Greening Austin Daily

Make Your Own Reusable Vegetable Bags From Old T-Shirts

1st August, 2011 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I’ve been getting pretty good at remembering to bring reusable grocery bags to the store with me each trip, but still occasionally coming home with some plastic produce bags, so I wanted to look into making some reusable veggie bags.  I found this idea online at Delia Creates and whipped up a couple using her instructions.

Just cut up an old t-shirt into the bag size you want

cut off the sleeves

fashion it into bag shape and sew

make a handle – here I cut one where the chest of the shirt was…

or you could also make the armholes into the handles…

carefully cut some small holes

and you have a reusable bag!

The ones I made work pretty well for small fruits and veggies but still aren’t ideal for veggies that don’t have a peel and are refrigerated in the store (and therefore have a little condensation on them) like asparagus and broccoli.  I just don’t like the idea of those veggies poking through the small holes in the bags and collecting germs and dirt on them – I may try and make another one with some smaller holes.

Check out the instructions here and give it a try!

Air Plant Vases

22nd July, 2011 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I’ve been pretty busy recently but wanted to quickly share this craft I recently did that required minimal skill.  When I  visited Portland earlier this month I picked up some air plants (also known as tillandsias) and wanted to make a cute coffee table centerpiece with them.  I picked up some old glasses at Goodwill, some low VOC spray paint to coordinate with our family room, and quickly whipped these up:

It was a fast, fun way to make something old look (hopefully) like a trendy, cohesive centerpiece for less than $15 (the most expensive part was the plants, and I think the store I got them from was a little overpriced).

Book Release Party this Saturday for Austin Author Tina Sparkles’ New Book, “Little Green Dresses”

16th September, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I am on the Stitch Lab email list ( a little shop on South 1st that has sewing and other craft lessons) and I got this email about a book release party this Saturday for the new book “Little Green Dresses”, which is full of tips on remaking old clothes into new, stylish outfits. It sounds like they will have free drinks and snacks (!) Here’s the info from the email:

 Please join the Stitch Lab in celebrating the book release of Little Green Dresses with the author, designer and beloved Stitch Lab instructor Tina Sparkles!!!
Saturday, September 18, 9pm to midnight @ Stitch Lab! 1000 S. 1st Street
Tina Sparkles’ book is hot off the presses and, all bias aside, it truly is one of the best DIY apparel books we’ve ever laid eyes on! We love Tina’s vision with this book — green, eco-friendly projects that never skimp on style. Everything about LIttle Green Dresses is top-notch, featuring excellent photography, clean design and best of all — the projects are clear, easy to follow and will inspire to you try every single one. If you’ve been wanting to attempt some simple garment pattern drafting for yourself, Tina’s book is a great place to start.
Come help us lavish Tina with Sparkle-tastic love!
* Get your book signed by Tina!
* Sip complimentary Strawberry Basil Lemon Sparkle-tinis!
* Nibble nummy noshes from Pie Fixes Everything and others!
* Party down at the Stitch Lab!!!
Be green and carpool, bike, walk or bus it over to the party. Be extra, SUPER green and bring your own martini glass for the yummy Sparkle-tinis!
Also — for one night only — did we mention…all fabrics will be 40% off during the party!!

Upcycling Ugly Dresses for $1

19th August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

This is a really nice article about an amazing blog, New Dress A day.  The blog, a creation by Marisa Lynch, document’s Marisa’s attempt to transform 365 ugly dresses (often found at thrift stores and garage sales)  in 365 days, for only $1 a day.  The blog has before and after pictures of Marisa’s creations, with a daily update of what she’s wearing today.  It’s amazing to see some of her work and I am a big fan of her crafting skills! Check it out!

Make Your Own Daily Shower Cleaner

9th August, 2010 - Posted by carsi - 3 Comments

I like using a daily shower cleaner because I’m lazy, and it cuts down on the time I have to spend actually scrubbing the tub. Just spray it on after a shower and it keeps it fairly clean for awhile. Anyway, I ran out of my store-bought, chemically shower cleaner recently so I’ve been looking for some ideas of how to make my own green cleaner. I came across these instructions and these instructions and sort of improvised with a bunch of the ingredients–baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, and tea tree oil–and put it in an old spray bottle. It turned into this slightly unappealing yellowy color, but it smells really nice and seems to be working so far!

