Let Your Eco-Friendly Flag Fly

Our eco-friendly house cleaning kit with handknit and crochet washcloths, recycled t-shirts, baking soda, vinegar, hemp, old toothbrush, and a little eco-flag from CosaVerde for decoration!

We're all becoming increasingly aware of the damage of pollutants in our environment.  As Dave and I travel around, we discover more and more places bombarded with trash as well as pollutants in our food and water.  Over the years, we've been making a conscious effort to recycle as much as possible and try to become responsible about what we're pouring down a drain or products we use to  clean our home.  It's an ongoing project around here.  I also realized how allergic I was to certain cleaning products so I returned to the baking soda and vinegar method I was taught as a child.  That alone saved us money, relieved my allergies, and fit into our plan of being responsible Earthlings. 

I hope you'll try making a kit for your home with recycled items and more Earth friendly products.  Creating a kit is a great way to teach your children and encourage yourself to reach for those friendly products on a daily basis.  It's difficult sometimes with all the advertising that is directed toward us. Some products aren't freindly to the environment despite their claims.  So, that being said, we are trying to do our homework, reuse, recycle, and discover new ways, (some forgotten) to stay on track.  

Here are some places to start if you need help or ideas: Natural Solutions,  Eco Mall, Ecos.com

You might also enjoy:
http://knit1fortheroad.blogspot.com/2010/03/blooming-books.html

http://knit1fortheroad.blogspot.com/2010/03/starch-those-stitches.html

Get creative. Make this project fun and enjoy being an Earthling!

Marg (happy to be on the blue planet)

H is for ecoHome: An A-Z Guide to a Healthy, Planet-Friendly Household (Eco A-Z Series)

Camp Crafty PawPaw

You know what I love about any crafting activity? It's great for the brain, heart, and soul of anyone, at any age and experience level. Family pets can also contribute a little paw action to your projects as well. Don't you just love that?

Below I've listed some (mostly) free places to find projects that have come to my attention this week.

Lion Brand offers New Free Knit Patterns for Adults, just in time for your Fall project.

On Ravelry? You should be! Try their handy pattern tab for lots of yummy knitting and crochet and to gather ideas for your next project. Some are free downloads and others are reasonably priced and ultra dreamy. We do like to share a good thing and blab about it to everyone who will listen (or read). Enjoy the community and post your projects for others to see.

ILoveToCreate and Craft Stylish are always great places to look for eco-friendly projects, shops and family fun. Start with their galleries and browse a little.

Family projects are lookin' good! Arts and crafts, articles and info about raising crafty kids can be found on these sites:

FamilyFun, CraftTown, AllCrafts, KidsBro, KwikCrafts

Keep it crafty!

Margaret (working on some serious stash management today)

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY!

April 22nd is just around the corner. It's a great day to celebrate our lives and our earth, as well as share our creativity with others. If you're looking for some projects to help your children learn more about being more eco-friendly then you will want to visit AllCrafts.net for projects and ideas.

LionBrandYarn has some free EarthDay projects to get you ready.

Crochet Market Bag

Knit Market Bag

Crochet Spring Cleaning Scrubbies

CRAFTSTYLISH.COM also offers a variety of fun projects to help you celebrate.

A great project that is happening in our neighborhood is a new community garden.

Think green and enjoy living on the blue planet everyone-

Marg

ECO-WRAPPING TREASURE HUNT!

tissue, fabric paint, yarn, clear glitter

felt, beads, fabric paint, cloth wrapping, combined yarn and cloth strips in bow

Trader Joe's bag and handle(the kids favorite place to shop) collage of characters, and cartoons geared for their kid humor, and yarn

Scarves wrapped with yarn and metallic (wired) bow and stitch marker atttached - hand made note. What better wrapping than the colorful scarf itself?!

Handmade notes on inspiration for scarves. It's been my experience that people like a little story or blurb to go with their knitted item.

ADVENTURES from my eco-wrapping treasure hunt...Yesterday, I was totally caught up in eco-wrapping presents for friends and family I didn't have the mental strength to blog - I know - can you believe it? I'm making up for it today and sharing my crafty recycle, reuse wrapalicious creations. so there - i confess - i got totally swept away by holiday craziness. keep in mind that these were created for each personality - witty and hip tweens n' teens to 50 is the new 30 crowd.

I hope you'll consider recycling and reusing items on your packages this year. It's a great way to spread awareness and teach kids about the importance of recycling. You can even make it a family project! Use kid energy, imagination and make amazing holiday gift wrapping. Send them on a hunting expedition for useable items and share in the creation.

Happy Holiday Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting!

Marg (enjoying all the cards and messages from Knitters for Obama cardswap on Ravelry)