DAILY DANNY

Fern Tile

I am absolutely, positively bonkers for this eco-friendly material from 3form.

All-natural materials like leaves, shavings of bamboo and this maidenhair fern are encased in resin.  The large sheets can be used as room dividers, as fronts for kitchen cabinets, as a tabletop surface and so much more.    I'm interested in using it in the bathrooms in the new house; perhaps as a divider for the shower?     I have a call into the company to find out if the organics line is waterproof or not... but how amazing would that look?

It's fun just to look at the whole palette line:

http://www.3-form.com/materials-varia-organics.php

Not Sorry about Recycled Sari

Way back in May, the green issue of ELLE Magazine came out that I worked on with eco-activist Laurie David.    Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was cleaning up the hard drive on my computer and found these digital photos of an eco party I produced for the ELLE issue.

The guest of honor was jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer, who happens to also be married to actor Tobey Maguire.   Both proud parents (of their newborn baby Ruby) were at the party.      But before the festivities could begin, I had to take a deck space in Malibu (at the home of Jen's father Ron Meyer) that overlooked the Pacific Ocean.   

To cozy up the space, I brought in these recycled sari fabric pillows from Matta NY.   They. Are. Incredible.

Isn't this table setting great?     To cut down on plastic and disposables, I brought in reusable Bento boxes I picked up at Pearl River in New York City.   Inside, we filled each little box with organic salad, sushi and other treats.

And while I'm not usually a fan of very modern design, I do like these organic rose arrangements made by a fantastic flower designer in Beverly Hills.     Check out that view!

Random Ideas Today

I have these giant Japanese maple trees in the front of my house and they are blazing red today.     Whenever I take a break from work and just look at the window, I'm absolutely in awe of the bright red and orange trees.     I have to go out there with the clippers to cut some branches to preserve them.   If you pour a mixture of warm water and liquid glycerin together, the branches will soak up the mixture and will preserve the leaves.   They get all leathery and can be used all year round. 

But it is November and I need to start thinking HOLIDAY!    So I headed to the craft room and brought out a giant wine box full of vintage holiday ornaments.

The ones that were saved from my wax dipping project (scroll down the posts...you'll see a project where I dipped these ornaments in melted wax to "frost" them), are being used in the house.

I have this butler's tray table from JC Penney sitting in my living room with these glass lanterns on top. I thought it looked cozy and festive just to scatter the balls inside the tray:

   

When the candles are lit at night, it really casts a reflective glow from the ornaments.  Hmm..maybe I don't need a tree this year.  Maybe.

Lit Up Wreath

I love LED holiday string lights.    They use a tiny fraction of the energy compared to traditional string lights and they last a really long time.       The best part?  They don't get hot or warm like regular lights; even when lit for hours (or days) they still feel cool to the touch.

You can find LED string lights now at lots of retail stores and online.   All you have to do is search.   I bought these lights years ago when only a few stores carried them.  These were from Brookstone and cost a fortune, but at least I know they'll be good for another 10 years.

This year, I attached 6 strings of lights together and wrapped it densely around a grapevine wreath.    When lit up, it really does glow on the front porch.   I'm thinking of just keeping this wreath wrapped in lights and will just hang it up and plug it in each year.       I'm also tempted to get some new LED string lights I've been seeing and doing an uber-giant wreath to hang on the fireplace outdoors.     Let's add that to the to-do list.

Have you tried out the LED holiday lights?   

Lingering Pumpkins

I'm not sure if you're in the same situation I am, but I have a bunch of leftover pumpkins sitting on my front porch from when I decorated it for Halloween.

Today, I decided to put the smaller pumpkins in these metal plantable stakes I have in the ground.  They look nice nested in a mound of moss, don't they?  And I placed a great big squash at the foot of them.

One tip from my new 2008 one-a-day calendar Do Just One Thing is to crack open the large squash and let wild animals---squirrels, chipmunks, maybe even deer---eat the seeds and flesh inside.    I'll be taking a hammer to this orange mound later today and will let you know if it becomes a feast or not for our furry friends.

