Handmade Gifts for a Bobby Birthday!

We went to a birthday party for my friend Nicole's oldest son Bobby.  He turned 7 and really likes science.  I've been trying to keep up my all-handmade gifts committment and though I don't always remember to take pictures, I have been pretty good about sticking to the commitment part.  For Bobby's love of science and learning, I thought he might like to do some screenprinting.  I got him two plain t-shirts.  I embellished one with this truck material I already had.  I left the other plain so he can design his own shirt.  I told Nicole they can come over sometime once he draws what he wants on his shirt and we'll screenprint it with the Yudu together.  I think he'll love it!

I just made a simple strip of the fabric in case he wants to screenprint his name across it or something else fun.  I made the bag of the same truck fabric as I don't like to use wrapping paper if I can avoid it.  It was also good practice for french seams.  Here's everything I included in the bag.

The party was at a local aquatic center.  It was so much fun!  Holden really enjoyed the water and the sand.  It was a great day for it!

Happy Birthday Bobby!  We had a great time at your party and we think you're a great kid!  I'm so glad we get to be friends with you and your family!

Canning: New Traditions & Skills

 

Saturday I canned spaghetti sauce for the first time.  My friend Lina let me come over and observe the canning process last Wednesday and I was eager to try it myself.  I didn't take pictures of the in-process sauce and I didn't follow any recipe or tutorial exactly.  I have the Ball Jar booklet about canning and I followed it for timing, etc. but I just sort of made up the sauce recipe.  It tasted really good before canning, so I'm hoping it will still be good when we open the last jar.  

I really love doing traditional things.  I like hanging laundry on the line, picking berries, making jam.   I sometimes think I was born in the wrong era, or wish I was Amish.  I have to say though, that I quickly remember that these ideas involve no iPhones, no internet, no indoor plumbing.  These things make me think we really have the best of both worlds.  We can choose technology and tradition...We can can in the morning and blog at night ;)

Anyway, I was excited to share since I didn't break any jars and they all sealed.  I was pretty much ecstatic about the turn out and I feel like I could look at those beautiful jars all day.  Do you can?  Do you do something else that's a throwback to different times?  I'd love it if you'd share your perspective...

Audiobooks and Ebooks

I already admitted to you that I really love books.  I'm one of those people who doesn't like to stop reading once she gets into a book.  Yes, I'm the person you see reading at stoplights.  Now, in an effort to avoid getting into trouble in the comment section, as well as with my husband, I should tell you that I don't do this anymore.  Having my son in the car has done a lot for my sense of safety and consideration while driving.  However, the urge keep reading still rears its ugly head occasionally.  Audio books are a great answer to this dilemma.  I often get books on CD at the library and I love them. 


So, I was pretty excited to get a tip from TipHero yesterday about audio books!  They introduced me to LibriVox.  In their own words, "LibriVox provides free audiobooks from the public domain." According to the TipHero article, this includes all books published in the US prior to 1923.  Now, I know that's not the latest Nicholas Sparks novel, but if you're looking to get the classics knocked out, this is a pretty cool way to get it done.  The reading is done by volunteers, so it might not be exactly what you're used to.  To me though, this is an awesome option to get something for FREE and be green doing it!


In the same tip from TipHero, they mentioned Project Gutenberg.  I hadn't heard of that either, but it was a link, so I opened it in a new tab.  I was pumped to learn that the Gutenberg Project is the same idea as LibriVox, but for e-books.  Apparently, it's been around a lot longer than LibriVox, so I'm pretty behind on this.  I love this idea too.  Ideally, I have always wished that when you got a book, it came with several different media types that would sync themselves automatically.  That way, when you were reading and you got in your car, it would play as an audio book.  Then, you get out and it would play as an audio book on your phone...maybe becoming an e-book when you get to work (for breaks, people!).  Anyway, since that isn't likely to happen for me (Kindle enhancements, anyone?) I just read multiple books at one time.  They aren't usually the same genre, so it's easy to tell them apart...


What's your craziest wish for things that aren't likely to happen?  You know, besides waking up a billionaire.  Do you like to listen to audio books?  Read e-books?  Create wild expectations for future generations to invent?



