::tidbits of green:: from the RYD home front!

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Hello everyone!

How are ya? I know, I know…. long time no blog! What gives?!

With the end of Summer so near we’ve been sulking up a every last bit of the sunshine and I took a little impromptu bloggy break.  The weather has been extraordinarily HOT …today’s temp reached 110 degrees. Our clothesline was gettin’ all the action today.   Seriously, wish we had a solar oven, right about now.

It’s on our wish list and what’s funny is our town is known for having the most sun in the nation… 300 days of sunshine through out the year!

A little known fact we definitely need to take advantage of.

I’ve also been busy getting our outbuilding fit for homeschooling and so far so good… I will post separately on that subject soon. Definitely an amazing transformation going on and I’m beyond thrilled to begin our adventure.

Anyhoo… here are some tidbits  taking place at the RYD home front…

My grandma always told me… save your pickle juice and pickle hard boiled eggs!

Since we have green beans coming out of our ears so we put a few from some salvaged juice from 2 jars of Bubbies pickles!

Pickled green beans here we come.

can’t wait to fill up some reused glass jars with fresh dried herbs from our garden

:: parsley AND :: basil 2 kinds of each!

using the sunshine to dry our laundry… haven’t used our dryer much this summer!

Clean sheets and towels…ahhh!

Been busy makin’ all things homemade  (dry skin salve, deodorant, and toothpaste) including a few other things…

…deets to come!!!!

Mmm, lunch lately… easy peasy & perfect in this summer heat.

with apple slices + almond butter = Mmmm!

an Ani Phyo recipe!

a little love, a little laughter, a little a little … won’t you?

the fair is in town… a really big DEAL around here… we’ve already gone 2x!

Ah, the last of our beautiful Summer desert sunsets… feeling the autumnal shift lately at certain times of the day…

i heart autumn

<3

Change  is comin’ on for us and I feel it.

another fun highlight:  waiting on pickles that are wildly fermenting

( a NO vinegar recipe)… just a few more days!

& so you know the garden is fairing well and I hope to bring you an update on that soon too!

The last few days of August are going to be busy- busy.

I may be absent … but I’ll be back– promise! 

p.s. stomach yuck is just about gone! phew!

What have you been up to?!!

the {upcycled & recycled} a new dress a day, flip flops, oh my!

Happy Friday!

We made it…woo-hoo!

Here are a few links for your {upcycled & recycled} reading pleasure…

365 days, 365 items of clothing, 365 dollars.... follow Marisa on her journey, at New Dress a Day a blog dedicated to turning thrift store dresses into fashionable ones for one year! What a sewing genius, if you ask me and what an excellent goal.  She’s got some RAD skills, yo! I admire what she’s doing and her lovely talents.

In the summer, you can usually catch me sportin’ a pair of sandals or flip flops or sometimes barefooted in the garden. I HEART the company Simple Shoes. They make eco fashionable footwear and I want to score a pair of Flippee’s! Don’t they have a fabu collection of shoes?! A few pairs are on my wish list. LOVE!

I’m really diggin’ these cutesy upcycled caps … I want the “Clark” version…but they’re SOLD OUT! boo. Guess, I’ll have to settle for this one, instead!

and last but certainly not least…an Independence Day craft idea for your tots. Sparkless Sparklers! yay!!

That’s all for this week, folks

Hve a wonderfl start to your holiday weekend.

the {upcycled & recycled} Recycled Crafts @CraftGossip!

TGIF!

We’ve been crafting during the hottest parts of the day usually between 1-3pm. It really just depends on nap, lunch, what were doing at the time… etc.

Really quickly…

Did you know, it’s National Pollinator’s week?

buzz, buzz!

On Wednesday we made a bee using construction paper and also purchased beeswax from the local honey guy.

Later that evening I made a salve from the beeswax. Even the local beekeeper believes in upcycling!

Anywho!

Thought you’d like to know about a fun site called Craft Gossip which features some pretty groovy Recycled Crafts...

A few fun upcycled inspirations…

-    A bunch of pretty designs made from recycled paper tubes

-     Recycle plastic bags into super cute iron on images

-     How to make a new credenza from an old dresser

-    An oh so pretty new spin on a classic recycling project-tinted jar votives

What have you been up to this week?

