Living without Walls

Yesterday's breezy cool spring weather made me all too aware of how fleeting spring can be. We ate lunch outside, swayed in the hammock till our cheeks became too pink by the sun, slept with the windows open (as usual)... and as the breeze came through the kitchen window blowing my hair back and making the tea towels float and other objects chime I realized the importance of standing still and soaking it all in... in the hopes of finding a little bit of daily magic.. and so as you head off to your weekend, I thought a little collage of images from my Living without Walls board on pinterest would be a fun visual reminder to head outdoors, soak it up, pitch a tent in the yard and breath in spring.

DIY: Outdoor Teepee with Branches and Flowers

I saw this idea for making a Bean teepee on pinterest, and I just knew we had to make one this year for our budding toddler! So yesterday I got to work on the teepee and wanted to share our progress up to this point. Hopefully it will inspire your own outdoor retreat.

Above: I wanted to make the structure tall enough that the husband and I could go in there with the toddler...

FIRST: Gather branches, or poles.

We had a variety of sticks and branches leftover from last year's bean structures, but I also foraged for other fallen branches in the slightly wooded area at the back of the house. I dug holes for the heavier branches (which act as the main support and structure) in order to provide a more secure foundation since they are rather heavy and robust.

The teepee sits next to our two vegetable beds and across from our daughter's future sandbox.

Today I wrapped the poles with twine, providing more avenues for the vines to grow. I also wove the twine all the way to the top (not pictured) and wrapped it around all the poles where they meet, securing them together and making the structure more stable should any wobbly toddler knock into it or a great wind blows through town.

Next up- I am going to plant Sweet pea and nasturtiums at the base of the teepee to grow and act as the walls. In the meantime, I took some vines from the inner garden, that had traveled to other undesignated beds (naughty naughty) and I replanted them beneath the teepee... so at least we have a few guys that are already on their way up while I wait for the seeds to germinate.

Our teepee will look something like the one from Intrepid Murmurings. We too will put mulch on the teepee floor and some logs and large rocks for little ones to sit on. I like their inclusion of a bird feeder and we have a busted wind chime that could use a little TLC and eventually hang from the teepee.

I'm pretty excited to see how this looks come the middle of summer when it's all wild and woodsy! It will be a great place for our daughter to hang out and have play dates with her friends.

A "Green" Gift Wrapping Round Up

If you've read my Green Living posts, you may know how much packaging drives me crazy! Gifts arrive in packaging be it to the store or directly to your home- your little gift has already seen it's share of waste (sorry to be a hum-bug, but think about it!) SO the thought of putting this gift back into more trash to then be smashed into trash bags at the end of Christmas Day... is kinda gross and unnecessary. So I thought it would be fun to offer some alternative gift wrapping ideas, using recycled paper, fabric and other fun household elements to inspire your own green gift wrapping endeavors. 

Above: I'll be honest, not all of my gifts are wrapped greenly this year, but here are a few that are! I found these great colorful drawstrings bags in my mother's Christmas decorations that belonged to my grandparents (?) and so I wrapped the husband's Christmas present in the green bag and used the red cord to tighten up the package tying it around the outside, acting as a bow as well as a great place to tie the luggage tag- gift tag. The smaller white drawstring bag I received with a purchase and I'm using it to wrap a stocking stuffer. We have a few other drawstrings bags I will use for our daughter's presents too. I love the simplicity of this bag idea- so easy, just drop it in the bag and synch up the cords! Boom, you're done!

Next year when I have more time, I'm going to make fabric wrapping! Here's a great tutorial from poppy talk on how to make your own printed fabric wrapping. Now you can reuse the wrapping every year!

Use Brown Parcel paper and embellish with things from nature.

Monogram tags from old Christmas cards.

Bow tutorial, could use recycled paper.

stamp the recipients name on brown parcel paper packages.

Use fabric from old t-shirts as ribbon.

Recycle your tacky Christmas tins into vintage inspired tins.

Need some last minute gifts wrapped!? This ETSY video shows you how to use house hold items to wrap up your presents!

Happy Wrapping!

so this cloth diaper thing...

(the little miss sporting a "Fuzzi Bunz" diaper at 7 months)

It's been almost 10 months that we have been using cloth diapers and I'm here to report back on a few tricks and tips and other little things we have learned along the way. I'll try to not be too poop-descriptive ; ) If this topic pertains to you, read about my cloth diaper experience after the jump!

Going Green by Going Vintage

A little combination of themes this week... as you may know I do a little Handmade Shout Out every week of some lovely things I heart on etsy, and this week I thought I would turn my attention to some great little vintage finds. After all part of being "Green" is buying recycled/repurposed/vintage goods. You can get lost down the rabbit hole of Vintage on Etsy, so this is only the tip of the iceberg! You can check out more of my Etsy Favorites HERE.  Enjoy!

