Glitterize Your Old Glass

Pinterest is at it again with awesome things for me to do! I found this awesome craft that can turn any boring old Glass it to something amazing!!!! It may just be me that thinks everything is better with glitter but I cannot help but be distracted by shiny things.  It really is a curse.  Anywho, I am pretty sure that everyone has some old glasses, mirrors or serving trays that they would like to spruce up.  This is a great way to make something old look new! Here is how:

Supplies:
Clean Glass or Glasses
Mod Podge Matte Finish
Glitter
Painter’s Tape (You might be able to use masking tape but I know sometimes it leaves a residue and you cannot put these glasses in the dishwasher after the glitter has been applied.)
Paint brushes (any sizes and tips are up to you as it will be your design)
Sheet or cover (to keep glitter from getting all over the place)
Large canister or plate (to place the glitter in while applying it to the glass)

Directions:

1. Put the painter’s tape around the areas you do not want to glitter. Make your own design! Get creative.

2. Use your paint brushes to add Mod Podge to the areas you do want to glitter. Nothing has to be perfect so do what you want with it.

3. Place your sheet or cover down before glittering so it can catch any spillage.

4. You can either sprinkle the glitter over the Mod Podged area and put a canister underneath it so you can save any unused glitter or fill a canister or plate with glitter to roll the Mod Podged area in. Either way is good. I personally like to roll mine in the glitter to make sure the entire surface is covered.

5. Let the glass set for a few hours to make sure everything has dried.

6. Remove painters tape and excess glitter.

You can use this concept on many old smooth surfaces. The glasses are not meant to be put in the dishwasher however so be careful what you decide to decorate.

Easter Egg Garland

I found this craft on Pinterest…yes, I know you are shocked but I figured this could come in handy for a few different reasons besides some pretty garland. I wanted to green it up just a bit.  You can make less disposable items to use for decorations year round or even just for multiple Easters.

Supplies:

Non Toxic Eco Paste (the original craft calls for liquid starch and flour)
Water
Pastel Hemp Cord (or any ribbons/thread/string you might have at home)
Shallow bowl for dipping string
Biodegradable Balloons (or regular balloons if you have them at home)

Directions:

1. Put eco-paste and water in a shallow bowl and mix

2. Blow up balloons to desired sizes.

3. Place string carefully into bowl and either coil the string and press into sticky mixture but keep your hands on the end of the string so you can find it easily.

4. Wrap the string around your balloon in the desired patter/shapes. Make sure to wipe off excess mixture so it doesn’t dry that way on your string.

5. Once finished wrapping the balloons find a place where they can sit and dry undisturbed. Wait at least 4 hours to make sure they are completely dry.

6. Pop your balloons! Then you can string them on a garland, place them in bowls or hide them around the house!

These eggs will last for quite awhile and can be kept around for decoration long after Easter is over. You can put candy and toys in them carefully and use them as gifts. There is alot to be done with these eggs.

Repurposing & Home Decor

I have been doing a lot of crafting around my house lately trying to see what I have to repurpose. Pinterest has been helping me with ideas as well but I wanted to see what some books have for repurposing ideas. I was almost on hoarder status saving things I knew I could get use out of but I wasn’t sure when I would find a use or for what and now I have found it.Repurposing & Home Decor has some really great ideas for me. Repurposing & Home Decor is an excellent how to for DIY repurposing projects as well as gives you advice on what not to do along with helpful tips. I am really excited to start playing around with some things I have laying around. I have a large backyard that I have been dying to fully utilize and this book is just the ticket to getting my yard where I want it to be.
What are your repurposing experiences? How tos? Do’s and don’ts?