Personalizing Your Home

OK..I've given a sneak peek here and there of my new digs.    Before I move in, I'm planning to do some upgrading, renovations and changes to a home that can only really be done before furniture and everything else gets put inside.     I'll be blogging about it at TheHuffingtonPost in a new column called The Green House Effect.   But more on that later.

I took lots of digital photos of the house and even little detail shots that I thought were interesting.   Here was something I thought was sweet: a tile laid into the foyer reading "Betty and Taylor."   They were the original owners and here it just makes their house a home.

That had me thinking a bit.    With so many "planned" communities being built left and right where one home looks just like the next one, how does one person find a way to personalize and "bless" their home with their own markings?

Well, first: I am totally planning on keeping this tile in place in the home.   And there are character quirks that will stay, too, like a tree stump in the backyard, rolled up balls of colorful wax attached to the ceiling (there's a story there, trust me) and some pieces of artwork that I wouldn't dare to change.   

What I have decided to do is this:   With a light pencil, I'm planning to write a message of some kind on the walls.    It'll be very very light and I have no idea what the message might be.   But after I write it, I'll paint over it with a coat of low VOC paint in some color that I think will look good on the walls.    You'll never be able to see the writing and--in fact--the paint will cover it completely.   But I think there's something reassuring about knowing it's there and that only I know what it says.

Green Friday?

Okay, I dread Black Friday.    I dislike the crowds.   The traffic drives me crazy.   And the constant news coverage about crowds gathering at 2AM to buy something is over the top.     And I'm not even shopping.  I'm just trying to get home.

We consume endless amounts of fuel to drive to shopping malls and then circle around forever looking for a parking spot.    Then we buy endless amounts of gifts, packed into large plastic shopping bags, and trudge them back to the cars.  Then we drive them home, wrap them up in piles of paper, shred it all open on a few weeks later, and then---and this is what gets me going---everybody returns everything back to the stores for exchanges and refunds.

UGH.

I'm no Scrooge, so I still like to buy gifts for my friends and family for the holidays.  But I feel strongly we need to make our holidays as green as ever because it literally is one of the most wasteful times of the year.      So, here are some green tips that are kinder to the planet and will help you avoid the crowds for good.

1.  QUALITY GIFTS, not QUANTITY.    As a child, it used to be a competition to get the most presents.  It wasn't WHAT you got, but how MUCH you received.     This habit needs to be broken.    Buy someone a quality, well-made present that they need or really want and will use.     Maybe it's a set of those healthy non-stick Green Pans.   Or it's a case of wonderful organic wine.      Honestly, I would rather get one exquisite bamboo blanket then 10 acrylic ones.   You know?

2.  GIVE GIFT CARDS.    Look, there's some crazy percentage of gifts people receive that never get returned to the store.   So they sit in a closet for months and eventually either A: get tossed away or B: are donated to Goodwill.   We've all done it.    So instead of assuming your friend might like a Lord of the Rings crystal chess set, why not give them a gift card instead?   That way, they can buy exactly what they need... and there's no waste at all.   When in doubt, buy a gift card and wrap it up in an empty Altoid mint tin.

3.  SHOP ONLINE.  It pays to think ahead.   Everyone has e-commerce websites.    Click and choose your gifts online and then opt for GROUND shipping.   That way no gas-guzzling planes are being used to overnight your gifts.    Better yet: choose the United States Postal Service if you can.   If the mailman is coming to your house anyway, why not have them bring your gifts to you, too?

Finally, a little tip: when everyone's shopping at the mall, usually busy places are pretty empty.    Case in point: I'll be at the museum.  It's like walking around a private museum, just for you.   

DRAGS for Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving holiday, many of us will be spending time at home with family and friends.    And many of us will find us with an unusual circumstance: excess free time.

I like to spend a few hours doing something called DRAGS at home: Dump, Recycle, Artifact, Give and Sell.    It's a system I use to de-clutter and organize my home.   

Why wait for Spring Cleaning to do it?    When you find yourself with an hour or so of free time, this is a great way to get something done and and keep chaos from taking over your home.