I Made an Apron out of Old Clothes (Mostly)!

19th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

Ever since I went to the Renegade Craft Fair and saw some really cool aprons made entirely out of old clothing, I’ve wanted to try and do the same thing at home. So I’ve been saving clothes that I normally would have donated in hopes I could make some aprons as presents for the holidays and birthdays. A friend let me borrow her sewing machine and a book  called “A is for Aprons” (it has 25 different apron designs) and I was off on my first sewing project.

I had a pair of khaki pants that belong to my husband that no longer fit him, which I decided to use as the main part of the apron and the ties. I also had a cute pink summer dress that mysteriously wouldn’t zip up this summer when I got it out of the closet, despite the combined best efforts of my husband and myself to wrestle some upper back fat into the dress while leaving enough clearance to safely zip it up without harming said fat.  I decided to use the dress material to add some unnecessary decorative flair to the apron.  I also bought 1/2 yard of green and white fabric with a tiny flower pattern on it to make the pockets and waistband.

The instructions were pretty straightforward but there were many techniques I didn’t know how to do (like a “zigzag” stitch), and parts of the instructions, like attaching the large pocket, that were a little confusing and I just did what seemed to make sense.  The main part of the apron is 15×26, the large pocket was 9×22, and the small pocket was 5×5. The waistband was 5×27 and the 2 ties were each 4×26.  I’m not going to explain in detail how I put everything together step-by-step because I’m not very experienced at sewing and you can check the book out from the library for the exact instructions, but basically after I cut up all of those pieces, I hemmed all of the sides of them, then I attached the small pocket off to the side. For the large pocket (and the book has an illustration of this that helps) I folded the pocket into thirds, ironed those sides so I would know where I needed to sew down the fabric to make the divides in the pocket, and after pinning everything in such a way that the pocket fabric was scrunched up enough so that the pockets would actually come out a little from the apron so you can fit your hands in, I sewed everything down. I also then attached the ties on each side of the top, and then sewed down the hemmed waist band on top of that  so you could no longer see where the ties were sewed to the apron. Before I added fabric from the pink dress, here is what it looked like:

here it is before I decided it needed a ruffle

Here's the dress I used for the ruffle

the finished product

For adding the ruffle, I just used the existing ruffle of the dress and attached it after hemming it. Finally, I added a little hemmed strip at the top.  I had a lot of fun making it even though it’s a little too country sassy!

Make Your Own Deodorant

8th July, 2010 - Posted by carsi - 4 Comments

My younger brother teases me about being a hippie pretty much every time he sees me. I’m a hippie because of this blog, I’m a hippie because I recycle, I’m a hippie because I buy Seventh Generation hippie toilet paper, etc. So this post isn’t going to help my case at all because making your own deodorant is a pretty hippie thing to do. But it works, I swear!

About a year ago, I made the transition from using regular deodorant (Secret was my brand of choice) to using the aluminum-free kind (Tom’s of Maine). As with a lot of chemicals, there have been conflicting studies regarding aluminum in regular deodorants and antiperspirants, but there are some studies that show a link between aluminum and breast cancer and Alzheimer’s. I’d rather not take the chance and wait for more research if there are alternatives that work just as well. So I tried out the hippie deodorant. What I found was a little disappointing–it smelled good and I never smelled bad while using it, but it was pretty ineffective at stopping me from sweating, especially on hot days. But, not wanting to be wasteful, I used up the whole stick.

Looking for a better alternative, I came across some make your own deodorant instructions that seemed to have a lot of positive comments about its effectiveness. So I tried that one out too, and I’ve been pretty happy with the results! The corn starch is a natural moisture absorber, the baking soda is a natural deodorizer, and the tea tree oil has natural antibacterial properties and adds a nice smell. I’ve used my DIY deodorant this past week, and it’s lasted through a rigorous workout and my walks to and from work on hot days with approximately the same results as regular deodorant and much better results than the Tom’s of Maine kind. And it hasn’t left any white residue on anything.