DIY Bath Fizzies

I love taking baths and relaxing! Even more I love to make the elements that make my bath so relaxing. I know most people probably wouldn’t enjoy it because it is time consuming but there is nothing better than being able to customize the product to your specific liking. You also know what is going into the product and if it is really safe or not. If you are like me and enjoy making your own beauty products here is how you can make your own DIY Organic Bath Fizzies:

Ingredients:
•1/2 cup citric acid
•1 cup organic baking soda
•3/4 cup organiccornstarch
•1/4 cup organic cane sugar
•About 6 drops organic food coloring
•10 to 15 drops organic essential oil(s
•Spray bottle
•Silicone ice-cube tray (any fun shape you have)
•Storage jar (preferable something recycled you can always decorate it anyway you want)

Directions:
1.Stir together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch in a measuring cup.
2.Pass mixture through a fine sieve or a flour sifter into a mixing bowl.
3.Stir in sugar.
4.Fill spray bottle with water, and add food coloring.
5.Spritz mixture lightly (it should be damp and not wet enough to start fizzing) until you can pack mixture with your hands.
6.Add oil using a dropper, 1 drop at a time, until strength of scent is to your liking.
7. Use a metal spoon or your hands to mix ingredients until color is even throughout (mixture may begin to dry out if this happens, spritz until packable again).
8.Spoon into ice-cube tray & pressing firmly.
9. Let dry at room temperature overnight.
10. Pop out of tray gently and transfer to decorative jars.

**As usual you can add your own fun to this by using edible glitter, eco-paint to decorate the fizzies after they have dried! Be creative. It’s fun!

I never like to get rid of glass bottles and jars at home because I know they could be used for something else. Last night I was going through and organizing all of my crafting supplies and thought why not decorate some of them for funzies. I have been looking to do more crafting and send some gifts out anyway so this is a great way to reuse things I have around the house. This is also an excellent way to make a dent in my glass collection sitting in my basement. I used some ribbon, buttons, paper flowers and hot glue to attach everything and I think it looks pretty cute! If you don’t have a craft collection at home or don’t stock pile odds and ends like i do you want to decorate your own below are some links to where I got some of the stuff you see on my bottle:

Old broken or unused jewelry and hair accessories
Rags that are clean
Wrapping Paper or paper you have at home
Paper Flower Assortment
Buttons
Old Pins and Brooches
Bottle Caps
Ribbon
Glitter
Die cuts

The possibilities are endless! This is a great party craft for kids or scouting. You can even go natural and get leaves, twigs rocks, sea shells, sand anything! The Shabby Chic bottles make for great gifts or even something new to spruce up your house!

Owl Kitchen Art

As usual Pinterest has blown my mind! In my quest to find crafts for items that would otherwise be recycled or thrown out I found these crafts that use jar lids, pot tops,strainers, forks, spoons, bottle caps, whatever!! I am in love with this! The Kitchen Owl makes for a great housewarming gift or rainy day craft for students. The Kitchen Owl is the perfect way to really implement the ideas of Reduce, Recycle, & Reuse.  Think of all of the things that would have otherwise been thrown out. Talk about another man’s trash is another mans treasure!  This just goes to show that you really can reuse almost anything if you put your mind to it creatively. 
I found this at the perfect time because while reorganizing my kitchen I put aside a bunch of kitchen items that really aren’t so usable anymore and should be recycled or things we had a bunch of that we didn’t need. I cannot wait to break open that box and get started on all the fun animals that can be made. You can probably do bunnies, kittens even dogs. Get creative you can add other things to the kitchen craft they don’t have to all be metal. Use glitter or paint and make them colorful. Add stickers or jewels to them.

Preserve Toothbrush

This is basically the awesomest thing I have seen in a really long time. This toothbrush was made from recycled yogurt cups, they come in multiple colors and sizes. Stonyfield has partnered with Preserve to take their plastic scraps and plastic products to make the razors, tongue cleaners and toothbrushes. Preserve Jr. donates a portion of their proceeds to the National Wildlife Federation. Preserve does all recycling and manufacturing in the USA. The package that the tooth brush comes in is a no postage necessary mailable package to send back your toothbrush when you are done. The colors of the toothbrushes I bought are super cute too. My toothbrush is bright pink and the bf’s is a super cute blue. The brushes feel just like any you would buy in the store. I’m not sure why but I thought the brushes might feel different but they don’t which makes them even cooler.
I went to www.preserveproducts.com to see what else they have to offer and I am excited! They make razors, kitchen supplies, table ware and even to go products. The website is neat and clean and most of all colorful! I am soo in love right now. Preserves tableware is dishwasher safe which I think for moderate greenies/families is a definite plus.
You can also sign up for Gimme5 and Recyclebank on the Preserve website where you an earn rewards for recycling! If that isn’t incentive for doing the right thing I don’t know what is. There are all kinds of ways to earn points on both sites. I am extremely excited I found these sites and cannot wait to start earning points. The fun part is I already use most of the products that earn you points as well as have been recycling them! If only I knew about this sooner. Are you a member of Gimme5 or Recyclebank? If not you can log on with your Facebook account and show other people what you are doing.