Above: Vintage grainsack pillow, by Jillbent

Vintage Felt Banner quotes, by paddyridge

Vintage Nautical Tablecloth, by UncleBunksTrunk

Tic Tac Toe House Dress, by FancyLuckyVintage

Organic Beach Towels

How great are these Organic Beach towels!? If I donned one of these I would look chic, or at least my towel would, this summer at the beach! These bath and beach towels, by BeautyAndSpa are made in Turkey and look lovely and soft. I also love their beige and pastel yellow towel!

Green Living: A Plastic Free Life

This week's Green Living Blog is a shout out to this new blog and website I found called MyPlasticFreeLife, written by Beth Terry who in 2007 decided to live plastic Free!!  my hero!  She documents her eco-quest through her blog and explains on her website how YOU too can live a Plastic Free Life.

So inspiring and something I strive to do myself, but still have a long way to go. As I've mentioned on here before packaging is my biggest pet peeve and so this blog really hits home. I love her recent entry about gardening plastic free!  I hope you check out her site and strive to reduce your own use of plastic in your life!.

Green Living: A Guide book to Recycling

This week's Green Living Post is a shout out to this new book Recycle The Essential Guide. From what I've read, this book not only helps answer both the basic and the tougher recycling questions, but digs deeper by offering a consumer directory to purchase goods made from recyclable materials. I'm a firm believer that all goods especially packaging should be both made from recyclable materials as well as be recyclable. Trash and packaging is my biggest GREEN issue, I won't buy something if I can't recycle it! 

I'm working on a bigger Green Living Blog post to be published at a future date- all about "Living Like A Homesteader". Where I will explore the idea of getting back to our roots before disposable was even an option and what we can do in our daily life to live more like a Homesteader with less impact on our environment.  

Green Living: Planet Flops, eco friendly footwear

This week's Green Living post is a little shout out to Planet Flops an eco- friendly flip flop that is made from natural Brazilian rubber. The rubber is harvested just like maple syrup, by tapping the tree to extract the substance. This process makes them eco friendly and apparently natural rubber is very comfortable! They are having a sale on Zulily today, where you can get a pair of flip flops for children and adults for $12.99. Use my INVITE to shop Zulily!

Green Living: Automatic Ice Cube Makers, a hidden energy Vampire

It's that time of year, well at least in my neck of the woods, when ice is becoming a staple in every drink! But I recently read on GreenUpGrader about what a hidden drain Automatic Ice Makers can be on your energy bill (not to mention on the bigger picture of wasting electricity IE: coal). According to a new study by the California Energy Commission, freezers and refrigerators eat up at least one sixth of all the energy used in US homes and that Automatic Ice Cube Makers are to blame! The little guy demands up to 20% of the energy used by your refrigerator. More studies will be made before the DOE writes new energy standards for freezers, but in the meantime The GreenUpGrader suggests switching to the old fashion ice cube trays to save on your electric bill.  In addition, you can calculate your refrigerator's efficiency HERE. Just a little green living tidbit for yah!

Green Living: The life of a Plastic Bag

ah yes the plastic bag

with the voice of Werner Herzog as the bag- perfect.

Green Living: Solar power for everyone!

Something pretty cool is happening in Colorado! The state is the first in the U.S. to adopt the Canadian practice of democratizing solar power! With the introduction of Community Solar Gardens, now solar power is no longer reserved for those with $40 grand, or an expansive sunny rooftop, but available for anyone and everyone who is willing to subscribe. Here is a detailed description about the project as mentioned in the article by John Farrell on Grist.

A solar garden is a 2 megawatt or smaller solar photovoltaic (PV) project with 10 or more "subscribers" living in the same county. The solar gardens can be built by businesses, nonprofits, or utilities, but the operations must be handled by an organization solely devoted to the solar garden and its subscribers. Colorado utilities are required to purchase 6 megawatts of output from solar gardens by the end of 2013.


I hope Colorado is successful in their pursuit of Community Solar Gardens and that other states follow their example!

Green Living: Plastic made from Chicken feathers

Last week the BBC reported on a new environmental adventure, or study if you will, that the researchers at the U.S. agricultural authority have conducted where they believe that plastic can be made from chicken feathers. The principal idea of using agricultural waste, such as chicken feathers, is fantastic in and of itself but using it as an ingredient, or additive for plastics is even better. Until we as a society can move away from our crazy consumption of plastics (which I doubt will ever happen) we should continue to pursue recycling and repurposing waste to make plastics more environmentally friendly. The BBC reported that each year more than a billion kilos of chicken feathers are produced in the U.S. alone. That's a lot of ingredients for plastic!

