(Recycled) Christmas Crafts!

Burned out Christmas lights

Well, here we are a few days from Christmas and I *almost* got all the things on my "to do" crafting list accomplished. However, I didn't get to share them for a few reasons (I really wanted to, I'm so happy with what we've accomplished). First and foremost being married to a photographer has it's benefits... It also has it's pitfalls. Namely, December is a really popular month for people wanting pictures. So although my stuff is a priority people who pay with more than cookies and kisses take the front seat. Then, my dear husband, threw his back out and was laid up for a good many days.

Milk carton villages!

But I did take a few "during the process" snaps that I'll share and who knows, maybe I can make proper tutorials before next Christmas!

 Snowflakes from old letterhead!

The burned out Christmas lights I had from the hanging of our outdoor lights and all the rage right now is to make them pretty by dousing them with glitter. I did 8 bulbs, 5 of which I added magnets too and are now adorning our refrigerator!  The main issue I have, as pretty as they are, is the glitter shed! I looked for from Diamond Glaze but it's only available at a few stores in my area and I wasn't going to drive 1/2 an hour to find some. They look great and absolutely pop against my white fridge.

We also built a milk carton village. It is absolutely my favourite thing we did this year! We have five houses in our village and they are adorable. We added flame-less candles and they have been twinkling the night away since early December.

Snowflakes - who doesn't love them? Even though we are under snow here for typically six months of the year, it's fun and simple to make paper snowflakes. TroubleMaker is a pro with his scissors and with a simple square folded, it's a breeze for him to make unique and creative snow flakes.

So this is what we've been up to this month - what have you been doing to make Christmas fun and crafty?

We-Design-Day: Palletable Fun!

With my recent interest in upcycling all I can, I've really being taking notice of all the interesting ways people are reusing things in their lives. One item that I hadn't considered reusing (before seeing this) were pallets.

I recall hauling heaps of them away when I managed a warehouse and calling around to company after company asking them to please take them... I may have even offered my sister as part of the deal once (she worked with me), but I still couldn't get rid of them!

Now, I'd really like to get my hands on a pallet or seven! I always saw the wood as moderately valuable but until you really look at an object as a whole and not as the sum of it's parts and even toy with the idea f making it something it isn't, are you really able to open up to the infinite possibilities so many things in our present world can offer us.

A woman (who shall remain nameless) recently built herself a snazzy back yard retreat out of pallets!


Work in progress

There are numerous things to consider when reusing pallets - I like Funky Junk Donna's article about pallet wood. Check it out, please, before undertaking any pallet wood project.




From shelving units to tables, there are hundreds of ideas out there for reusing pallets and the wood salvaged from them. If you ensure the quality of the found items, use them responsibly and keep an open mind, we all could seriously reduce our consumerism!


Finished Product

Need some more inspiration? Check out these cool places for funky and interesting pallet upcycling!

The WebEcoist 13 Fab Pallet Projects
The WebEcoist - 20 DIY Pallet projects
Pallet Long Island

Thanks for stopping in and see you again next week for our We-Design-Day!

52 Week Challenge: Purging "stuff"

What do you do with two full boxes of stuff you don't want and/or need any more?

Naturally, if you're married to a photographer, you have it all professionally photographed, edited and touched up and made purty!



Then, once all that is done, you commence the big PURGE.


Any guesses on what this is?

I asked Laura a question a while back about a couple of appliances I had that I never used but didn't want to part with because I might need them one day... Her advice was something along the lines of if I hadn't used them (at that point, it was 10 years) would I ever and what could be in that space that I really do use.

I didn't have the courage to ask her what to do with things I've purchased that I don't remember buying...


I'm sure I thought this was really cool when I bought it...


This little treasure involved a box of wine... Need I say more?