ReThink What's Possible when it comes to decluttering your home.    Click here to learn my foolproof DRAGS approach.

Crushed Coffee Cup Mosaic

Happy Thanksgiving, guys!  I hope you're having a relaxing, wonderful day.     I'm taking Thanksgiving off, so the next post will be up on Friday.   But here's something I had to share with you that I thought was a really fun (and kinda funky) idea for recycling broken dishes and ceramic cups into something useful for the home.

In New York City's "Coffee Shop" (it's in Union Square next to Blue Water Grill), the little vestibule entrance has a wall mosaic of nothing by broken ceramic tableware.   What's cool about it is that isn't broken down into tiny, itsby, bitsy pieces that you could never tell were once, say, a saucer.  Instead, they are large chunks left to be totally recognizable when cemented to the wall.

You can even see the bottoms of coffee cups near the top of the photo, some with the decorative pattern peeking through.

Eco-Anthropologie

I have to give props to Anthropologie this holiday season for putting together some extraordinary windows in their stores.   As you know, I am constantly inspired by all the visual merchandising they do in their stores recycling everyday materials into something extraordinary.  I've seen plastic milk jugs made into lights...to large glass vases filled with nothing by walnut shells (and it somehow works)....

This post is dedicated to their very resourceful take on the holidays using everyday materials in very unexpected ways.   Check out this snowman, for example:    It's nothing but old white sweaters wrapped around into large balls to make a cozy and fuzzy snowman.   Sew on some old buttons, add a scarf and you've got something charming for your home.   Maybe you don't have to make one SO large, but imagine a tiny version just for your desk at home or the office.    And in that case, all you need is one beat-up sweater to make it happen.

And the snowflakes in the window!  Upon closer inspection, they are just pages from books and scrap paper cut into snowflakes:

You could just whip up a bunch using the Sunday comics and just scatter them all over a holiday tree.  All you need are scissors and some time!

Okay, this cardboard house is a BIT tough to recreate.   But I was thinking you could take a cardboard box---maybe a wine box---and cut out a door, windows, etc using a box cutter.  Paint it using leftover white latex paint (we all seem to have a half gallon can somewhere) and then add a roof to the top.   Here, they took spools of white yarn as "smoke."

You can find great ideas everywhere...

Rethink Going Green at Home

I'm participating in a four week online series called Rethink What's Possible, which has a panel of eco enthusiasts talking about ways we can achieve environmental responsibility right at home.

The first week, the question we're tackling is this:

When you look at areas associated with how we live, ranging from construction to interior decorating to purchasing decisions, where do you think the greatest opportunities exist to reduce environmental impact in the home?

I posted a picture of my Energy Star rated fridge (and Energy Star machine too!  Woo Hoo!) for a reason here.   Check out my post about not sweating the small stuff when going green at home and tell me what you think by leaving a comment or question at Rethink What's Possible.

GreenBuild Conference: Two Highlights

Last week, I was in Chicago at the GREENBUILD conference, where you got to see all the latest and greatest in eco-friendly materials for your home and for commercial spaces, too.    It was a CRAZY turnout at the event which was good and bad.  Good, because that means lots of students, architects and designers are eager to go green.   Bad, because the registration lines literally took hours to get into the damn event.    But things could be worse.

Anyway, I'll post various highlights now and then on the blog, but here are two that really struck out to me.  The first is a photo I took of a photo (how do you like that?) from the Yolo ColorHouse booth.  Yolo is a fun pre-mixed paint company that specializes in really thought-out colors that match with each other; basically, whatever colors you pick from their line will match with each other no matter what.  Plus, they are a green latex paint because it's zero VOC.      But I thought this photo of one of the founder's garage was interesting; it's where they tested the colors and I guess they just kept it that way.   I could never do this to my house, but I do love how it looks.

And isn't this flooring amazing?  It's cork mosaic tile.    So modern, fresh, clean and eco!    This is something truly beautiful I could see used in a bathroom, kitchen, mud room... gosh, anywhere really, right?

A Peek at my new home...

