I’m addicted to these – and I don’t care who knows it.

I love to make them and I love to use them.  I’m forever tearing up my magazines and leaving piles of supplies scattered around my office - and since it’s our home office, my husband can’t get enough of that last part.

Each envelope comes with upcycled stationery and sails nicely though the postal system. 

To view a few sets, check out our ETSY store!

I was in the bank last week doing bank related things when I noticed a small Christmas tree.  It was decorated with white envelopes clipped to the tree with little wooden clothespins; each painted clothespin sported a cute Christmas ornament.  A closer looked revealed each envelope was preaddressed to one of four destinations: Healdsburg Animal Shelter, Healdsburg Senior Center ? Meals on Wheels, Boys & Girls Club of Healdsburg or Healdsburg Food Pantry and already had the appropriate postage using, of course, cute Christmas stamps.

The best part is that each of these organizations will benefit from the extra donations they will receive this Christmas season ? the second best part is that I get to keep the cute clothespin! I now have four.

Evidently there is a woman in our community who upcycles clothespins into donations.

I have no idea who she is, since she doesn?t include a placard on the table to ensure that she receives full credit for this endeavor – But I feel blessed to have the opportunity to participate in her kindness.

We were strolling the grounds of the Real Goods Solar Living Institute located in Hopland, CA this afternoon and eventually wandered into the gift shop.  There are loads of amazing things and among them – a working tin can robot!

It’s best to plan a visit and tour the gift shop, but if not – you can always pick it up here. 

We had such a good time that I am including a link to yelp.com so you can read what other visitors had to say!

Plarn – Have you heard of this stuff?

Evidently last night while I was sleeping there was a plarn revolution.  Yesterday I’d never even heard the word, and today it seems it’s EVERYWHERE!

Plarn (plastic yarn) is made from plastic grocery bags cut into strips then crocheted to create virtually anything – In this case we’re using a grocery bag to create … a grocery bag. 

Check out this link for a tutorial on how to create your own ecofriendly shopping bags.

DYK: It takes 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose in a landfill?

My sister got me hooked on Swagbucks – “the web’s premier digital dollar!”  Basically, you search using the Swagbucks tool bar instead of Google (or whatever) and every once in awhile they toss a few Swagbucks your way.  Once  you’ve accumulated a bunch, you use them to buy cool stuff.

My plan is to blow all my Swagbucks on Amazon gift cards and post those cards to my Amazon account. Then I’ll order all my Christmas gifts from Amazon.com and Viola! - Free Christmas! 

Another bonus is that while everyone else is rushing around in the rain looking for a parking space, I’ll be doing all my Christmas shopping online… in my PJs… while drinking coffee in my kitchen.  All Is Calm.

Sound Good? Join Me!

At the local recycle center 80 empty water bottles will get you a whopping 4 bucks.

At the Samaritans Purse website that whopping 4 bucks will provide a child with milk for an entire week. 

You Should Do It.

Tomorrow kicks off the national collection week for Operation Christmas Child – although for many of us this project actually begins in July, when it’s still hot outside and most people aren’t thinking about Christmas.

A small group of us gather each Wednesday to wrap shoeboxes to look like Christmas presents. As each Wednesday follows the next, the weekly tasks turn from wrapping boxes to sorting, counting and packaging soap, wash cloths, tooth brushes and toothpaste into ziplock baggies.

Next is school supplies, hairbrushes, socks, candy and of course toys and a special stuffed animal.  Last to be included is a short note to the receiving child letting them know that even though we have never met, there is someone out there that is thinking about them and praying for them.   And most of all, we want to tell them that Jesus loves them so very, very much.

You may wonder what this has to do with upcycling – I could take the easy road and say that we turned an old shoe box into a Christmas present – but it’s so much more.

Today our small church exchanged our normal Sunday morning service for a box packing service – everyone of every age participated.  Two hours and 1200 shoe boxes later we had turned a small congregation into world-wide missionaries, sending hope to children all over the world.

Learn more about Operation Christmas Child

I sometimes use the words upcycle and recycle interchangeably, much like Alanis Morissette uses ironic and coincidence? or some other word.

Today I want to talk about the similar sounding ? freecycle.

Freecycle.org is a great way to recycle your old items and pick up some great finds (wait for it?) for free! 

It?s a global nonprofit community that is all about reusing to keep good stuff out of landfills.  

An effective, smart idea made even greater when you consider that you don?t have to deal with craigslist freaks ? you know who you are.

Happy Halloween!

Whatever your celebratory beliefs concerning Halloween, of all the holidays, it is arguably the high holy day of upcycling.

I have personal knowledge of a single hot pink bed sheet purchased from Goodwill that was upcycled into a glam-ghost costume? which was accidently turned into more of a hot pink burka? then upcycled a third time into a super heroine cape for *use your announcer voice* Glam Girl!

? and all this in just one night!

I read an article by Tom Szaky proposing another option to the traditional ideas of upcycling.

The idea is brilliant: Collect Scotch Tape dispensers from the public and give them back to 3M to use for the exact same use they were before?tape dispensers.

Ok, so I?m inspired.

I don?t have a personal collection of tape dispensers laying about, but I?ve got a stack of PG&E return envelopes since I pay my bills online - I?m off to return them to PG&E. 

Admittedly billing envelopes are not as heady as tape dispensers, but we all do what we can.

Read the whole brilliant article at triplepundit.com