Monthly Archives: November 2012

DIY Eco Wreath (from Toilet Rolls)

Posted in DIY, Eco Home, Plastic-Free, Upcycling by

As I mentioned in my last tutorial (Making gift boxes from old greetings cards – see them here) I am determined to be frightfully festive without all the nasty waste that often comes along with it! I really want to prove to myself (and other people) that you can be a happy Christmas Greenie as apposed to a whingy eco version of this guy…

So I decided I would get going on my sustainable decorations at the very start…. my front door. There aint nothing better than a wreath. I had seen plenty of amazing wreaths on Pinterest (follow me here) but was particularly inspired by this one which I saw at Proverbs 31 craft blog. It also suited me as I save all my toilet rolls (they are very handy for all sorts of crafts and around-the-house uses). So I set off on my merry way and I have to say I am really, really proud of the results! Considering I made this whole thing from what would be considered waste products (old cardboard box, newspaper, toilet rolls, fabric off-cuts) it really proves that one woman’s junk is anothers’ treasure.

Equipment

  • Toilet rolls (depending on how big your wreath is you will need quite a few).
  • Cardboard (big enough to cut your wreath base out of – mine has a 40cms diameter)
  • Newspaper
  • 2 x pieces of fabric off-cuts (minimum 80cms length) or fat ribbon
  • Scissors and/or Stanley knife
  • Hot Glue Gun

Optional

  • Ruler
  • Spray paint
  • Glitter

Method

1. First make your wreath template. I have seen plenty of blogs that suggest buying a Styrofoam template… there really is no need to use that nasty material. All you need is some cardboard and newspaper. I traced out a large salad bowl shape (40cms diameter) and then traced around a smaller bowl before cutting it out to create the donut shape (this is where a Stanley Knife would come in handy).

2. Then to give your wreath some central body I scrunched up newspaper and glued it onto the donut. This is going to covered in toilet roll rosettes so don’t worry if it looks shabby! Voila.. you have your recycled wreath template.

3. Then you need to cut your toilet roll rings. I wanted my wreath to be a really pretty textural wreath with all different levels and lengths of rosettes. Therefore I cut my toilet rolls into thirds, fourths and fifths. You don’t have to rule these you can just cut away – it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Note: If you don’t have many toilet rolls you may want to cut the roll into fifths so that you get more bang for your buck out of each roll.

4. Once you have your rings you will make them into rosettes. Cut the ring to open them up and then roll. Again I varied rolling them very tightly and loosely.5. Now it’s time to start gluing the rosettes to your wreath. Blob hot glue onto the newspaper and press the rosettes onto them. I started by using the taller rosettes (the ones I had cut from thirds) and gluing them around the centre of the ring. I tried to angle them so the centre of the rosettes weren’t all just facing up and were looking in different directions (for added visual interest). At times you will need to dob bits of glue in between them so the rosettes use each other for added structure.

Once I had the taller central ring of rosettes I started gluing in the shorter ones around the edges until the wreath was completely covered.

Don’t worry if your wreath looks very grim at the beginning… persevere! The more you build the better and better it gets I promise…

6. I actually really like the toilet rolls left in their natural state… I think they looked deliciously rustic… but I also really felt the need for some sparkle. So I used some old spray paint I had left over from another project and gave the wreath a really fine spray until it was a creamy brown colour. One positive is that this will seal the wreath and protect it for next year!

Aerosols are unfortunately not great for the environment but you can get your hands on ‘friendlier’ alternatives for projects that really do require them. I favour Krylon’s H20 Latex Spray Paint (see the treehugger write up here) – it is an environmentally better option although sadly still not perfect. Here are some places you can get them in Australia.

7. While the paint was still wet I dusted some left over glitter onto the wet wreath. Fairy dust makes all the difference. Let the wreath dry.

8. Once your wreath has dried it is time to tie the bow onto it. I used fabric off-cuts though you could also use a fat ribbon if you do not have any. The pieces I used were very thick (approx 15cms) and therefore I needed them to be minimum 80cms long.

Tie the first piece around the top of your wreath – tie the knot tight as this will be what your wreath hangs from so you want it to be secure. Then thread the other piece between it and the toilet rolls. Tie a bow and fluff it up appropriately.Then cut the ribbon tails to the perfect size. The bow may take a couple of goes to get right.

I then quickly sewed the ends of the material together to form a loop and cut a small slice into the ribbon so that I could hang it on a screw in our door…

8. Merrily hang on your door while humming “Deck the halls”… because tis the season to be jolly! Be sure to take a step back and admire your wonderful crafty work!