PS-TipHero is a pretty cool site in its own right.  There are tons of tips for saving money, being green, etc.  Check it out if you want WAY more tips than I could ever give you ;)

Green Tip: Don't be a Hoarder!

I'm tempted to avoid this green tip, because I don't want my husband to read it.  He'll get all gloaty (is that a word) and think that this means I want to live a minimalist lifestyle, get rid of all our furniture and paint that remains (you know, the walls and the floor) white.  But, I think it has to be covered.  And, since I'm fresh off a cleaning/purging binge, it's likely now or never.

The greenest thing you can do is to avoid buying things you don't need.  This is one green tip that I always have a hard time following...How about you?  Any suggestions to avoid unnecessary purchases?

Cloth Diapers

Some of you may be thinking – Eew, Cloth Diapers! Or, you might be picturing plastic pants and safety pins. But, modern cloth diapers aren't really any of these things. Cloth diapers are cuter, better for the environment and a lot of studies say, better for your baby's skin. I love them. But, as a disclaimer, I don't use cloth full time. I haven't been using cloth much at all lately. I've been spending all my extra time crafting, filling orders and blogging, so I've kind of let cloth take a back seat to that. It doesn't take a lot of extra time, but I haven't done the laundry lately. My husband has been doing most of it (I'm a lucky lady!) and he's too grossed out to do the diaper laundry.

When I decided to try using cloth diapers, I didn't want it to be another thing that could stress me out or make me feel guilty. I figure every cloth diaper we use prevents a disposable from entering the landfill, and I'm happy about it every time. But, I don't feel bad when I use a disposable or 4 either. It works out pretty well for us…If you're tempted to try it, you should. We use a variety of different cloth diapers, but my favorite are SoftBums. They really are one size and have fit Holden perfectly since we got them. I love their All-in-Two system too, as you don't have to stuff diapers and the covers can be used more than once if they don't poop. I do get them made with snaps instead of touch tape, but that's just a personal preference. Holden's old enough that I haven't bought any cloth diapers in a while, but for the next baby (no plans yet!) I'm going to buy a lot more of these brand. (I am not being compensated in any way by SoftBums – I just like them!)

What about you? Do you use cloth? Have you thought of trying it?

Washing Fruits and Vegetables

I can't always afford to buy organic.  When someone in your household is off work buying fresh foods and keeping the electricity on is much more important than buying organic.  But, I don't want pesticides and wax on my food either.  So, I always used Fit Fruit and Vegetable wash.  I love it and I don't have anything bad to say about it...but in my search to be truly green (and save money doing it) I found some recipes for homemade fruit and veggie washes.  I thought I'd share them with you :)

Living on a Dime's Lemon Juice Wash
Variety of Ideas on Dollar Stretcher
Frugal Living's Vinegar Wash

I think I'm going to try the vinegar wash because the Dollar Stretcher article says Fit uses vinegar (so I'll already be used to it) and I have a TON of vinegar already for my homemade cleaning products.

What about you?  Do you use anything special to wash your fruits and veggies?  Do you buy a product or make your own?  I'd love to hear what you do to save green and go green :)

Reusing things before throwing them away

Hope you guys can forgive me for missing a few days of the green tips...I seemed to need a bit of time away from the computer after a busy week with my Grandpa's memorial and some extra family time was just what the doctor ordered.  I'm feeling much better and I'm ready to get my craft on, so to speak, as well as get some green tips out to you :)  I hope you all had a great Easter (if you celebrate it) and some wonderful time with family too!

In my kitchen, and anywhere else I can, I like to reuse things as much as I can, even if it's just once or twice before I throw them away or recycle them.  Here's a couple examples of that:

The Butter Wrapper - I read somewhere (I don't remember where or I'd give credit - sorry!) that you should freeze your butter wrappers to reuse for a variety of different things.  They gave suggestions like using in place of waxed paper between hamburger patties, and using them to rub down a pan to prevent sticking, instead of using a cooking oil spray.  This is primarily what I reuse them for.  I love it!  I just fold the wrappers onto themselves and stick them in the freezer door.  It works great :)

Miscellaneous Glass Jars - I reuse glass jars from peanut butter and spaghetti sauce, etc. to store leftovers in the fridge.  The different sizes are nice for a variety of quantities and I feel good about reusing things, even in lieu of recycling.  Recycling is great, but it still uses more resources than reusing.

