Overall, it wasn’t a terrible box. It was simple, just how I wanted it. The edges could have been a little smoother, but it would have served its purpose – if I hadn’t torn it into several pieces. Just after taking this picture, “PMS Chelsea” took over. Stress-addled, wedding-prepping, hormone-raging Chelsea decided that this box was a complete eyesore which could not be seen anywhere on or around the gift table at her wedding. So she did the only logical thing she could think of and yanked the fabric off in long strips, enjoying the oddly satisfying riiiiip that accompanied each tug.

The best man walked in to find me sitting in a shredded pile, maniacally muttering “Soooo much fabric…too SHINY…bunching up everywhere….so ugly!!” and he thankfully intervened. I really have to hand it to Nathaniel’s brother, he is the best best man I’ve ever seen. The box he constructed for me on his own – an elegant white one with a simple sign directing guests to put cards inside it - was absolutely perfect, and the world didn’t have to experience any more terror from CRAZY Chelsea for at least another month.

In spite of my minor meltdown over my own wedding card box, I’m posting the how-to instructions here because I think they may be helpful to someone out there looking for a simple craft. For brides with extra wedding fabric on hand, this is also an easy solution for matching your card box to your specific wedding colors.

How to Make a DIY Wedding Card Box

• You’ll need:
  • Banker’s box (or other medium-sized box or container to hold the cards)
  • Fabric bix enough to go around the box
  • Packing tape
  • Box cutter
  • Glue (a glue gun works best, but craft glue will work if you let it dry between each step)

1)  Trace a square in the box lid big enough to fit a card. I made mine approximately 1.5″x8″. Use the box cutter to trim the square hole out.

2) Secure the box lid down using the packing tape.

3) Measure the fabric to the correct size by laying the fabric out flat and centering the box face-down in the middle of it. Fold the fabric up over the box on all sides and trim so that the fabric is overlapping by a couple inches on the bottom and sides of the box.

4) Glue both sides of the fabric to the bottom of the box and then wrap the box like a present, folding the excess fabric on the sides in and gluing it down as shown below.

5) Using the box cutter, carefully cut a slit along the top of the box where the rectangular hole is, angling the corners of the slit so that the fabric can fold into the box. Apply glue to to the underside of the slit flaps and glue into the box.

If I had to make mine over (but thank god I didn’t!), I think I would have been more satisfied with the results using a crisper fabric, like muslin or linen, so that the folds would be tighter and flatter than the lightweight silky material I used.

This project looks intimidating and does take a bit of time, but it’s pretty simple with just two basic beading techniques as the foundation.

How to Make Bridesmaid Jewelry

• You’ll need: 
  • Earring hooks
  • Jump loops of varying sizes (these are the metal circles that loop through each other to form a chain)
  • Bracelet clasps
  • Metal circles (for the set with the earrings sitting in metal circles)
  • Metal ovals (for the set with the earrings sitting in metal ovals)
  • Head pins (for stringing through earrings)
  • 20 gauge wire (for wire-wrapped beads)
  • Pliers (roundnose, chain nose AND needlenose pliers are helpful for precise loops, but I’ve made loops with any of the above)

1) The basic pattern of each bracelet is three interlooped jump rings (directions for opening jump rings are available at Fusion Beads), followed by a bead with a simple loop on each end. I like to use a head pin with the top trimmed off for loops, but you can also use a section of 20 gauge wire.

2) Repeat the above pattern until you reach the correct length for your bracelet, and then use a small jump loop to add a bracelet clasp to one end.

3) Earrings are all created similarly to the bracelets, with the head pin looping through the beads and onto the earring hooks.

Metal Oval variation: simply loop a metal oval through the jump loops on each end of the bead with simple loops, so that the metal oval is spanning the length of each bead as pictured.

Metal Circle Variation: place the bead through the metal circle so that the holes of the bead and metal circle line up. String the wire through the holes of the metal circle and bead, then finish the simple loops and continue the bracelet as normal.

Wire-wrapped beads: The wire-wrapped bracelet and earrings are the most difficult of the set, requiring a little trial and error with the wire and pliers. Instructions for wire-wrapped beads are available at Fusion Beads. After being wrapped, the beads are incorporated into the bracelets as normal.

Our DIY bridesmaid jewelry was a total hit at the wedding. The beads I chose were a bit chunkier than what I’d normally like, but I thought they worked really well as a bright, fun accent to the bridesmaids’ simple black dresses.

