Crafting a Green World

Easter is right around the corner ready to hop into your homes.

Are you ready? Have you considered having an Eco- Easter?

Forget the throwaway baskets, the terrible un-eco plastic grass, and cheap little plastic toys that are broken and trashed before the day is over. This year consider being green and offering your children fun, quality toys and products that are eco-friendly and that can be enjoyed for much longer that a day or two.

Stubby Pencil Studio (www.stubbypencilstudio.com) is a one stop shop for eco-friendly arts and crafts supplies for kids. They also have games and small toys; all made with ethical and eco materials.

They have offered to give away a wonderful Eco-Easter Basket to one lucky winner. Read the rest of this entry »

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures by Amanda Blake Soule is the green craft book for those of you who love the shabby chic type of decor that not only feels comfortable but is almost necessary when you have small children.

The book is full of wonderful ways to use everyday discarded items and make them into heartfelt treasures, shabby chic decor, and fun family memories. Read the rest of this entry »

Browsing through my local library’s green section I recently came across A Greener Christmas. Wow! I really wish I would have had this book at Christmas. What a great book filled with crafts and recipes to bring back the old fashioned feeling of a true Christmas, not a glitzy glammy one.

I have discovered several ideas in the book that can easily be transformed to fit Valentine’s Day so I don’t have to wait almost a whole year to put any of these nifty ideas into use. Read the rest of this entry »

If you love the luxury of thick, textured handmade paper for your crafty needs then you should check out Twisted Limb Paperworks.

Whether you make cards, scrapbook or just need some scrap paper for your craft needs they have a great selection of high quality, eco-friendly handmade paper made from recycled paper.

Read the rest of this entry »

Scrap-booking is very popular. Many people have really embraced the concept of creating beautiful books filled with memories.

Personally I’ve always kinda shunned it. I found it wasteful because so much paper and useless little dodads were used, so it’s never been a “green” thing to do in my mind.

Now companies are embracing that “green” idea and want to provide materials for people who want to scrapbook while being eco-friendly.

Creatively Green is one of those companies. Read the rest of this entry »

I didn’t get to make as many handmade gifts as I had planned but I still made a few. Here’s a bit of my handmade holiday show offs.

I made my mother another memory shadow box out of items I found in my grandparents old stuff. This one matches the one I made for her last year. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More by Anna Getty is a great book that covers how to green Christmas better than any other book I’ve read on the subject in the way that if offers tons of hands-on advice and projects, and that’s what I love most- the DIY projects and crafts.

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas is full of tips, expert advice, crafts, recipes, decorating ideas and pretty much everything you need to make the holidays more eco-friendly. Read the rest of this entry »

Save your money for gifts this year. Don’t spend a small fortune on fancy gift bags, boxes, wrapping paper, tags, and cards- make your own out of what you have.

Almost anything can be transformed in something holiday wrap worthy with a little effort- cardboard boxes, paper bags, and baskets. Even that stack of paint sample cards can be used for something crafty. Read the rest of this entry »

I found this fabulous tutorial on how to make a large gift bow out of any paper you have on hand: magazines, scrap paper, pretty scrapbook paper, even old junkmail or maps.

The tutorial is from the talented crafter Jessica Jones and if you don’t follow her blog you should: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com

Here’s some more info about the bow making process. Read the rest of this entry »

I love the look of wine and wine bottles and when I saw one of these wine bottle lamps at a craft show I knew I wanted to make my own.

It took a little practice and a lot of help from my husband but we figured out how to make them just right. Then we ran out of lights and couldn’t find anymore. Hopefully this season we can. Read the rest of this entry »