More Tips Straight from the Source; A few Redone as Favorities

10. Rethink your wardrobe. If you have time and are organized, try consignment shopping both as a place to dispose of clothes, but also to find them. Invest in a copy of W or Vogue, or look at the new catalogs, free promotions sent to your home, or just tour the local mall. What’s in style? What’s in your closet? What do you already have? What do you like? Rotate your clothes, think what the dress code is at work; good jewelry, fine and costume, is always in style. Consider having a necklace for everyday of the week that you can wear to coordinate an outfit. Invest in good socks, splurge on a good scarf. If you knit or weave, you can create your own very nice accessories. If you crochet, the possibilities are endless and you also have gifts on hand for Christmas, Hanukah, birthdays and other occasions. If you sew, collect sewing implements, vintage and new, and take advantage of coupons and sales. Yard sales and church sales are good places to look for materials and sewing supplies. Yarn is a good investment, and there are great stores that cater to needle arts. If you read the hobby mysteries, like the Monica Ferris mysteries about the fictional store Crewel World, you will be treated to tips and patterns in every novel. Newspapers often sill include free patterns, as do online newsletters and Internet sites. Etsy.com is a wonderful place to look for craft and sewing supplies of all types.

Also, if you sew, consider remaking old garments; use the material for quilts, or make new clothes out of old ones. Old jeans make good denim skirts or handbags, jackets can become vests, dresses can be turned into mix and match tops and skirts, all can become dolls and stuffed animals, or quilts. Some can be made into strips that can be rolled into balls and woven into rugs. My mother made miniature ones by using odd socks and hose that belonged to me in junior high. She cut them into strips, and crocheted them into doll rugs. Very cute. Some old cloth and rags can become homemade paper. [Add ideas later]

Hand me downs tried and true; consider them an honor and heirloom, especially for old class vintage items like wedding apparel, shoes from the likes of Ferragamo or Gucci, good persons, antique reticules or hats.

If it isn’t’ a sentimental item or family heirloom, you can consign it or you can put it on Etsy, EBay, etc.

11. Clothing drives; if you have the time you can organize one for coats, mittens, etc. Keep a few items for them when you clean out closets. There are also places you can send clothing for needy children, along with knitted items, quilts, toys and blankets. Many church groups create quilts of various types to send to shelters and charities; your old clothing, materials, and artistic skills are really appreciated there.

11. Energy efficient cars, furnaces and appliances. Read the labels.
12. Turn the lights out; invest in energy efficient bulbs where possible, look for products that do not harm animals, do not contain unwarranted pesticides and chemicals.
13. Look for recipes on DIY sites and in books for cleaning materials and soaps that are natural, like vinegar. Do not use flammable materials, however.
14. Check furnaces, water heaters, and fire places regularly. If you have wood burning stoves or fireplaces, educate yourself on what woods you can burn so that the rest of the neighborhood is not polluted with smoke from your chimney.
15. Explore recycling possibilities and leaf disposal policies in your community. Read the newsletters in your utility bills for ideas. If there is a community forum or township meeting on Green issues, attend and get ideas, and contribute a few f your own if you can.
16. Make your own compost; but, educate yourself. A compost heap is not a garbage dump. Be careful not to attract animals and vermin that might infest the neighborhood.
17. Read others on the environment: Loren Eisley, Annie Dillard, MFK Fisher, Sand County Almanac, John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Old Grange and Farm wives magazines, William Wordsworth and all the Romantic Poets, The Bronte Sisters, especially Emily, on the beauty of the Moors and the landscape. Even vintage Gothic novels like the Castle of Otranto emphasize the importance of environment and landscape, as well as classic architecture on society.
18. Visit historical landmarks and national parks. State parks are also valuable places to learn. If you live near the ocean, lakes, or rivers, learn the riparian lore of your community. If you really love to read and want a challenge, read Hugo Grotius, The Law of the Sea.
19. Teach children to collect fossils, shells, rocks, minerals, and petrified wood. Take them to shows to show them how these natural resources helped shape life and the earth, and explain the role fossil fuels still play in the environment.
20. Join the Scouts, boy or girl. Encourage children to get badges in various areas, including those involving nature and conservation.
21. Teach about archaeology trough magazines like Archaeology, Civilization, National Geographic, and Smithsonian. Encourage kids to collect a library of these materials, and help them to organize it. They will be constantly reading and gain a respect for earth.
22. Teach children to respect animals and wildlife. If they have a favorite stuffed animal, like an elephant, have them study elephants and thei9r evolution, their role in literature and culture, where they live. The more familiar we are with something like this, and the more we come to love it, the less likely we are to abuse it or ignore it. Do the same with human culture. Encourage children to learn bout people from around the world by having them read folk tales, literature, listening to music, participating in ethnic crafts, collecting ethnic artifacts. Folk Dolls and foreign dolls are a good way to introduce all children to different cultures. Those with their own collections should learn about them and then go on the road, offering to display and lecture on them.
23. Volunteer when you can at community cleanups, book fairs, botanical centers, museums of all types, libraries, Earth Day celebrations. Teach children not to waste, but to share and to trade where possible. See the onsite community areas for barter.
24. When re-gifting and homemade gifts are good. Teach the spirit of gift giving and holidays; commercialism has been an issue since the first Christmas. Read Christmas and holiday stories and lore to see how such greed and commercialism are combated through the last two millennia. Also, you can see how people celebrated in historical times of economic adversity like War, Depression, and famine. You might be surprised at how happy and meaningful some of these celebrations can be.
25. Weddings; tips for economical weddings. I Had a Civil ceremony and church wedding for under $2500. Tell how.
26. Coupons and sales
27. Collecting is always a great way to recycle and make use of things. Collect for art materials, store inventory, personal enrichment or investment, for children, for fun. People who collect tins, baskets, and boxes use them for storage as well. People who collect vintage pens and pencils use them and sharpen them whenever they can. People who collect buttons often use them on their clothes.