I know - harmless little picture frames... Except for the fact that I made these up more than 10 years ago for our old kitchen. My husband thought they looked stupid (I'd framed pictures of various spices I'd cut out from the side of a gift bag - he had no vision) so I never hung them up. Ever. I tossed them in a box... And they stayed there for eleven years...

Eleven years... Who hangs on to stuff they aren't using for eleven years?


I don't know how to do counted cross stitch.


This is a piece of very stiff, hand woven 'cloth' from the Philippines. In my defense, I bought it as part of a fundraiser the women in the cafeteria where I used to work were doing. In 2005.


Spring tension rod: 1999 New, in package...

See, if there really ever was someone who needed the 52 Week Challenge, it most certainly is me! All of this stuff (along with items like unopened Christmas ornaments from Ikea, four partially painted birdhouses, a ream of 11x17 vellum, a magic eight ball, and 17 plastic embroidery framing hoops) is diligently being posted on our local Earthcycle and Freecycle groups. because one person's junk is always another's treasure!

Thanks for stopping by!

Going (more) Green Thursday!

As some of you may have noticed, I added a “badge” to my site last week (see, that’s it there on the right)… “I’m taking baby steps!” it says – Sustainable Baby steps towards living a more ‘green’ lifestyle. Tara over at the The Organic Sister has recently launched a really interesting website site that introduces green at an beginner's level and has different ‘steps’ one can take (with associated badges) to implementing, living and understanding the benefit of going green.

I know, I know – many will roll their eyes at “green” and “global warming” and all that, but for me, it is really important. I’ve always likened myself to somewhat of a steward for Mother Earth living as consciously as I can and taking steps to reduce my impact on the planet on which I live. Throughout the course of my 36 years, I’ve had different levels of success and there are some things I have adopted as “routine” for my life.

Some of the “green” things we do:
Recycle
Chemical & pesticide free yard care and gardening
Used cloth diapers, wipes and nursing pads when our son was an infant/baby/early toddler (he's been out of diapers for months now)
Don’t use any chemical household cleaners
“Freecycle” objects that have more life (furniture, clothing, toys, household goods)
Public transit (to work)

And I know there are more things we do but also more things we could be doing and that’s where I’d like to go. I want to learn more and I want to do more. I want to understand the marketing that goes in to products and understand the real impact – both financially and environmentally.

The one concept that I was introduced to when I first visited Sustainable Baby steps was the idea of greenwashing I have to admit, I’d never heard of it before and I was concerned that it was perhaps a “made up” term – especially when I saw the first item on the list…

Paper Towel.

There are a few things I really like in life and paper towel is one of them. Now, I’m not all “Yes! Paper towel!” but I love it in the kitchen for clean-up and wiping my hands when handling (raw) meat. I went home that night and suggested the possibility of the made up term to my husband – and my reason – paper towel.
He looked at me with just a hint of surprise in his eye.

“Paper towels are like (enter brand name floor dusting device). A broom or vacuum does a great job but people buy them anyway.”

And I took a moment and realized he was right. But what would I use? Perhaps the stack of 20 tea towels I have that get used one or two per week? I argued the laundry factor (and now I’ll admit, I do not do the laundry in our house – my husband does) but he said the cost would be less – especially when you pay $2 (or more) a roll.

And this got me thinking.

Paper towels
Plastic baggies
Garbage bags
Paper napkins
Feminine napkins
Kleen-x
Toilet paper
Disposable dish cloths
Plastic wrap
Foil
Wax paper
Disposable baking sheets
Cotton balls
Cotton ear swabs
Drinking straws

Those are 15 things that are single use items currently used in my home. And although we don’t often use paper napkins (we switched to cloth two years ago) the rest we do use and I have been using without much thought for a very long time.

I can tell you I will never give up toilet paper that, my friends, was a great invention. But what can I give up?

As I finish my lunch today and toss six (yes, six) plastic sandwich baggies in the garbage I think that can be one of my first “baby steps”. We run our dishwasher every night so utilizing (even plastic) lunch containers for my carrot sticks and another for my crackers would really bare no serious hardship, perhaps that is one thing I can “green” this week.

