With a little imagination, a PLRG can re-use anything!

We have so many tips for using items for a different purpose than they were intended (double duty usage is a great way to save money) that we wanted to start sharing them with you.

This week, we pulled together some of our fave tips involving your shoes and socks. Try out some of these tips and let us know how they work for you.

• If the bottoms of your Uggs are trashed from last winter, or if you know you’ll be over them come next cold weather season, then cut off the bottom “shoe” part and use the leftover strip as a pot holder or trivet.
• Speaking of fall and winter styles, how do you store your boots without them flopping over and losing their shape? Well, you know all that wine you’ve been drinking? Grab two empty, clean bottles and and shove them in your boots. It’ll keep them at attention until you’re ready to wear them this fall.
• If you’re taking any vacays this summer, then you’ll love this tip. Instead of buying fancy shoe bags to protect your shoes while you travel, grab a few pairs of old gym socks and slip your shoes into them. It will prevent scuffs and stains from mysterious items in your suitcase.
• Socks are always good to have on hand when you’re traveling. Another great way to use them is as a straightening or curling iron holder/protector (the bigger and fuzzier the sock the better). No need to worry about letting your curling iron cool down completely before you leave- if the iron’s still a little warm, the sock will prevent it from burning or scorching it’s cord and other items in your bag.
• If your shoes need polishing at work today, go grab yourself a double duty snack. A banana peel with the strings removed can be used to polish your shoes- afterwards buff with a paper towel or soft cloth.
• This one one is by far the most creative double duty item we’ve come across. If you have an old pair of Crocs, or if you were gifted them and they aren’t your style, then use them as planters this summer! It’s basically the same concept as the Topsy Turvey Tomato Planter. The shoes should be hung up by the heels and the holes in the shoes acts as drainage. Just  make sure to add some moss or something to the toes to avoid dirt spilling out the very bottom.

I’ve never met a free sample I didn’t like, though most of the time I’m not sure if it’s the treat I enjoy so much, or the fact that it’s complimentary. So, when I was offered a sample while strolling down Walton last week (window shopping, of course) I was sure this time it was not the “freeness” that stopped me in my tracks.

It was a simple enough bite- a small hunk of white bread from “a new Belgian Bakery just a few doors down” the sample angel informed me. As the chewy on the inside, crusty on the outside morsel melted in my mouth, I found myself wandering into Hendrickx Bakery.

Tucked away at 100 East Walton Street, Hendrickx serves up classic Belgian style baked goods out of an uber chic outpost swathed in black with bright orange accents (we imagine it’s what living inside a bottle of Veuve Clicquot feels like). The shop is small and where you’d usually find case after case of goodies, instead stands a small counter with just a few individually packaged treats and behind it, two small bread lined shelves.

Get your hands on fresh-baked goodies, like croissants, at Hendrickx

A friendly woman with a thick Belgian accent greeted me from behind the counter and began educating me on Belgian baking and all that Hendrickx has to offer. The baking process creates a bread that is dense and chewy on the inside and crusty and crunchy on the outside. In short- perfection. The loaves on the shelves are just for display she tells me, if I want to purchase one she will go get a fresh one from the back. There was no need, I told her, because there on the counter a slice on White Chocolate Bread (basically white bread with chunks of white chocolate baked in) was calling my name. It was the best $3.50 I have ever spent!

So, the next time you need a unique hostess gift or you feel like ruining your week-long no carb streak, stop by Hendrickx for some Belgian goodness.

(Lacey Brenly)

It’s almost time for everyone’s favorite foursome to return to the silver screen. Whether you’re a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, or Samantha, toast your inner Sex and the City character and get Carrie’d away with these Rosangel cocktails:

By mixing classic with funky, Carrie’s personal style is chic with a twist:

1 oz. Rosangel
2 Muddled Strawberries
1 oz Simple Syrup
Top with Champagne

A spiced up version of a serious cocktail shows Miranda can balance work and play:

1 1/2 oz Rosangel
1/2 oz Premium Orange Liqueur
1 tbsp Agave Nectar
Juice of 1 Lime
1 tbsp freshly squeezed Orange Juice
1 tbsp Cranberry Juice
Splash of Ginger Ale
1 1/2 cups of ice

If you’re a born hostess, channel your inner Charlotte and whip up this crowd-pleaser:

1/2 bottle of Rosangel
1/2 bottle of White Wine
1/2 cup of White Sugar
1 oz Orange Juice
2 oz Cranberry Juice
2 Oranges (sliced)
1 Lemon (Sliced)
1 Bunch of Grapes (sliced)
1 Apple (diced)
1/2 liter of Club Soda

This cocktail is perfect for a warm and wild night like a Mexican vacation with Samantha:

1 Part Rosangel
1 Part Orange Juice
Splash of Pomegranate Juice

Yep, just like this guy

Ever wanted to roll your own sushi? Our experts at I WISH hooked us up with some tips and tricks for making your life easier. Although,  we recommend trying one of their classes first so you can learn from a pro.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Sushi Making

1. The rice is a lot easier to make then you think!

Follow this recipe:
3 cups Japanese rice
3 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Preparation: After washing and soaking Japanese rice, cook and let it steam. Prepare sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Put the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool the vinegar mixture. Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate or a large bowl.  Please use a non-metallic bowl to prevent any interaction with rice vinegar. It’s best to use a wooden bowl called sushi-oke. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over  cook the rice and fold the rice by shamoji (rice spatula) quickly. Be careful not to smash the rice.

To cool and remove the moisture of the rice well, use a fan as you mix sushi rice. This will give sushi rice a shiny look. It’s best to use sushi rice right away.

Makes 4-6 servings.

2. Ingredients are easy to find, and don’t have to be too expensive. Our favorite place is Dirk’s Fish Market

3. The easiest way to make spicy sauce for a spicy roll is combining Sriracha and mayo.

4. To avoid a mess, wrap your bamboo mat in plastic wrap.

5. Most wasabi is horseradish powder tinted with green food coloring.

Want to know more? Hit up the I WISH Sushi Making classes:

http://www.iwishlessons.com/page /sushimaking.html.

So you got engaged, saved the date and scheduled your dream location. Now it’s time for the fun part…registering!!!

You are filled with a sense of power…a price gun in your hand and an entire store at your feet. You are free to roam, point and click, and voila! Your registry is 100 pages long and filled with numerous utensils, gadgets and gizmos you will never use and clutter your kitchen and home.

Before you knock over the Crate and Barrel sales person in your registry frenzy, here are a few tips to create a successful list and stock up on items you and your hubby-to-be will really use:

1. Come up with a game plan before you race around the store like a marathon runner. The average Target is 174,000 SF and Crate and Barrel can reach 35,000 SF, which equals rows and rows of strategically placed items just to distract you! Talk to your fiancé about what you have individually so you do not end up with 3 garlic crushers. Discuss how you entertain, live in your space and what you enjoy cooking so you can create a realistic and useful list.

2. Consider creating at least two registries; one with more expensive items and the second with more economical gift choices. You want your guests to feel happy to share in your joy, not financially stretched.

3. If you have invited out of town guests make sure to register at one chain, or at least a shop with an easy online purchase option, so that they can shop from the registry.

4.It’s a tradition to register for formal china, and thankfully using it no longer means an entire night of hand washing the dishes after a dinner party. Make sure to inquire if the china you register for is dishwasher safe!

Katie Rogulski is our go-to gal for all things design, from choosing a paint color to installing a light fixture. Send her all of your design questions and comments and she will do her best to help you design a fabulous pad without breaking the bank!Katie@PoorLittleRichGirls.com

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and while most people either love it or hate it we at PLRG think you should celebrate everyone you love in your life! Whether you have a honey or not you can still buy your best girls a little pick me up, send you parents some cupcakes, or even buy your pup a sassy new collar. So check out our gift guide below and get some ideas on what to buy your loved ones, or just treat yourself because you deserve it!

These LOVE earrings are adorable, modern, with just a hint of Valentine’s day. While they are almost identical to a  pair that is selling for $132, these are only $3.80! For that price you could pick up a pair for everyone at the office and still have money to spare.