Don't Throw Away Your Old CD's

I have been cleaning out my house alot lately trying to organize and possibly upcycle things in my house I never use anymore. The other day I found a huge binder full of old CD’s I haven’t used in forever since I put all the music on my iPod. I didn’t want to throw them away as I had literally hundreds but I wasn’t sure how to make the best use of them. No one wanted them of course so I had to figure out something awesome to do with them. You see upcycled CD’s online and in stores often so I figured why can’ t I do the same. Here are some things I found online that I thought were cute.

1. The obvious use them as coasters. Glue either felt or some other cute fabric to it and you have automatic free coasters for your home. They make a super cute house warming gift and you can even decorate them if you want to add some personal flare.

2. Party decoration. Make flashy garland out of them for an event or even as permanent decor for your home. If you or maybe your child is a music lover why not string together some of their fave CD’s together and hang them from the ceiling or around the room as a border.

3. Make it art! Have unused frames at home? Take some CDs that are special to you and decorate them and hang them on the wall. This is also a perfect gift to give to someone that appreciates music and maybe a certain CD is special to them.

4. Use it as a party craft. Have no idea how to entertain a bunch of kids at a party. Hand out old CD’s and tell them to decorate them as they wish. Find cheap frames and some backing and let them make their own fun. Even go with the above and make their own coaster.

5. Bird Deterrent. Do you have birds that are always running into your glass doors or windows? Help them avoid hurting them selves by hanging a few on you doors and window so they can avoid flying head first into your house.

6. Are you a painter? Use them as pallets to mix your paint. There is already a hole in the middle for holding. You can keep clean them off easily and reuse them or keep them for mixing the same colors.

Do you have any fun uses for old CD’s? Let me know and I will post them on the Beagle!

Napa Soap Company

I have written about Napa Soap Company before and just held a contest for some lucky greenie to win a sample set of their soaps that ended yesterday. I have a fragrance background from past jobs I have had and for some reason the sense of smell is really important to me when using products. I cannot stand over scented or artificial smelling products. It ruins the whole thing for me.
The Napa soaps I received were not only packaged beautifully (and not over packaged which is something I have been seeing lately much too often) but what I noticed immediately was the careful detail to the scent of the soaps. That is one of the most important elements to any good soap, in my opinion. The soaps looked so beautiful in their packaging I really didn’t even want to unwrap them.
I appreciate a green company that pays attention to detail. The Napa Soap Company website is great, their products are lovely and the prices are quite reasonable. They live up to their green practices which is also an extremely important to me when purchasing a green product. Overall, I am going to say that I am impressed with Napa Soap Company and will be sure to use their product in the future!
Have you ever tried Napa Soap products? If so tell me about them!

Bike Chain Picture Frame

I’m not generally a fan of recycled bike chain merchandise like jewelry, bags, chains, but this frame caught my eye. I like the shape and pattern of the chains in this frame. It’s simple but interesting.  You can even decorate it up if you like with odds and ends you have around the house.   The idea for these frames came about when someones bike chain broke on their way to work. There are plenty of uses one could have for a bike chains which is good but this picture frame sort of makes sure it won’t end up in a landfill somewhere. People generally keep picture frames for long periods of tome or at the least give them away. It’s not easy to break a bike chain and as long as it is constructed sturdily the frame could last forever! Another special perk to the bike chain picture frame is that it is made in the USA. That’s just one more reason why you should be buying these for yourself, friends, family, even strangers! You can find this frame and other super cute items at Hipcycle!