Think outside the box a little before you throw something away and see if you can't come up with another way to get a little extra life out of it.  I feel great when I can help the environment in some small way, but it's equally nice when that step can help my wallet too!

This is what my house looks like...

Photo courtesy of Photos8.com

Okay, so this isn't really my house.  But I used to be a total book hog.  I bought TONS of books!  Then, one day I started realizing that I RARELY ever read a book twice.  I started to think I was wasting money by buying these books and storing them, while buying more and more bookshelves to keep them available.  Silly, since I never gave a book away and only occasionally lent them to friends or family.  

I love to read and have kept reading a lot, even since my son was born.  I really feel that I can't live without books.  We are super lucky to have an awesome library network in our area.  So, I still get to read a lot of awesome books and I feel a bit better about the resources I'm consuming when I read the latest Jodi Picoult (House Rules was AWESOME, btw!).  We're close enough to a library branch that we often walk there when the weather is nice; even more green!  My son loves it for the Thomas train set, but I'm sure eventually it will help foster a love of books in him too!  

So today's tip is to visit your local library!  If you really must have the latest novel and you can't wait to get it from the library - buy it, read it and then donate it back to your library!  You'll be helping the economy and your community (If they can't use it, they'll sell it.).  Library sales are also good places to get books inexpensively (and after they've been well-loved) if you really want to keep books that you own nearby! 

P.S. Today's post is in memory of my Grandpa, Hank Carothers, who passed away this past Monday.  He was an avid reader, who surrounded himself with (used) books.  I'm so lucky to have had him in my life, inspiring my love of reading, among many other passions.  He will be greatly missed. 

Recycled Packaging for Birthdays & Other Celebrations

My brother Nick with Holden, 2009

Today is my brother's birthday - Happy Birthday Brubber (Nick)!!!  In honor of our going green month and my brother's birthday, I scoured the web (or things I had tagged in google reader) for recycled packaging.

Since my brother and I keep gifts low-budget, I loved these recycled soda (or pop as we say in Michigan) bottle packaging, as I could easily fill it with some of his favorite candies for a fun and inexpensive birthday gift!  Creative Jewish Mom gave the how-to on these here.  If you haven't seen her website before, you should definitely check it out.  She has lots of recycling ideas, as well as all kinds of other cool projects!

Going Green: (Almost) Paperless

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I recently read this post on Simple Mom that has steps to create a paperless kitchen.  I felt pretty good when I read it, because we already have a paperless kitchen.  We haven't gone totally paperless in our house, but we don't buy or use paper towel anymore. It seemed like it would be an impossible feat and I could never talk my husband into trying it. But, I stopped buying paper towel (I do all of our shopping, so I didn't really give him a choice) and it worked. We started this a few months ago and we haven't bought paper towel yet! Before I made the final step to going without paper towel, I made sure we had a BUNCH of different sized, different fabric rags ready to go. We have used old clothes, sheets, towels, etc. that were stained and/or ripped and not fit for Goodwill. We've accumulated these over several years, but we keep a big box of them in the cabinet in the kitchen, so they're handy to get at and no one can complain that paper towels are really missed. We already had some microfiber cloths and those are one of my favorite to use (even if I hate the way they make my hands feel - need a parrafin treatment anyone?). 

My next goal (though it might sound a bit yucky to some) is to start using handkerchiefs. I have a bunch of vintage ones that belonged to my great grandma and they inspired me to try it. Though I would never dare use hers, I think I could make my own version that are pretty, nicer to my nose and the environment than paper and still easy on the wallet :)

What about you? Do you use paper towel? Facial Tissue?

Lucky Star Lane is Going Green!

Since April 22nd is Earth Day, Lucky Star Lane is devoting the entire month of April to Going Green!  We'll be bringing you green tips you can use in your own household and crafting all month!  We might even have some fun contests and giveaways...So Stay Tuned - April might just be our best month yet!