A Super Simple Cushion Tutorial

Posted in DIY, Eco Home by

I am slowly but surely teaching myself to sew. It makes sense on so many levels and brings with it so many benefits – a lot of them in line with my eco philosophy’s:

  • I can source locally made and/or organic fabrics to make my own products.
  • I can create a whole heap more upcycling projects that I spy on Pinterest (follow me here) which not only have less impact but can help me be greener – produce bags… I’m comin’ for you next!
  • It will be a whole lot easier to avoid that nasty ‘Made in China’ label
  • I will have a greater attachment and pride in my possessions because I will understand all the work that went into them!

My first project to get me into the groove has been making a recycled pallet day bed (which I can’t wait to share with you next week once it is complete!). And what does every daybed need? A million throw cushions, that’s what! As this is my first time behind the machine I didn’t want to have the trouble of zips and buttons – I wanted quick and simple. I found a few blog sites that detailed how to make this pouch style cushion and I am happy to say it was easy enough for even me to master. And I mean master… I have sewed 19 of them in 2 weeks! Here are a few being enjoyed by Velcro the little stray kitten we rescued last month (read about her here).

**Special thanks and love has to go to my amazing, stupendous, wonderful and above all progressive husband here! My first attempt at sewing a cushion was after our antenatal class where I was shown all the surgical equipment that can be used during labour and was told of all the possibilities that could go wrong. To say I was emotional was an understatement. I knew so little about sewing that I didn’t know you had to even clamp the sewing foot down and I buggered up the machine and ended up face down on the table bawling. But my man of many talents cleaned me up and showed me a few basics and I haven’t stopped since. What a superstar!  

Equipment

  • Sewing Machine
  • Pins
  • Fabric
  • Cushion Insert
  • Chalk / Pencil
  • Ruler / Measuring Tape
  • Scissors (Fabric scissors are SO worth it!)

Method

1. When you buy your cushion insert you will be given the dimensions – pictured below is Size 24: 61cms x 61cms (24″ x 24″). Measure out with your tape measure a shape the same size as the dimensions. You do not need to allow for a hem or for the stitch – you want your cushion to be snug and… well… cushy!

Mark out the shape with chalk or a proper fabric pencil (obviously on the inside of the material). This may take a bit of playing around to make sure you get it square.

This piece will be the front of your cushion.

2. Cut out your front shape.

3. You then need to cut out the two back flaps which will form the pouch to insert your cushions. There is no exact science on this and there is a little wiggle room but you want the ‘flaps’ to be approximately two thirds the height of the front piece of fabric. For example both flaps should measure…

  • As wide as the front piece of fabric
  • Approx two thirds the height of the front piece of fabric PLUS 2cms (approx 1″) for a small hem

EXAMPLE: The three pieces of my fabric were as follows;

  • Front Piece – 61cms x 61cms (24″ x 24″)
  • 2 x back pieces – 42cms x 61cms (16″ x 24″)

4. You then need to hem one edge of each of the back flaps. To do this fold the material over and pin it. My hems were 2cms (approx 1″). If you want to really crease the hems  then iron them which will flatten them. Whizz it through your sewing machine and tie off the ends.

5. Then pin all your pieces together ready for sewing- which for the amateur sewer can be confusing at first. Lie your cover piece flat on a table with the pretty outside of the cushion facing up. Then place your first flap squarely onto it so that the ugly inside of the fabric is facing up. Repeat with the other piece therefore completing the back square.

Pin along the edges securely. Make sure you pin the edges of the flaps down to ensure that they don’t get folded while you sew.

Sew along each edge and tie the threads off.

6. Once you have sewed all four sides turn your cover inside out and stuff your insert into it. Give it a bit of a plump and a fluff until it looks deliciously inviting and voila! You have a sturdy, simple cushion!I hope that made sense! I have had great success with them and have used all sort of different materials with them. The best bit is, your average store-bought, mass-produced cushion seems to retail for $50 these days. That is an absolutely HUGE mark up. If you want your life filled with beautiful cushions, this is the way to go!

 

DIY Gift Boxes from Recycled Cards

Posted in DIY, Eco Home, Plastic-Free, Upcycling by

Last Christmas I was a bit of an Eco-Grinch. I got really grumpy at the fact that a time  that is meant to be about family and love and all that good stuff had morphed into a cash cow… an exercise in capitalism. But I still didn’t want to let Christmas go. I grew up in England with snowmen and amazing Christmas trees and dad dressing up like Santa – and being pregnant I want my little daughter to grow up with memories as lovely as mine. So I am on a mission to keep my festivities completely eco (and blog about it of course!).