Okay, here's a little peek at my new home I'm buying.  As a Country Home magazine editor, it may seem weird I'm buying a mid-century contemporary in the middle of the woods.   Uh, not very country!  But something about this house resonates with me... and you know the saying: you know when you know.    And I knew this house was going to be my next big project.

The home features a flat roof, which is something I'm not used to and had a million questions about it when I had the house inspected.  The poor inspector... I even climbed the ladder to the roof to scope out what was going on up there and kept asking, "but moss is a good thing, right?  It absorbs water?  Why do I need to remove it?"

When I get my hands on this house, I am planning to install a "living" roof.   I have been thinking about pallets of real sedums growing on a roof to absorb water and add longevity to the life of a roof.    In Chicago this week, I saw these pallets of sedums at the US Green Building Association's Green Build event.     I think these would look pretty cool on the roof:

Used Coffee Grinds...so many uses...

Okay, a compost bin isn't just great for the environment, it can help you keep track of your healthy---er, or in this case---not so healthy eating habits.      This morning, all I had in my compost pail were one coffee filter after another full of coffee grinds.   Hmm...where are the leafy green tops and vegetable peels?   Note to self: eat more veggies.

Anyway, I have been using coffee grinds for a myriad of uses for a while now.   Some of my favorite ideas:

1.  Exfolient.    Grab a spoonful of coffee grinds and some liquid soap and furiously rub the mixture all over our hands.   It scrubs off the dead skin and the residual caffeine plumps the skin (in theory at least...).    My hands feel really soft after I do this.

2.  Bar Soap.   Melt olive oil glycerin soap in the microwave and stir in fresh coffee grinds.    Pour into molds and slice.    Scrubby soap!

3.  Deodorizer.    I don't know why, but a bowl of coffee grinds in the fridge is a great way to deodorize the fridge.   Any idea why?

Shell Salt and Pepper Holders

Happy Thursday!    Well, we're just a bit away from Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd share a quick and easy entertaining tip with you.

On a trip to Orlando, FL a few months back, I picked up a bag of really old shells at a fossil store on my way to the airport.   For a while, they hung in my bathroom as artwork after I decided against turning them into tea light candles.

Today, they are holding salt and freshly ground pepper on my dining room table.   If I had tiny little spoons (you know, the kind for caviar or something fancy like that), I'd stick them into each shell.  But like most normal people, I don't have caviar spoons.   So my guests can just use their fingers to pinch salt and pepper onto their meal.

Wine Cork Mirror Finished!

Woo Hoo!   The mirror is done!    If you read this blog regularly, then you know how weirdly obsessed I've been about this project.   I have been slowly collecting wine corks here and there: from my own personal collection to begging bartenders at restaurants to save some for me through the night.

Well, I left a box at the store Vintage in New York City---they sell NY state wines only and it's a must-visit shop in NYC if you're ever there---and got a small box full of corks the other day.

So, here it is!   Each cork is lined up and glued to a generic wood frame mirror.   Propped up on the mantel in the living room, it looks handmade and sorta mid-century modernish to me.    Hmm...maybe I'm starting to go down a mid-century design route.     That might explain why I'm buying a modern home in the woods (more on that later!).

Oh, check this out.  Wine corks for sale at Pottery Barn.  Why bother enoying wine when you can just buy a collection of corks?   Um, weird.  Right?

Straphangers for Sale

Oh boy.  I became a NYC tourist for a minute the other day.

I lived in NYC for a few years in the West Village.    It was on the corner of Charles and Bleecker street, just a few blocks from the infamous Magnolia Bakery.  I remember working from home on some days and thinking, "Hmm...do I have $1.50?  I sure do...I think I'll go get a cupcake."     And then over time, Bleecker Street became one big shopping mall (in fact, there's a Juicy Couture store now underneath my old apartment.  Can you imagine living there?  Having to listen to loud "trendy" music all day long???).

I digress.

Back in NYC for the day for a crazy day of meetings from 8AM to 8pm, I sat on the subway going to my next meeting and found myself looking at this advertisement.   So I dug into my LL Bean tote bag and found my digital camera, stood up, and snapped away.

