get. out! side. family fun eco and frugal.

Spring fever is no cause to get your head checked. But I do believe its only cure is- sunshine! If you're like me, you are more than excited to open the doors wide and chase your children in the yard for a breathe of fresh air.  Do you enjoy driving with the music up and windows down? Me too- even if it is Laurie Berkner! I listen loud and proud!

Here are a few great ways to GET OUT and enjoy some family fun with little to no cost.

Get creative outside!! Any ole art/craft project taken outside is just that much MORE fun- Pick up leaves, twigs, rocks and use them in your designs. Try painting with flowers! The canvas the boys are painting on here is just an ole pillow case. Once the masterpiece dried we mounted the fabric on frames.

Hiking, biking or walking in a local natural area or park. Yes, this is obvious, but sometimes we forget how free and easy some of the best pleasures are! (www.findlocalparks.com)

 Spend a night stargazing. Find star maps online or in the library and learn the constellations. (Astronomy for Kids)
 

Try your hand at guerrilla gardening. You know that boring patch of grass on the corner? I’m sure no one would mind if you sneaked in some sunflowers or a bunch of marigolds. Beautify your neighborhood, on the sly. If your lucky enough to have a spacious yard, get a green thumb, and try you hand at a wildflower patch or vegetable garden. (Gardening with Kids Blog) (www.guerrillagardening.org)




Get Outside!! Go! Shoo! I'd love to hear what you've done when you come back in-

Get. Out. Side.

Recycle Those Rolls Guest Tutorial from Jessica @ Noguchi Designs

Trash it? Oh no no no, Recycle it!

Gift it! Give it!

Even Decorate with it!

Fun projects for the old & young.

Quick, easy & fun

Have you ever thought of what to do with those toilet paper rolls? How about the paper towel roll? Over the years I’ve seen them be turned into Butterflies, Wands, Swords, & Rain makers. Kids seem to have lots of fast fun with them. That’s it though, fast fun, then they bend, rip, get stepped on or even wet. This year why not make something that can last. The following tutorial will show two final products. I’ll show you some basics, I know you can take these steps and move on with your own creativity to end up with some great & unique items.

Base supplies:

Cardboard rolls

(toilet paper/paper towel)

Glue

Scissors

Clothespins

Extra supplies:

Hot glue gun & sticks

Tissue paper

Paint

Paintbrush

Yarn or string

Glitter

Pinking shears

(or any fun edged scissors)

Clear Coating Spray

~*3D Art*~

1. Take your Base supplies

2. Cut the rolls: I cut in half, then thirds, ending up with 6 pieces per roll

3. Place pieces in a floral & vine pattern  Glue where they meet &  pin until dry

4. Once dry remove pins and ta-da! It’s done. Hang as is with a few random nails as hooks or use up an old frame without glass glue piece to a backing and enjoy.

~*Ornament*~

1. Take Base supplies &  your choice of Extra supplies

2. Rip up some tissue

3a. Mix a little white paint & water. Paint the roll & adhere paper all over, paint again on top of paper, stand rolls up to dry 

3b. Paint rolls with glitter glue or glue &  glitter or paint mixture & glitter

4. Once all are dry, lightly paint the inside with the same method (no picture because I didn’t do it,

after finishing I realized I should have)

5. Cut rolls

6. Glue & clip until dry (don’t forget the hanging string)

7. Once dry remove clips & viola! Your Ornament is done. Hang on the tree, top a gift, put on the kids rooms doorknob.

Don’t forget to have the kids sign & date them .

Enjoy,

Jessica

Because buying handmade is what your grandma used to do.

I have been scouring the web looking for a place to tuck TNT in. Your thinking... Etsy? Its okay, that was my first thought too (besides Hyena Cart) but I want to share with you a few other sites and online communities where you can buy/sell handcrafted items or just look around~


ArtFire

Tagline: Sell without fees. Create without limits.
Info for Sellers: With no fees or commissions for those who choose to sell via ArtFire with a “basic” account, there’s a $15.95 per month charge for “Pro” accounts, which offer what appears to be a wealth of extras including blog hosting and the ability to create a Facebook “Kiosk.”


MadeItMyself 

Tagline: Think it. Make it. Sell it
Info for Sellers: There’s no charge to join and currently no listing fees. Commission comes in at 3%.


Supermarket

Tagline: Great design. Straight from designers
Info for Sellers: You have to apply to be accepted into the curated collection.

Whats in a name? on the WAHM front.

I am sitting here wondering, if everyone who has ever named a business had this trouble? I have spent countless hours now, brainstorming, researching, comparing, nit picking, and scribbling out possible names for my home front. I have grilled family, friends, and even complete strangers looking for a grain of inspiration.
I want a name that you see and wonder, hmmm I wonder whats inside this link? I want it to catchy and easy to remember. I want it to elude to whats going on, recycling/re-purposing clothes. Heres a short list of the suggestions I have gotten so far.

• piddlin around 
• sams designs 
• play it again 
• old to new 
• previously loved 

and heres some of my own ideas:

• trashy tees 
• do over 
• rerun 
• wonky wares (i cant take credit for this, a mama on DS said it once, and i liked it!) 
• recon (as in reconstruction) but i dont like having to point that out? 
• undone
• used2be

 Any takers on this challenge?

Other WAHM news... I've been asking other moms out there for feedback regarding pricing and so far its been pretty positive. Heres the post.  Blah blah blah, I want to skip to the good stuff and share with you all my packing ideas.

Brown paper bag envelope, Food box tag with inspirations quote and business info (site/etc), and scrap tee bow!

"If you want one year of prosperity, plant corn.
If you want ten years of prosperity, plant trees.
If you want one hundred years of prosperity, educate people."

— Chinese proverb

Fashinista Mama Me.

Maybe I have an odd sense of fashion, but it seems like year after year I can not seem to find cool kids clothes for my boys!? Sure, you have tons of basketballs and footballs, cheesy looking monster trucks, cute bears, and lame dinosaurs... but can you really blame me for wanting something different? Now don't get me wrong, H&M, Mini Boden, Oilily, Paul Frank- They all offer some kick ass clothes but I can hardly afford those used!

Not so long ago I broke out my sewing machine (a Christmas gift I asked for oh, um... 3 maybe 4 years ago untouched until now) and pieced together this monster truck deal for Sam. I purchased a shirt from Walmart and the rest of it came from a cut up pair of boxers, a stained l/s thermal, and an outgrown onesie. Since this first experiment I have created a couple more 'custom' shirts for friends.

Somewhere along this life adventure, I think I lost touch with my creative outlets. Slowly, piece by piece, I feel like I am rediscovering small parts of myself that might have been overcast by the daily chaos of mommyhood. Picking up photography must have been the beginning.

The idea that I might be able to create pretty awesome, handcrafted, one of a kind, cool kid stuff, and keep it affordable... is a vision of sugar plums dancing in my head. I began hoarding up sale fabrics from my local craft store, but then it hit me. Like a side arm throw in dodgeball- I am not going to stock up on new fabrics- but I am going to do it all with recycled clothing or notions (sheets, blankets, etc.) I got to researching and here is what I found: Over one million ton of textiles are discarded annually, mostly from domestic sources, of which 25% are recycled. (Cupit 1996)

Not only are you doing a something to help keep recyclable materials from entering the landfill, but you also are consuming less!! For now, I need practice... and maybe an etsy shop is in my future? If your interested in partaking in my creative tshirt making awesomeness or have clothes to donate feel free to drop me an email. I am currently looking for solid color tshirts and onesies (to design) any colors or sizes. Interesting patterns, prints, and textured fabrics for designs-

Past Work: