Plastic Bag? Why keep them?

If you have read my posting about how you can store your grocery plastic bags and wondering why you should do that, it is obvious that you have not read my past postings :(

Anyway, if you are one of the Malaysians who have been annoyed by pet owners who do not pick up after their pets during their walks in public areas, you can give them your thoughts and a reason for them to keep their plastic bags and their 1.5L soda bottles.

Why?  Because you can share with them how they can make their own Eco-friendly poo scoop and this is how it looks and works.

So, the next question is...

Will you share this with your friends and start the ball rolling for poo free parks? 

No fund? Creativity will do.

I found a new site to pick up free tutorials.  It's Pinterest.

I followed the instruction shown on this image but decided to use a punctured tube found in my bicycle shop to work on instead of buying a strip of leather.


If I continue to make sections of this, I can sew them up and make myself a smart looking bag. 

I will definitely show it off if I have time to complete this project. Look out for it in my future postings.

Gift boxes? Handmade and eco-friendly.

If your children are sociable, they are bound to be invited to lots of parties.  If they are still schooling, think of the number of students each one of them have as classmates.  Add them up and you know that you will have to spend quite a bit on gifts for them to bring to parties they are invited to.

Other than storing up on gifts when sales are on, here is another way to save cost.  Make your own gift boxes.  You can start by keeping the empty plastic bottles.



The small gift boxes mean smaller and less costly gifts to look out for, right?

Plastic bottles? Great as broom.

If you are thinking of buying a broom, maybe you would like to check this video out to see if you could make yourself one.  After all you should not have any problems getting the material you need to start making it.


May your new broom sweeps clean.

Pots? Broken to perfection!

I have been doing some spring cleaning and have decided that some of the odd bits and pieces of toys that got separated from the main sets, most of which have been given away, have to go.  Dumping them is no easy task though.  Just think about the years of attachment my children have hanging on to  (hiding) them.

Maybe we should start a project together so that we can incorporate these toys into our "work".  My son shared an idea with me this morning when he showed me some photos of miniature gardens grown in broken pots.

I did a search and found the same photos posted at Ella and it was one of the ideas they found on Different Solutions. 

Will it be easy to recreate?  There are some free tutorials to check out at The Garden Diaries, About Miniatures, BuckEye Gardening and some videos to watch at Miniature Garden Shoppe to decide on what to grow.

OK, children, you can keep the toys but before you start breaking any of my pots, lets go find some broken ones from the parks nearby.

Let'us get to the park before anyone start burning the cuttings thrown at the park.

Of stones, lallang and snakes...

My neighbours spotted snakes in their compound! What should I do to protect my family against being bitten by one? I called the MPkj personnel covering Zone 8 in Kajang about it and was told to call Jabatan Bomba at "994" if assistance is required to capture the snake and for some guidelines on what to do on sighting one. I also did a search on "snake like to hide in" and came across a link to "How do snakes hide?" and found the following answers: 1) Depending on the snake they usually are hidden in grasses (lallang) or small tight spaces like under parts of rocks and some even live in trees. (Oops, there are lots of trees, tall weeds and rocks where I live.) 2) Probably somewhere warm and dark. Popular hide outs are under floorboards, in unfinished basements, under beds, or under shelves. (Seen this often on Discovery Channel.) 3) anything that they can go under................ (That sounds scary.) My neighbour told me that snakes eat frogs and that is worrying as we have a water feature in our garden that attracts them to breed there. So, how can I encourage my neighbours to work together on getting rid of stones or tall lallang that are often see in vacant units in a new estate? Herb Spiral to the rescue. What's that? Find out in my next posting.

Recycle Ike Contest Winners

Remember the Recycle Ike Contest I wrote about last October? Here are the winners and their proposals on how to make use of green debris created by Hurricane Ike:

First Place
Team Biochar from Rice University
Bill Hockaday, Jeremy Caves, Caroline Masiello, Kyriacos Zygourakis, Richard Johnson, John Gaunt, Michael Keller
Biochar

Second Place
Samuel Weaver
Bioreactor Sandpits

Third Place
Ian Ragsdale
Houston Farm Corps

Following are other uses for green debris by other contestant:

1) Charcoal Industrial Filters
2) Free Mulch
3) Municipal Composting
4) BRIKES
5) Wood Pellets
6) Wood Fuel for Coal Plant
7) Urban Farming
8) Building Blocks

If I can add to this list, it would be sculptures of wildlife on logs to commemorate the lost of wildlife in this natural disaster.

If you would like to visualise what it would be like, check out the chainsaw carvings of artist, Randall D Boni, on his website, Abundance Acres.

I discovered him through an email I received of his creations. He has discovered his abundance from the abandoned since 1989.