Any fun crafting???

C’mon spill!! Love hearing your thoughts.

Have a great weekend!

the {upcycled & recycled} 365 Ways to Go Green!

Hi everyone!

Hope you all have a great weekend. TGIF!

I’m sure many of you, like myself, have wondered what to do with an item… as in how to reduce, reuse and recycle it!

you know; commit an eco action and feel like a planet saving hero…right? Right!

Today’s,  planet saving hero, is a friend of mine; whom I had pleasure of meeting on twitter.

His name is Mike, otherwise known as Canarsie BK across the web … he’s down to earth… AND

he’s determined to show you just how easy it is to go green… all year long.

His non intimidating sustainable acts prove eco friendly can be simple & fun.

Be sure to follow Mike’s journey and get an eco glimpse of his 365′in ways filled with plenty of fantastic 3R’s (green) ideas.

Today, he uses a tea bag to clean tiles... check it out!

Reusing a Strawberry Basket

Hello there!

Happy Hump Day! 

Lately, I’ve been in a crazy reuse mood so everything I see gets dissected and often times is recreated into something new. Last week, we bought a 2 flats of organic strawberries. I can hear you now, big deal.  It is a big deal in a sense because those flats come packed with individual plastic containers to keep the strawberries contained. The ONLY part I hate about purchasing strawberries is the pesky plastic green containers. They’re so nostalgic to me, actually. I can remember my grandma handing them to us to forage for the strawberries that grew in her yard and not to mention, all the strawberry shortcakes I’ve eaten … just something about them.

I did happen to notice the recycling symbol on the bottom of them now.Quite honestly, I don’t remember that always being the case. So, big green eco thumbs up!

After eating up all the delicious “super sweet” strawberries the plastic baskets began to pile up on  my kitchen counter top which became somewhat of an eye sore. Yes, I could just toss them into the recycle bin and be done with it; wipe my hands and walk away but lately I’ve been trying REALLY, REALLY hard to reuse things. I have always been good about it but I’m trying to take good to the next level.

Over the weekend, I was preparing a dish and cutting away at some veggies for din-din (and staring at the little green baskets),  … I instantly thought…”garbage bowl” after I scooped up some scraps and needed to find a place for them. They rescued the veggie scraps instantly and it made me a happy camper.

For those of you who watch Rachel Ray, you may be a fan of the “garbage bowl” already… for those of you who do not… well, simply put the “garbage bowl” is for all the food scraps to sit in while you prepare your meal. Granted, her kitchen bowl is twice the size of a strawberry basket but size doesn’t matter here, people. LOL!

It has seriously come in handy for all my kitchen scraps. Especially since most of the kitchen scraps go to the chickens & worms. The green baskets make it convenient to toss in all the waste as you go rather then tossing it into the garbage each time. I’ve been surprised at how much kitchen waste one little basket can fit and remain inside.Even garlic peels stayed inside

Granted, I won’t need that many “garbage bowls” but at least a couple will serve a purpose for awhile. The others are going back to the stand at the farmer’s market so they can be reused. I also have one in use for garlic bulbs! And… I’ve even used one as an Easter Basket (can’t find post with it pictured) for Tristan’s first Easter and will more than likely be doing it again for both this year!!! Just add reused paper stuffing or raffia to fill it up with and it’s ready for eggs or whatever you wish. Oh! and if you notice in the picture above there’s the agave bottle I’ve been waiting on (and the garlic bulbs are in the pic too- swear!).

Next time you get some strawberries reuse the green little basket as a kitchen scrap bowl, you’ll be happy you did!

Here are just a few other things I’m reusing:

* Piece of cotton from prenatal vitamin bottle; will be reused for crafts.

* 2 ice cream sticks; reused for crafts.

* Plastic case a necklace came in; keep my bobby pins inside.

* Very old Malt O Meal box; cut top open and poured baking soda inside for easy pour and no ‘poo regime.

* Plastic shoe case; have several of these in use for misc. crap objects.

* Jar tops; have several of these also for many uses… change holder, picture magnet frame and great for crafts.

Reusing is Rad!

What have you been reusing lately?

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