Not only is it effective and non-toxic for your body, but it’s also eco-friendly because you aren’t using all those weird chemicals and you’re just refilling an old plastic deodorant container, so you’re cutting down on the plastic you use. Buying all the ingredients for this was probably about $15, which is obviously more than a standard deodorant stick at the drug store, but I have a ton of the ingredients leftover and will be able to make several more sticks in the future and eventually save money. Anyway, here’s how you do it:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 10+ drops tea tree oil
• 2+ TBSP shortening (I used Central Market’s organic coconut oil, but the website I looked at used Lou Ana Coconut Oil. Any kind would work, I’d imagine.)

The ingredients I used

Directions

1. Put baking soda and cornstarch in a bowl with tea tree oil.
2. Stir enough shortening in until it’s a consistency you like.
3. Smash into empty deodorant container. It will be a bit sturdier once it sets a day or so.

I followed the directions pretty closely, but I think I was a little too aggressive with the coconut oil because my mixture melts on contact with my skin. I would recommend taking the time to thoroughly mix together all the ingredients after you add the recommended amount of coconut oil and then see if you need more. If you add too much, like I did, just mix in some more of the powder ingredients until it’s a good consistency. And ta-da! You have your very own, homemade, hippie (but still effective!), non-toxic deodorant.

Austin Renegade Craft Fair

17th May, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

This weekend I went to the Austin Renegade Craft Fair and saw some great crafts using upcycled materials – it was very cool. Here are a few of my favorite vendors I saw:

Half pint salvage, which had some really cool key hangers made from salvaged wood molding
Ekra, a vendor who sold  beautiful rugs made of salvaged fabric

and Mukee, a shop that makes awesome jewelry out of reclaimed skateboard

Making a Terrarium in a Reused Container

10th May, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I’ve wanted to try making a terrarium for awhile and last week I finally had the time. It’s a great way to reuse an old container and make something cool you can watch grow.

It’s pretty straightforward.  I just used an old spaghetti sauce container and picked up a couple of tiny succulents at Lowes. I put down a layer of pebbles first – you need this in your terrarium because there’s no drainage, so the pebbles allow someplace for any extra water to go so the plant roots aren’t sitting in water.  Then I added a layer of dirt, and carefully lowered and planted the succulents.  You want to try and plant them without getting dirt all over the glass of the jar, because it’s hard to clean the inside of the glass once all of the plants are in – mine was pretty crowded when I finished.  To get rid of any extra dirt that had gotten on the glass, and any dirt stuck in the leaves of my succulents, I used my finger, but you could use a q-tip   

a close up

Traditionally, a terrarium is within a closed container, but I read online that succulents would only do well in an open air container so I didn’t save the jar’s lid.  It was a fun, easy way to reuse an old jar!

If you want to know everything you would ever want to know about terrariums, check out the Fern and Mossery.

And look at these cool terrariums using recycled glass from urban materials.

Making Planters from Old Jars (semi-green failure)

16th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

This is a craft project I did a couple of months ago – I had just picked up a couple of succulents and a cactus and wanted some planters for them.  I found this cute idea on design sponge and thought I would try my own version.  I knew I wasn’t artistic enough to make as nice of a design, so decided to make a simple K and E for my name and my husband’s name, and a plus sign.

I loved the idea of using old jars and cans for this project.  I found three containers – one was an old vase a friend had given me, one was a salsa jar, and one was a spaghetti sauce jar.  After letting the jars soak in warm water I was able to get the labels to come completely off.

After making sure the containers were fully dry I experimented with the letters using puffy paint.  Luckily the paint wiped completely off each time I messed up, and finally I got something I was happy with.

The next step was not very environmentally friendly (thus, semi-green fail). I used white spray paint to put a coat on each container.  Paints with low or zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are  supposed to be less harmful to the environment, but from what I can find I don’t think that’s an option in spray paint.  If I did this project again I would just skip the paint altogether since I think the planters look pretty cool with just the puffy paint, plus I think it’s cool to be able to see the root system through the glass.

E!!!

k!!!

So anyway, after I let them dry a few hours I planted my cactus and two succulents and ta da!  I love them and I learned a little about what paints I shouldn’t be buying in the future!  And here they are a few months later:

Candy Filled Egg!

