Share the home-made love!

Do you know what today is? It's the last day of January. Do you know why that's important? Well, if you had paged through the Sunday paper or walked in a store recently, you would realize the clock is TICKING quickly toward Valentine's Day.

My 9 year old was reading the paper with me yesterday and said: 'Geez. Why are there all these ads for Valentine's Day? That's not even the next holiday.'
So I asked: 'What's the next holiday?'
And she said: 'Groundhog Day!' with that exasperated world-weary tone that expressed a loud 'DUH' without actually having said it.
Which led us into a big conversation on why Groundhog Day doesn't get a big spread in the sale sections, and of course, it's that no one's figured out how to sell a lot of stuffed groundhog paraphernalia yet. Yet.

But back to VD. Eeeeek. Like usual, I haven't really thought about it. I know we won't buy any store-bought valentines. But hmmm. What to do, what to do? Past year's have included:

• simple hand-cut hearts of varying colors and sizes (Heather's kids once repurposed old finger-painted art pieces for that color splash!)
• hearts colored with bubble wrap paint impressions
• heart-shaped stamps from cardboard roll-ups

Of course, it's always fun to try something new. MIghty Nest just showed a cute-as-a-button art project using veggies as stamps that could be tweaked for Valentines. I've got some month-old wilted celery that would be perfect for this, as it's about two minutes away from getting tossed into the compost bin.

Is anyone out there a little more on top of this, and have some great plans in store for home-made valentines this year? Or do you have some favorites from years gone by you'd like to share? If you too are looking for ideas, check the comments from the links above, and you may find some fun ideas there. And bonus points for creativity! Who says only a heart can show love? Maybe this will be the year of the trapezoid! Or the hidden groundhog within the parallelogram.

Green new year's resolutions: status report!

Clear your desks. It's time for a pop quiz. Yes, I know you didn't know there was going to be a quiz today. That's the whole point. Ready?

Question 1: How are your green new year's resolutions going?

Here is an example reply based on my green resolutions.

Sample Answer: Well, I did finally read that book on citrus. I learned some of the things I was doing were totally wrong (hence, the leaf drop). And some of the things I am doing are right (much better to over-winter the potted lime and lemon in the garage instead of inside the house). As for that produce intervention, well, um, I did buy some rainbow chard the other day, and we ate it. Green kitchen remodel? Um. Again, we've gotten some library books on the subject. That's it. As for getting rid of stuff… I'm pleased to report our 10-year stockpile of plastic bread bag ties… Gone! But still, there's much work to be done.

Remember, this is an essay type question. Please put your answers in the comments section below. Feel free to comment even if you did not originally post a resolution at the start of the year.

Spooky reuse crafts: egg carton bats

I'm feeling a little throat-scratchy and low-energy today, so I'm going to keep it short. Mindful Momma tweeted this out, and I can hardly wait to show my kids. Bats made from egg cartons! My son, in particular, loves to craft with egg cartons, and he's going to flip when he sees this. Here's the tutorial (not that you really need one). Go forth and get spooky. I'm going to go gargle some salt water.

Buying white vinegar in bulk (not in plastic jugs) or home making?

One of our readers, Sara, is asking for your help, intrepid EnviroMom readers. Read on:

While in the midst of a Google search for buying white vinegar in bulk in Portland, I stumbled across your blog. While your blog didn't have the answers I was searching for, it seems like you might have the same desire that I do for no longer buying plastic jugs when I need to restock my vinegar supply. I've tried everywhere that I know of (in North Portland). I thought for sure the Co-op on NE 15th and Alberta would have it, but they only have every other kind of vinegar known to man. I hope you either already know where to find it, or have the resources to find out without biking all over town, and can share that information with me.

Sad to say, Heather and I don't know of any store in Portland selling white vinegar in bulk. Do you know of anywhere (bonus points if it's bike-able from North Portland) selling white vinegar in bulk (i.e., that you can decant into your own container)? If not, onto the next question… Does anyone make/brew/concoct their own white vinegar (Ack! I don't even know the proper verb to use...)? If so, we'd love to hear how it's done, what's needed, how long it takes, etc.

What do you cook on cast iron cookware?

Do you ever buy yourself something in the hope that you will use it or wear it, and then it sits in your closet collecting dust? Oh, you may peek at it from time to time. Like a scarf that might look fantastic on a chic woman in Paris, but not so much on you (or me!) in Portland, Oregon. So there it sits. Lonely. Dejected. A museum piece.

I fear that may happen with my cast iron skillet I just triumphantly bought at a rummage sale a few weeks ago. Problem being? I don't know what to cook in it. I remember my mom making fried eggs and bacon in hers. Not something we eat a lot of.