I am dying to buy one of these old straphanger handles from the New York Transit Museum to use in my new home.  I think they'd be a cool towel hanger.      And for $45, you can own a piece of history.   Just be sure to disinfect it really really well!

Recycled Glass Jugs

 

I had a photo shoot at my house this weekend.    One "DIY" project I came up with one the spot was one I had to share with all of you right away!

These jugs are really vases---I think---made from 100% post-consumer recycled glass.   Post-consumer means it's the glass you and I put out for our curbside recycling.  So that old spaghetti sauce jar is melted down and made into something new!

I decided these jugs were better off as pitchers instead.  So I made a white wine and red wine sangria and filled one with water and lemon slices (for those who don't drink).    But because they didn't come with stoppers on top, I just used the leftover fruit from the kitchen to sit on top of each jug.    Lime in the white wine sangria, lemon in the water and apple in the red white sangria.

Lost Charger

Here's a tip connecting the idea of someone (you and me) who need something with someone who has plenty of it to give away for free.

Have you ever lost a charger for your cell phone, Blackberry, Ipod or PDA device?    Then you go to the store to buy a new one...only to discover it can cost a LOT of money to buy one?   But what choice do you have but to put down the forty bucks for a new one... because your phone desperately needs to charge up?

The next time you travel, ask the front desk of the hotel you're staying in if they have a cell phone charger in the lost and found box.    In some hotels, there are literally hundreds of unclaimed and unwanted chargers up for grabs.     It is probably one of the #1 items left behind by hotel guests; they charge up the phones in their room, unplug it and leave the adapter stuck tot he wall outlet.

Since many chargers are designers for specific devices, you'll have to make sure the plugs and adapters are right for yours.   But in most cases, the hotels are more than happy to help you out and give away the charger for free.

Frosted Ornaments

I started this blog to share random thoughts, eco-projects and other simple ways to go green at home.  It was also started as a way to share all the "rejected" DIY projects that I do as my job as an editor-at-large for Country Home magazine.

Here's one.

I have this box of vintage glass holiday ornaments that I bought at a flea market for about $10 for the lot.  Steal.   And I do love them and use them during the holiday season.

But then I had this idea about making doing a "frosted" tree.    So I melted some old candles in a double boiler and started dipping each ornament haphazardly into the wax.   

Dip.  Cool.   Dip.  Cool.  Dip. Cool.

Here's the process shot.    I used two vases and put two chopsticks across them to let the cool.   (Yes, those are paper towels... please don't email or leave comments about the awfulness of paper towels.  This photo was taken ages ago before I discovered microfiber towels!)

And here's the finished result.    I just imagined a whole tree covered in "frosted" ornaments.   So even really tacky ones could be given a fresh coat of white wax.    

The best part: If you drop one of these wax covered ornaments, they don't shatter!   The wax is a great protective barrier, so it makes them safer around pets and kids, too.

So, what do you think?     Is this an insane project or something you'd try?    

Eco Fire? Oxymoron?

I saw these firestarters in the store a few months ago and thought it was interesting.   It's called an Enviro-Log and it's made from 100% recycled wax and cardboard.    All flammable stuff, I suppose, that claims to burn for up to 3 hours in the fireplace.     If you can't get a roaring fire started with this, then there is something seriously wrong with your fireplace.

There's been a lot of talk about how inefficient and not-so-green burning a fire is: Heat from the fire doesn't really warm up a room (it goes up the chimney) and the CO2 emissions from fires add to the global warming crisis as well.  All the carbon that's stored in firewood is released into the atmosphere once it's burned.    The greenest solution is close the flue and not have a fire at all.   

But that's kinda Scrooge-like, isn't it?     What do you think?   

Healthy Wildlife

This morning, I woke to find a deer just a few feet from my window hanging out on the hillside.   A few weeks ago, I had a ton of extra apples from a photo shoot and walked around poking them into the sides of trees.       Deer are absolutely bonkers for apples, so I can only imagine they were quickly eaten up... and here they come again looking for more.