Can I “Green” one thing a week? I certainly am going to try – I have to, especially if I want there to be a tomorrow for TroubleMaker!

Baby step # 1 – reduce the use of plastic food storage bags

Isn’t this Ironic?

I work on a very lush, very nice university campus. The grounds are magnificent – an excellent variety of old trees, beautiful flowers, native grasses, shrubbery, exquisite water features and the greenest-weed free lawns I’ve ever witnessed all work to make it a haven for small animals and people. Many weddings are photographed on the grounds during the summer and fall. And with winter approaching, the trees are absolutely perfect with their harmonious blend of yellows, oranges and reds. It really is a visual treat walking to work in the cool crisp autumn air.

All over the grounds – affixed to buildings and free standing sign posts are warnings and messages. “Care for our air: all engines must be turned off or face penalty”, warnings about not smoking near building (air) intakes and other signs with messages about the University being “Green” and going the extra mile in caring for our environment. All events and groups (on campus) are encouraged to use recyclable plates and cutlery (made of sugar, I think) and recycling stations are provided. The use of Styrofoam has been all but banned as well.

This all sounds fantastic. Except it’s just a little bit hypocritical.

On my walk this morning, I wished for my camera – not to capture the magnificent sunrise or the splendid colours, but to capture the grounds staff using gas powered leaf blowers to blow leaves and dust off the sidewalks (and right beside the sign that professes the U’s love of the environment and doing their part to save the world)… And even as much as I detest leaf blowers, I know the argument can be made that it is cheaper to power one person with a leaf blower than five with brooms. But what I cannot entertain is that the person was wearing a dust mask with carbon filters (for his safety, I’m sure) but I was not wearing one and neither were the fifteen or so people around me and he blew the dust and debris right at all of us. I started to choke as did two others and then the fumes from the blower hit and I started coughing again.

So this event got me thinking about the people two blocks before who were blowing out the water lines for the underground sprinkler system… Campus does have the greenest grass, likely because it’s watered daily all summer – which I’m hoping is the reason we haven’t any weeds (healthy, lush grass can choke out even the most persistent of weeds) and not because they douse the lawns with egregious amounts of chemicals!

Our Family Favourite Recipe Index

I'm naturally disorganized so I usually have to look elsewhere to find inspiration to get me organized and I sure found it with Org Junkie's Family Recipe Index!

This is a marvelous idea and so Earth Friendly! Yippee for good ideas!

So without further adieu - here are some of our favourites!

Breakfast Ideas
Chocolate Chip Biscuits
Basic Blueberry Muffins
Apple Strudel Muffins
Gingerbread Waffles
Crockpot Egg Casserole


Lunch Ideas
Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sanwiches My Hubby was horrifed at this recipe - he made it relunctantly for TroubleMaker one day and it was a hit. a HUGE hit - try it - if you have a kid in the house, they'll gobble it up!
BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Dinner Ideas
Chicken
Mushroom & Chicken linguine
2 Step Honey Dijon Chicken
Easy Hot Wings
Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Skewers
Chicken Biryani
Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chinese Takeout Lemon Chicken
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Chicken Pot Pie (simple)
Chicken Noodle Soup
White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Sauce

Beef
Enchilada-Casserole
Crockpot Meatballs
Lasagne
Beefy One-Pot Dinner
Beef Stroganoff
Slow Cooker Beef Roast
Bacon Cheeseburger Roll Ups
Beef with Snow Peas
Beef & Bean Burritos
Weeknight Lasagne Toss
Beef Stroganoff
Swiss Steak
Hamburger Hash
Sante Fe Shepherd's Pie
Lasagna Toss
Sweet and Sour Hamburger
Taco Dip Supper