I did it. FINALLY. Six years ago I met my husband. After a year of glaring at him, three and a half years of dating and a year and a half of engagement, it’s official at last! The hard work and preparation really paid off, and everything was picture perfect. Of course, there were a number of things I shouldn’t have stressed out about: the program fans were pretty unnecessary as it was a perfect day at the top of La Jolla, and the boutonnieres and corsages I spent hours wrapping went largely unnoticed.

As with most days in my life, my wedding day did not go off without a hitch (pun totally intended. Heh, heh). Technical difficulties resulted in our processional music being  played from a stereo in our friend’s hands, High Fidelity style (that was actually pretty adorable). It also turned out that there was an error in the directions, and the signs intended to direct guests to the ceremony site…somehow…never got put up. Pulling up to the ceremony to discover that HALF my guests were lost was not so adorable. It all ended up working out, though, and I felt surprisingly calm as I walked down the aisle to “Another One Bites the Dust” (the processional was Queen-themed, and the bridesmaids all walked down to “Fat-Bottomed Girls” without the slightest tinge of annoyance). The minister – our counselor from college – announced that anyone with any objections should “shut the heck up and keep it to themselves” before launching into the best ceremony speech ever. There were some references to Dr. Seuss and (my favorite part!) he had Nathaniel promise not only to love, honor and cherish me, but also to never wash my delicates on high ever again.

I presumed that our unconventional ceremony choices would get the point across that we tossed tradition out the window long ago. Several friends were surprised to see me in a white dress and one commented that she expected me to stroll out in a pink tutu (my response: “Pink is soooo not my color!”). Alas, none of that stopped a couple of old-fashioned attendees from pointing out that I was egregiously going against a number of etiquette rules. And THEN someone fell into my photobooth and knocked it over, breaking my beloved Macbook Pro.

BUT. That is not the point. Those things weren’t the spirit of the day, they were just the stumbling blocks on our way to something fantastic. I don’t mention them to dwell or be negative, but to point out that this is just the nature of things. Every day, every life, every person faces problems that have to be overcome. Maybe it stands to reason that the greater the day – the greater the life - the bigger problems we’ll face. When I encountered the most overwhelming problem of the evening, I sat down for a minute and assessed the situation. I was frustrated as hell but quickly realized there was nothing I could do to fix it. I felt numerous eyes on me, waiting with bated breath for the bride to finally just lose it. Instead, I searched out my new husband in the gathering crowd. He was standing quietly, unphased, reaching his hand out to me. I took it, brushed off my dress, and followed him to the floor. We danced the rest of the night away.

So did everyone else.

Welcome to day three of DIY Wedding Week! Yesterday we made DIY Wedding Table Numbers, and today we’re using a lot of the same materials to make DIY wedding program fans. We decided that we didn’t want a big program booklet since we’re trying to keep everything short and sweet, and a program fan will help keep our guests cool in the middle of July. We printed our bridal party information with a short note to friends and family on the front, and used printed cardstock for the back side of the fan.

Things you’ll need:

• Assorted patterned cardstock (we found a book of wedding pattern cardstock at Michael’s)
• Cardstock in your wedding color, and a printer to print on the cardstock with (we didn’t have cardstock in our color, so we glued our turquoise wedding paper onto white cardstock)
• Paint stirrer sticks – one per guest (we asked for these at Home Depot and they gave them to us for free!)
• White paint
• Hot glue and hot glue gun (we tried adhesive spary and a glue stick, the hot lgue worked best)
• A corner rounder, if round corners are desired (Fiskars corner punchers are available at most craft stores)

1)  Paint the stirrer sticks white.

2)  Trim the colored cardstock and the patterned cardstock to 8″ by 5″.

3)  In Microsoft Word, click File>Page Settings>Paper. Change the height to 8″ and the width to 5″. Type the names of your bridal party along with whatever message you want to appear on the fan. Print this onto the wedding-colored cardstock.

3)  Lay the patterned piece of cardstock face-down on a table, apply hot glue to a paint stirrer stick, and glue the stick to the cardstock.

4) Apply hot glue around the edge of the cardstock, and lay your program cardstock piece down to complete the fan.

That’s it! I put ours in a basket for the ushers to hold (or set on a table, because all of the fans together is actually pretty heavy).

