How to Create That Tropical Paradise In Your Bathroom

When you have decided that you need a tropical getaway in your home that you can enjoy everyday, try designing a tropical bathroom.  Not only is this room small enough to create a cozy, island view, but it is a place that you use on a daily basis to relax and start your day.  Here are some ideas on how you can turn your bathroom into a tropical paradise:
Canopies: by purchasing some very lightweight material, either white or off-white, you can create some great canopies in your bathroom.  Start by measuring the bathtub or shower for the length of material that you will need to use.  Once you have cut the material (don’t worry about a hem at the bottom!), you will need to get a hammer and some light tacks or small nails so you don’t tear the material.  Next, start at one corner of the bathtub and fold the side of the material to create about a quarter-inch thick area to tack to the ceiling or wall.  You can decide just how far up your canopy goes.
Then, allow part of the material to drape a little, creating a relaxed atmosphere, and do the same kind of fold and tack on the opposite side of the tub or shower. Allow the material to hang to the ground around the tub.  Now, you can either get some fake tropical flowers to pin back the sides of your new canopy or you can find some other tropical material to use as a tie.  Either way, you create a unique look.  If your material is a bit frayed at the bottoms, great!  This only ads to the tropical look, since the more “perfect” it looks, the more fake it will look.  Top it off with some strands of ivy or palm leaves around the top of the canopy to finish off the look.

Greenery:depending on the size of your bathroom, placing a few fake palm trees (nothing huge) around the room or placing some smaller greenery, either real or fake, will add to the tropical theme.  If you decide to go with some fake plants, you can find them at any local discount shop in any size that you desire.  Make sure that you don’t clutter your bathroom too much, or you will defeat the purpose of buying these plants in the first place.  If you need to go with smaller plants, you can opt for real or fake.  By going with fake, you take out all the upkeep with watering and clipping, but if you go with real, it will help to finish out the tropical look.  Ivy plants work best in this setting since they will thrive on the moisture, are cheap to buy, and don’t require any direct sunlight.  You can also purchase strands of fake ivy or palm to top off your canopies or line the top corners of your bath to help create more greenery without using up space.


Tropical décor: by purchasing some smaller, tropical themed items to display around your bathroom, you will finish off your tropical theme.  You don’t have to go overboard, just a few decorative towels, soap and toothbrush holders, and a few inexpensive prints scattered here and there will complete any tropical theme.
I hope that these few tips on creating a tropical paradise in your bathroom have helped to inspire some creative juices in you and get you working on your own paradise to enjoy!  Happy decorating!

How to Create That Tropical Paradise In Your Bathroom

When you have decided that you need a tropical getaway in your home that you can enjoy everyday, try designing a tropical bathroom.  Not only is this room small enough to create a cozy, island view, but it is a place that you use on a daily basis to relax and start your day.  Here are some ideas on how you can turn your bathroom into a tropical paradise:
Canopies: by purchasing some very lightweight material, either white or off-white, you can create some great canopies in your bathroom.  Start by measuring the bathtub or shower for the length of material that you will need to use.  Once you have cut the material (don’t worry about a hem at the bottom!), you will need to get a hammer and some light tacks or small nails so you don’t tear the material.  Next, start at one corner of the bathtub and fold the side of the material to create about a quarter-inch thick area to tack to the ceiling or wall.  You can decide just how far up your canopy goes.
Then, allow part of the material to drape a little, creating a relaxed atmosphere, and do the same kind of fold and tack on the opposite side of the tub or shower. Allow the material to hang to the ground around the tub.  Now, you can either get some fake tropical flowers to pin back the sides of your new canopy or you can find some other tropical material to use as a tie.  Either way, you create a unique look.  If your material is a bit frayed at the bottoms, great!  This only ads to the tropical look, since the more “perfect” it looks, the more fake it will look.  Top it off with some strands of ivy or palm leaves around the top of the canopy to finish off the look.

