Recycled Crayons for Valentine's Day
On a recent trip to the supermarket, I took a stroll down the valentine aisles. Holy Canoli, that’s a lot of garbage is all I have to say about the experience.
The good news, amongst the THREE aisles full of valentine-y JUNK, I located 3 different boxes of eco-conscious Valentine cards (the little classroom trading cards). Each had a different earth message, one was about saving the rain forests, another was about recycling, and the third was about animals. They were labeled as using recycled paper and soy based inks.
I still wasn’t convinced to buy them.
[read the full article...]
In part I we talked about rock painting and water play. For a fun afternoon of baking bread, visit my recipe at Eat.Drink.Better and get those kids cooking!
In our world (meaning the small space our family occupies, not the greater World as it is), we believe everyday is an outside day unless weather is at a dangerous extreme or the rain is coming down in buckets. However, here in Oregon, we do still have plenty of “Rain Days” which keep us inside for part of the day. Nearly every day finds us outside exploring, riding bikes, climbing trees, digging, and nature walking.
I’ve already mentioned that we enjoy collecting things on our walks… twigs, moss, leaves, pebbles, bark chips, pine cones, hazelnuts, whatever is laying about. We don’t ever take something off a living tree or plant because that could cause harm. [read the full article...]
In a world of high tech gadgetry everywhere you look (iPods, flat-screen computer monitors, mp3 players, personal DVD players and the like) I sometimes yearn for the good old days when a coloring book and some crayons made me a pretty happy camper. While we can’t change the past, we can (and should) change the future.
I’m not going to prevent my two boys from 21st century technology, but I’m also (carefully) squeezing in some old fashioned extra-curricular activities too. Family craft time is one of those low-tech fun times that can be fairly simple yet memorable.
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by Derek Markham on January 17, 2009 · 1 comment
I confess: I am a craftaholic. Yes. It’s true. [Just ask my wife and she'll tell you ALL about it.] The strange thing is, I don’t limit myself to just one ‘craft’ or medium. I run the whole gamut. From fabric to fiber to paint to rubber stamps to card-making … the list goes on and on.
On the bright side, I’m very proud of the fact that instead of running out to my local craft store to buy my supplies, I scour the local thrift shops and Goodwill stores to find items that I can buy (for next to nothing) and convert them into something with new life. Example: a pillowcase, in good condition, can be turned into a tote bag, a pencil case, a crochet hook keeper or a travel-size tissue holder.
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Think twice before you put your recyclable items out for pick-up. You may find that many plastic or glass containers can have multiple uses. I’ve found several crafty ways to use some:
Individual serving sized yogurt containers make great paint pots for the kids. They can be used to hold water or paint.
Peel off the label of a pickle jar. Wash, rinse and allow it to dry. Now, fill it up will all those stray buttons you have. Jars also make great containers for glue sticks, embroidery floss, ribbon and craft sticks (recycled frozen treat sticks). They can also be used as a way to keep your paintbrushes, colored pencils and other tools neat and tidy. [read the full article...]
by Derek Markham on December 16, 2008 · 1 comment
An easy holiday craft for even the artistically challenged is the humble paper snowflake.
But I have to warn you before you begin, making paper snowflakes is addicting.
I’ve spent many hours happily lost in the cutting of a masterpiece, just periodically taking time out to fold more pieces for the kids to cut.
The materials are simple but the results can be amazing. The paper versions are just like the real thing: no two are exactly alike.
You can decorate your house in an evening, and for clean-up, just sweep up the scraps. Some people like to decorate them afterwards with glitter or markers, but I like mine white.
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With Holiday break rapidly approaching, I’m in a near panic thinking about how to occupy these FIVE critters for weeks on end with no educational diversion. We usually fall back on the same entertainment/activities for the break… here are some ideas for you, please share yours in the comments!
We will be mixing up some cookie mix in a jar recipes to put in our gift baskets.
The kids will make some adorable napkins rings using old paper rolls (toilet paper, paper towel, wrapping paper tubes). We cut the tubes to desired ring size and glue on strips of artwork or colorful paper. Then we decorate with whatever we have around the house; beads, buttons, ribbons, twigs, acorns, or small scraps. (What craft do you make with toilet paper tubes?)
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by Jennifer Lance on December 10, 2008 · 5 comments
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”
Markers dry out and then what, they end up in our landfills. Children love them and if they are washable and non-toxic, parents and teachers love them. I know how to recycle and reuse crayons but markers? I’ve never known how to recycle them and even when I tweeted about it and did some research I couldn’t dig up much on the recycling of markers. One of my favorite sites, Earth 911 couldn’t even help me. Disappointing. The best answer I could come up with came from Yahoo answers. Yes, Yahoo answers. What I learned is this, there is no green way to dispose of child friendly, non-toxic, washable markers. Sorry. I wish that there was. The plastic is just not recyclable and it won’t bio-degrade…that I know of. I’d love to learn otherwise and I’m sure my readers would too. If you know something share but I’ve written to the companies and I’ve gone to the store and there are no tips on the packages for recycling.
In the meantime, I’m going to make sure the caps are kept on the markers last as long as possible. I’m also going to promote reusing the markers and the caps on the markers. How? [read the full article...]
