DIY Cinnamon Pinecones

I took this picture more than a month ago in my local craft store...long before Halloween:

I'm pretty sure the price tag said $6 for these two gigantic cinnamon scented pinecones.  While I don't have pinecones that big in my neighborhood, I figured I could do something just as nice and better for the environment at home.

Pinecones are found in nature so how bad can they for the environment, right?  Compared to other manufactured holiday decorations probably not too bad.  But if you consider the excess netting, paper price tags, artificial scents and the pollution caused transporting the pinecones from one person's backyard to store shelves, wouldn't you prefer to head outside and collect your own while you enjoy the beautiful Autumn weather?

All you need are some pinecones, a plastic bag and cinnamon essential oil (you won't need a jug of it as in the picture, common jars come in 1 and 3 ounce sizes)

Place a few drops of essential oil down inside the pinecones, you can use a dropper or just pour some into a soft plastic container that you can squeeze to form a little spout. You can use your sniffer as a guide to how much oil to add, but just 3-4 drops per pinecone should do the trick.  You can always add more essential oils when the scent fades.  Then place them inside a plastic bag overnight to give the oils some time to absorb.

Now just place them amongst your garland or other holiday decorations

You can even just pile them into a bowl and place it anywhere you'd like to freshen your home.

Weekend Wrapup: For Those Already Dreaming of Spring

This is the perfect wrap for those who love spring, butterflies or the garden!  If you need some help making your butterflies from beverage cans please see my YouTube video.  Just want to purchase the butterflies?  You can find them in my Etsy shop.  Okay, here's what we're aiming for:

The supplies are few.  Just gather up some floral themed magazine pages, soda can butterflies and foam tape (and if you're wrapping a package that requires more than one magazine page to cover it, you'll need a sewing machine):

Piece together the magazine pages and sew them together into a sheet similar to wrapping paper:

Wrap your gift and use your foam tape to apply your butterflies to the gift.  You can even use a Sharpie to mark one of your butterflies with the gift recipients name:

And viola, a no cost but beautiful and environmentally friendly way to present a holiday gift to a loved one!

More Upcycled Storage Compliments of Starbucks

It's true, I'm a junkie and I don't always have my reusable cup with me when I'm jonesing.  Here are few storage solutions that I get from my Starbucks cold cups.

They are great for storage of small items, like these buttons (or in workshop for nails, nuts and bolts)

Or to sort plastic lids

I even use my leftover cups to submerge my paper beads.  When I'm done I simply snap the lid on and cover the straw opening with a piece of tape to keep my leftover adhesive and varnish as fresh as the day I poured it into the cup.  These would be great for storing leftover kids paints too.
 

Do you reuse your beverage containers for anything else?

The Weekend Wrap Up: Part 1

Welcome to the first in a series of Weekend blog posts that will walk you through how to have beautifully wrapped holiday packages using only stuff headed to the recycle bin or trash can...dare we call it Upcycled Stuff?  Before we get started, take a look at this really nifty tutorial and learn how to make a gift box out of a cereal box.  Once you have the right size box made you can wrap it just as you would any other gift.  Need ideas?  Here's one:

For this gift, I am using paper that was used to cushion a recent online purchase, a flower embellishment made from an Arizona Ice Tea Can and double sided foam tape

Once you've flattened out the paper, wrap your gift (I used an iron on medium heat with no steam).  Then add a small square of tape to the back of the flower

Finally stick your flower to your gift and write your gift recipients name right on the package!

You can check out my YouTube tutorial if you need some help making those flowers OR you can pick them up in my shop:

See ya next week with another creative, earth-friendly gift wrap idea!

A Long Overdue Walk in the Park

As I was running to the post office today, I realized that Autumn had happened and I almost missed it.  I've been working too much lately and decided right then and there that I had stop and take a break.  I looked over at my copilot ...

Copilot

 

and said, "Chico, do you want to go to the park?"  It was a unanimous decision, so off we went.  This is one of my favorite parks, Paris Mountain State Park.  Isn't it beautiful?

 And Chico was incredibly happen to have new stuff to sniff (and even more so...to pee on)!

While we were there I picked up several pinecones in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.  You can bet there will be a couple quick craft tutes in the coming weeks.

I also found some beautiful acorn caps that I plan to make floating candles from for the holiday table.

When it was time to go....well let's just say THAT wasn't a unanimous decision!

Do you see him?  He sat down and watched me walk all the way to the car!

Can't see him?  How but now?  Can you see how clearly he is asking me, "Seriously mom? We're leaving?"

And, no, I didn't tell him to stay - I don't bother because he doesn't listen anyway.  Stubborn as him mom! 

I hope you have a chance to go and enjoy some of the beautiful fall foliage!

DIY Cereal Box Pocket Folder

It seems like I finish one organization project and another one pops up over night.  This time it's my file drawers, I would show you a before picture but I'm too ashamed!  Instead, I'll show you how to reuse some things that you have laying around the house to make pocket folders for those larger items that need organizing.  Here's one that I use to store my ECO-Fi felt sheets:

Here's what you'll need; assorted cardboard boxes, an old manila folder to use as a template, tacky glue, old t-shirt, something to cut with and a marker

Begin by placing the fold of the manila folder on one of the folds of your box and trace the edges of your template

Cut your folder out.  Now if you just need a few small folders to organize papers and such you can stop here and repeat for as many folders as you need.  Read on to complete your pocket folder...

Use an old t-shirt to cut a strip that will form the side of your pocket.  You should cut the strip to be a minimum of 1" wider (1/2" for each side) than the side opening of the folder and a minimum of 1" longer than the height.

Add a little tacky glue along the edge of the cereal box to the first fold and attach the t-shirt fabric to it.  Give a little time adhere before you move on

Fold the finished side up and glue the t-shirt to the bottom of of the file pocket

Then add glue to the remaining unfinished edge, fold it upwards and press the t-shirt into place

Repeat on the second side and you're ready to label and fill your new upcycled pocket folder!

Wordless Wednesday Featuring an Upcycled Surprise

My nine year old niece visited this weekend and brought with her and upcycled bird feeder that she very proud of.  I dare say I might have rubbed off on her a bit since the whole playing with trash is kinda "my thing" in the family.

While the engineering may not be an exact science on this one, the creativity is pretty awesome.  In her mind, when the bird lands on the spoon it acts as a funnel initiating a pour response filling the spoon with seed!  Cute, huh?