Bottled Water

Hurricane Irene is pounding the North Carolina coastline as type.  Just sitting here, I can hear the wind whistling and the heavy rains being whipped with every gust.  Since we're in the middle of "extreme weather" I thought I'd take a quick moment to share how I do "bottled" water!  Of course, you know that I've made the commitment to not buying bottled water, so I have to get creative in prepping emergency supplies just in case we lose power or don't have access to drinkable water.  This morning, my daughter and I filled glass juice bottles full of water from our very own tap!  Check it out.... 16 (32 oz) bottles of water ready in case of an emergency!

Curious what's happening here in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach?  Check out this short video I found on YouTube from earlier today.  (In case you're wondering... No, I didn't even attempt to make it out to the beach today!!)

It's going to be a windy night... wherever you are, be safe. 

Repurpose That Ribbon!!!

Last week, I collected all of our plastic waste for the week.... including plastics that came from Christmas gifts.  Our total for the week added up to 37 pieces of plastic.  (If you recall, back in September I collected ONLY our kitchen plastic waste for the week and we had 40 pieces of plastic.)

Most plastic that we accumulated during last week-- for the most part-- aren't things that we can reuse.  BUT.... there are a few things that we can repurpose... like a ribbon that was on a gift.  Sure we could save it and reuse it for when we gift something... but I'm not all into that whole wrapping gifts thing and I know that most likely the ribbon would find its way to the landfill (or worse... littered!!).

 Sooooo.... yesterday... I asked my daughter if she wanted to make her Christmas ornament for the year.  (of course, she said "Definitely!!")  She went outside to our side porch where we have flower pots filled with sea shells... yes, my kids pick up more than litter at the beach!!! ;)  She picked out seashells that had holes in them.... cut the ribbon.... and then she made this....

   

Better than any premade ornament that we could ever buy in a store :)

"Get Well"

Between field trips and visiting guests, we visit the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher A LOT.  Two weeks ago-- on our most recent visit-- as we walked to our car... we noticed something new.

A work of art made completely from recycled and repurposed materials by local artist Raffaele Paglia.

"A New Moon Rising-- Carolina Moon"

and on the plaque next to the sculpture it reads:

"Get Well"

When I started the sculpture "A New Moon Rising-- Carolina Moon" I never thought that a simple discarded balloon that I found on the beach would define this project.  With recent developments in the Gulf of Mexico, this balloon has added meaning.  It simply states "a get well hug for you".  For a project that was to show, on a local level, the effects of our disregard and negligence, it now has a much more global impact now.

The "Carolina Moon" was designed to celebrate the history of Carolina Beach, which was once the symbol of our town and island.  This was never meant to be a "beautiful" piece of work, since it is primarily composed of recycled and repurposed materials once destined for a landfill.  The cloud formation at the bottom is composed of "beach debris" and other materials washed up and left on our beaches.

Please join us in an effort to keep our beaches and waters clean.

Raffaele (Raffa) Paglia

Repurpose and Reuse Cereal Bags

A month ago, I was reading My Garden Green and she had a fabulous idea to "Repurpose those Cereal Bags!"  Here's what she says:

"What to do with those plastic bags that house your cereals & crackers? Use them as ziploc bags! I have not bought a box of plastic storage baggies since November - yay me! I've been saving the plastics bags from inside our cereal & cracker boxes.  I just turn them inside out and wash them and let them dry.  So far I've been able to use them for taking my lunch to work, holding my washed/cut up fruit and veggies, storing leftovers in the fridge and even in the freezer.  I even stored a min-watermelon in one the other day.  Who needs plastic wrap?!  While I'm not sure what number plastic they are made from - yet - it sure beats tossing them in the trash. (I've emailed a couple of the companies and have not received any answers yet, but googling the bags points to a #2) How to seal it with no "ziploc"?  Reuse rubberbands or simple tie a ribbon around the opening!

Goodbye plastic bags and plastic wrap! May you never set foot in my house again!"

Of course, it's been years since I've purchased zip-lock bags... I used to reuse deli meat/cheese bags (but I don't buy meats anymore) and I've had the same roll of plastic wrap for the past few years (seriously, mentally it's hard for me to use the stuff and when I do use it, I save it for later to reuse as many times as I can... Grandma would be SO proud ;) ).  So after reading the blogpost on My Garden Green, I was super excited... so excited that I almost posted moments after reading it.  Then I thought... hmmm... I need to try this out!!!  It's taken me awhile for two reasons: #1.  I tend to always use containers with lids and #2. My kids don't eat that much cereal.  So last night, when I realized that all of my large containers were full and I had a whole cut up pineapple and some leftovers from dinner to store...