And from the UK, there is another chainsaw sculptor, Simon O'Rourke. Check out photos of his creations posted on slideshare.

Tree Carving Presentation

View more presentations from simonorourke.

Think you can learn to do the same? Then check out Chainsaw Sculptors for tools you need and their links to free step by step tutorials.

In the news...

A disaster for those in the recycling business as it tumbles with economical slowdown.

In the news...

Recyclers Getting Stuck With Trash.

"Stoltman said the market for recyclables is so bad many haulers are having a tough time covering collection costs. So to get around the downturn of the prices, Stoltman's company has rented a huge warehouse in Rogers and is stockpiling sorted paper, plastic and metal."

It's a gamble for haulers to rent space to store recyclables. What if the price for recyclables continue to plunge? How long can recyclables like used paper be stored before pests like rats get to them?

Can you see another disaster happening? What if it becomes too expensive for haulers to collect used paper? Will we have to discard them?

Can one disaster be used to resolve another. Martin at Make Papercrete shows you how by making building material out of waste paper.



Now haulers who can't afford to rent space for their scrap material can consider offering their more perishable used paper to organizations who are working on building homes for those displaced by natural disasters.

As an incentive for haulers to give away their scrap paper, allow them to advertise on one side of the wall of new home.

Shoes to last

If you are someone who love buying shoes to match the occasions or an attire, here is an idea that will save you some money. Designer, Sophie Cox, named her invention, the "Convertibles".

The "Convertibles" are actually heels that you can screw off and on your shoes, depending on how elevated you would like to be for the moment. That means that your pair of shoes can have a variety of style in height of heels. Wear them low heeled in the day and switch them to high heels for an evening out right after work.

And when you travel or go on a holiday, you don't have to bring along that many pairs of shoes anymore, just suitable heels. When your legs are too tired from walking, just switch to a pair of more comfortable heels.

Since most shoes wear off from the heels first, being able to change them at a twist should make your favourite pair last longer too. Let us hope this idea kicks off and while we wait for "Convertibles" to come on the market, let's learn how to repair our high heels at home. For those who prefer visual tutorials, watch your cobbler repair your heels the next time you visit.

Note: I get my free shoes image here from TinyPic and reduced usage of batteries:)

Can't afford to buy a gift?

Christmas is around the corner and you have lots of friends you would like to buy a gift for. What can you do if you can't afford it?

Start collecting raffia string and make your own friendship band to give away. Here are the instructions shared by Wynnie Kwok on SlideShare.

Frenship Band

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: school)

You don't have to buy strings to create. Crafters can also use:

1) raffia strings taken off packed food
2) strings taken off paper bags
3) strings taken off bags of rice
4) strings from Chinese sausages (not for Malay friends though)

In Malaysia, if you take time to go to the market after closing hours, before the cleaners start clearing the place up, you will find lots of material to work with. Like the sacks used for storing potatoes and such.

Composting in schools

Check out this video about why and how students at a school in New York, started composting their lunchtime food waste.



If you would like to start one in your school, this slideshow by Groton will give you an idea who can be involved in it.

Rot In Groton

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Mansfield Middle School in Connecticut even has a website to teach what composting is about. It is also touches on the variety of micro organisms that are beneficial to get a compost pile going. I think it is a wonderful way to pick up biology.

And if you considering a Vermicompost or worm compost, the website of The Adventures of Herman the worm should be a fun way to generate an interest of students in school to start one.

Don't miss out the many other useful information that you can find on Urban Program Resource Network. If you go to "Just for Kids", you will find the link to the award winning program, "The Great Plant Escape", where children can help Detective LePlant find clues that will uncover the importance of plants in their life.

Here is a good video of how you can start one at home posted on YouTube by : Kitchen Gardeners International.

Containers? Non-plastic alternatives.

Now that we know that chemicals from plastic containers can leached into our food, what can we use as an alternative?

How about reviving the traditional art of leaf fronds folding, which is called Puni, in the Philippines. Rheeza shared on SlideShare what it is about with instruction on how to create a bird with leaves.

PUNI (Leaf Fronds Folding Art)

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: puni bulacan)

Making soft toys? Find free stuffing.

Does this look familiar to you?



They are the fibres removed from corns I have been eating.



They have dried up as I have kept them for a few weeks now. They still look good, doesn't smell and feel soft like cotton fillings for your pillows. If you keep enough, you can use them to stuff soft toys with.

Need pin cushion before you start? Need colour scheme to work on? I have that all covered, of course. Just click on the links for free tutorials.

You can also check out LiveJournal for some ideas of the kind of toys you would like to create. Just remember that the smaller your soft toy is, the more scrap fabrics you can use.

So, can you make a living making soft toys? Mariska did with her cute Fluffels...

and she is sweet enough to provide free tutorial on her blog for creating a Duck.

