Recycle, Recycle, Recycle: Participate in the cycle

At the children's museum here in Eugene, there is a display about recycling. Included in the display is a short video where clay characters teach kids about the cycle of recycling. While watching it with Owen the other day, I learned something new myself.

If we want to truly participate in the cycle of recycling, we have to do more than just clean out our cans, sort our cardboard products, and remove lids from water bottles to throw in the recycle bin. I feel lucky that where I live, a commingled recycling bin pickup makes it easy for me to recycle. You may live in an area where this is more difficult.

However, the cycle doesn't begin and end with us buying new things to throw in the recycle bin. The cycle is complete only when we choose to buy things that are made from those items we recycled. Often this requires us to make a small change in our budget, as these things are often a bit more expensive. But if you live in an area where recycling is difficult or impossible, this is another way to participate in the cycle.

Here are a few ideas:

Next time, when buying paper for your printer, buy recycled. Paper is definitely one material that can be recycled back into itself.

This one might be the easiest of all. Because aluminum is a material that can be recycled back into itself hundreds of times, you can safely assume that the soda cans you buy are made of recycled aluminum. That's good for us, since we consume a lot of soda at our house.

Again, because foil is made of aluminum, it is an obvious choice for buying recycled. This one might be a bit more difficult to find, but there are many stores that carry it these days.

Do you know of other products you can buy that are made from recycled materials?

Monday Fun Find #9

I'm excited to have Alisa as a guest blogger today. She is officially the first guest Monday Fun Finder.

I was introduced to 12fifteen's etsy shop by design*sponge, and my first purchase was this wonderful little bird letterpress notecard, which I put in a frame. It was the beginning of my birds-as-dècor trend, and it's one of my favorite bird pieces in my little collection.


My next purchase was this beautiful orange print; it's a simple illustration but a striking orange color and has great contrast and composition.


My current favorite thing in her shop is this set of wonderful personalized notecards in best friends blue and brown letterpress, with fantastic blue envelopes.

I think Johanna Anderes, who runs the shop, has a great eye for vintage modern styling without being overly trendy or retro. She captures what's great about the trend but keeps her designs simple and traditional. She is gracious and professional and has well-deserved success with her etsy shop.

I highly recommend reading Alisa's musings on how she is distracted from distraction by distraction here. She has an amazing way with words.

***If you would like to showcase your favorite Etsy seller or Etsy handmade item, I would love to have you as a Guest Monday Fun Finder. Just leave a comment with your email, or send me an email at limabeanhome [at] gmail [.] com.

Summer Berries & Cherries

Last year, here in our very own Lane County, we discovered an amazing community of local farmers, who allow regular citizens like myself to go out in their well-loved and cultivated fields, bushes, and orchards and pick fruit and vegetables at a supremely discounted rate. I call this a summer treat extraordinaire.

So last week, moms and kids found themselves among the blueberry bushes of the Adkins Family Farm. I wish I had pictures of the cuties and all the blueberries they shoved in their mouths while picking, but, alas, I forgot my camera. So, pictures of the mouth-watering fruit will have to suffice.

Oh, and the GORGEOUS queen-anne cherries were bought at Me & Moore fruit stand on the drive home from Adkins Family Farm. I drove by the sign for cherries and couldn't resist. Can you see why? That whole big bowl of cherries was only $5!!

***Here are some interesting tidbits I found out about storing blueberries after they're picked:

• Unwashed blueberries will stay fresh for up to two weeks in the refrigerator if kept dry.
• Place dry, unwashed, and unsweetened berries in freezing containers or plastic bags. Seal and freeze. The berries will freeze individually and pour out like marbles.
• When using frozen blueberries in your baking, do not thaw them. Always add them frozen so they will not "bleed" in your baked goods.

Monday Fun Find #8

Because the $15,000.00 price tag on this Monday Fun Find makes it a little out of the budget, this one is mostly just for fun.

Anax Imperator Machina

If you're interested, you can read the fascinating description of this item below. JesseDanger is a truly remarkable artist, and as of today, this Machina has had 28,000+ views on Etsy. In her shop you will also find unique, eco-friendly jewelry.