Welcome to day two of DIY Wedding Week! We’re starting off easy today with DIY table numbers. You may remember seeing similar photo table numbers in our post about Amanda and Ken’s wedding. We absolutely fell in love with the idea at their reception, so we hijacked it for our own day!

For these, you will need:

• Childhood photos of you and your fiance from ages 1 through however many tables you have – 4″ x 6″ (we had 15 tables, so we have one photo of each of us at ages 1 through 15)
• Black cardstock – 8.5″ x 11″
• White cardstock – 8.5″ x 11″
• Paper in your wedding color (and a printer to print on the paper)
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Glue stick
• Edge rounder, if you want your edges to be round (Fiskars hand punches that round edges are available at most craft stores)
• Number stands/photo stand clips to hold the completed number (available at party supply and dollar stores, or you can simply cut a slit in a cork for a solid base, or bend floral wire into a clip shape)

1)  Using a large, simple font set to “Outline” style in Microsoft Word, type out two of each of your table numbers and print onto the colored paper. (We have 15 tables, so we typed out the numbers 1 through 15 two times each). Cut out each number and set aside.

Look at how hot my fiance is! Is it weird that I'm checking out a 15 year-old?

2)  Trim the white cardstock pieces to 8.5″ x 5.5″. Round the corners using the corner punch, if desired.

3)  Trim each childhood photo to a maximum width of 4.5″ and a maximum height of 5.5″. Cut black cardstock pieces to fit each photo so that there is a 1/4″ black border around each photo (I do this by setting the photo in the corner of the cardstock piece and then measuring 1/2″ inch on the top and bottom). Glue each photo to the corresponding black mount.

4)  Center your age 1 mounted photo onto a piece of white cardstock. Arrange your cut out number 1 in the upper right-hand corner, overlapping the photo and the cardstock. Glue down the mounted photo and the number. Glue the other number 1 and your fiance’s corresponding photo at the same age on the other side of the same piece of white cardstock.

5)  Repeat step 4 for each remaining age/table number.

DIY photo table numbers are a great way to incorporate a bit of “you” into your wedding, and gives guests something to look at and talk about throughout the night.

Welcome to DIY Wedding Week! In case the lack of recent posts hadn’t tipped you off, I’ve been pretty busy lately. I get married in 12 days! And we’re doing a huge amount of the wedding stuff ourselves. I’ve decided to dedicate all of my blog posts until the big day to wedding stuff in a series aptly named “DIY Wedding Week.” I know, 12 days is NOT a week, but “DIY Wedding Week and a Half” or “DIY Wedding Week and Five Days” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

In the process of getting ready for our wedding, we’ve had plenty of inspiration along the way since everyone and their frickin mom is getting married right now. A couple weeks ago we got to see our friends Chris and Rachel tie the knot in Orange County at Rancho Las Lomas, a rustic ranch with beautiful gardens and zoological areas featuring lions, tigers, zebras and birds. They played off the romantic vibe of the venue with hundreds of red roses, candles, and intimate seating areas. And yes, they had a coordinator to help them pull this all off.

We spent last weekend in Longview, Washington at the wedding of our friends Jeremy and Crystal. They actually got engaged a few days before us and have been our wedding companions during the whole planning process. We even planned our honeymoons around each other to be sure we’d all be at both of our big days! They had a low-key, fun wedding (complete with jello shots and funfetti cake) at an event hall in their hometown – and they did EVERYTHING themselves, from the food to the decorations.

Nate and I are meeting somewhere in the middle with our wedding – we like the romantic, “weddingy” feel of roses and elegant placesettings, but also want to reflect our fun, playful relationship. We decided to go with black, white and turquoise as our colors and don’t have any particular theme. Here’s the inspiration board we put together:

Check back tomorrow for the beginning of our numerous wedding projects. So far we’ve started tackling program fans, centerpieces, arches, and invites. Next up is the table numbers, placecards and (prepare yourself, this one’s quite an undertaking) a DIY photobooth!

My few endeavors at gardening have been less than fruitful so far (pun totally intended…heh heh), but the other day my soon-to-be in-laws helped me cultivate my knowledge about the process (oh man, I’m on a roll today!). If we lived in a more seasonal area, we would have started by growing the seeds indoors back in March and cross-planted them around now. But we live in San Diego and do things whenever the heck we want. You can buy plants that are already sprouted at the nursery, but I prefer to do things myself, the old-fashioned way. Here’s my handy beginner’s guide to gardening, starting with herbs:

1. Buy a Burpee.

I’ve always just stuck seeds in the ground and impatiently waited for them to come to life. Apparently there’s more to it than that. Seeds take a bit of gentle care and – let’s face it – “gentle” isn’t a word often used to describe me. The Burpee system gives plants a chance to develop in a safe, protected environment and build a strong root structure without having to struggle with other roaming roots, bad soil, lack of water, inattentive gardeners, etc.