In January – going off the theme that reuse is better than recycle - I asked all the people in my office to give me their unwanted Christmas cards. I took a whole lot down to the local school to use for crafts but was still left with a massive pile of them. I stored them with my Christmas decorations and hoped to think of something to do with them by Christmas time. And I did. Here is an ultra simple gift box that you can make from an old greetings card.

Equipment

  • Old greeting cards
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pen/Pencil
  • Glue (can just be a stick but Hot Glue Gun is far more resilient)
  • *If just using a glue stick you may also want pegs and paperclips

Instructions

1. Cut along the seam to separate the front of the card from the back.

2. Decide how thick/deep you want your box to be (look at the gift/item you are putting inside it to make sure it will fit!). Once decided rule a margin around the sides. I varied between 2 and 3cms (0.5 – 1″) for my boxes.

3. Fold along each line. I did this by placing my ruler along the line and then folding the paper over it… was a lot quicker and more precise.

4. Cut along the lines on 2 opposite ends only. What I mean by that is you don’t want to cut the corner squares out… you just want to create a flap. See next photo if you are unsure of what I mean.

5. Fold the flaps in and apply dobs of glue. Then pincer together to make your box shape. If you are just using a glue stick you may want to hold the flaps together with pegs or paperclips to ensure the box really sets and is sturdy. Hot glue gun is definitely preferable though.

6. And there you have one half of your box! ( Use the pretty front part of the card is the top of the box). Repeat the process to make the other half of your box.

7.  When I was drawing the margins in for the bottom half of the boxes I made the margins a couple of mm’s bigger than the top boxes so that it fit comfortably without needing to bend. E.g. my margin for the top was 3cms on each side, my margin for the bottom was 3.2cms on each side.

Other ideas…

Advent Calendar

If I had more time I would totally have made this advent calendar using the boxes and a pin up board…

From 2 Boys 2 Girls Painter Family

Tree Ornaments

You could also thread some ribbon through them and hang them from your tree filled with goodies.

Plastic Free Easter Egg Containers

Easter will be another hurdle in anti-consumerism! I have brill memories of Easter Egg hunts but how will I give these to my daughter without all that nasty foil and needless wrapping? You could bulk buy chocolates and place them in little boxes and hide them around the garden! WIN.

Stationery Holders

These could also be cute little DIY boxes to keeps your paperclips etc in!

More Sustainable Christmas Ideas

If you are looking for more sustainable Christmas ideas you may like some of these posts;

Why you’ll never see me at the races…

Posted in Animals, Issues by

The Hunger Games (both books and movies) have always been met with a flurry of controversy. In what seems to be a tragic case of oversimplification, people continue to protest about the violent premise of the story and the disgusting notion that cruelty and death could be considered entertainment.  (The plot centres on The Hunger Games – a tournament where poor children compete in a televised fight-to-the-death: a demented mix of Gladiator and Big Brother). To get all Year 12 English on you, I personally thought it was a very clever parable which delivered complex adult themes (like inequality, war and oppression) to a younger audience… but whatever… I digress from my point.

Today I find myself confused that there is ongoing debate about the appropriateness of this particular story while we simultaneously celebrate our very own version of the Hunger Games every spring… in fact, we brag about its ability to stop the nation. Yes, I am referring to the Australian Spring Carnival and the Racing Industry that it sustains. If people are so appalled by the fact that entertainment could be derived from another’s suffering then where are the protests about horse-racing? Why are more parents not concerned of the effect that this brutal spectacle could have on our children?

Last night ABC730 bravely (though sadly post-Melbourne Cup) aired the ghastly reality of what happens to those poor horses deemed “financially unviable” by the racing industry– the slow, the injured, the ailing. Every year approximately 18,000 racehorses are considered to be unprofitable and are slaughtered to be turned into meat. I had always heard rumours of the proverbial glue factory and (until a few years ago) thought it was surely an urban myth, but as the footage last night horrifyingly illustrated it is still very much a reality.

“Something like 8,500 horses at an early age are excluded from the racing industry. Usually due to injury – mostly due to injury. Mostly due to the fact that they were prepared for racing when they were juveniles and not mature in bone and limb. That’s the big problem for the racing industry.”

- Hugh Wirth

The poor injured souls that don’t make the cut are categorised by a word all too familiar to anyone with any knowledge about the issues animals face when used for capital gain – wastage. Once their financial worth has been decided these horses… sorry, the wastage… is transported to a Saddleyard where horses are sold predominantly to Knackeries (slaughterhouses for meat not for human consumption i.e. dog food). At the knackeries horses are led into small fenced areas and are one-by-one shot in front of the other horses. The waiting horses are clearly shaking with fear.

