Earth Friendly Crafts
Happy Earth Day everyone! I thought I’d celebrate Earth Day with a few eco-friendly crafts. I love to craft and I especially like the idea of crafting using re-purposed materials. (Remember my garden box out of a sandbox last year?)
Here are a few great earth friendly crafts that you can try at home.
Recently I made a fabric pennant banner from old clothes that belonged to my boys. It currently hangs in my son Evan’s room. In the next week or so I hope to have a “how to” post up on these bad boys. I’m currently making one for my kitchen.
Download Planet Earth Episode for Free
In celebration of Earth Day, BBC Earth is offering a free Planet Earth episode Pole to Pole download on iTunes now through April 26. 2010.
Read MoreFor The Love of Mint
Last year I purchased a mint plant along with a few other herbs. All the other herbs died rather quickly on me, aside from a lavender bush that never flowered-and that has since been replanted in my flower beds. The mint, much to my pleasure grew prolifically. It grew so well that I actually broke the plant up in two and planted it in a new planter.
I enjoyed more than a few mojitos last summer.
A good mojito makes this girl very happy.
When the weather grew cold last November my lovely mint withered up. I was a little nervous, but someone once told me, “you can’t kill mint. It’ll keep coming back.”
Well it did.
Both planters are growing again, but I decided this afternoon that I’m going to plant one of the planters in the ground, in my flower bed (in the same one that now houses the lavender), and the other I split into two.
I replanted a few of the the delicate new leaves into a small recycled tomato sauce tin. I think it would make a lovely little gift to someone once the mint has filled it up. Especially if I wrap a pretty bright bow around the out side of the can.
I also added a few to an empty coffee can I had waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.
I’m a little nervous about how they’ll grow indoors, but if they grow half as good as they did last year, I hope to have mint all year round. I love a little greenery in the kitchen. I think I may just go out and buy a few more herbs and see if they’ll grow better in doors. I love the fact that I’ve reused something that would other wise have gotten thrown out.
Toodles.
Read MoreHello Spring, I've Missed You.
Today is Thursday. Thursdays are our garbage day. Luckily the garbage collectors come early to remove the week’s refuse and I don’t have to look at my garbage can sitting in the street all day long. I usually pull it back to it’s spot in our back yard while Evan naps. Today was a beautiful day and we were waiting outside for my son Michael’s bus to come and take him off to kindergarten instead of indoors by the window as we had been for the winter months. (Lucky me Mike’s bus stop is right in front of our home!) Seeing my garbage can just sitting there empty, I decided to return it to it’s spot in our back yard.
I had Evan (my toddler) in one arm-he was shoeless-while I hauled the can with the other. Managing the two-was not an easy task-for my at times very uncoordinated self, but I managed with a quick stop to pull little Evan back up to my eye level; as he’d slipped down to somewhere around my hips and was looking up at me, his big brown eyes questioning my judgment.
Once he was able to wrap his little arms around my neck-holding on for dear life-rather than affectionately loving on his mommy, I began to haul my load back around my house when I saw sticking up out of the grass, little green leaves, that belong to my tulips!
I couldn’t believe my eyes! There before me was proof that Spring was fast approaching and before to long the world would be green and wonderful and reborn again!
I had to take a moment to compose myself, there in my yard, babe in one hand garbage in the other. I am, through this post attempting to adequately express how happy that little bit of green in my still brown snow flattened grass made me. I feel like I’m failing. I imagine it’s akin to a marooned pirate finally able to set sail on his beloved ocean.
I was so overjoyed that as soon as Evan went down for his nap I was outside, cleaning out my flowerbeds getting ready to plant, and plant and plant! It felt so great to be out-of-doors. It really did. For a brief moment while I was outside clearing away the pine needles, and removing most of my mulch my neighborhood quieted, and I heard for the first time in months the birds chirping. It was a symphony as great as Mozart to my birdsong starved ears. I also got startled by an earthworm while I was clearing the old mulch. I was careful not to hurt him and let him go about my business even though he made my heart skip a beat or four!
Hello spring. I’ve missed you.
Read MoreGoodWill Gives Back
I went to GoodWill yesterday to donate a few things that were taking up space in my townhouse. I figured someone could use them and I didn’t want to bother with waiting for someone on freecycle.
While I was there I decided to stop in; to browse the books and try my luck. I’m in need of a new winter coat – with my weight loss I gave all my coats away and really would like a new pea coat. Unfortunately I didn’t find a coat, but I did find a purse! It had never been used (the store tags were still on it!) It’s an all leather Liz Claiborne hobo-ish kind of bag. The crazy thing is-that this is exactly the type of bag I’m into these days!
Score!
The Andean Collection – Product Review
I love to learn about new companies, especially new companies that have a positive impact on people-and by extension our planet. The Andean Collection is a company that does just that. The Andean collection, by using fair trade principles are creating a “greener planet” while “providing a path out of poverty for artisans -who in addition to earning a wage for their work, “share in the profits of the company as partial owners of The Andean Collection.”
The Andean Collection uses “natural materials [that] encourages the preservation of trees and of traditional forest communities. No trees are cut down for the harvest of these materials, thus it is a sustainable source of income for the communities.” You can read more about the materials used like the tagua nut, acai seed, or coconut, please visit their materials information page.
The Andean Collection is a beautiful collection- the jewelry – I received a bracelet made from the tagua nut is expertly made-and if I didn’t know that it was made from a nut-I honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell.
I applaud The Andean Collection for their beautiful and highly fashionable jewelry, that tells a story-but more-so for their efforts to help end poverty in a part of our word that is very poor-while preserving our natural rain forests.
I’m happy to say that The Andean Collection will give one reader a piece from their collection!
To enter:
Please subscribe to The Andean Collection’s newsletter (you can find the link on the right hand side of their shop page) and/or become a fan on facebook. Then go over to my blog party page and leave a comment telling me you’ve done either of these or both. Leave a new comment for each one – because it’s via comments that you are entered. The more comments the more entries. You must do at least one to be entered to win a piece from this collection. When you subscribe to the newsletter – The Andean Collection will send you a code for 20% off – how awesome is that?
Contest ends October 31, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be selected at random using random.org the more you enter the more chances you have to win. It’s that simple! Thank you for reading and good luck!
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