You’ll also want a seed starting soil, like Miracle Gro Seed Starting Potting Mix.

2. Stick the plastic plant stand inside the outer tray, like so.

3. Cover the plant stand with the water mat, tucking the edges into the tray.

4. Add water.

Douse the water mat completely and fill the tray up so that the water is almost all the way to the top of the outer tray.

5. Fill the planting tray (the one with pockets where the plants go) with the dirt pellets.

6. Add water to the pellets.

Fill each pocket about 3/4 of the way with water, and the pellets will foam up to fill the cup completely. Occasionally one gets turned sideways and won’t fill the cup up right. Don’t worry – you can simply add more seed starting soil to fill up the cup.

7. Place the seeds on top of the soil. Don’t bury them – yet.

You’ll probably want to label what you’re planting.

8. Cover the seeds with seed starting soil.

9. Secure the lid with tape.

The instruction guide doesn’t tell you to do this but if you don’t, it flies away.

10. Water about once weekly for several weeks.

Simply fill the outer tray, and the water mat will suck up water and transport it to the seeds.

After the plants sprout and grow an inch or two, you can remove them from the Burpee container by gently pushing upwards on each plant pocket until the dirt comes loose. Then, transplant the plant (which is fancy wording for “move it to another hole you’ve buried”) to a garden or planter box so that the roots have room to spread out.

People often ask why I blog. Is it for the money? Fame? Some personal feeling of gratification from having DOZENS of people pay attention to me? No. If I wanted all that, I could’ve fast-tracked it by becoming a porn star or something. I could be the first naked video-blogger! Damn my mom and her relentless moral brainwashing, limiting my career prospects. The reason I got into blogging was to give myself a creative outlet. A diary of sorts, but one with a bit more accountability and purpose. One where I can’t get annoyed at my personal ramblings about some toolbag of an ex-boyfriend and end up hosting an impromptu diary bonfire at the beach. (I’m pretty sure I can’t burn down the internet). Ultimately, I started a blog because I’m a writer. And writers write. It’s what we do, regardless of whether or not anyone is reading.

What I found after starting this site is that blogging is really a community. A club of sorts. It has big personalities, activities, and – yes – the occasional clique. There are tech bloggers, mom bloggers, fashionistas, political debaters and travelers. People want to segway every blog into a comfortable little niche.  The technology driving these blogs is yet another arena where debate can divide and categorize bloggers. “Do you use Blogger or Typepad? Posterous or WordPress? Self-hosted or not?” Once you overcome the confusing technology hurdles, there’s a whole host of promotional strategies: guest posts, sponsored posts,  optimization, lists, widgets and social media.

Twitter, of course, is the heavyweight in blog promotion. Twitter is like the hall where the blogger club meets. It’s essentially Facebook feed on steroids, where people can post what they’re thinking at any point and others can respond. It starts an ongoing dialogue with people around the world who have similar interests. Like a chat room on a global scale. And yet it does, occasionally, come back to the community. Local venues and companies host events called “Tweet-ups” where they reach out to local people on Twitter (“Tweeps” … tweeple? … twitterers?) to meet up in real life. This is where I’ve turned my online blogger aquaintances (most of whom I initially met on Twitter) into real-life bonafide human friends. It sounds creepy, but it’s always in a public place with lots of people and usually the sponsoring company gives us free stuff. Bonus!

Does your brain hurt yet? Imagine when I ramble to Nate about having to wrap up a guest post and optimize something on my site before I head on over to meet at a sponsored venue with my tweeps. The mind boggles. And yes, I know I’m a huge nerd. My “non-Twitter” friends make fun of me ALL the time. Anyway, I thought I had a handle on all this stuff until the other day a fellow blogger “tagged” me in a meme. What the hell is a MEME?!? Perhaps some sort of disease? It certainly didn’t sound like something I wanted. Google to the rescue: “For bloggers, memes have become synonymous with internet quizzes, surveys, and novelties that people link to and pass around on their blogs, forums and via email” (thanks for clearing that up, Chris Garrett).