If you work on it, your profit is most likely higher since you use waste fibre from corn and scrap fabrics, right? Should you hide the fact that you are using waste material? Of course not! After all it may be the reason why they want to buy your toys.

There are people out there who just want to be owners of eco friendly creations.

Lantern decorated! Take a look.

I mentioned earlier that I will be decorating this lantern I have created for Calvin to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.



This is the makeover result...



...with the help of this worn out paper bag.



I was inspired by this wooden cupboard in my dinning room and...



the paper cutting presentation I have posted earlier.

Interested to learn? View the tutorial in slides I have posted on Creative Recyclers.

Holes in boxes? Great for lanterns.

What can you do with fruit boxes with holes for ventilation cut into them?



The mooncake festival is around the corner, so, I created a lantern with one of them.



Calvin love it. So, what am I going to create for my little girl? Is this OK with you, Callie?



I made them with this sheet found in the fruit box.



Like it? Oh, great! Now all I have to do is to decorate it some and add handles. What material am I going to use? Abandoned material, of course! Watch out for my free tutorials on Creative Recyclers.

If you can't wait for the instructions, I have last year's designs for you to work on.

Working with fabrics? Match the colours.

I think that colours are the most important aspect of craft. The better you are at matching colours, the easier it will be for you to work with scraps in your craft. Here is a "Quilter's Color Wheel" I discovered on SlideShare that you will give you an idea on how you can work with the colours of the materials you have on hand.

Making a Quilter's Color Wheel

view presentation (tags: tutorial wheel color fabric)

Now you can choose colours to stitch with or work on your pin cushion or sew a costume more confidently.

Sewing? You need pin cushions.

If you are sewing, you will most likely end up with scrap materials. Since pin cushions can be handy, might as well learn how to make one with your scraps.

How To Make A Hand Pieced Hexagon Pincushion

view presentation (tags: craft handmade pincushion tutorial)

Instead of using cotton wool, consider crunching up some plastic bags for stuffing your pin cushion.

Don't waste thoes visuals. Stitch them!

You have the fabric and the visuals, now what? Learn to stitch or all those work created by artists on public domain, from years before 1923, will be lost and forgotten.

No fabric? Find them in:

1) clothes your family have outgrown
2) scraps from tailors
3) samples from fabric suppliers or manufacturer
4) netting or clothe packagings
5) Caps

No designs? Check out:

1) listing on Wikipedia:Public domain image resources.

2) my listings on Philosophy Recycled now and then for more leads.

Don't know how to stitch? Learn from Sharon's Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework.

You can also refresh your old tees by painting the free images you have discovered on them.

| View | Upload your own

Like that? Read this:

10 Tips for Fabric Painting

Other material to paint on:

1) Egg

2) Bottles

3) Stones

4) Abandoned Cars

Need concert costumes? Paper and cardboard will do.

When you have a budget to meet creating costumes for your children's school concert, what can you do about it?

The kindergarten my children attended, charged RM50 for costumes required for year end concerts. Most of these creations are not suitable for street wear when they were returned to them after the event.

I have volunteered to create chef hats out of "mahjong" paper and wings of parrots out of plastic bags for children performing "Burung Kakak Tua". It is a pity I did not have any pictures of these to post on my blog but you can be be inspired by Ennio Marchetto.



At Instructables, you will be able to find a few costumes to create for your children for concerts or for some fun at home.

Explore using other kind of scrap materials. For more ideas, do a search on the web for "diy costumes for kids" or "diy (?) costumes". Type in the material you intend to use where the "?" is or go to the local library to find such books in the craft sections.

Here are some websites I have discovered:

Make Your Own Costumes, Masks and Face Paint on Squidoo

Costumes at About.com

Need book stands? Find a paper bag and cardboard.

When one of my friends discovered that I can create with waste material, she has been giving me lots of lovely paper bags to work with. Looking through the collection, I noticed lots of bags from mooncake suppliers with lovely pictures printed on their thick quality paper.



I decided to make use of this paper bag and some cardboards I have collected to create a book stand. It will come in handy for my beading books.



Now look at my new book stand. Like it?



I also discover one thin brown paper bag from Kenny Rogers Roaster. So will I be able to create a book stand out of that? You bet, I can.



I used it to store comics my daughter has collected and placed it on the book shelf with the rest of the book stands I have made with cardboard. Since I have created that with the handle attached, she can carry her collection around with her. That way she can read her comics in the sitting room while watching TV during commercial breaks. A great way to encourage her to polish her Mandarin.



Since she will not be able to miss the carrier, she should no longer be misplacing her comics all over the house.

Neat and nice. The way I like things. And of course, you can learn how to make them too.