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Final Day: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Wine Gift Bag

We made it! It’s the final day of “24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts” series! Break out the champagne!!! … or wine, in this case. Did you have fun? Did you learn how to make new crafts? Bet you are all set for Christmas! What? You want to send me a case of wine to thank me for giving you all these nifty ideas? Awwww….don’t thank me. Thank my readers. [...]

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Day 23: 24 Days of Green Christmas – Green Gift Basket Ideas

Christmas is in two days! We’ve covered numerous crafty ways to decorate and make gifts but what if you are not the crafting or the baking type? Or you are running out of time? No worries. Here are some green goodies that you can package in your own creative way and give as a gift basket. Disclaimer: I am including these photos as reference. I am not suggesting that you [...]

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Day 22: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Recycled Paper Bows

I’m sure you’ve had this happened to you before. It’s almost midnight on Christmas Eve and you are tired and cranky because you were all over the world looking for that toy that your child has been wishing for. You finally find it in the last toy store, buy it, and you figured, you can wrap it yourself when you get home. The cookies and milk are waiting for Santa [...]

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Day 21: 24 Days of Green Christmas – Caramels as Edible Gifts

I was going to include this Apple Cider Caramels recipe in last weekend’s baking post but I didn’t get a chance to take photos. And good thing I rushed to take these today because they were being gobbled up preeeet…ty fast. I usually make Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Toffee as holiday gifts. But I wanted to try something different this year for an edible gift. And being that there’s apple cider (fruit) [...]

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Day 20: 24 Days of Christmas – Shopping on Etsy

Personalized Christmas Stockings by Sunshinedaydream4u I took a break from crafting and baking and browsed Etsy today. And I found some amazing crafters who hand-make items and as always, they blew my mind. There are some really really talented crafters on Etsy and this is just a glimpse of how creative and skillful they are. I would love to own some of these. OK, maybe even just one. *Click the photos [...]

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Day 19: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Paper Snow Flakes

Christmas is less than a week away folks. If you bought gifts, are you done with wrapping them yet? Look at this pretty paper snow flake you can make out of any scrap paper. Isn’t this a great way to decorate your gifts? Howaboutorange has neat tutorials on making snowflakes like this and other more intricate ones that can be used as gift wrapping decoration or to just hang and [...]

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Day 15: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – T-Shirt Hat

Do we love upcycling t-shirts or what? We made t-shirt fabric yarn, a memory quilt and a Christmas tree skirt. Today, we are going to make a hat. And why not? We have plenty of t-shirts and the soft well worn t-shirts make great fabric for a cozy hat as a gift….especially, if you are using his/her favorite shirt to make his/her favorite hat! And, its easy peasy! How to Make [...]

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Day 14: 24 Days of Green Christmas – Edible Gift Ideas

Before I talk about my favorite type of gifts to receive, give – food – I have to tell you about an interesting phenomenon that’s been happening on my blog for about ten days…..no, it’s not the “24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts”…although it is a phenomenal series! Beginning of December, Fox News published an article titled, “7 foods you should never eat” from Prevention magazine – an article I posted [...]

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Day 13: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Paper Leaf Wreath

Remember the poinsettia wreath made out of toilet paper tubes on the Day 1 of this series? Even since I saw the wreath, I have been fiddling around with my collection of toilet paper tubes to make something out of them. At first, I thought I can make some words out of them and insert christmas lights in the holes to light them up, like a billboard. But the tubes [...]

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Day 12: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Gift Card Holder Ornament

WOW! We’ve made it half way through “24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts”! Time flies when you are having fun! I can’t believe it’s 12 days before Christmas already. Can you? I hope you are having a blast making these crafts as I am. And thanks for spreading the word about this series. We are getting some nice visitors and I am so glad you are helping to promote green [...]

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Day 11: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Hoopster Snowman

Ever since I saw Betz White’s Hoopie the Snowman, I knew I was going to make it some day. But I don’t felt wool so I had to think of another way to dress this little guy. Then, I realized that I had a bag – ok, a basket – full of old t-shirts; some whole and some remnants from the T-Shirt Memory Quilt I made. I figured, there are [...]

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Day 10: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Christmas Stockings

What’s Christmas without stockings, right? We used to put little gifts for 12 days leading up to Christmas when the kids were young. They’d run down to check the stockings every morning, as if it’s Christmas morning. And I’ll be honest, the kids never noticed the stockings for their beauty. They just shoved their short arms and reached down to see what were in them. But sadly, now that they [...]

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Day 9: 24 Days of Christmas – Chicken or Turkey or Mushroom Pot Pie

With all the crafting and blogging, I am always short on time for real dinner lately. But this life saver of a “Dinner in One Pot” meal is my all time favorite. Of course, I don’t eat meat anymore so I’ll scoop out a bowl before I add the meat and finish it off, while standing over the stove. But what’s really really great about this dish is that you [...]

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Day 8: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Fish Terrarium

What is better than giving someone a living organism as a gift? Give this awesome terrarium for anyone who knows how to shake a salt shaker. That’s really all it takes to take care of this little neat guy. There is no maintenance and you don’t need to walk it or groom it. Ok, you’ll need to change the water when it gets dirty but that’s it! One of my [...]

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Day 7: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Burlap Ornament

Wow. It’s been one week since we started the “24 Days of Green Christmas” series already. Are you tired yet? I hope not. I’m just getting warmed up! So, let’s continue with crafting, shall we? For today’s craft, I want to share a post I wrote for Crafting a Green World back in October. These shabby chic ornaments used up leftover burlap after making trays and baskets so I was [...]

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Day 6: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Pants Bowl

Today’s tutorial involves one of my favorite upcycling methods – making yarn out of clothes. Remember my tutorial on how to make fabric yarn out of T-Shirts? Sonya of Kanlestrand makes yarn out of pants to make this adorable fabric bowl. All you need is an old – yes, that means OLD, not your son’s favorite worn out baggy pants, thinking, he won’t notice it’s missing. Uh-huh. He’s onto you. [...]

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Day 5: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Felted Poinsettia Brooch

We have a winner for the cute little clutch from La Alicia’s shop! Commenter #2, Cynthia, won the cute clutch! Yay! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Now, Felted Poinsettia Brooch Tutorial… I have this amazingly talented friend who lives up in the “Arctic“. I call it “Arctic” because when it snows in the winter – actually, I think it already snowed up there before Thanksgiving – it S…N…O…W…S… boat loads! Not like this gentle [...]

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Day 4: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafs – Table Runner

I created a Flickr group called, “Green Christmas Crafting“ so that you can share your Christmas craft tutorials from December 1st to December 24th every year! Yay! this will be an annual event! I will upload mine if you upload yours. Eeek….that didn’t sound good. Anyway, please share your recent Christmas craft tutorials and maybe I’ll feature them here, with your permission, of course. On with today’s Day #4 tutorial…. [...]

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Day 3: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – T-Shirt Christmas Tree Skirt

Making T-Shirt quilts is a great ways to use up old t-shirts. Not only that, it’s a great way to preserve sentimental memories and keep us closer to our past a little longer. I posted this tree skirt tutorial on Crafting a Green World when I used to write for the site and I thought I’d post it here, just in case, you missed it. The cool thing about this [...]

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Day 2: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Using Up Paper

http://youtu.be/pb72LFW0KPI

Using up recyclable paper, like magazines, catalogues, Christmas wrapping paper, and Christmas cards are not only fun but very practical. Let’s check out how these creative crafters are recycling paper into functional goodies. Simple Matchboxes These matchboxes are so cute for wrapping jewelry or even gift cards. All you need are some paper, knife, and glue! Who needs to buy gift boxes? You can see the instruction on Mary Zoom. [...]

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Day 1: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Wreath, Garland, and More to Come

This is it! Today is the official start of ecokaren’s “24 days of Green Crafting for Christmas” Countdown. Everyday from today (GULP!), I will post green holiday crafting tips and ideas or recipes until Christmas. Some will be my originals and some will be a round up of ideas that I think you’ll enjoy. I know. I’m crazy. I might pass out by Day 14 but I have ambitious goals. [...]

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Green Holiday and Gift Guide

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I did too. And I’m over it now. The dishes, platters, trays, serving utensils, cooking utensils, pots and pans are all washed, dried, and put away. I’m even done with washing bazillion dish towels and napkins. By the looks of all that I had to wash, you’d think I’d servie the Brady Bunch! And now that I am preparing to make my traditional After-Thanksgiving [...]

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Interesting Facts About Thanksgiving

This year’s Thanksgiving post will be different from last year. I think you know how to green your Thanksgiving and you know I’ve adopted another turkey by now. But….. Did you know that turkey was NOT served on first Thanksgivng? The first feast probably served seafood and there were no pies or cakes either. And in 2011, 248 million turkeys were raised for consumption – up 2% from last year. And did [...]

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Happy Birthday America!

Happy 235th Birthday America!! Photo from Conservative Daily

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Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America!! How are you celebrating America’s 235th Birthday? BBQ with friends? A trip to the beach? A picnic at the park? Whatever you do, consider these factors when you are BBQ’ng or driving to your vacation destination. 1. Don’t drink and drive. I know. It’s a no brainer but I just had to remind you….cuz, I love you. 2. Take it slow on the road. It will save [...]

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Happy Mother’s Day Weekend

Mother Dear God sent the birds and sunshine to gladden all the world: He sent the foliage and flowers. In radiance unfurled: He sent the June. The stars, the moon. The pearly dewdrops sweet And then he sent you Mother dear. To make it all complete ~Maurine Hathaway~ Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day Weekend!

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Merry Christmas!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Let your heart be light From now on, our troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Make the Yule-tide gay, From now on, our troubles will be miles away. Here we are as in olden days, Happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more. Through the years we all [...]

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Don’t Forget the Animal Shelters During Holiday

They don’t need jewelry, or fancy collars. They don’t need engraved food bowls or elaborate beds. Animals only need some warm old blankets, and some kibbles. They only need your love and maybe worn out sock-turned-chewable toys. They are hungry and lonely. They just need shelter that’s homely. Please donate old blankets, sheets, old sweater or coats to any animal shelters in your neighborhood. They don’t need much. But they [...]

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I was about to post about Thanksgiving – you know, what I am grateful for, how to green your Thanksgiving and what I am doing to prepare, and all that. Then, I thought, you know all that already because I wrote about that last year! So why reinvent the wheel? Duh~ So today, I’m going to talk about Easter. No. I’m kidding. I’m just going to tell you the “Cliff [...]

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Happy Fourth of July from Eco Etsy Team!

I love birthdays. Not my birthdays, mind you. But everyone else’s! So here is to America’s 234th Independence Day with some awesome Red White and Blue gift items from Team Eco Etsy! 1. Nestle and Soar, 2. Reiter8, 3. Sea Find Designs, 3. RosyUndPosy

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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Green New Year’s Eve Party!

Are you excited about bringing in the new year? I am. 2010 is going to be a great year for me. And I am going to celebrate it BIG with a party at my house. So, of course, it’s going to be a “Green Party”! This is what I am planning to do: 1.Use eVite to invite people. Easy. Quick. Very green. 2. Serve organic champagne. There are so many [...]

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Green tips for after Christmas

Now that you are done with Christmas parties, family gatherings, meals, and exchanging gifts, think about these tips for greening your after- Christmas clean up. Recycle your Christmas tree Recycle Christmas lights if they are broken and if you don’t have LED lights, buy them now (they are probably on sale) for next year Recycle old batteries Buy rechargeable batteries Cut out gift tags from Christmas cards you don’t want [...]

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Merry Christmas!

We had a blizzard-like condition last weekend and while it would have been nicer to have the snow on Christmas, I loved it nevertheless. Snow still covers the streets and it’s cold outside, like Christmas should be. I never had the opportunity to go away to a hot spot for Christmas holiday so, to me, Christmas has always meant below freezing temperatures and waiting anxiously for the snow. For this [...]

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“Twas the night before Eco-Christmas…”

The original title: “The night before an eco-etsy christmas” by FashionGreenTBags Twas the night before an Eco Etsy Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The recycled yarn stockings hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of solar power danced through their heads; [...]

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Merry Woof-mas!!

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Green Gift Giving Tips

I know you have at least one or two people on your list that you have no stinking clue what to give this Christmas. They probably have everything and whatever they need, they can buy for themselves. Like your Uncle Bob or Aunt Ellen. What do you give to those kinds of people? How about sending them on a vacation where they can volunteer to work on an organic farm [...]

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Eco Friendly Handmade Cyber Monday

Is it really Cyber Monday today? I love it. Isn’t it quiet? No crowds. Plenty of parking spaces. No check out lines. I can shop in my jammies with a cup of hot brimming coffee. This is great! So let’s see what great eco friendly finds there are on Etsy. Recycled denim birds on Christmas tree would be awesome. Repurposed Bird Ornament by copabananas Perfect gift for a hostess or [...]

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Eco Friendly Handmade Christmas

Here are some handmade Christmas goodies. Merry Christmas all winter long… Cool presents for your birds! This will start some creative conversations at your holiday party, heh? Who wouldn’t like your present if you wrap them in these? And finally, a placemat and a utensil case in one. Don’t use disposable plastic utensils. Be real and carry real ones. I think I am getting closer to being done with my [...]

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Buy Eco friendly Handmade

Continuing with some great Eco Friendly Handmade finds on Etsy today… You can never have enough pillows and these are made with bamboo fabric too! Just looking at these arm warmers keep my arms and wrists warm. Pretty flowers too. OK, I’m biased on these but the lavender smells so great and did you know that lavender is great for stress relief? This conflict free diamond ring makes me want [...]

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Happy Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving, I ask myself “What am I thankful for?” And I come up with some lame corny things. But the truth is, I really am thankful: for my family, for my friends, for our health, that my family wants to eat what I cook, that they want to get together every year, that this year has gone by without any disasters in our lives, that despite the doom and [...]

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Green Thanksgiving Part 2

If you read my last post on Green Thanksgiving, you know that it’s a special holiday in my family and that I am planning to adopt a turkey this year. But besides that, I am looking into ways to make it a little more eco friendly this year. How? 1. I’m buying local and organic – that means, my vegetables, fruits, meats, and decorations will all come from local farmers [...]

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Green Thanksgiving Part 1

Thanksgiving is a special occasion in my family. My parents worked ten hours a day, six days a week, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. So my Mom never cooked a turkey in her life. Cooking turkey was my job. So I learned, early on, that a twenty-pound turkey can feed a family of five for three days, 5 lb bag of potatoes can make enough mashed potatoes to last five days, [...]

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DIY Halloween

Have you seen all those Halloween Costume centers that pop up every year and are – “POOF” – gone by November 1st? Have you gone in those stores and feel a headache coming on with all the plastic and polyester smell? I really can’t walk in those stores without getting nauseous. So, what can I do to avoid all those cheap plastic, fake, disposable, and environmental nightmare for Halloween? Do [...]

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Green Halloween Goodies

After yesterday’s post, I got to thinking more about Green Halloween and went window shopping. Look at the green goodies I found for Green Halloween. (Say that fast ten times….) Perfect for sandwiches too! Imagine all the candies you can carry home in this roomy bag! And it’s reusable! Very chic banner and you’ll use it every year! How about giving these out instead of candies???? My kind of treat! [...]

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Green Halloween Tips

I confess. I don’t like Halloween. There. That wasn’t so bad. I guess you can call me Mrs. Halloween Scrooge. I just don’t like all the waste that this “unusual” holiday creates. Plastic pumpkins, candy wrappers, paper bags, plastic bags, and so on. Also, what other country in the world has a holiday where you dress up as a character, supposedly scary, and threaten people for candies? And then, throw [...]

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Happy Fourth of July!

courtesy of Avlor Imprints I know many of you are BBQ’ing to celebrate this holiday and while you are enjoying the outdoor celebrations, think about these ways to ‘green’ your Fourth of July this weekend and future picnics this summer. 1. Stay locally for your celebration – I’m sure there are tons of celebration going on this weekend around your neighborhood. Check your local Park and Recreation Department for fireworks [...]

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Happy Easter!

Today will be an uber Good “Fabulous” Friday as I found some great finds that remind me of Spring (and Easter) on Etsy and I wanted to share them with you. They are all eco-friendly and I just love the colors that scream “Spring”! Click the picture for more info. Enjoy and let me know what you think about these great whimsical and functional items from eco-friendly artists from Etsy. [...]

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Recycled Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is just four days away. But it’s still not too late to shop for that “love” of your life. Whether it’s your partner, daughter, mother, or a friend, I thought these will make great gifts. These are all from my Etsy shop made with upcycled or recycled materials. The felt material used in the embroidery frame and ornament are from recycled post consumer plastic products, the cotton yarns [...]

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