Well, as the Fall temperatures get my chilly and the lush green plants become barren and leaf-free, there are certain things you can do to help out wildlife that may be living on or your around property.   

First things first:   Small wild animals like field mice will look for warmer aras to call home: like your home.  Instead of cruel glue and poison traps, consider a humane live trap to capture them in your home.  Humane traps are designed to entice the mouse into the trap; once it enters, it closes a trap door and the mouse is caught.   I release mice into an abandoned barn a few miles down the road where they can safely nest.     I get a humane trap from greenfeet.com.     But you can find them at most hardware stores, too.

Also, be sure to clean and disinfect your bird feeder this Fall.    Mix a mixture of 1 part chlorine bleach to 9 parts water and scrub the bird feeder clean.   Even better: soak the bird feeder in the bleach mixture for 10 minutes.    Feeders that aren’t disinfected can be a breeding ground for disease, including Salmonellosis, a form of Salomnella, Trichomoniasis, Aspergillosis and Avian Pox.    Also, be sure to discard any bird feed that smells musty, is wet, looks moldy or has fungus growing on it. Contaminated storage containers and scoops that held spoiled food need to be cleaned as well.

Fabric Divider

I'm cleaning out the memory disc of my digital camera today.    I'm flying out to Chicago for the Greenbuild conference and wanted to have plenty of room to snap lots of the latest and greatest eco-friendly building products that are coming out.      

Well, first of all: I sure do have a lot of digital photos of things that I have no idea why I took the photo to begin with.   Case in point:

What is this?  Why did I take a photo?   Okay, it's an overhead light fixture...but why was I compelled to snap not only this photo, but 3 different angles of it?     Delete, delete, delete...   Can you imagine the old way of taking photos with film?  I would have nothing but stacks of printouts of things like a zipper, a rock and a broken terra cotta pot.... scratching my head wondering why....

But the top photo was something I do recall and thought it could be a great room divider at home.

You pickup a bunch of super large oxford and men's dress shirts at the Goodwill (search the bargain bins) and tear them apart into long strips.  Roll up each strip and then knot them together to other strips... and create a grid-like, criss-cross pattern.      Hang up and voila!   Room divider.   

Thank You!

Thank you for all your wonderful ideas on what I should do with that roll of hemp fabric and the leftover marble tiles.

I've decided to try the following:

1.  Make square magnets for the fridge. (Love this idea!).  I think it'll go really well in my new home... which is a bit more mid-century-glass-house modern.

2.  An idea I came up with: I am going to grout a large wooden block (a finial size) with the other tiles to make a large, modern, marble paperweight for the desk.  This could be disastrous and really wonderful.

3.  For the hemp, I'm going down the bag route: shoe bags, to be specific.   I know really truly expensive shoes come with their own little fabric bags to protect them.    I don't buy really expensive fancy shoes, so I don't have any of those bags.  So I think having some made with a drawstring will be nice when I travel.  I can put sneakers, dress shoes, loafers, etc into their own hemp bag.  And since hemp is mildew resistant, I don't have to freak out if the shoes are a little wet.

Thanks again for your ideas. I'll get cracking on these and will post photos up soon!

Use What You Have: Candles

This morning, the light was reflecting on this grouping of candles in my living room and I thought it was really soft and glowy.   So I took a digital snapshot.

These candles had me thinking: when was the last time they were actually lit.   

I bought these eco-friendly tapers from Ikea a few months ago.  They're made from a vegetable-based stearin wax, so they don't emit soot or smoke into the air when you light them.   They're also made from a renewable resource (read: no petroleum like paraffin based ones) and because they're from Ikea, the price is right.

As I start to think about moving from this current home to a new home (I can't wait to post pics of the new place... just need to "officially" close and I'll feel it's safe to post em), I wonder about all the "stuff" that has pretty much stayed in the same condition since the day I moved into this house.

Here's the list:
1.  Candles. (duh)

2.  Italian marinated artichoke hearts in a can (I think I bought them because I liked the design of the packaging)

3. Popsicle molds (I think I made Gatorade popsicles once...for a photo shoot...which I didn't actually even eat)

4. An ice bucket.   

5.  The backyard grill that came with the house (I have no idea what the previous homeowner may have cooked...and as a vegetarian...I think it's better off not cooking on it).