This is for the lady in your life who has yet to meet her prince charming. This tongue in cheek gift will definitely bring a smile to any skeptic in your life. Just add water and watch as the frog magically turns into a prince. And, if you add more water the prince triples in size! ($8)

So remember when you were little and use to make checks for hugs out of construction paper? Well this is sorta like that but way more professional and a little more sexy. This check book comes complete with 30 IOUs and 30 UOMES which is bound to heat up your bedroom. What guy wouldn’t love getting these? ($9.95)

No Valentine’s day celebration is complete without something sweet and Molly’s Cupcakes is the perfect place to indulge your sweet tooth. Molly’s is said to have the best Red Velvet Cupcakes in all of Chicago according to Chicago Magazine. Not to mention they have center-filled cupcakes as well filled with ooy gooey goodness, drooling yet? ($12 for a dozen mini cupcakes)

Tights are hot right now with tons of patterns, textures, and colors to choose from. These sweet, sheer heart tights are adorable and are the perfect understated V-day look. You could pair with leather boots for an office ensemble and then throw on some sexy heels when you meet up with your Valentine for dinner. ($14)

Here is another sweet idea, perfect for couples. While not settle in for a cozy evening at home and indulge in some edible chocolate body icing? It’s a sweet treat you can both enjoy! ($15)

This is a great gift for anyone, because doesn’t everyone want kissable fresh breath? The Kiss-o-Meter is a compact bad breath detector that indicates if your breath is good enough for a smooch! It has five levels of kissing, ranging from kiss me to never. This way you’ll always be ready for a kiss. ($24)

Give Me Some Lip Valentine’s Day gift set will surely keep your lips looking pucker perfect for the holiday and beyond. The gift set includes 7 of Sephora’s most sought after shades in gorgeous hues of pink and red. Also the whole set is only $25 that values at $65, what a steal!

Layered, leather jewelery is another huge trend this season and with Spring just around the corner why not punch up your wardrobe with some color? The Cara Couture leather wrap bracelet comes in a variety of colors and is so versatile you could wear it as a bracelet, necklace, or even a headband. ($28)

This is Chicago, so the list would not be complete if the famed Lou Malnati’s heart shape pizza was not included. What says I love you more than a hot cheesy pizza in form of a heart?? Guys will surely scarf this down in a second, but don’t be fooled because any girl, if given a chance, will do the same! ($39.95)

Hint- My Pie serves one up too for cheap. Check it out here.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

(Marin Heller)

Every PoorLittleRichGirl wants a kick-ass pad, but who really wants to pay for it? Especially if you are renting, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend tons of money updating a space that you will eventually leave. But do not fret! All it takes is a bit of creativity and some tricks of the trade to take your space from average to a true reflection of yourself.

My client, Patrice, is the epitome of a PoorLittleRichGirl: successful, independent and financially responsible. She had just moved into a great soft-loft in Pilsen and wanted to decorate the space without spending a fortune so I took this project on as a personal challenge: make her home a place that would make any PLRG proud! With a budget of $1000 for accessories and paint we turned her living room/dining room into a warm, inviting space perfect for this hardworking girl.

Below is a picture journey of Patrice’s pad, from drab to fab, including prices and locations of everything purchased. Use it as inspiration, or contact me if you need the extra help!

Patrice’s place was dark and felt cramped. She was a tad bit (or really) too reliant on the color brown.

In order to make her place feel larger with two distinct areas we placed her couch on an angle. I also helped Patrice experiment with color. At first she was worried about the bright red TV stand (which retails at Ikea for $99) but when we came across it at a sidewalk sale for $23 (we got it for $20!) she knew she couldn’t fight me!

The dining area was really dark and rather blah.

In order to add light and texture we added a wicker light fixture.  Textile wrapped frames in bright, fun prints brought visual excitement to the mix!  To see how to make these unique wall pieces check out my previous article using decorative paper.

This area really needs some visual excitement.

Talk about color!  I just happened to have some extra fabric and Patrice’s mother knows how to sew so we created custom curtains.  The area rug was actually an animal print throw blanket.  It’s okay to be creative!!  Recognize the fabric on the lamp shade?  Yep, we used it in the dining room area as well to pull the two areas together.

A mirror can often visually enlarge a space.

Shopping List:

Patrice ended up painting not just this room, but also her hallway.  Labor and material for that cost $500*, which brings us to approximately $1200 but, since the hallway was added in, our living/dining room stayed within our $1000 budget!

*If you happen to have some extra time on your hands, you could attempt to paint the rooms yourself to save, oh, around, $300 or so, as the price for labor was around $400 (still a great deal and worth every penny for Patrice and other busy PLRGs). You would still end up sending around $200 for paint, painting supplies like a tarp, rollers, etc., but that brings your grand makeover total somewhere closer to $800! What a steal for so much style!