Greenery:depending on the size of your bathroom, placing a few fake palm trees (nothing huge) around the room or placing some smaller greenery, either real or fake, will add to the tropical theme.  If you decide to go with some fake plants, you can find them at any local discount shop in any size that you desire.  Make sure that you don’t clutter your bathroom too much, or you will defeat the purpose of buying these plants in the first place.  If you need to go with smaller plants, you can opt for real or fake.  By going with fake, you take out all the upkeep with watering and clipping, but if you go with real, it will help to finish out the tropical look.  Ivy plants work best in this setting since they will thrive on the moisture, are cheap to buy, and don’t require any direct sunlight.  You can also purchase strands of fake ivy or palm to top off your canopies or line the top corners of your bath to help create more greenery without using up space.

Please be kind to our Feathered Friends

This is a very good time to be sure to give the birds Suet , They need it to stay warm.

Here are some recipes , but of course you can buy it already made .

How To Make Suet for Wild Birds

Making suet cakes for wild birds is actually an easy task and suet can be provided for the birds in a number of ways - you don't even need a recipe! Just follow a few guidelines.

Western bluebirds, chickadees, jays, towhees, warblers, woodpeckers and more will come to your yard for suet treats in all seasons, but I suggest limiting homemade suet treats to winter use. It's far too easy for the stuff to melt or go rancid in warmer months.

 

What is Suet? 

Pure suet is the fatty tissue that gathers around a cow's kidney area. You may be able to get some from your butcher, but in a pinch you can use lard from the grocery store. If you use pure suet, you might like to work outside using an electric frying pan as the task can be smelly.

If you'd prefer to live without the smell, wild birds do enjoy strips of suet straight from the grocery store or butcher shop hanging from a tree branch.

Homemade Suet Cakes

Making homemade suet cakes is simply a matter of melting fat down to a pour-easy consistency, adding a few ingredients of your choosing, then pouring the mixture into a mold. The shape of the mold is determined by the type of suet feeder you'll use.

If you are using lard or shortening for homemade suet cakes, adding equal parts of peanut butter flour will help maintain correct consistency of regular suet cakes.

To this warm and pour-able mixture you could add rolled oats, bird seed, cornmeal, raisins, unsalted nuts and anything else you think the birds would enjoy. Then, pour your warm suet 'soup' into the mold (a bread pan where you could slice off bits for your store bought suet feeder, cupcake tins that you could pierce with wire and hang from a tree, etc.) Specialty recipes are at the bottom of this page.

Keep any unused portions in the freezer for up to two months.

.

The Suet Feeder

You can make your own suet feeder or buy one for a few bucks. I've fed suet using many methods - placing home made suet cakes in an onion bag, bending wire mesh around my cakes - but by far the most preferable suet feeder is one that is both easy to clean and protected by the elements.

Here's an example...

Nuthatch Suet Silhouette Feeder Verdigris for store bought suet cakes or homemade suet (see recipes below)...

...it's 10inW x 7inD x 9inH and has a lifetime finish. Simply hang it from a tree, clean and refill as needed and it doesn't look like some ugly fat hanging around your yard. The birds will love you for it!

(To make your own rustic suet feeder, visit Walter's page here.)

Here's a few more suet recipes you can make at home for the birds:

Birder's Oat Cakes

1 pound suet cut in small 1" pieces
1 cup rolled oats (quick cooking is best)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup mixed wild bird seed
1 cup sunflower seeds

1. 
   
   
   
   Melt suet in pot or microwave.
2. 
   
   
   
   Stir in remaining ingredients and blend well.
3. 
   
   
   
   Pour into paper-lined muffin tins.
4. 
   
   
   
   Chill until hardened or freeze.

Peanut Butter Cake

1 part melted beef suet
1 part chunky or smooth peanut butter
6 parts cornmeal 

1. 
   
   
   
   To the melted suet add peanut butter and cornmeal.
2. 
   
   
   
   Spoon into paper-lined muffin tins and cool.
3. 
   
   
   
   Store in the freezer until you're ready to use.

Birder's Delight (Nut 'n Apple Cake) 

1/2 pound of suet
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup unsalted nuts
3 chopped apples
1 cup raisins
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup of cornmeal
1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour
1 cup of smooth or creamy peanut butter
1 cup wild bird seed

1. 
   
   
   
   Mix all ingredients, adding enough suet as required to hold the 'cakes' together.
2. 
   
   
   
   Shape into balls or press into pine cones.
3. 
   
   
   
   Freeze and use as needed.