Couple this conundrum with the brand spanking new double-sided cast iron griddle we presented my husband with for Father's Day. If my husband hadn't already claimed the super-hero name 'Cheap-o-Dad' he might easily jump into the persona of 'Pancake Man!' He loves pancakes more than life itself (while I like a pancake just fine, I usually find after eating pancakes that I am hungry again by about 9:30, a mere hour or so after breakfast). Regardless, Saturday is holy pancake day (and I just have to deal with my hungries). The need to replace the old pancake griddle we had received as a wedding gift was noticed some time ago. I shudder to tell you, but it was in the family of non-stick, quite possibly Teflon. And after 14 years of marriage, and untold batches of pancakes, it did not look good.

So, dear readers. Do tell. What do you cook on your cast iron cookware? In your skillets and on your griddles? I really want to make a love connection with cast iron and get any and all remainders of Teflon-ish cookware out of my house once and for all. Any tips about cleaning and keeping cast iron seasoned are highly welcome.

Easy home-made valentines with cardboard and file folders

Planning ahead has never been a strength in this family. Great ideas usually arrive a day late and a dollar short. But not so this year with valentines! We stumbled upon a cute and easy Reduce/Reuse idea for home-made valentines cards thanks to the Martha Steward Living magazine that mysteriously arrived in my mailbox a few weeks back (even thought I've not subscribed). Martha's February issue had many mouthwatering Valentines' Day inspirations, most of which we ignored (out waistlines will thank us later). But we did like an idea she had about making stamps with corrugated cardboard -- hers were little rosettes. We modified her idea and made hearts. Here's what the stamps look like:

We used washable Crayola kid paints to ink the stamps (because of course we ended up with paint on our noses to our toes). Once the valentines dried overnight, the kids addressed and signed their cards. Here are some finished cards:


Easy peasy. No glitter. No mess. One-of-a-kid valentines. Nothing new or store-bought with characters and smart-alecky sayings. We had plenty of corrugated cardboard in the recycling bin to make our stamps. It did turn out that I had no cardstock for the cards, but we found a wealth of old file folders that were willing to be down-cycled into valentines.

If you have any easy valentines ideas you'd like to share (especially those that Reduce / Reuse materials creatively), please send us a description and a photo. We'll feature them throughout the week. Let love with a spirit of Reduce / Reuse / Recycle fill the air for this year's Valentine's Day!

Paper and mylar snowflake cuttings

Sometimes the simplest things bring the most pleasure. We've been whittling away at our time off this week, enjoying the 'slow mom' speed that is so rare in our lives most of the time. But here's a shocker... I could not believe that my kids have made it to the ages of 7 11/12 (she turns 8 in January, and tends to be hyper-precise), and 5 -- and had NEVER made paper snowflakes: Scratch paper. Scissors. Imagination. And a wee bit of tape to hang them in the window. Each one prettier than the last:


We also experimented with mylar. Since we can no longer recycle mylar bags, and I just haven't been able to throw away the bags I'd collected, we found they too make lovely silver snowflakes using the same paper cutting method. It was hard to get a picture to do them justice. But fun and festive all the same. Any old mylar bag will do: old helium balloon, potato chip bag, cracker box liner, etc.


Heather and I wish you and your families the happiest of holidays. We will be taking the next few days off to spend some 'slow mom' time with our own families. We'll put our EnviroMom hats back on next Monday! Peace, everyone!

Reuse: easy holiday craft using old socks

My second grader's class made sock snowmen with help from some fourth graders at her school. All it takes is some white tube socks, string to cinch around the middle, ribbon or fabric scraps to decorate, beads, buttons or googly eyes, and something heavy-ish to fill them with (they used rice). Aren't they adorable?

Each year, one of my traditions is to make a Christmas tree ornament that somehow symbolizes the year. Some years, it's easy to come up with ideas. Some hard. This year, I'll keep it simple on the theme, and just modify this cute sock reuse idea. Because heaven knows we have quite a few orphan white socks hanging around! I'm using baby socks, so that it'll become a tiny, ornament-size snowman, and some 20-year old wild rice that I'm never going to get anyone to eat since I haven't managed it yet. Here's what I've got so far (I'm going to let my kids finish and decorate it when they are home from school):

A few months ago, we received an email from Emily in Montreal looking for ideas on where to donate old socks:

I am writing from Montreal, Canada with a big bag of old socks that I simply can't bear to throw in the rubbish bin just yet... and I read on your website in "Old socks, old stuffies, and old board books" that you may know someone from a GreenGroup who makes rugs and be able to use them. They're clean, brightly-coloured, almost entirely mismatched, and some have holes, but they would be great for rug-making. Or perhaps there are Moms in your Green teams that would like to have the socks for arts and crafts projects for little ones? I'm happy to ship to a community centre, church, or school if needed.

