known Uses For Vinegar,” “1001 Things To Do With Vinegar” and, I kid you not, “A Billion Bitchen Things To Do With Vinegar.” Read more

Smashbox

Watch How To Apply Concealer Perfectly

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Allison Emery demonstrates how to apply under-eye concealer—and picks the best products to buy.

“Help! What can I use to hide these dark circles under my eyes?” This is by far the most frequently asked question I have encountered in my career in cosmetics. Dark under-eye circles can have a number of causes—lack of sleep, stress, poor diet/nutrition—or may even be hereditary.

There are many treatments we can use such as eye creams and serums, as well as facial massage and even the classic cool cucumber slices. Luckily there are some excellent concealing products on the market, so regardless of our budget, we can look fresh and ready for whatever life brings. For best results, I recommend using eye treatments in conjunction with makeup solutions. Bright, well-rested eyes are always in style. Click through to VIEW THE VIDEO and/or read the rest of the story. Read more

Jil Sander for Uniqlo autumn-winter 2011

How To Get Jil Sander For Uniqlo In Canada

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+J, Jil Sander’s hot fashion for Japanese megabrand Uniqlo, is low-end couture at its finest. Pity these pieces aren’t easily available to Canadians—or are they?

Jil Sander For Uniqlo autumn-winter 2011CHIC + CHEAP | Fashion icon Jil Sander, referred to as the queen of minimalist fashion for her single-minded focus on understated elegance—picture the perfectly tailored pant, the precisely cut coat, the impeccably executed white blouse—will end her three year collaboration with Uniqlo, Japan’s inexpensive high-style-basics chain and Asia’s largest clothing retailer, with the launch of a final (fall/winter) collection on September 7. Read more

Feeding Baby - iStock

Look What’s Number One With A Baby Bullet

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If this product doesn’t persuade mothers to make their own baby food, nothing will.

Feeding Baby - iStockMONEY WELL SPENT | The number one reason for buying store-bought baby food is convenience, no small thing when you’re a newbie, have multiple offspring to attend to and/or juggle motherhood and a job. I used jar food when my kids were babies because I worked full time. I just never could get it together in the evenings to assemble the ingredients and equipment necessary to cook, purée and freeze multiple mini meals for my growing tribe, though I’m pretty sure if the Baby Bullet had been available back in my day, I’d be writing a different story now. Read more

Blunt Design-Builds A Way Better Umbrella

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This New Zealand umbrella manufacturer is redefining personal weather protection.

Blunt Mini Umbrella & Blunt Take It AnywhereMONEY WELL SPENT | Although Vancouver is a rainy place, I almost never carry an umbrella— and if I do, it’s usually a cheapie. I go cheap because every umbrella I’ve owned has been either wrecked and ruined in a storm or lost in 60 seconds. Considering my history, I surprised myself recently by switching from $10 disposables to a $60 Blunt umbrella. If the Blunt lives up to its promise, it’ll be one of the last brollies I buy. Read more

Repro Paintings - Photo By Calvin Whitehurst

Throw A Fab Party With Dollar Store Supplies

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Here’s how to throw a fabulous end-of-summer “arty party” with supplies from your friendly Dollar Giant.

Repro Paintings - Photo By Calvin WhitehurstDOLLAR STORE DAYS | I believe there’s an artist in everyone and I’m throwing an end-of-summer party to prove it. I’m inviting a close group of friends —many of whom have never picked up a paintbrush —to my first “arty party.” We’ll gather in a room with a raft of art supplies and let our imaginations take a walk on the wild side. We may unleash our inner Picassos, our native Carrs, our chaotic Pollocks (well, maybe paint-throwing Pollocks will get to create on the back lawn). Read more

Terracotta Pots - Casey Phaisalakani

Clever Ways To Use Ordinary Flower Pots

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Here’s how to create instant impact in the garden by using the same ordinary element over and over again.

Terracotta Pots - Casey Phaisalakani

 

CHEAP & CHIC | It takes a certain kind of fearlessness to believe that you can make a cliché look fresh. The cliché I’m referring to here is the wide-rimmed dime-a-dozen terracotta pot found in every nursery and hardware store from there to China. You know the (inexpensive) kind I’m talking about, pictured here empty. If you’re like me, you cannot wait to replace yours with their more curvaceous Italian cousins, or some skinny Long Toms from England, or something stunning in Asian stoneware.  Read more

Woman Jumping Rope

Why You Need To Jump Rope For 60 Seconds

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We who are likely to die early because we sit too much need a combat plan. Here’s a tactic that could prove an effective weapon.

Woman Jumping Rope FITTER BY THE MINUTE | Anyone who checks this website routinely knows I’m obsessed with the fact I sit too much. I HATE sitting in front of a computer for hours at a stretch but that is what I do for a living. Sure I can use a sit/stand desk like the ones we reported on HERE last week. And yes I can—and do—exercise outside normal work hours, but I know from reading the research these practices alone will not keep the Grim Reaper from calling early, most likely unannounced. Read more

Missoni Ballet Flats

Target + 400 Missoni Products = Good Stuff

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Premiering at Target in September, the Italian fashion house known for its knits puts its signature on everything from onesies to two wheelers.

Missoni Ballet FlatsSAVE ON CHIC | Not since Liberty London for Target launched in March 2010 has the big box emporium fallen so head over heals in a huge way for a luxury label—right now Target is madly in love with Missoni. Debuting September 13, Missoni for Target will include a mindboggling array of 400 products bearing the kaleidoscope of colours and unmistakable motifs—chevrons, zigzags, flame stitching and abstract florals—synonymous with the 58-year-old-Italian knitwear giant. Read more

Il Diplomatico Cake

Watch How To Make Il Diplomatico Cake

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Video and recipe for how to make an updated version of Marcella Hazan’s classic—and foolproof—Il Diplomatico, a rum-and-coffee-flavoured mousse cake.

Teresa Syrnyk discovered the recipe for Il Diplomatico when she decided to cook her way through Marcella Hazan’s The Classic Italian Cookbook. Originally published in 1973 and now out of print, this cookbook was the first of many by the woman whose name is now synonymous on this continent with authentic Italian cooking, someone rightfully credited with having introduced most of us to dishes such as risotto and polenta.

Syrnyk’s version of Hazan’s recipe eschews the heavy whipped cream icing in favour of much lighter and infinitely more attractive dusted cocoa for the top.

RMO Media has collaborated with Doris Cheung Art + Media to produce a video on how to make Il Diplomatico, the first in a series on topics designed to appeal to Frugalbits readers. Click through to view the video and/or obtain a printable version of the recipe. Read more