Pork
Mom's Crockpot Ham
Chili's Grilled Copy Cat Recipe
Sausage & Tomato Rigatoni
Pork Lo Mein
Pork Roast with Brown Sugar Glaze
Crustless Quiche

Fish
Tuna Casserole
Tortellini w/ Salmon ricotta sauce
Salmon Patties


Vegetarian (Lacto-Ovo)
Creamy Primavera Tortellini Salad
Gramma's Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
Vegetable & Cheese Empanadas
Fettucine Alfredo
Weeknight Italian Pasta Bake

Breakfast for Dinner
Tater Tot Casserole
Farmer's Breakfast

Sides
Low Fat Scalloped Potatoes
Tomato & Cucumber Salad
Gramma's Potato Salad
Creamy Tortellini Primavera

Other
Taco Seasoning
Frog's BBQ Sauce
Homemade Spagetti Sauce
Corrie' Spanish Rice
Coyote Fritters
Caramelized Onion & Olive Tart
French Onion Soup
Baked Potato & Leek Soup
Chicken Nuggets
Vegetarian Stuffing
Gramma's Buns
crust
Corn Chowder
Minestrone Soup
Epicure's Extraordinary Cheese Dip

The Toppling Tower

Although I had great intentions of finishing my spice cupboard this morning, I realized that I hadn’t properly planned the building of my spice rack and as I stared at the pile of found things to create from, my hubby chimed in with his ideas. So I shelved the plans and decided to tackle something else, something smaller – something I could get cleaned an organized in a morning.

I’ve had plans in the work for our back door closet for nearly the entire six years we’ve lived here. It’s a nice back entry – huge window above the door for natural light and open closet. Over the years, things just get stacked on the shelf… Higher and higher and higher! We pull from the bottom of the pile and stack all the things that fall that we don’t want back on top, it’s a great system, really, but I felt it was lacking…



As hubby went out to get the gardening supplies we needed for later in the day, TroubleMaker and I tackled the closet. It started easily enough – taking out all the winter coats. It’s May 1 and although severe spring storms are not unheard of in May, they generally don’t happen until the May long weekend so for the next three weeks, I won’t need any of the winter wear. Next, empty the shelf… So I take TroubleMaker off the step ladder and up I go. And down I go. And up. And down. And up. And down.

Seven pairs of gloves for hubby, six toques for TroubleMaker. Did I mention that hubby only has two hands and TroubleMaker only has one head? As I piled the toques on the floor, TroubleMaker found it necessary to take off his ball cap and try on each toque.

Twice.

I also found: Three rocks. A ticket stub to a university hockey game. An sticky note grocery list. Two throat lozenges. Six tennis balls. Seventeen mini dog biscuits. Suntan lotion, bug spray and three different bottles of bubbles. As I tossed, TroubleMaker found two pennies. So off the ladder I came again so we could put the found coins in his piggy banks.



Now it was empty. And dirty. So after a wash I realized that the mini shelf we have (to hang the dog leashes from) was dirty as was the key rack. So then I organized the key rack. We had eight unidentifiable keys.


With everything sparkling clean, I started organizing the stuff. I found three Ikea storage bins we’d used to organize kids toys (as he’s grown, so have his toys). I quickly filled those and then discovered two empty bins from TroubleMaker’s “Mega Bloks”! Score – more organizational tools and they are free! I then dug out the label maker we borrowed oh-so-many-weeks ago from my parents. “Hubby’s Winter Wear” I typed and clicked print. It ran out of labels. Oh well, I’ll remember, I hope!

Distracted, me? How did this happen?

It’s been a few days since I decided to start down this path and I started off with a bang! I emptied, I organized – I ran out of time. So I stuffed everything back into the cupboard and decided to start off first thing the next morning. That evening, after TroubleMaker was in bed, I planned. I listed target areas, I devised ‘free’ and cheap ways to organize the stuff I have with stuff I already own. I did make one trip to the store and bought $7.50 worth of balsa wood to construct a mostly-found object spice rack. Hubby and I even toured the thrift shops to see if I could find cheap organizational storage ideas.