I pulled out 2 cereal bags and a couple of rubber bands (saved from produce).  My bowls were too big to fit inside the cereal bag, so I opened them up at the seam... used he biggest rubberband that I could find... and Voila! instant storage!!

YAY! for My Three Green Girls for coming up with such a creative way to repurpose an item that would normally end up in the trash!!! :)

Rethinking Party Favors

The other day I got a text from my friend that read:

"Unless u can help me come up with a cool party favor, I'm just NOT doin it!!! I'm not givin JUNK!!!"


I immediately called her and said, "Take a stand!! Don't give party favors!" I said that because I really hate party favors. I always find it kind of ridiculous that kids expect a gift for going to a birthday party and giving a gift to their friend. I certainly don't remember party favors when I was a kid. The only time we ever walked away from a party with something (other than bellies full of cake and ice cream) was when we did a craft activity such as decorating shirts with puffy paint.

At our house, we don't usually give out party favors for our kids birthdays and when we don't I am always left feeling like a cheapskate. SO... for my friend... I decided to think about it... BECAUSE some people just feel better giving party favors... and if they're gonna give them... the least that I can do is put some thought into it and help them come up with something besides a bag of plastic junk that will most likely end up in the trash can/landfill/oceans.


So here's what I told her:

• Pencil Holders: Last year, for my son's 7th Birthday party... I wasn't going to give out party favors. Then I had some Smencils from our fundraiser... so I bought some to support the initiatives of the non-profits that I'm directly involved in. THEN... I looked under my kitchen sink and there were SO many steel cans. I decided that I was going to reuse repurpose the cans and make pencil holders for the kids. Here's how: I ran the cans through my dishwasher to make sure they were free of all gunk, let them dry thoroughly, then I spray painted them. (I did purchase acrylic markers for the kids to decorate their "pencil holders.")

• "Sponge Balls." These are great in place of water balloons :) My mom and I made them for my daughter's pool party last year. We had a total of 4 friends invited plus a few brothers...so it wasn't too much work. The kids had a blast playing with the sponge balls in the pool, however, they didn't really hold up well to the older kids throws.

• Cloth Napkins-- Put the kids names on their own reusable cloth napkin. Use fabric paint to let the kids decorate their napkin with their handprints.

• A Growable Favor-- Get small peat (or terracotta) pots, fill with dirt, plant a seed (flowers, vegies, etc) and if you want to make it fancy: tie a ribbon around it.

My friend and her 6 year old daughter decided on giving a planted sunflower seed in a peat pot :) I am SO grateful that my friend asked me my advice AND took it... woo hoo!! Now there are 23 kids (and their parents) who have seen a different kind of party favor!!

By the way, my kids are super excited to add the sunflowers to our flower garden!!

Here's some bumble bees enjoying one of our sunflowers from last year :)

Made with LOVE

Christmas gift giving hasn't always been my strong suit. Not because I don't love giving people gifts, but simply because I don't like giving people "things". I like to gift with meaning... not just because I'm told that this is the time of year that I'm supposed to buy someone a gift-- this includes all holidays. I used to scour stores looking for that perfect gift... something special that my recipient would adore and know for a fact that it came from me. After having kids, searching the stores became a near impossibility... and I reverted to gift cards. While quite practical and convenient... they always missed the mark for me as something "special" and "memorable".

I needed to do something different... to fulfill my gift giving desires. Christmas 2005, I decided that I was going to make my gifts. I'm not crafty at all. But one thing I can do is cook. So that year, I baked tirelessly in the kitchen crafting brownies, marshmallows, truffles, elephant ears, cookies, spiced nuts, peanut brittle, breads... etc etc etc. For me, it was exactly what I needed to give. Of course, I took in to account what I knew our recipients liked... and I put a whole lot of LOVE into everything I made. I decorated box, grabbed an old cookie tin or glass jar and filled them with my specialties...

This year, I thought about not baking anything... then Claire's dance teacher said, "I can't wait for your box. Mmmm... raspberry truffles." I smiled and listened as she told everyone around her how she savored every bite of her Christmas present and has been looking forward to this Christmas since the last. At that moment, I realized that my gifts have become a sort of Christmas tradition.

What I've learned? Gifts don't have to be extravagant or cost much to mean a lot. Quite simply...they just need to be filled with LOVE.

Check out this repurposed Peanut Butter Jar. A gift in waiting. Oh yeah... those are Rocky Road Crunch Bars :) Giving from the heart has never felt tasted SO good.

This holiday....make something for someone.

"It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"... "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."