eco-friendly

Mesh laundry bag = produce bag. Ingenious!

If you read this blog on a regular basis, I’m sure you are by now aware that I am a fan of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I use reusable bags 90% of the time when I go shopping, but I don’t know how to avoid using the plastic produce sacks at the grocery stores. I try to use as few as possible every time I go, and the two or three I do use make me slightly cringe.

I visit Dollar Sore Crafts at least once a day, looking for cheap crafty goodness. I stumbled upon these reuseable mesh produce bags and was, like, “DUH! Why didn’t I think of this before!” I added the mesh bags to my list of items to look for the next time I was at the Dollar Store.

I usually hit the Dollar Store on Cantrell…I can’t walk out without spending $10 or more. I looked in the home organizing section and found a 3-pack of 12 x 12  mesh laundry bags with a zipper closure. I decided these would work just fine as is.

I took them to the shiny Kroger (Kroger on Polk) and filled one with apples. As I was checking out, I wondered what kind of reaction I’d get from the cashier. He said, “Is this a laundry bag? That’s pretty cool.” No problems.

So pick up a pack of these mesh bags and keep them with your reusable bags for your next trip to the grocery store!

My Pollock-in-training's handiwork

I don’t know about you, but I get REALLY excited about my kiddo’s artwork. I study the washable-paint swirls, looking for the makings of an artsistic genius lurking in those messy masterpieces.

I hate to part with anything he’s colored/painted/drawn, so when the pile was so high that the husband began to drop hints like, “Is that really necessary?” I had to come up with a new idea.

He does the majority of his painting on an art easel with a roll of paper, so most of his art ends up measuring 18  by 20 inches. That is just enough paper to wrap a box!

So I took all of his loose artwork and rolled them together, and put them with my rolls of wrapping paper. When I use one for a gift, I try to center the top of the box on a colorful part of the paper for maximum impact. I don’t add any ribbons or bows, and either write the child’s name on the box or attach a gift tag.

I love this idea threefold: it goes along with my 3 R’s obsession, it showcases my budding Signac at work, and allows me to continue to hoard. What more could I want?

I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to hold on to stuff. I particularly like greeting cards, and collect the ones we get all through the year.

I saw some gift tags cut in the shape of initials from cards earlier this year on line or something like that, and thought that would be a great use for my collection. I grabbed up some Christmas cards from my stash for the project, and set out to make some gift tags instead of buying new ones.

Step one

I have a friend whose family has made a pact to create at least one homemade gift for each other this Christmas. Inspired, I decided to go out on the search for some very easy and inexpensive gift ideas, using items you might already have on hand.

Photo from Blue Cricket Design

I have told you of my love of Blue Cricket Designs (remember the Halloween Ornaments? FABULOUS!) so I was not surprised to find this fun little item on her site: Holiday Clothes Pins! It is a very easy project and can be done with a few supplies, by you or your kids. As she mentions, you can use them to make a garland of Christmas Cards, or put magnets on the back to use on the fridge. If you do not have scrapbook paper at home, tear out colorful magazine pages instead…Reuse, one of the 3 R’s! 

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I feel like a real blogger now! Katherine Benenati from Hot Mama is my guest blogger for today, here to share her super cute homemade ornament idea, using wine corks. Thanks Katherine!

Wreath o' corks!

Leigh’s agreed to let me post this little craft project on her blog. (Normally, I’m over at Hot Mama talking fitness. I know more things to do with a dumbbell than a glue gun.)

I saw cork ornaments in a winery years ago in Southern California, yes there are wineries in SoCal. While reindeer were the most popular ornament, some wineries used their leftover corks to make sheep, teddy bears, manger scenes, stars. My skills are more limited and my forays into non-reindeer territory haven’t gone so well. The failed ornaments, a moose, a dog and a teddy bear are in the back of our tree. My husband thinks they’re “cute” and won’t throw them away or let me refashion them.

Over the years, I’ve made dozens, sold a few, gave away lots more. My favorites are ones that reuse ribbon or things I’ve found in a yard sale grab bag, old ornaments, antique bells. The ornaments are great to slip around the neck of a bottle of wine. They also make for pretty wreath decorations. You crafty types can probably look at them and tell how they’re made but here’s a step-by-step anyway.

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photo from thefoodpornographer.com

I am SO OBSESSED with bento boxes right now…last night I spent 3 hours on the Internet, searching for boxes, accessories and blogs by people who make bentos. Oh the compartmentalized joy! Here is an explanation about what bento, also called obento, is.

I have loved all things Japanese since I was young, starting with the Hello Kitty craze  in the third grade. Everything is so little and has a special purpose (Jerk reference.) It’s all modular and perfect and handy and…

Anyway, I found out about the Japanese store Daiso through the blog WhiMSy love. It’s like IKEA for the Japanese, except most things cost below a couple of bucks. They have 9 stores in the U.S., but they do have an online store and I spent some time perusing the obento section (boxes and accessories)…such heaven.

The accessories make bentos so much fun: food dividers, cups, picks, animal shaped food cutters and sauce containers. The list is absolutely endless. Everything is made to look like  little anime characters and you can’t read most of the writing on anything because its all in Japanese. That’s part of the fun, though.

Now, some people go crazy with their obento. Here are some of them. My fascination is not with these people, although I do admire the time and effort they put into their craft. What I admire and want to emulate are the people who make the simple bento boxes daily for their family.

photo from wendolonia.com

Wendy of the mama blog Wendolonia is a woman of my own crafty heart who blogs about the bentos she make for her grade-school aged son. She has a week in bento series, a great bento FAQ section and a tutorial on how to make a bento for a preschooler.

photo from lunchinabox.net

I also enjoy reading Biggie’s Lunch in a Box blog, a very informative blog that gives great advice and tips, like what size box you should buy, how to fill in gaps in your bento, and tips for making bentos for picky eaters. 