And then I felt overwhelmed. Because although I want to start in the kitchen, I quickly realized that the fever was spreading. I tripped over 17 pairs of shoes at the back door and again hung my ‘everyday’ coat over the newel post on the stairs (because there was no room in the closet at the backdoor) and I knew that I was in serious trouble.

The back entrance way, the ‘appliance’ closet, the front hall closet and now you can add the spare room closet because in an attempt to keep us twisted ankle free, my hubby moved our winter boots there (because the front hall closet is chock a block full of other stuff). My son’s dresser is overflowing again with clothes, my ‘underwear’ drawer needs revamping, my sewing room/office is beginning to look like land mines went off in the corners (the middle is free because we have a spare inflatable bed set up for my mother). There is the cupboard in our bathroom and the broom closet off the kitchen.

Then I saw my recipe ‘stack’ and nearly cried. I can’t do this – I’m not organized enough! I start off with such good intentions but then I get seriously overwhelmed and get easily distracted with an area (or thing) that might be easier.

I even went so far as to try and pick out fabric to sew new curtains for the kitchen (not in the budget, but definitely needed) – all in an attempt to not get back to the original plan – clean and organize my kitchen.

I suppose I should just quit while I’m ahead and sit on the floor and play endless hours of “bocks” with TroubleMaker but I know it will only be a little while before the now disastrous spice cupboard calls my name again.

So here I go, again, back in the mire. Give me 24 hours – then send in a search party.

Getting Organized!

I’ve always wanted to be one of ‘those’ people who knew exactly where everything was at any given second. I want to have neat little containers for push pins and paper clips. I want little plastic cases for papers and pencils; I want glass jars on shelves with coloured pasta in them.

The fact of the matter is, I’m a “piler” – a word so evil in the English language that even the most renowned spell checkers can’t actual verify if my spelling is correct… Yes, folks, I “pile” stuff - everything from tin cans in the cupboard (with the labels helter skelter) to piles of unopened mail. I pile books, cd’s and bags of pasta. I pile clothes on a chair in my room and metres of unsewn fabric in my craft room.

Ladies, gentlemen: my name is Corrie and I’m a piler. It is sometimes also known as a ‘stacker’ – but that is just a junior title… In order to be a true piler, you must create piles so high and so deep that even your best friend or husband won’t venture into your office to rummage through your things to find the book they lent you or the receipt for the kid’s bike.

The other qualifier to being a ‘piler’ is to be able to – at a moment’s notice – go to any stack in the house and find exactly what you’ve been asked to retrieve (give or take a pile or two). I never ceased to amaze (and annoy) my coworkers with my ramblings of “have you seen…?” followed by “Oh! Here it is – it was in a different pile!”

I know this is my flaw – I do and try as I might, I just can’t seem to hold my various attempts at organizing together long enough to do any good. Eventually, and rather quickly, I might add, my organized desk goes back to a disorganized stack of piles. I’ve cleaned my sewing room/office up so many times that I don’t think my husband believes me any more when I speak about ‘getting organized’ in there so that I can work on the mountains (the graduated form of piling) of projects I need to accomplish.

So – why am I writing about getting organized? Well, because like so many things in my life, I think if I make them public and attach some accountability to my attempt, it may keep me on track and on target! So over the next few weeks, I will be organizing and making a true attempt to remain organized as I move forward into a new phase in my life.

We are on a tight (hear "no") budget for this. I want to do it as cheap and green as possible but reusing, repurposing and revitalizing things I can find already in my house or get for free from local recycling places.

The readers of my blog are my judges on this journey and you are also the ones I will be accountable too... In the form of a monetary reward if I fall down on the job! Leave a comment and and check back June 1 and I will do a random draw for a $25 gift certificate from Ikea (as who better for home organization than Ikea?).

First stop... My kitchen!