5th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 2 Comments

Here’s the completed egg from this project.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Paper Mache Easter Eggs

29th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 2 Comments

I saw this craft idea in the Martha Stewart magazine (a little embarrassing, but I love me some Martha) and wanted to try it out using some old gift wrap, and something more environmentally friendly than mod podge.

Since I save any wrapping paper I get when people give presents to me or my husband, I had this gold and purple tissue paper on hand…
and I used a mixture of flour and water rather than mod podge – usually 2 parts water to 1 part flour works well.  I used the purple tissue paper for the first layer (the inside of the egg), some strips of ads from my Martha Stewart magazine for the middle layer, and the gold tissue paper for the 3rd layer.

The flour ended up showing on the surface of the eggs – I’m not sure if mod podge would have shown up less. But if you tried to make eggs using the off-white paper shown in the magazine, the flour probably wouldn’t show as much on the surface anyway. This was a fun project and it would be fun to do with children, and then have them set their eggs out for the Easter bunny to fill.

Rather than filling any baskets or eggs with that green plastic fake grass, try using shredded paper, which is what I am going to use. Check back on Easter Monday and I’ll have a picture of the egg in all its chocolate filled glory – like I said, it would be a good project to try with kids, and will look festive filled with candy, but mine didn’t turn out as pretty as the ones from the magazine.

Recycling Yarn!

3rd March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

Last Christmas, my brother and his fiancé got me some beautiful multicolored yarn, some knitting needles, and this book that teaches basic knitting skills.  I decided to make a scarf for my best friend because it seemed like the easiest possible project.

When I went to the store to buy some additional yarn like the yarn I had received for Christmas, I was  surprised that yarn costs so much.  Basically I could buy a scarf for less than it would cost to knit one.  Since the yarn I was given was also acrylic, I wondered if there was also a cheaper, more environmentally friendly way to knit.   I found  a lot of information on the internet about using old sweaters to recycle yarn.   The websites I looked at talked about finding a spot on a sweater where you can make one cut and then unravel the whole thing and have one long skein of yarn to reuse.  Things didn’t work out quite that easily for me, but I still enjoyed this project.

First I purchased a used blue sweater from Goodwill.  I still had my new multicolored yarn left, but I wanted to make stripes in my scarf using reused yarn.  As you can see, I settled on this fashionable, mid-drift baring sweater.  I liked the color, and I was also looking for a sweater that was made with thick yarn to match the thickness of my multicolored yarn.

Next I set about unraveling it.  Maybe I wasn’t doing it right, or maybe because it was a machine made sweater it was unrealistic to expect it to unravel in one long thread, but basically it made many many 12-24 inch strands.  I sorted them out and then tied the strands together to make something I could knit with. Even though I tried to pick a sweater made with thick yarn, the strands ended up being about half as thick as the multicolored yarn, so when I knit using the recycled yarn, I had to use two balls of the yarn at once.  This could be avoided by just being better at gauging the thickness of the yarn you need.

And many many episodes of Dexter later, here is the finished result!

As you can hopefully see from the pictures, the reused yarn doesn’t look quite as nice as the new yarn because of all of the spots were I had to tie the strands of old sweater together.  The parts of the scarf using the recycled thread is not as soft as the parts using the new thread, but I think it makes it more interesting.   Because the knitting in the scarf ended up being much denser than the knitting of the original sweater, I used up a lot of the sweater. This picture is deceptive but I think I used up three-fourths of the sweater.  So now I have some of both kinds of yarn left over to trying making a matching hat!

If I did this project again, I would try harder to find a sweater that no one would want to wear again. The sweater I chose was not very fashionable and I could tell from the texture of it that it had experienced a lot of wear, but someone may have wanted to wear it again. I was constrained in picking it out because I needed a color that would match my multicolored yarn and I needed thick yarn, but it would be great if next time I could find a sweater with a hole or stain in it that no one would want.

In other recycling yarn news, Carsi sent me this interesting link to a company that makes yarn out of newspaper.  I don’t think I’ll try that out, but it looks creative.  And here is some information about eco-friendly yarn.   Finally,  Carsi  alerted me that there is a company right here in Austin that takes old sweaters and unravels them to make yarn skeins you can buy.  It looks like you can order online, but Carsi found out about them when she saw their stand at the Hope Farmer’s Market.

Happy knitting!