I purchased a Laptop Lunch bento box (looks just like the one from the Wendolonia photo) last month at a great eco-living store in Dallas called green living  and I’ve only used it once so far. I packed my leftovers from taco night and it worked out very well.

Anyway, we’ll see how this goes. I told the husband that when the kiddo start pre-k and has to take his lunch, it will be bento-style. He is curious to see how long that lasts. I think the kiddo will love it…he’s very much his mother’s child.

UPDATE: I completely forgot to metion the owner of the first picture, an Aussie who writes The Food Pornographer. She takes her yummy-lookin’ dinners and turns the leftovers into bentos. She even puts little notes in the ones for her partner….awww….

Photo from berlinswhimsy.com

I am a big believer in my Swiffer, but hate the thought of throwing all those disposable pads away. Instead, I have been using a microfiber reuseable cleaning towel. It works well but is too big and flops off the ends as I try to clean the floors.

I stumbled across this tutorial on Berlin’s Whimsy for making reusable Swiffer covers and thought they would work wonderfully with the microfiber towel. Cute, huh?

She also makes bento box lunches for her kids(I picked up one just like hers in Dallas a few weekends ago) and loved all the photos on Flickr.

Usually the kiddo’s school has a Halloween party and we all bring goodies to eat, but I always like to make treat bags for them to take home with them, too. I’ve started to think about different Halloween treats for him to take up to his school, so I thought I’d share what I’ve found so far.

Photo from Craftbits.com

Mummy Treat Cups
Most anyone could make this craft just using what you already have at home. I’m sure any color disposable cup would work, just clear out your cabinets instead of buying more cups at the store. 

Photo from Kaboose.com

Egg Carton Treat Cups
As always, I’m all about reducing, recycling and reusing. This is a great way to reuse your empty egg cartons before they go to the trash or the recycle bin.

Photo from FamilyFun.com

Treat Bag Stickers for Halloween
Have your kids color these sweet Halloween pics then cut, glue them onto a paper bag, then fill with Halloween goodies!

Photo from Kaboose.com

A Handful of Treats
Kids will get a kick out of this treat bag…a spooky popcorn hand complete with a spider ring! Here’s a recipe for making popcorn in different colors…green would be great for a witch’s hand!

Can you believe Halloween is just over a month away? Then Thanksgiving, and then my dude turns four, then Christmas…dang, where does the time go?

Anyway, I thought over the next few weeks I’d do some searching for some easy, cheap and FUN kid’s Halloween costumes that you could make for less than $20. If you have any ideas, please send them my way and I’ll post them as well to share with everyone!

I luurve anything Martha Stewart’s people come up with, so I raided her site for ideas. Here’s some favorites from their Halloween Central site:
Outer Space…all you need is an alien (green sweatsuit with green face paint and a boingy-ball headband)
Popcorn Baby…omg SO CUTE!
Waffle and Syrup
Medusa…just add a toga/tunic number from your closet/linen closet
These are just a few of the hundreds of ideas; go here to to check out the rest of the costume ideas for the whole family.

From About.com, here’s a some simple ideas:
Laundry Basket costume
Cotton Candy
Target Queen…I love the reuse and recycle angle on this one
Mr. or Mrs. Tree
There are too many to list (733 more costume and accessory ideas, to be exact), so go to their website to check them out.

Photo from fancydressideas.wordpress.com

And to say goodbye, here’s an idea from a random site that needs no instructions, but really made me laugh. Have a great day, guys!

Leigh

My kiddo was home sick yesterday with a “little tiny fever,” as he says. It’s the kind of fever that is too much to send to school (due to my guilt, really) and almost too low to make him stay in the house. But, not to be one that takes chances, we stayed home all day.

And also not one to lose an opportunity to do a little crafty something with my dude, I looked to my “new” copy of Good Things for Kids, a crafty magazine put out by the Martha Stewart folks in early 2008, picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents a few months ago. I don’t think they make these mags anymore, which really is tragic.

From the Good Things for Kids magazine...my inspiration!

Peeling the crayons

While he took his afternoon nap I peeled the paper from the crayons and chopped them up into pea sized pieces. Like in the picture, I found it helpful to use a knife to scrape a strip of paper off the crayon first, making it easier peel the paper off in one big chunk.

Chopping the crayons

 I layered a kitchen towel under some wax paper on top of my cutting board so it wouldn’t become embedded with crayon chips. Also, the wax paper made a neat funnel for the chips when I poured them into cups. 

All chunked up.

Be sure the pieces are about the size of a pea or smaller.

All the yummy colors, ripe for melting!

I sorted the chips by color families into styrofoam and little yogurt cups. I liked the yogurt cups better, since they were smaller and easier for the kiddo to handle. Just FYI, the peeling/chopping process took me about an hour.

Mixing it up in the muffin tins

Almost ready for the oven.

Put your tin in the oven, preheated to 150 degrees, for 15-20 minutes. Another slight hiccup in my plans was my oven’s lowest setting of 200 degrees. I set my timer to 12 minutes, and this was the result:

Pretty colors...

They set out for 20-30 minutes, hardening up fairly quickly. They just popped right out with a twist.

The finished product.

Organizing, just like his momma.

Testing them out.

Overall this was a great, fast, fun and super easy project. Wouldn’t these make great stocking stuffers or class mate treats? And a great way to recycle those crayons you were going to toss, huh? Let me know if you try them out; I’d love to hear about your success! Talk to you all later-

Leigh