Old shoes sometimes make good flower parts, and old bowling balls make interesting garden ornaments. Victory Garden and other shows have made good use of incorporating them into garden landscape. Same for old signs, old wheelbarrows and garden implements, wooden doors and fences, statutes, old tires, old claw foot tubs, milk cans, and tractor seats. They have found new life in garden landscapes. DIY scarecrows or other scarecrows as collectibles serve dual purposes as well. For one night special occasions, luminaries from paper bags are still a great effect, especially if you use LED “fake” votives which are save and effective.

28. If your VCR still works, don’t toss it. Make use of videos.
29. The radio is still a great option, so are cassette players for those of us who still have them, so are records and turntables. Vinyl records can be valuable collectibles, but they are still affordable in various types of conditions. Or, if you play an instrument, get it out and dust it off. Pay attention to the composers, to how things are composed, see what different types of genres and music the composer has written, for what instrument. These are vocations in themselves, and interest nearly everyone. Take a survey and ask friends family, students, etc., what types of music they like, and you will find we are all amateur experts in certain types of music. Sharing that knowledge is one of they joys of everyday living.
30. Unplug it if you don’t use it.
31. Crafts; consider collage and decoupage; assemblage, sue materials you already have. Making toys and paper dolls from old clothes, socks, yarns, magazines, and papers is a time-honored tradition. Same for Christmas ornaments. Repair toys that break; we need are a regular doll hospital around here, not just for collectors toys, but for everyday toys for kids. Also, check the manufacturer, toys are under warranty, too, and Mattel and other companies have been known to repair their own toys and send them back.
32. use dishwater for plants and coffee grounds as fertilizer
33. explore local farmers markets and look for local products and grocery stores
34. lo, for local bakeries
35. Cook ahead and freeze. Become familiar with what keeps for how long. Invest in a good freezer or a good refrigerator
36. Clutter can be good
37. Let it go when you have to
38. take inventory
39. Explore home remedies after consulting with your doctors. Same with alternative remedies.
40. Question if you are given too many prescriptions; look up your medicines, read the fine print, ask about alternatives and get to know the pharmacists. Get the PDR and Grays Anatomy, the book, not the TV show. Look up HIPPA on line and read it, review hospital policies and patients bill of rights; be assertive and proactive and take someone with you. Insist on enough time to discuss concerns and take a list. Be professional, not emotional. Don’t threaten malpractice, but think it if you have a gut feeling something is terribly wrong. Ask, ask, ask, and check physicals credentials. Educate yourself and get second and even third and fourth opinions. They aren’t magicians, just mechanics of the human body. Look up some of the medical malpractice and negligence cases on court TV and other sites; try to see what they all have in common.
41. Get the Internet; the dummy books are great tutorials, and most computers come with great directions.
42. Think about what goes in the landfill. Cut up the plastic rings that hold pop cans together. If you have time, save your pop cans not just to recycle, but to give to people who need them and want e deposit money, but don’t keep them outside. I’ve had them stolen. Also, wash them in soap and hot water and organized them before you recycle.
43. Save loose change in a giant bank. Make it a family project, especially pennies. It is a good way to save money. Eventually, the bank will take it and organize and deposit it for you. If you don’t’ need it yourself for bus fare, etc., then donate it.
44. Brew your own coffee, but don’t deny yourself either. Brown bag it, especially if there are brown bag lunch events, but eat well, try to get out, even in the parking lot on a good day, and listen to the radio, or eat at a park, take a walk, ride your bike at lunch, skate. Eat out as a social event, or spend a few minutes having soup at a bookstore cafe or library cafe and browse the books. You don’t have to buy and can write down titles for future reference
45. Grow some chicory to put into your brewed coffee.
46. Take classes, finds something that interests you. There are free classes on the Internet, including free BBC language classed, but look to local colleges and community centers and groups like CommUniversity.org and Elderhostel. Never stop learning, and never stop growing, and you will never be bored. Libraries and craft/hobby groups are also great places to take seminars and publications like The River City Reader offer opportunities. Also check local park boards, and music stores for taking lessons on musical instruments.
47. Use scrap paper over as notes, create notepads, and use old announcements as wrapping paper, use newspaper, brown paper, and old fabric as wrapping paper. Also, use the backs of old announcements for community events as stationary. I once saw original manuscripts by Byron, Wordsworth, Keats, and others at an exhibit in the Chicago Historical Society. All these great writers wrote on scrap paper and along margins, in-between lines, up and down the page, etc. They knew how to conserve. Lets’ not forget Kathy of Wuthering Heights who kept her journal in the margins of her old bible.
48. Or, reduce junk mail. Check with your post office and various websites.
49. Get a library card and use it.
50. Have a doodle journal
51. Make your own binders of materials and topics that interest you. Three ring binders are great thrift shop finds and also go on sale at office supply stores and giant discount stores.
52. Avoid fast food, but if you like it, be aware of calories and nutrition. They provide this information themselves and on their websites, and there are books that count calories in fast food. Know the nutritious choices or take home your entrée and combine with healthy food like fruit and celery sticks.
53. Be patient and be spiritual, whatever that means to you.
54. Go to art fairs and craft fairs to become inspired.

