Upcycled T-shirt tote

Did you know that… plastic shopping bags take over 50 years to decompose in our landfills – and we end up using them for about 15 mins while they hold our food from grocery store to home. Not a very efficient use of our planet’s resources is it?

Here are some fun ideas for remembering to bring in your reusable shopping bags with you to the store…

• Let yourself splurge on ice cream, wine, or a big fat juicy t-bone steak every time you rmember to bring your shopping bags.
• Get some really cool bags that will make you want to remember to bring them – try out Pieter Muller’s shop at Pike Place Market
• Make your self some bags out of your favorite old t-shirts!  – visit Instructables.com for full instructions

I wonder if you could get some skates and take the blades off?

Craftzine has a cool DIY tutorial on how to make them

 Roots and Wings has some beautiful creations!

Your Gramma's beer can hat

I often explain to people what my blog is about and then ask them what I should write about next. They always have some great ideas, and usually on a totally different train of thought than what I have been on. 

This morning, Drea (one of my favorite baristas at Cafe Bambinos) really hit a homerun with this idea. She asked – what about things made out of tin cans? I mean who doesn’t love a good beer can and yarn hat?  Thus began my quest to find a renunuist who is practicing this great lost art… 

The gramma of invention - Evelyn Richardson

The art of BEER CAN HATS  was 1st pioneered in the early 1970′s by an eccentric gramma — Evelyn Richardson of Long Beach, CA. Boy did she have a flair for creativity and the fun in life…

Nichole and her beer can hats

Okay – so back to my quest… meet Nichole Smith (no not THAT nichole smith) – a beautiful lady who learned this art from her Mom! Please take a minute to visit her web site  and check out her delightfully traditional, yet slightly upgraded classic beer can hats! (Now with hemp -for the hardcore partier!). You will not be sorry her work is impecable.

Love your leftovers

This is a recipe I came up with that makes for a very quick and easy meal (like breakfast) since the prep is done during another meal.  The cool thing about this recipe is that it can all be leftovers – if you save out a just a tiny bit of these things while making dinner the night before then you can just throw them all together and “Bam!” breakfast is served…

Renunuing at it’s finest

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of fresh carrot – chopped into small 1/4″ cubes
• 1 teaspoon of fresh onion – chopped into small 1/4″ cubes
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of leftover cooked chicken
• 2 tablespoons of frozen peas (staight from the freezer)
• 2 cups leftover cooked rice

.Heat the oil in a large skillet (on medium-high)
.Take a carrot and chop it up real small (1/4 ” cubes) – or save some that you chopped from a stir fry the night before
.Put it in the skillet with the hot oils (it should spatter a bit)
.Optionally add a LITTLE onion also chopped into 1/4″ cubes (don’t overpower things with too much)
.Saute till soft
.Break an egg into that mixture – and fry it up till cooked – but not overcooked
.Then put in leftovers – you just need a little of each (like a 1/4 serving)
 – chicken (cut into 1/2″ cubes)
 – rice (1 or 2 cups of leftovers)
 – frozen peas (straight out of the bag from the freezer)
.Stir it all together – and cook till the chicken and peas are heated through
.Add salt and pepper (lemon pepper if you’ve got it)
.Toss it all together and throw it on a plate

Optionally you can add other fresh veggies that are on hand (Chopped Small)
 – broccoli ends (the parts that are too hard for serving with the florets – peel off the outer tough edges)
 – string beans
 – kale (just one leaf plucked straight from the garden)
 – celery
 – fresh herbs
 – potatoes instead of rice
 – a squirt of fresh lemon juice

The trick is to chop everything up really small – and put in tiny amounts
The perfect way to Renunu your leftovers!

Free People Skirt

I love skirts – they’re so comfy and they can hide a world of lower body imperfections…

Got big hips or thunder thighs?
Hate to Shave?
Legs too short – or too long?

Someday in the next month or so chances are you will look in your closet and think I need something that will keep me cool on a hot summer day and you’ll probably want to grab a skirt! But wait, what if you’re tired of all your old skirts? Instead of taking a trip to the local mall, how about renunuing one of your old favorites from last summer?

Stretchy waists rock!

 My favorte skirt has a stretchy top and a ruffle sticking out from underneath.  Much like this one I found from “Free People“.  Pick out 2 skirts from you closet – and make this look for your self!!! I have about 7 lightweight solid colored underskirts that I keep handy for just this purpose. This one looks like it might work reversed as well!

Vests are always a fun addition to the outfit. I way to sort of finish off the look. I love how in the summer a vest can make you look dressed up – without the uncomfortable feeling of wearing alot of clothing! I found this lovely set of drawings that shows the varitey of vests that are out there.

Some Great Vest Ideas

I like the idea of making a vest out of an existing blouse. See if you don’t recognize one of your shirts in these vests – and consider how you might remove the sleeves to acheive the look of a vest from something you already have in the closet…

 Stitch on a couple of patch pockets – and your good to go!

Light a candle for the earth

This year it’s the lighting of a candle…

Officially – it’s April 21st, but really, everday is Earth Day! Things get busy,  time is lost,  life is hectic,  but amidst it all we can still take a moment to light a candle and consider our place in the circle of life and how we can make a lower impact on something we are borrowing from our children’s children’s children…

So Today -take a deep breath, light a candle, reflect upon what you can do differently this year to help preserve the environment for our future generations. Perhaps set a few simple goals toward that end. Next year maybe you can look back at these reflections and see if you are any closer to reaching those goals.

Next year? – Who knows…