So I was tagged in a meme called “10 Thing That Make me Happy” by my friend Christina over at Mommy Loves Coffee (from the title of her blog, you can see we have at least one thing in common!). Okay, now that I have your attention…I give you my very first meme:

 10 Things That Make Me Happy 

1. Pedicures: Happy feet, happy Chelsea
2. When Harry Met Sally: When I’m feeling sad, this is my cheer-up movie. During a rough patch in high school, I watched it every single day for a month straight. Parents thought I’d lost it.
3. Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice: We have orange trees and Nate sometimes makes it for me in the morning. It’s nice to know he’s thinking of me and went to all that effort to make my day a little sweeter.
4. Money: It’s not so much the money itself that makes me happy, but not stressing over how to pay bills makes life way easier! Plus, with money comes shoes, clothes, and handbags…and a lot more crafts.
5. Photo Albums: Looking at the great times I’ve had in the past reminds me what it’s all about.
6. Ajax and Ulysses: My cats are so very different and both have funny little quirks that make me laugh. Ajax is scared to death of her own shadow, but she’ll occasionally come lay next to me when I’m reading and pur like everything in the world is right. Ulysses destroys just about anything he comes into contact with, but he’s so loving and playful it’s easy to forgive him.
7. A Good Book: Time to myself to sit and read is cherished. I love getting lost in a great story.
8. A Clean House: It’s just so much easier to think clearly when everything is dusted off and put away.
9. Plants: We have a garden (admittedly, most of the work is NOT done by me), but I love seeing the life that’s grown from just a little seed.
10. Farmer’s Markets: I’ve mentioned on occasion that I feel passionately about small businesses. Seeing the quality that can come from people working on something they really care about is incredible.

Now if I remember how this whole “tag” thing is the same as when I played it back in elementary school, I’m supposed to pick some other bloggers to participate in this meme. You’re it (now go write about 10 things that make YOU happy):

26 Promo- Shay is a great friend who runs an awesome business, If you need business cards, flyers, or any sort of promotional project…this is the place to go.

Just a California Girl- Kesleigh lays it all out there. In person, she can be quiet (at first!) but her blog is where her thoughts, feelings, and heart come out. I adore her.

Thrifty Little Blog – While Kasey and I haven’t met in real life (I think she’s in Texas or something…??), she is definitely an inspiration. I love everything in her house!

Oh yes, that is a penis straw in my cup. Thanks for noticing. And yes, there IS a tiara on my head. This picture was taken at my recent bachelorette party thrown in New York City (!!!) by my incredibly amazing bridesmaids. A few people have asked if I’m going to blog about it, but I’m just not sure about sticking all that stuff up on my wholesome little slice of the web. Let’s just say there were squirt guns. And sailors. And I will never look at the child’s game of “Pin the tail on the Donkey” the same way again.

So Chanel and I are six years apart, to the day. She was born on my sixth birthday. This is the story (from my vantage point) of how she was born.

I remember going to sleep the night before my birthday, my mom telling me all about the party I’d have the next day with piñatas and cake and – an extremely rare treat for me – McDonald’s! Always one for surprises, my mom hadn’t found out the baby’s gender, but she was convinced it was a boy because it kicked the hell out of her constantly. My soon-to-be-born “brother” was due in three days and according to my mom, “he” was destined to be a soccer player.

I remember her tucking me in and me asking her to read the plaque on my wall, hoping to hold her attention for a few more minutes before leaving me to lay petrified in the dark. “Dear God,” she started, “When you were choosing my mom for me, how did you know to pick the very best one?” I smiled innocently and told her she was the best mom in the world. This had become a nightly occurrence. As an only child, I’d learned to “work the cuteness,” and occasionally my flattery would make her stay. But she walked to the plaque near the doorway, adjusted it, and left.

Suddenly, I was looking up to see stars moving above me as my stepdad carried me through our driveway. My mom calmly told me that I was going to stay with Brigette, our next-door neighbor who I was often forced into playdates with. Brigette had long blonde hair and numerous trophies from child beauty pageants, and I hated getting dragged to her house for what inevitably evolved into an endless parade of Barbies. Though I couldn’t remember falling asleep, I was growing more agitated with this dream by the second. A flash of brightness burst through my eyelids and I found myself on Brigette’s living room floor with her little sister’s head hovering over me, upside down. She grinned widely, tight brown curls framing her petite face. “You have a sister! It’s a girl! A sister!”