A Few more Living Green Tips

Happy Eve of New Work Week. A few more tips-

1.Take classes; new skills and ideas make you creative and encourage by their nature saving and recycling. Art fairs are great, Group Picnics, Trade and Outdoor Shows of all kinds, Folk Art Schools, even Potlucks and all clubs of like minded people are wonderful places to network and get ideas.

2. Read Hints from Heloise to get you through the housework. Read Erma Bombeck and Judith Wax to make you whistle while you work.

3. Be patient, and be spiritual, whatever that means to you. Yet, no matter one's faith, St. Augustine, Sta. Teresa, Buddha, Boethius, Lives of the Saints, The Rabbi Akiba, all of these people of faith comfort us and give us spiritual peace when we read them.

4. Use leftover scrapbook paper as stationery, even other clean scrap paper can be made into paper pads or used to write letters. We used old dept. announcements and fliers in grad school to write to teach other and take notes, and one of my profs used the backs of these papers to print our tests. Make sure it is not confidential, and clean, but use, recycle, then toss as a last resort.

5. To paraphrase George Orwell, break all of these rules, disregard all these tips, before doing something monstrous.

6.Go to public schools; tuition is free, there are more laws to protect children, diversity and multiculturalism are cherished and encouraged, and your children learn to be citizens of the world.

7. Get a library card.

8. Recycle your junk mail, or learn to use it in crafts or to make papier mache. I bought a gorgeous swan made of tiny folded sheets of paper from the Sunday ad glossies this weekend. Cool stuff, and cheap, and it re-uses things around the house.

9. Keep a doodle journal for ideas, swatches of color or paint you like, postcards, favorite quotes, ideas for living green, recipes, etc. Let yourself go, and learn to organize by familiarity because you use it often and find great inspiration in it.

10. Find some happiness in each day; be grateful, and think, "there but for the grace of God go I."

May, not April, is the cruelest month

I wish today I were seven and could make some of those fancy mudpies full of mud. I am going to try to make sugar skulls for my humanities course. I like to include prizes, but I cover most of my own costs, and this can be prohibitive. Also, I like to make things, so making gifts is one way to send a good message, do something unique, and conserve resources. We'll see. The technique appears similar to making sugar panorama eggs for Easter.

There are many gifts one can make like this, especially for party favors. My mom was great at that, and did lots of things with patterns, tracing paper, and glitter. She could do little felt bags to put tiny gifts in, and she made attractive programs with the mimeograph machine. She often used coloring books and pages from them in her Spanish classes, and then reused the pictures on club projects or as bulletin board decorations. Years later, she recycled the coloring books for quilt patterns to make me a fantastic memory quilt. So, I guess the tip for today is recycling craft materials and projects. Sift through what you already have, and think about how to use it before you try to buy a whole lot more!