Katie Rogulski is our go-to gal for all things design, from choosing a paint color to installing a light fixture. Send her all of your design questions and comments and she’ll will do her best to help you design a fabulous pad without breaking the bank! Katie@PoorLittleRichGirls.com

Gray and yellow is such a modern, yet soft, color pairing. So hot right now.

The home-front (aka the area around Halsted and North in Lincoln Park*) just became a little more PLRG friendly with the opening of the city’s first West Elm store! Before now you had to hike up to the suburbs, or take your chances on an online purchase, but not anymore. This stylish, eco-conscious and wallet friendly retail furniture store should be a do-not-miss for all of you who love to decorate. Yesterday morning, we got a sneak peak tour of the new store and a chance to talk with West Elm execs.

Pinkish-purple and gray with black accents, mixed with fluffy pillows and mirrored pieces...our fave combo!

The color of the season that the design team at West Elm hope you embrace is yellow, and you will see it everywhere, from side tables, throw pillows and dinner wear. With all the grey (and white) weather we have been suffering through, not to mention the economy, it’s a nice change to embrace something so bright and energizing.

Keep your eyes peeled for a departure from their usual store layout/décor. There is definite attempt to mix materials and textures in their vignettes, as well as more installation art (think Anthropology). Currently, art from students at the Art Institute of Chicago hang throughout the store, which is a really great local addition.

So, the next time you are in desperate need for something new to spruce up your abode, or are just in the area, be sure to check out this new addition to Chicago’s design community!

West Elm Chicago
1000 West North Avenue (at Sheffield)
Chicago, IL 60622

(Katie Rogulski)

*PLRG Fun Fact- the new West Elm is located in the old Whole Foods space, which is conveniently located very near the new Whole Foods space (dubbed “the clubhouse” by team PLRG for their readily available free parking & internet, made-to-order burritos and alcohol). Um, when the weather warms up, we might just start camping out at this intersection.

Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart….well, it’s that time of year again ladies- Valentine’s Day! We’re either in a state of nauseating bliss or in full-on man hating mode. But, we’ve learned by now that you don’t need a significant other to feel loved. It’s the perfect time to gather up your gal pals, get glammed up and toast to great friendships on this holiday of looooooove!

Enjoy these cleverly branded cocktails from Three Olives made just for “All the Single Ladies“!

Valentine’s Day on the Rocks
1 ½ oz. Three-O Cherry Vodka
4 oz. ginger ale
Splash of grenadine
Mix in a glass filled with ice and garnish with a cherry.

Cupid’s Broken Arrow
3 oz. Three-O Mango Vodka
½ oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. cranberry juice
Splash fresh lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a cherry.

Shot of Love Stinks
1 oz. Three-O Grape Vodka
½ oz. black raspberry liqueur
½ oz. cranberry juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled shot glass.

(Kristen Hamzik)

Coming from a team of girls who don’t leave home without their laptops and/or Blackberries, it might sound odd that we really do appreciate a hand-written note. There’s something special (and obviously more personal) about getting a card in the mail, addressed to you and not your email address. There’s something even more special about getting something in the mail that is not a bill. At the same time, we understand more than most the beauty of e-mail and the related avoidance of the card aisle at CVS, line at the post office and time it takes for snail mail to arrive. That’s why we have a new-found love for online greeting card store and organizer, JackCards.com.

The site allows you to create a profile where you can load important events (birthdays, anniversaries, general holidays) plus your family and friends’ mailing addresses, then schedule delivery dates for the cards you choose! The cards will come to you, stamped and addressed, 2 weeks prior to a given event - giving you time to write your own personal message and send on its way. The card selection is great as well - from sassy Valentine’s Day cards “I want to have text with you” to break-up cards “Break-ups are like a bikini wax…excruciating but so worth it” to some of the most beautiful vintage-inspired cards we’ve seen.

Prices range similarly to the options you’d find in a drug store, and shipping is not bad especially if you order more than just 1 card.

Keeping in mind the time you’ll save by not having to go to the store and/or post office, we think it’s a bargain.

Now go ahead, get personal.

(Noelle Provencial)

Originally published- January 7, 2010