As distressing as it is, I am a massive fan of confronting yourself with hard truths. It provides an awareness that forces change. One of the most dangerous weapons in society is ignorance. So please try and watch the below video if you still are in any doubt about the reality of getting gussied up and punting on these animals.

Back in 2010 a Western Australian restaurant made national headlines for proposing to add horse meat to his French-inspired menu. As you can see from this article which interviews the infamous Restaurateur (Vince Garreffa) people threatened to never eat at his restaurant again. While I obviously don’t agree with eating horses I also fail to see the difference between supporting old Vince’s restaurant and heading out to punt on this year’s favourite?

So I propose that if you honestly have a problem with the racing industries treatment of these beautiful animals – the animals the racing industry claims to love and care for – that you stop supporting it. I am sure that I could be labelled as a spoilsport or even unpatriotic for having this opinion but I don’t care especially when it means I am taking a stand against celebrating cruelty. There are plenty of other opportunities to wear pretty dresses if that is what floats your boat. Why not hold your own Anti-Cup party which allows you to dress up and bet on a sport that doesn’t involved flogging a poor animal round a track. The winnings could even be donated to your favorite charity instead?

Take Action

Click through on this link to tell racing bosses that cruelty is not profitable. As the amazing organisation Animals Australia suggests – “pledge not to bet on horse races while young, healthy horses are killed by the thousands each year. Help urge the racing industry to care for all horses — not just the ones who win the most”

More Information

If you would like more information on the racing industries dirty little secret then please visit Horse Racing Kills.

I also absolutely LOVE this article by Melbourne Writer Marieke Hardy – well worth a read!

What’s your opinion? Do you support horse racing? Love to hear from you in the comments!

Your Sustainable Shopping Guide for Christmas

Posted in Uncategorized by

Reblogged from Olive on Blonde:

Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

Well, D-day is here! Today is the first day of December which means, Christmas is coming. Ah, Christmas! That magical time where we are encouraged to be frivolous with cash, credit cards and environmental consideration. Wait? No? That’s not right? Last I checked Christmas was about spending quality time with your family but a whole heap of department stores have me convinced that I am wrong.

Read more… 1,184 more words

Add your thoughts here... (optional)

Olives’ Healthy Anzac Biccies! (Vegan)

Posted in Food by

Vegan

Preparation time – 10 minutes; Cooking time – 10 minutes

Makes 12 big beautiful biscuits

Finally… after literally years of deliberation… I am ready to plant seedlings into our veggie patches. Helping me with the job is my delightful sister-in-law and my beautiful niece and nephew. So how does one ply a 2 and 3 year old to actually assist with the planting rather than setting themselves to ‘distract and destroy mode’? Well, surely you can’t go past a good old Aussie biscuit for that job? So I quickly make a batch of my version of Anzac Biscuits. While they aren’t super-duper healthy they are free from dairy and are a million times better than anything you are going to find in a packet. Instead of being chock full of butter I used coconut oil and I slightly reduced the flour content by bulking it up with sultana’s instead. Best thing – they took 10 minutes and are delicious.

Such an easy way to create a waste-free healthy treat! And I think it is safe to say that my bribe worked and the little gremlins were all too happy to help with the planting afterwards…

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2/3 cup wholemeal self-raising flour (if you use plain make sure to add 1 tsp baking/bicarb soda mixed with 1 tablespoon of boiling water + 1/2 tsp salt at Step 3)
  • 2/3 cup dessicated coconut
  • 1/2 Cup sultana’s
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil
  • 2.5 tablespoons golden syrup

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180 C (350 F). Grease a baking tray in preparation.
  2. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients: oats, flour, coconut, sultana’s and sugar.
  3. Melt the coconut oil and golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. (if you have used plain flour add the bicarb mix now!)
  4. Pour your golden syrup/coconut mix into the dry ingredients and mix well.
  5. Roll the mixture into 12 even balls (I used a soup spoon to measure them out). It may be a little crumbly so just squeeze it tightly into a ball with your hands.
  6. Place on baking trays and softly press the center of them down with a fork so they are slightly flattened.
  7. Bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.
  8. They will still be very soft when you remove them from the oven – don’t let it fool you into putting them back in. Everyone loves a soft biccy! Let them cool before removing them from the tray.
  9. Take your prompt from John and… NOM!!!

Nom nom nom