Latin for, The Emperor Dragonfly Machine. Modeled after the largest modern species of dragonfly, this is a functioning creation whose wings flutter up and down when the very tip of the tail (really the abdomen, but tail sounds cooler) is turned. The inspiration for this complex mechanical insect originated from many of the fantasized gadgets of Leonardo Da Vinci and other mechanical creations once thought futuristic in times long before our own. Inspired by these designs I set out to recreate nature using classical engineering and an elegant form. My intentions are to develop and continue making more of these mechanical insects. The internal mechanisms, gears and moving parts were painstakingly hand-milled and hand-calibrated with absolute precision from 14k gold. The body, mechanical frame and wings were handcrafted from Argentium Silver, far superior to Sterling or fine silver. The body opens up to reveal the intricate inner movements, and fine details that just could not be left forever covered up! The eyes are each large 10 carat Swiss Blue Topaz cabochons and the 14k gold bezel on the tail contains a 4mm Amethyst bullet shaped cabochon.

Completely handmade (except two brass gears), this creation is the culmination of hundreds of hours of designing and redesigning, and even more hours of patient and careful construction. Size is 8" wide from wing to wing, 6" long and 3.5" tall. I can guarantee that you will not find a similar creation anywhere!


**Stay tuned for next week's MFF, which will feature my first guest finder, Alisa's favorite handmade item.

A fun present

For her birthday, my mother-in-law wanted a new bag for church to hold her essentials. This is my favorite kind of project--one that has just enough specifics to narrow down the size and functionality of the bag, but with no specifics on fabric or style to allow for creativity and fun.

I recently checked out this book from my library, after reading about it on someone's goodreads list.

The book is full of fun, relatively simple projects for any level of sewer. One of the projects was called Pleated Beauty Handbag. It seemed like a fun, unique bag that would suit this purpose.

My mother-in-law loves blue, so I found a couple of contrasting blue fabrics to use for the outside, and a beige upholstery stripe to use as the lining. Because the author encourages bending the rules, I added another pleat in the middle of the bag.

Here is the final product. She should have already received it in the mail by now, and I hope she likes it. Happy (belated) Birthday Mom Fuller!

Reuse what you have: water storage

With two little apple juice guzzlers in my house, you can imagine we end up with a lot of these:

So a few weeks ago after reading in the news about multiple natural disasters which affected the water supply in various parts of the U.S., I started to worry about my family's water storage. Because our house isn't very large, I've been using that as an excuse to not store water, always telling myself I would do it later when we had some extra room. Also, I never wanted to go out and buy bottles of water and have to haul them all home. (cheap AND lazy)

The very next day I found myself chucking one of those empty gallon apple juice jugs in the recycle bin, thinking to myself, "those containers are made of sturdier plastic than most," and at that moment I had a lightbulb moment. These gallon jugs (of which I've recycled at least 25 in the last few years) would make perfect water storage containers!

And so, as I've said before, recycling is great, but reusing is better. Store some water in your reused juice bottles and find peace of mind knowing you'll be prepared if there is ever a water shortage. Yes, your water will all have a hint of apple juice flavor, but in an emergency, you probably won't mind.

***Here is a very helpful website all about water storage. They say: "Every home should have a supply of water stored for at least three days of emergency use. Store one gallon per person per day, and one quart per small pet"

Monday Fun Find #7

Today's fun find is made by Jessica of weelittlemousie.

3 burp cloths - blue/yellow flowers and bees

If you're going to a baby shower and need a unique, handmade gift, check out Jess's Etsy shop. "The name of my shop was inspired by a little tickle game my aunt used to play with me and my sisters. The rhyme goes:

Round a bit, round a bit
Wee little mousie
Up a bit, up a bit
Into wee housie!

The burp cloths are made with absorbent Gerber cloth diapers and accented with a panel of 100% cotton flannel. She's a great seamstress and I'm especially lucky to have her as my sister-in-law.


***If you're looking for a reason to surf around Etsy and fill up your favorites (or perhaps you already do that), I would love to have you as a guest finder on the Monday Fun Finds to share your most favorite item. Just leave a comment on this post with your email in this format: limabeanhome [at] gmail [dot] com (to avoid spammers) and I'll email you soon to set it up!