In honor of our family reunion today, I’m drinking my morning coffee from my 1996 Giuseponi etc. commemorative family reunion mug.
Eating, laughing and several choruses of “You Are My Sunshine” and “Que Sera Sera” played on the mandolins are sure to fill a jar like this to overflowing.
I love this idea – thanks for the inspiration inchmark.squarespace.com!
Valentine’s Day – Not the holiday typically set aside for handmade / recycled gifts, unless they’re from your 5 year-old. Or so I thought.
Keep your flowers and chocolates – I totally want this.
Maybe a little chocolate, in the form of a mocha – so i can use my new present.
Just in case you’re judging me a little for using a paper cup – check this.
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!
Last week when I was visiting my super-awesome-sister, who also happens to be super-awesome-thrifty, she was mid-painting when I noticed she was using a plastic movie case as a painting palette.
Pretty Smart.
To see some of her super-awesome-paintings - check her out here.
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.
I love getting Christmas cards – I love it so much I want to marry it.
But what do you do with them when you flip the calendar to January? Some Christmas cards are just too beautiful, or too precious to toss in the recycle bin or donate for a classroom project ? so instead of shoving them in the back of a drawer somewhere, try this:
? Cut the card at the seam and use craft scissors to trim out a pretty frame, both on the front of the card and the inside of the card
? Affix the front of the card to a piece of sturdy craft paper and the inside of the card to the back
? Tie a pretty ribbon to create a ?hook? for your Christmas tree
Viola – A beautiful Christmas ornament! I made a bunch one year because I had more tree than ornaments. These days I have plenty of ornaments, but these remain my favorites. As we decorate our tree each year, it?s wonderful to re-read all of the special Christmas cards my family has received over the years.
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
