Tuesday, March 29, 2011

[Easter] Sunday's Coming!

Last week was my birthday which means....Easter is on its way!  Just a little less than a month until Easter and I'm deciding what things we want to do to celebrate and decorate around the house.  Here are a few Easter ideas I'm totally loving:

1) Grow Your Own Easter Grass
(Picture from Zakka Life)
The number one Easter idea I am TOTALLY loving this year is growing your own Easter grass. Who wants that plastic, stringy stuff anyway? It's just going to end up in the trash. Plus it's a choking hazard for both my dogs and my kiddo. When you're done, juice it or compost it.

Basic how-to:
1) Pick a pretty basket
2) Line the bottom with foil or plastic. Add a thin layer of potting soil
3) Sprinkle some rye or wheat grass seeds on the surface
4) Water and keep warm

Sustainable. Pretty. Non-plastic.  I'm sold!  We're actually heading to the nursery tomorrow to get seeds so we can start growing our grass baskets this week.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Spring Cleaning, Baby Style

Our little guy is an army crawler. He's been working on forward motion for almost 4 months now and except for when he is crawling over things, pulls himself with his arms and crawls on his belly. He's capable of crawling on his hands and knees...he just doesn't.  Which, really, is just fine with me because now it means he can contribute to household chores.  How? With this nifty-neat-o Cleaning Crew baby bodysuit:

Front:


Back:

And what's even better?  It only cost $3 to make!

Cleaning Crew Baby Bodysuit: $3
Plain White Baby Bodysuit: $2 from Walmart (or $1 if your dollar store carries them)
Car Washing Mitt: $1 from Dollar Tree
Freezer Paper for stencil: On Hand
Paint brushes & Fabric paint: On Hand

If you, too, would like to put your small child to work cleaning your hard floors, read the rest to check out the full tutorial.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Two Buck Tuesday Redux

Last week, I posted my $2 bathroom touch up project.  This week, I tweaked it a little bit:

Before:

Now:


Really, all I did was add rocks to the bottom of the vases and take out the fake ivy (I tried to love it...but it wasn't happening).  This gives it a little bit more of a clean zen feeling and I'm digging that. Not too shabby for $5.

Countdown to Spring: My Front Door

I linked up to some awesome wreaths a couple weeks ago  There are so many fun front door items floating around the blogosphere right now!  I was leaning toward doing something fun and mossy but I was crunched for time before going out of town, so I threw this together and I must say I'm pretty happy with the results:

This wreath was pretty cheap and easy to make. Read the rest to find out how I did it...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

If all the good ideas are already taken, why can't I find anyone selling this thing?

Plastics are poison. There I go...sounding like a hippie again. But it's true. I'll admit I was one of the biggest skeptics about BPA messing with your hormones and causing cancer when they first started talking about it in mainstream media about 4 years ago. But I'm a convert.

But even BPA free plastics aren't totally safe.  In fact, some BPA-free plastics are even worse at transferring Estrogen-Affect chemicals that non-BPA plastic. So what's a mom to do?  All I want is a cup I can drink from without poisoning myself.

Oh, I have a stainless steel water bottle. But that's hard to use when you are driving a manual shift car, walking, talking on the phone, or doing anything other than standing still and drinking. So I really want a straw, too. And a lid (in case I slosh). And It needs to hold 16-24 ounces because any smaller and I'd be refilling it a lot. I guess I'm kind of picky.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Two Buck Tuesday

Have I mentioned yet that I'm excited for Spring? Bring on the mossy verdant decor! I spent $2 at Dollar Tree over the weekend and was able help get our downstairs bathroom one step closer to spring:


Now, I only had to spend $2 because I already had a few of these things on hand. If you're going for a similar look from scratch, you might need to spend a tad more. Most of the stuff up there is from the Dollar Tree, though.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Lazy Green Parenting: Reusable Diapers

Have you guys seen the Lazy Environmentalist?   I discovered Season 1 of his TV show on Netflix (you can check it out here) and am in love. My mantra when talking about the green parenting choices we make has traditionally been "I am Not a Hippie." Because really? I'm not. Promise. I'm way too lazy and too mainstream to qualify as a hippie. BUT I do think taking care of the earth and our families in the least toxic, least wasteful way possible is important. I'm more like "The Lazy Green Mom." Which is why we use reusable (AKA "cloth") diapers: a solution that is both lazy and green. Love it!
Kaypha rocking a Bum Genius 4.0 Diaper. 

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Countdown to Spring: More Great (and Thrifty!) Ideas

I love Spring for lots of reasons. I get to start my garden after a long cold winter, I get to swap out the red winter decor for some great green stuff, and Easter, the high Christian holiday.  I found one great craft from each of these categories that I'm totally loving and thought I'd share for my fellow spring lovers.

For the Garden: Plantable Seedling Pots
While I love the idea of plantable seedling pots, I feel like they frequently don't work out because the bottoms  usually decompose slower than the roots grow to the bottom of the pot and need more space.  That's why I love these. You put paper towel tube pieces in a water proof tray and fill with dirt.  There is no bottom so when it's time to plant you don't have to worry about cutting out the bottom or dealing with plants that don't have enough root space. While the twine is pragmatic (keeps the tube from unrolling when it's wet) it makes it look super cute. I found these over at Homework: Today's Assignment, Be Inspired.


For the Green: Split Pea Centerpiece
I love staggered height candle holders. These are easy to make, super cheap (way better than the $10+ for each piece you'd pay even at IKEA prices) and GREEN. Check out the tutorial over at Two Twenty One.


For Easter: Treasure Rocks
Cindy actually made these to be treasure "blarney stones" for St. Patrick's day. Which is cool if you celebrate St. Patty's (we're actually not big St. Patty's day people). Why I think these are AWESOME though, is because you could make them egg shaped and do these for Easter. If someone can't find an egg, you don't need to worry about it starting to smell or attracting animals. They are made with non toxic ingredients (can't say that about plastic eggs). AND smashing your eggs open with a hammer is a ba-zillion times cooler than opening plastic eggs (especially when you have a family full of little boys like we do).  Check out Cindy's brilliant idea and tutorial over at Skip to My Lou

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Front Door Decor


Only 16 more days until the first day of spring!  I'm so excited to bust out some awesome spring green decor to cheer up my home.  I've been seeing some fab wreaths around the blogosphere lately and wanted to highlight a few of my faves. Each of the wreaths I found come with tutorials, so read the rest to grab the links and whip up some fabulous front door decor yourself!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Loving It: March Desktop Backgrounds


Every month, Lee-Lou blogs makes and shares a free (and super awesome!) desktop background. She usually does two versions : a generic one and a personalizable one.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

[Easter] Sunday's Coming!

Last week was my birthday which means....Easter is on its way!  Just a little less than a month until Easter and I'm deciding what things we want to do to celebrate and decorate around the house.  Here are a few Easter ideas I'm totally loving:

1) Grow Your Own Easter Grass
(Picture from Zakka Life)
The number one Easter idea I am TOTALLY loving this year is growing your own Easter grass. Who wants that plastic, stringy stuff anyway? It's just going to end up in the trash. Plus it's a choking hazard for both my dogs and my kiddo. When you're done, juice it or compost it.

Basic how-to:
1) Pick a pretty basket
2) Line the bottom with foil or plastic. Add a thin layer of potting soil
3) Sprinkle some rye or wheat grass seeds on the surface
4) Water and keep warm

Sustainable. Pretty. Non-plastic.  I'm sold!  We're actually heading to the nursery tomorrow to get seeds so we can start growing our grass baskets this week.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Spring Cleaning, Baby Style

Our little guy is an army crawler. He's been working on forward motion for almost 4 months now and except for when he is crawling over things, pulls himself with his arms and crawls on his belly. He's capable of crawling on his hands and knees...he just doesn't.  Which, really, is just fine with me because now it means he can contribute to household chores.  How? With this nifty-neat-o Cleaning Crew baby bodysuit:

Front:


Back:

And what's even better?  It only cost $3 to make!

Cleaning Crew Baby Bodysuit: $3
Plain White Baby Bodysuit: $2 from Walmart (or $1 if your dollar store carries them)
Car Washing Mitt: $1 from Dollar Tree
Freezer Paper for stencil: On Hand
Paint brushes & Fabric paint: On Hand

If you, too, would like to put your small child to work cleaning your hard floors, read the rest to check out the full tutorial.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Two Buck Tuesday Redux

Last week, I posted my $2 bathroom touch up project.  This week, I tweaked it a little bit:

Before:

Now:


Really, all I did was add rocks to the bottom of the vases and take out the fake ivy (I tried to love it...but it wasn't happening).  This gives it a little bit more of a clean zen feeling and I'm digging that. Not too shabby for $5.

Countdown to Spring: My Front Door

I linked up to some awesome wreaths a couple weeks ago  There are so many fun front door items floating around the blogosphere right now!  I was leaning toward doing something fun and mossy but I was crunched for time before going out of town, so I threw this together and I must say I'm pretty happy with the results:

This wreath was pretty cheap and easy to make. Read the rest to find out how I did it...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

If all the good ideas are already taken, why can't I find anyone selling this thing?

Plastics are poison. There I go...sounding like a hippie again. But it's true. I'll admit I was one of the biggest skeptics about BPA messing with your hormones and causing cancer when they first started talking about it in mainstream media about 4 years ago. But I'm a convert.

But even BPA free plastics aren't totally safe.  In fact, some BPA-free plastics are even worse at transferring Estrogen-Affect chemicals that non-BPA plastic. So what's a mom to do?  All I want is a cup I can drink from without poisoning myself.

Oh, I have a stainless steel water bottle. But that's hard to use when you are driving a manual shift car, walking, talking on the phone, or doing anything other than standing still and drinking. So I really want a straw, too. And a lid (in case I slosh). And It needs to hold 16-24 ounces because any smaller and I'd be refilling it a lot. I guess I'm kind of picky.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Two Buck Tuesday

Have I mentioned yet that I'm excited for Spring? Bring on the mossy verdant decor! I spent $2 at Dollar Tree over the weekend and was able help get our downstairs bathroom one step closer to spring:


Now, I only had to spend $2 because I already had a few of these things on hand. If you're going for a similar look from scratch, you might need to spend a tad more. Most of the stuff up there is from the Dollar Tree, though.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Lazy Green Parenting: Reusable Diapers

Have you guys seen the Lazy Environmentalist?   I discovered Season 1 of his TV show on Netflix (you can check it out here) and am in love. My mantra when talking about the green parenting choices we make has traditionally been "I am Not a Hippie." Because really? I'm not. Promise. I'm way too lazy and too mainstream to qualify as a hippie. BUT I do think taking care of the earth and our families in the least toxic, least wasteful way possible is important. I'm more like "The Lazy Green Mom." Which is why we use reusable (AKA "cloth") diapers: a solution that is both lazy and green. Love it!
Kaypha rocking a Bum Genius 4.0 Diaper. 

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Countdown to Spring: More Great (and Thrifty!) Ideas

I love Spring for lots of reasons. I get to start my garden after a long cold winter, I get to swap out the red winter decor for some great green stuff, and Easter, the high Christian holiday.  I found one great craft from each of these categories that I'm totally loving and thought I'd share for my fellow spring lovers.

For the Garden: Plantable Seedling Pots
While I love the idea of plantable seedling pots, I feel like they frequently don't work out because the bottoms  usually decompose slower than the roots grow to the bottom of the pot and need more space.  That's why I love these. You put paper towel tube pieces in a water proof tray and fill with dirt.  There is no bottom so when it's time to plant you don't have to worry about cutting out the bottom or dealing with plants that don't have enough root space. While the twine is pragmatic (keeps the tube from unrolling when it's wet) it makes it look super cute. I found these over at Homework: Today's Assignment, Be Inspired.


For the Green: Split Pea Centerpiece
I love staggered height candle holders. These are easy to make, super cheap (way better than the $10+ for each piece you'd pay even at IKEA prices) and GREEN. Check out the tutorial over at Two Twenty One.


For Easter: Treasure Rocks
Cindy actually made these to be treasure "blarney stones" for St. Patrick's day. Which is cool if you celebrate St. Patty's (we're actually not big St. Patty's day people). Why I think these are AWESOME though, is because you could make them egg shaped and do these for Easter. If someone can't find an egg, you don't need to worry about it starting to smell or attracting animals. They are made with non toxic ingredients (can't say that about plastic eggs). AND smashing your eggs open with a hammer is a ba-zillion times cooler than opening plastic eggs (especially when you have a family full of little boys like we do).  Check out Cindy's brilliant idea and tutorial over at Skip to My Lou

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Countdown to Spring: Front Door Decor


Only 16 more days until the first day of spring!  I'm so excited to bust out some awesome spring green decor to cheer up my home.  I've been seeing some fab wreaths around the blogosphere lately and wanted to highlight a few of my faves. Each of the wreaths I found come with tutorials, so read the rest to grab the links and whip up some fabulous front door decor yourself!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Loving It: March Desktop Backgrounds


Every month, Lee-Lou blogs makes and shares a free (and super awesome!) desktop background. She usually does two versions : a generic one and a personalizable one.

 
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