Posts by author: Colleen

I made this necklace from pearls, fire polished crystals, and fabric from a thrift store dress.  Plus the chain is recycled from a clearance necklace from Target…I just removed all the metal charms with my pliers.

To make the flower, cut a bunch of fabric circles, hand-sew them together, then sew on the three little pearls.  I sewed it to a flat metal charm & covered the back of the charm with a small circle of fabric (using fabric glue) to give it a finished look.  The charm is then hung to the chain with a jump ring.  I also intend on using fray check on the perimeter of the flower layers because this fabric weave is really loose.

back of flower

I’m teaching this free class at the Highland Square branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library .

Iris Paper Folding Wall Art

Come use recycled paper and Iris Paper Folding techniques to make a 5″ x 7″ frame-able wall art. Iris Paper Folding is basically layering paper in a pattern and using it as a background behind a shape cutout. Participants are welcome to bring their own recycled papers such as envelopes, junk mail, greeting cards, or discarded books to use, but a selection of papers will also be available. If attendees have a paper trimmer, they are welcome to bring it, as cutting paper strips will be much quicker.

Sign up is required, and begins August 16, at 330-376-2927.

If you can’t make it to class, I also wrote a  tutorial for this project.

For those of you in the NE Ohio area, you must make a trip to the Farmer’s Market at Stan Hywet. It’s Thursday’s from 4-7pm through September 23.   We bought fresh wheat bread, grass-fed cow cheese, and plumbs.  Everything tasted fresh & flavorful.  I was especially amazed at how creamy & rich the cheese was.

As a bonus after the market, you can walk the estate gardens for free.  I took lots of pics of my son running across bridges, next to fountains, & through the grape arbor tunnel.

I made these beads from pages of an old poetry book.  My inspiration is from a similar project in Playing with Books-The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book.  The only difference was that they rolled up triangles & I rolled up rectangles, so my finished beads have more of a tube shape.  With either shape, the basic idea is to roll up a long strip of paper (leaving a hole for beading wire to go through), use adhesive to secure it closed (I used decoupage glue), cover the outside of the bead with glue (for a protective finish), & let it dry.

Today while making banana bread, I was thinking about how long it takes to bake.   A loaf of bread takes 60 minutes, while muffins take 25 minutes.  I opted to put the banana bread in muffin tins not only because my house was 80 degrees before turning the oven on, but because I’m thinking about energy use.  There is no good reason to keep the oven on an extra half hour so my bread can taste exactly the same.

By the way, my recipe is Banana Banana Bread from Allrecipes.  I made the following changes:

-instead of 1/2 cup butter, use 1/4 cup butter & 1/4 cup apple sauce

-instead of 3/4 cup sugar, use 1/2 cup sugar

-add some spice such as cinnamon, vanilla, or nutmeg

This beautiful vintage button belonged to my grandmother.  There’s only one, and I’ve been painfully particular about how to use it.  When guest blogger, Erica, wrote about making a vintage brooch into a necklace, I immediately thought about my button.  But since I’m on a hair-accessories kick, I thought I’d try it within a flower instead.

I used recycled shirt fabric & a vintage button for this flower.  It’s just like this orange flower one I made a while back.  The original pattern & idea came from a fabric flowers tutorial at Wise Craft.

Growing up, Mom always hung clothes outside to dry.  I thought it was a waste of time because we had a dryer.  Then I wondered if we were too poor to run the dryer.  That was more concerning.  But I just went along with helping hang clothes.  At least if I helped, I’d make sure the underwear were hiding behind the towels.

Then in college, I really was a poor college student.  I hated spending those quarters on laundry, so I hauled wet clothes to the dorm room & placed them strategically over chairs & shower curtains to dry.

After moving to our house, we bought a washer & dryer.  I happily dried clothes in the dryer.  I thought, “Look at all the time I’m saving.   I just push the button! And my electric bill is affordable.  This is great!”

But in the past two years I’ve been gravitating toward all things sustainable & energy efficient.  I was shocked to learn there’s no energy stars for driers.  Then I realized Mom is more energy-savy than me.  Kicking & screaming, I resolved to hang my clothes outside.  I thought it’d be terrible & too much time & too hard with the kids.  But, I found that I like it.  I’m saving energy, and it’s not all that hard.  It takes 5 minutes to hang (I don’t bother with clothes pins), and really no more time to take them down while folding them.  Plus, since my clothesline & drying rack are under the deck overhang, I can dry clothes no matter the weather.  …Thanks Mom.

Last week some friends came over to help weed my driveway.  I didn’t pay them , nor was I in dire need because I broke a leg or something.   It was just an experiment in helping each other.

See, some of my girlfriends regularly get together for brunches.  But Devona & I brainstormed, “Why not do work projects for the person who hosts brunch?”  So last week I was the first work brunch hostess and kindly received lots of help with the overgrown weeds in my driveway.  I chose a project we could do while socializing & watching the kids.  We worked for an hour on what would have taken me a week alone.

Have you tried anything like this with your friends or even family or neighbors?  I’m curious what other ideas are out there.

Starbucks Coffee Grounds

I got this complimentary 5-pound bag of used coffee grounds from Starbucks.  My store keeps them near the bagged coffees.  Here’s an article about all the benefits of using coffee grounds in the garden.  You can add grounds to compost or use them as mulch.   They benefit plants because they’re high in Nitrogen, and they help bring down soil pH.  Supposedly they deter slugs & snails.  And if they’re fresh, the smell is nice as well.

For years I’ve had the most ragged garden, one which I apologize periodically to my neighbors.  This year it was, “I’m sorry my mint is appearing in your lawn.” and “Sorry about the raspberries looking so messy right near your garage.” But they’re nice about my urban gardening experiments, plus I always give them fresh produce!  So to curb the chaos, I’ve teamed with my husband to build three raised garden beds.

Here are instructions for building a wooden raised garden bed, plus tips on how to set it up in the garden space.  I think it’s much easier if two people work on the project together.

Supplies (for building the wood square):

tools for building bed

-4 pieces of wood per square.  Mine is 6″ tall 2″ deep, and cut to 4′ long, so my box is 4′ x 4′ square.  You can change the size, but keep in mind that you need to be able to reach all plants from the outside perimeter.  Ideally, I wanted 5′ square, but the wood only came in 8′ pieces, so 4′ square didn’t waste wood.  By the way, the nice people at the hardware store only charged $.25 a board to cut my wood.  That saved so much work!  Also, I used untreated wood.  I don’t want those chemicals near my plants.

-8 wood screws per square.   Mine are 2 1/2″ long.

-drill, extension cord to reach your drilling area, a drill bit that’s a little skinnier than your screws (for predrilling holes), and a screwdriver bit for the drill (unless you want to hand screw them with a screwdriver instead). Read more »