I sat up quickly, disconcerted, to face a wall of bright windows and see Brigette bounding over from a nearby doorway. She shoved a disturbingly lifelike baby doll (a boy) into my arms, exclaiming “Happy Birthday!” I peered at the naked doll, fascinated and disturbed by its tiny private parts. “My mom bought two – one for me and one for you. I want the girl, so you get the boy.” Of course Brigette gets the girl, I thought, with a faint twinge of what would eventually turn into bitterness.

Her mom walked in with a grin matching the one on the sister’s little face, her mouth dropping slightly when she saw me staring at the doll’s penis. “Happy Birthday, honey! You have a sister! We get to go to the hospital and meet her in a few minutes.” I, of course, instantly inquired about my birthday party, but Brigette’s mom explained that it would being pushed back a couple weeks. “But my birthday’s today! We have a piñaaaata,” I drew out the last word like whiney children tend to do. “Your sister’s birthday is today, too. We’ll celebrate both later. And there’s plenty of presents for you to open when we go see your mom.”

At the hospital, I was placed in front of a glass window that reminded me of a windshield. Having had a number of medical issues as a child, I’d spent way too much time in hospitals and medical offices. I was keeping an eye out for the doctor, waiting for him to spring out with his pointy little torture-needle. My mom usually waited with me before I had to get shots, making funny faces so I wouldn’t be nervous. But she wasn’t here this time. Someone gestured ahead through the window, directing my attention to a crowd of infants like the one I left laying on Brigette’s floor, naked and wrinkly. Most of these babies were thankfully covered, except one. Bigger than the rest and purple from screaming, its tiny hands contorted into tight balls. A thin clump of damp black hair stuck to its forehead. Well thank god this one’s a girl, I thought, still annoyed over the naked boy that had been thrust at me earlier in the day.

“That’s your sister,” said a voice behind me, and I looked up from my trance to see a finger extend into my peripheral vision.

It was pointing at the purple baby.

Author’s note: While the whole “sister being born on my birthday” thing was a bit traumatic at the time, I eventually got over it. Fortunately, Chanel didn’t stay purple forever. And I did get my birthday party – McDonald’s and all! – a couple weeks later. Funny story: at that party, someone accidentally left Chanel in the sun for too long and she got her very first sunburn. So then I had a pink sister for awhile, instead of a purple one.

And naked boys still kind of freak me out.

So I have this problem: I have too much money and not enough ways to spend it. I try really hard – I watch QVC and HSN. I buy things like the Slap Chop and Magic Bullet! But alas…SO MUCH MONEY, so little time. I even occasionally look to celebrities for inspiration on spending excessive amounts of cash.

Oh wait, no. I’m sorry – that was an excerpt from my dream world. Let me refocus. MY dilemma is smart spending. Yes, that’s it. Lack of money. As a young person starting a family, I need to be selective. I want to buy things that are high-quality and long-lasting, but not too expensive. Amazon’s product ratings serve as a good guide, but it takes forever to filter through all the options and focus on the products I care about. I need a site to make my shopping process simple. Give me the the highest rated and most frequently purchased items in the product category I want. And then send it straight to my house. Am I asking too much??

Cooking.com makes things simple (for kitchenware, at least). If I’m looking for a coffee maker, I type in “coffee maker” and it gives me the top rated and the best-selling brewer, side-by-side. I can see comments by previous purchasers as well as an extensive, easily-sortable list of other coffee makers. When I make my (extremely easy and straightfoward) decision, I can buy the item I want right on their site – usually at a discounted price. Better yet, they put a link to all available factory rebates right next to the selling price. And better STILL, there are tons of Cooking.com coupons listed over on Savings.com, a clever social couponing site that can best be described as ”PennySaver meets Digg.” So not only is it easy to find what I want, it’s easy to get the best price on it.

One last awesome benefit that makes it SO much easier for me to locate gadgets on Cooking.com: the site really does show the best of the best. If I look for a meat tenderizer over at Crate & Barrel, I get your generic everyday meat mallet:

If I search on Cooking.com, I do get the generic meat mallet (because that’s what’s popular and sells high volumes), but I also get THIS:

Holy cow! These people are serious about their meat. And did I mention they also have hundreds of delicious recipes also on this same site? Yeah, I dare you to browse over there without blowing your budget AND your diet.