6.  Suits...   (I wear a suit for a meetings and my advisers always ask, "where are you going?"   I figure if I don't have to wear a suit for work, then why bother?)

7.  A whole array of cookbooks: The Lever House Cookbook, Everyday Italian, a bunch of Jamie Oliver books...  they just sit all stacked in my kitchen in an open cabinet.    I have cracked open the Nigella Lawson ones to cook a few things...

Anyway, all of these unused things---albeit really well designed things that look nice----have sat here for 2 years unused.    

I know the donating rule of "if you haven't used it in two years, get rid of it" is something I usually follow, but all of these things are really nice things.   Do I bring them to the new house (to go unused) or do I donate them.   Or do I make an effort to start lighting candles, while wearing a suit, to fill up the ice bucket, while cooking a risotto recipe with marinated artichokes as the coals heat up in the grill just in time for the popsicles to freeze in the freezer? 

Weekend DIY: Your Thoughts

Well, the leaves are changing color, it's getting darker sooner and I'm preparing for a move to a new home.   So as I go around the current home, I'm finding bits and pieces of "THINGS" that I have trouble throwing away but have no idea what to do with them.   

So, I'll ask you.... to put on your creative cap.... find your inner MacGyver.... and share some thoughts on what I should make from these scraps of bits and pieces I have here.

First two up:    Above is a large roll of heavyweight hemp fabric.   I bought this in 2000 and had a sofa reupholstered with the fabric.  In fact, I still have that sofa today and absolutely adore it.  I bought unfinished wood chairs and had them reupholstered with this fabric.  But this big roll of fabric remains rolled up in the craft room.        Honestly, it feels like the never-ending roll of fabric.

What should I do with it?

Second up:

Two sheets of small, square marble tile.   Just sitting in the tool shed.     I was thinking about tiling a small table with it (seems a shame to waste marble).  But maybe there's a more creative use for this I'm not thinking of...

Okay, leave your thoughts and ideas.      And getting rid of things on FreeCycle is not an option this time!   (Although I love Freecycle).   

Air Drying at Home

Okay, so we've heard it a million times: a clothesline is the greenest way to dry your clothes.   But if you live somewhere where a clothesline isn't practical or you've just admitted that you're never gonna hang wet clothes on a clothesline yourself, then maybe this is the next best thing.

First, I wash clothes and spin them on "extra high spin" to really get them as dry as possible in the washing machine.  This works great for non-delicate items like towels, jeans and t-shirts...things you really can't damage in the washing machine.

Then I'll throw them into the dryer (making sure the dryer lint is totally clean...because a full lint trap can make a dryer less efficient) and will let it dry for about 10 minutes.    Then I'll pull out the slightly damp towels, jeans and dress shirts and let them air dry over chairs and a banister.      Pictured: a bath towel drying over the back of my sweater-covered chairs.

Overnight, everything dries up really well, there's no shrinkage, and the dress shirts (which is key) come out looking just about wrinkle-free.

Instant Eco Bathroom

I've done a quick change-around in the bathroom to make it a bit nicer and bit greener.

First, I hung a new sprig of eucalyptus from the showerhead.    Whenever the shower gets all steamy, it activates the essential oils in the eucalyptus and makes the whole bathroom smell much nicer.

I also replaced the white nylon shower curtain with a new waterproof one from JC Penney Home Collection.   It was $24.99 and comes in a whole variety of colors and doesn't need a liner.  The best part?  It can be taken right off the hooks and thrown in the washing machine for easy cleaning.  Of course, no need to dry in the dryer...just hang it back up.

The shower head is from Gaiam and it has a restricter inside to limit water flow.    I took a Method Microfiber towel to the shower head and wiped down each little hole the water flows out of.   Over time, minerals build up and can make the shower head work a bit less efficiently... just wiping it down once a year can be enough to make it work as good as new.

And the mirror?  That was here when I moved in.   It's nice, isn't it?