First Planting

Today was clear and cooll this morning; clouds are now moving in. I finally was able to plant my pumpkins. They are in a sunny place, with a sinister Halloween fence surrounding them and a happy wooden Jack O'Lantern spike to protect them and to indicate their location. Last year, they pumpkins did not come up in our ravine. Two years in a row were fine, but we had to fight the animals for them. I think the deer population beat us to it last year. They didn't grow on our sunny slope, either, though the gourds did. They have good soil, and it is always a good idea to rotate the soil anyway.

I have moonflowers, gourds, and my annuals left. We have a shabby chic garden, and my next door neighbor and I share plants, tools, fertilizers and garden ornaments. I am fond of my little garden, and have several plants that are cuttings from home, or from apartment gardens I had in college. Sharing cuttings this way is an economical method for adding to one's garden and for promoting flower growth. Two years in a row, I had annuals come up as perrenials; after I dumpt the dirt from the plot two autumns ago, my pansies apparently took root and came up again in the spring. Then, my poor husband mowed them over thinking they were weeds.

This year, when they sprang up again, my neighbor and I marked them with a garden spike and built a cairn of little stones around the pansies. they bloomed yellow with purple centers this year and are just great.

Tip: we like to use coffee grounds, either the free packets some Starbucks give away, or our own, to fertilize the plants. Happy Gardening, and I'd appreciate some tips on strawberries; mine are really going to town this year!

The Moonflower Vine

I plan on planting these wonderful blooms again. I recommend reading Jetta Carleton's The Moonflower Vine, a novel centering on these flowers. Also, anything related to Tasha Tudor, including Tasha Tudor's Garden, or Mary Randolph Carter's Garden Junk. These are great reads for gardeners and those who love nature and the outdoors.

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all! Today is the third Mothers Day without my mother. As will all holidays, my main activity is visiting the cemetery. It isn't sad for me, but oddly comforting that I can at least see her and leave a flower or small trinket of the things we love. She taught me not to waste, and to save and reuse. She was also a master at time management, and I pass on her tips for busy moms tonight. She always taught me to have my books ready and in their book bag by the door so we would be ready in the morning. She also taught me to choose my outfits, down to the jewelry, the night before school or work, so their would be no agonizing decisions the next morning.

She also used dishwater on her plants outside, both to save water and to drive away plant bugs [the soap did that!]. In tough times or when someone forgot to buy shampoo, she encouraged using soap, good old fashioned soap, for everything. She knew about naturaly cosmetics, and about using cucumbers on your eyes and beer as shampoo. She was very good at saving piecrust and making small sugar/cinammon pastries with the ends, and at making little candies out of leftover frosting. Her recipe for ham and potatoes, made after a big ham dinner over Christmas or New Years, was sought after far and wide, and she used olive oil and pomegrantes long before they were in fashion.

We loved eating out, but she cooked a lot at home, and could whip up a soup in no time. Her pantry was always stocked with essentials, and we were good about coupons and shopping sales. When we played "Price is Right" in Home Ec, I always won.

She shopped discount stores for gorgeous fabrics, and was always careful they were flame retardant. She made most of my clothes, and they were beautiful, trimmed in lace and collectible buttons. She remade them later on, and many appeared in skirts, quilts, and doll clothes. From the time I was small, she shared clothes, shoes, and jewelry with me, a practice her sister also did. We knew how to recycle clothes and use handmedowns, and we always had money to build our doll collection, or to take trips, or to eat out when we needed a break.

Most of all, her time management skills involved always being occupied. She encouraged imagination over gadgets, and making toys over spending a lot of money on fads. She used her scraps and her mother's materials to make doll clothes, especially Barbie [tm] things, and they were beautiful. She made boots out of faux leather and faux fur coats, and brocade gowns and velvet skirts trimmed in beads. We built a great collection because she could rescue dolls and clean them up, and of course, dress them.

I miss her very much. She used to take me with her to buy flowers, and we often grew and transplanted the wild flowers in our yard. We used them for parties, and I was an adult before I realized people ordered hothouse flowers for special events. She was great at making jam, and one summer we made lots of strawberry jam and jelly.

You never think you can measure up to your mom, but I can only try to keep living the way she did, and to carry on her own traditions. Try out Lucy's Kitchen Notebook as a great blog, and follow me and the doll museum on Twitter. Till Next Time.