The feathers would make up to 50% of the materials needed to make plastic, reducing the need of polyethylene, or petroleum based ingredients.

This research is exciting and hopeful, but continued studies and tests will be administered to evaluate it's success and feasibility for a grander, industrial scale. Answering the question- does the production of this new plastic waste too much energy, etc?

I wonder what Vegans will have to say about this plastic? But regardless it is another step in broadening our horizons on reusing biowaste and who knows what other ideas and research will result. I'm game!

Green Living: Earth Hour and Other Green Links

Check out these pictures of Earth Hour this past week, like this one of Paris.

And here are some Green links I've been enjoying and wanted to share!

Ten easy eco friendly cleaning tips

Energy Saving ideas for green cabins and houses

Communal housing in the suburbs- ie the burbs of Seattle

Organic skin care products

New Green Reads for Spring

Green Living: Welcoming in Spring

For this week's Green Living Blog post, I thought I would offer up some fun spring inspired links to kick start the new season with visions of warmer weather and summer on the horizon!

(above: a picture I took at Winterthur this past Sunday of their March Bank)

6 ways to celebrate Spring
Spring Clean
Stainless steel water filter pitcher!
Norwegian foliage-green covered roofs 
Home Decor books for the recycled and repurposed home
Grow your own fence
Banana peels can purify water?
family plans eco friendly trip
9 Green Websites you should know about

Green Living: Hope Beneath Our Feet, book review

This week's Green Living post is a partial book review of Hope Beneath Our Feet: Restoring Our Place in the Natural World. The book addresses the question: "In a time of environmental crisis, how can we live right now?" answered by a variety of authors, professors and such through short essays, commencement speeches, etc.  The husband bought me this book this past Christmas as a new Christmas tradition of giving a book to his wife and daughter each year. We've been reading the book aloud to each other and I'll admit we have not read very much, but we have read is very inspiring and uplifting.  For example, the essay "Love the Things We Love" by Larry Santoyo offers a positive perspective and approach to how we address environmental change.  Essentially he believes we should start from a basis of love rather than fear. If we are able to define what we love about nature ie: organically grown produce, listening to birds sing, then we can take tangible steps to preserve these things, bringing them into our lives more consistently.  And to piggy back on that idea- by addressing something that seems more tangible and small, it will have a ripple effect throughout the environment, since ecosystems are structured like a web, each piece touches and affects another.

So in closing, I recommend this book!

Green Living: Prix Pictet- Photography and Sustainability

Above: Message from the Gyre, by Chris Jordan from "Midway"

This week's Green Living post focuses on the importance of art's role on the environmental stage. The Prix Pictet began in 2008 by Pictete & Cie, a private bank based in Geneva. It's mandate is - "to use the power of photography to communicate vital messages to a global audience. The goal is to uncover art of the highest order, applied to confront the pressing social and environmental challenges of the new millennium."

Above: American Power, by Mitch Epstein

Learn more about the Prix Pictet HERE.

Green Living: Terrariums

Now that March is here we have begun scheming about our summer garden! We have been invited to have a little plot at my brother's house and at my parent's house too (well in all honesty my parents don't know about this yet!).  In the meantime terrariums are a great way to have a little green in your life while the ground begins to thaw. Terrain has some great Terrariums to inspire you and West Elm has jumped on the lovely trend with their hanging glass bubbles. And as always I turned to etsy to find some nice terrariums.  I recommend doing your own search on etsy, it's a great way to repurpose an old glass container giving it new life while bringing a little green into your home while purifying the air.

Above: World's Away Kit, by augury

Large Apothecary Terrarium by doodlebirdie

Succulent Terrarium, by SucculentsGalore

Green Living: Headphones

This week's Green Living Post a friend posted on facebook and I just had to share! Ashcraft Aria headphones are made from reclaimed materials and prove how versatile recycling can be.  The quilted leather head band is made from reclaimed clothing and accessories. Appropriately enough the wood is made from recycled acoustic guitars and the ear cups are made from recycled aluminum.

Love this idea!  I feel that at the rate technology is developing we need to be responsible consumers and designers- making products from recycled materials, or ones that are easy to recycle.  Hello the cell phone and laptop! ! !

Green Living: Biodegradable packaging

One thing that drives me CRAZAY is all the packaging that comes with everything, HELLO trader joes with their shrink wrapped and styrofoam backed veggies. And I've worked many a retail job where each individual shirt is wrapped in a plastic bag, just one of many US regulations on goods imported from overseas. awesome. My dream someday soon would be that if something has to have packaging that it is made from recycled materials and ideally is biodegradable.  SO I luv the above video of a company exploring an alternative styrofoam- made from FUNGI!  Check it out.