We applaud Emily's efforts to not just throw them away, and can only suggest finding a local school or crafter in Montreal who might want them, which sometimes takes a bit of phone calling or creating a free listing on freecycle or craigslist. Given a little bit of creativity, there's really no limit to what a crafter can do with old socks: sock puppets, sock snowmen, beer cozy! Readers, if you have any other ideas on reusing old socks, please, your suggestions are always most welcome!

Reuse: Making a Christmas village from old blocks

Several months ago my kids went through their vast wooden block collection and pulled out a bunch that they never used. Mostly odd-shaped or very small blocks were put into a bag for donation. As I was looking through them, one reminded me of a church. Another of a barn roof, and then I saw houses. A village started to take shape, and I knew a project was to be added to the ever-growing list.

I've seen some pretty cute Christmas villages on various blogs and Web sites, looking all cozy and charming. Not being much of a shopper, I knew I'd never spend the money on one. Could I create one using only items we already owned? I pulled out my stash of house paint sample pots and some brushes and spent three nights painting and gluing. White crinkled paper left over from product packaging, white lights, two white bowls and fallen branches were gathered. The kids rounded up any woodland animals they could find, and this is what we came up with:

 

It's nothing fancy or particularly artistic, but it's serving a purpose: to create a kid-friendly little wonderland from stuff around the house. It adds merriment to our dining nook, and my son loves to sit and stare at it with all of the lights off, moving the animals around to new forest hideaways. The kids have plans to add snowmen and stars and possibly more creatures and trees. A skating pond! I love to watch their imaginations spill out like a big, overflowing bathtub of water. Unlike some projects I've attempted after running to Michael's, the hardware store and umpteen other shops (and then ended up disappointed in the results) this was totally no-stress. As the holidays should be, right?

What are some of your favorite handmade holiday decorations? Any good reuse projects to share?

Children helping with a green Thanksgiving

My kids tell me they want to help with Thanksgiving. Do you know that that means? Mashed potatoes accidentally spewed all over the kitchen. (Me: counting to 10). A whole tin of cinnamon dumped into the pumpkin pie. (Me: counting to 10 again, and breathing very deeply). The turkey slipping off its serving platter, landing on someone's toe, followed by a monster bout of crying during which the pumpkin pie gets knocked off the cooling rack and someone getting cranberries in her hair. (Um, counting to infinity and beyond...).

That's the horror story I fear, so I'm enlisting their help outside the kitchen. We started with making a centerpiece: corn husk dolls. Oh, round about last August, back when corn was in season, we saved some husks for this purpose. In the meantime, they've asked me about every day if we could make the corn husk dolls yet, and I delayed and stalled, finally to come to the conclusion that it was the perfect Thanksgiving craft project and centerpiece.

The only thing we needed other than the dried corn husks was two pipe cleaners, some string, scissors and a tub of warm water for soaking the husks. Here's how we did it:

1. Soak dried corn husks in warm water for about 10 minutes. I used a big casserole dish.
2. Take 6-8 husks, and tie them in the middle with string.
3. Fold over where you first tied, and tie over the folded husks, about 1 inch from the end, forming a head.
4. Roll one husk around a pipe cleaner. Tie in the center and at the ends. Stick these arms through the body of the doll, dividing the husks in half front to back.
5. Take two husks and cross over the body of the doll making X's in the front and back to define the shoulders. Tie over the X's and middle to make a waist.
6. I kept looking at how tiny these dolls seemed, yet this last step (pictured) fixed all that. Gather up about 8 more husks, pointed ends down, and tie around the waist, covering up the head. Then fold all these down, making a nice skirt. You could also gather some up and tie into legs, if desired.

I did not take near enough pictures during the process, so here's a link to a site that explains making corn husk dolls similarly. All in all, it was fun. Not too messy (just a tad wet). My kids needed a bit of help getting their ties snug enough, but otherwise good for elementary school aged kids. Now it's time to make some of those little must-have turkey hands for place-cards!

How do you involve your kids in greening your Thanksgiving?

Before I sign off for today, Heather and I would like to thank you all for your participation in this little ol' website. We are so very grateful for the positive community you are part of -- the sharing of ideas and challenges -- that helps us all to be better green parents. Happy Thanksgiving to all! We'll be taking a few days off to celebrate with our families, and will resume posting next Monday.