It's been over a month since I've posted on here... oops! My life has been quite busy though. After taking up a job with a tutoring company I have been teaching English.. which although the pay is no indication, it has been immensely gratifying to know that I can help others by teaching them or improving upon their English. 


There have been quite a few exciting developments within the past month.. I have a new baby nephew is absolutely precious! I got to see him just a few days after he was born during my spring break. Also, I was offered an internship with Environment Texas for the summer! This will be an amazing opportunity to see what it is like to work for a nonprofit environmental organization in my favorite city, the capitol of Texas! 


More to come on environmentalism and I will be uploading some spring time crafts soon!


XOXO,
MissEcoChic

rising gas prices

Gas prices are on their way up... here are a few ways to save our poor wallets:

[image property of vtcleancities.blogspot.com]

• Use public transportation when possible
• Walk/bike when you can
• Carpool
• Drive the speed limit as reducing your speed can save up to 14% on gas [abcnews.go.com]
• Fill up in the morning/late in the evening when evaporation due to the sun is at a minimum
• Avoid crowded paths to reduce idling time
• Keep your vehicle in good shape e.g. oil filters, tire pressure etc
• Only carry essentials in your car as extra weight can increase gas consumption
• Speed up gradually instead of flooring the gas pedal to conserve your tank

Hope these tips help! 

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

green&frugal

Simple Green Frugal Co-op has a wonderful list of 25 ways to be green AND frugal..check it out:

http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-do-we-choose-between-budget-and.html

below is quoted text: 

"25 Sustainability Changes That Save Money

1. Take advantage of your local library for books, music, and videos.
2. Walk or bike, use public transportation, carpool with neighbors and co-workers, and consolidate any car errands to one or two days per week.
3. Think about getting rid of your car to save money on insurance, maintenance, and gas.
4. Use a clothesline instead of the dryer.
5. Replace paper towels & napkins with cloth.  You can make rags out of old clothing, and cloth napkins out of old sheets and curtains.
6. Barter and trade with neighbors and friends.
7. Utilize Freecycle, Craigs List, and other local free exchanges.
8. Shop at thrift stores and garage sales, and arrange clothing swaps with friends and family.
9. Make your own lunches for school and work.
10. Stop buying snacks and take-out food, and instead cook at home.  If you need to save time, there are many quick seasonal recipes.  I've posted a few here.
11. Buy in bulk: buy from bulk bins at your local market, buy large quantities of staples via special order from your local market or online, buy a whole case which generally comes with a case discount, and buy large packages of food you use regularly. If buying in bulk leaves you with too much food, go in on the purchase with a friend or set up a community buying club.
12. If you are really needing extra help, go to your local food bank.  That's what they're for!
13. Buy fruit and vegetable seconds and day old bakery items.  These are generally significantly reduced in price - often by 50% or more.  Generally you'll need to cook with them right away.
14. Pick your own produce at a local farm.
15. Grow your own food.
16. Learn to preserve food by canning, drying, root cellaring, freezing, and pickling.  You can find books about how to do these things at your local library.
17. Plan your menus.  If you plan your menus for the week, you will use all of the food you've purchased, you'll be able to shop just once a week, you can make sure to utilize seasonal items, and you can save time and stress by not having to worry about "what's for dinner."
18. Recycle and compost as much as possible to reduce trash collection fees.
19. Mend and repair.  You can pick up books from the library on how to sew, knit, repair furniture and cars, and so on.  And there are often free classes on such subjects - ask at your local college, community center, bulletin boards, and do a search on the internet. You may be surprised at what's out there!
20. Make your own cleaning and body products from simple and cheap ingredients like vinegar, baking soda/bicarb, hydrogen peroxide, corn starch, cooking oil, lemon juice, and water.  You'll find several recipes here at the Co-op, and atDown To Earth.  I've recently shared my deodorant and hair washing methods.  Eileen just wrote about going entirely no 'poo.
21. Unplug or turn off power switches to appliances when not in use, to save electricity.
22. As they burn out, replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs.  They cost more initially, but they will save significant amounts of electricity and will last many times longer than an incandescent bulb.
23. Reduce shower times, bathe less often, and use bath water to water outdoor plants and flush toilets.
24. Turn off the television, get rid of your cable bill, and take up reading, knitting, and walking more regularly.
25. Use coupons.  I recently bought a book of coupons for local shopping.  The book cost $20. The first coupon I used saved me $25.  I win!"

---http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-do-we-choose-between-budget-and.html

Air Pollution & EPA compromises

The EPA is compromising on air pollution levels?! 


Examining the numbers associated with air pollution, it is apparent that pollution is getting worse and worse and the earth is not as resilient as once predicted. Research has indicated that within Harris County, located in Houston, Texas, if a person is outdoors during the prime times of 1:00PM-4:00PM they will most likely suffer from respiratory issues provoked by poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or simply put, air pollution. Other examples of unhealthy air polluted regions include Cancer Valley located in Lousiana where rates of death due to cancer are 191 per every 100000 cases [greatvalley.org] which is much higher than other regions (LA being at 187 and San Francisco even lower). [greatvalley.org]


Here is the full article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20035629-54.html?
part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

As the victims of air pollution, we should not allow this to occur without our voices being heard.


sign this to decrease pollution from factory farms: http://www.change.org/petitions/make-sure-the-epa-regulates-factory-farm-air-pollution
OR THIS ONE:
http://www.foe.org/sites/default/files/HSUS_et_al_v_EPA_CAFO_CAA_Petition.pdf

more to come

XX,
MissEcoChic

Magazine Makeover

I have so many old magazines which unfortunately, after being read just get put into the recycling pile and never really have much done with them..

Yesterday, however, while relaxing after an exam I was reading O [Oprah Magazine] and I found a beautiful quote from Emily Dickinson displayed nicely on a background of a pretty flower and serene background. Since the weather here is afflicting me with spring fever, I figured I might as well just start decorating for spring! I cut out the picture and framed it with pearls. Hopefully I can collage some more floral pictures/artwork together..

valentines day!

I found some little heart shaped containers a few valentine's days back for a good price but I never used them for some reason... probably because they were meant for little kids.. Anyways I found a way to make a nice wreath for my door! It was very simple.. I cut a circle out of an old cereal box and covered the cardboard with some recycled tissue paper from a gift. Arranged the hearts in a circle and hot glued them in place. With some of the remaining tissue paper I accordion-folded it into a bow and secured the middle with some ribbon, again recycled from an old gift. The ribbon served as a loop to hang the wreath as well as decoration as I curled the ends with a scissors... 

Simple and sweet valentine's day wreath :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

My boyfriend sent me these beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day :)

Hidden Treasures and Packing

Today was rather banal as I was packing most of the day but I am excited to get back to my own apartment and decorate! These plastic boxes with the lids have become my best friend in college as they are so handy in storing and transporting just about anything!

 In cleaning out my room I discovered an unfinished project of old calendar photos from a few years ago. I think I was going to make some sort of collage for my wall? Since the collage is still nonexistent, I think I will utilize this discovery and upcycle the calendar into framed artwork. Dollar Store Crafts has me inspired to make the most of my minuscule budget and tiny apartment. $1 frames and an old calendar turned into artwork will certainly liven up my dingy and dark circa 1940s apartment.

Tomorrow or the day after I will post the before and after of my apartment... for now, here are the left over calendar bits:

  

Stay warm and don't freeze!

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Upcycled Tshirt Flowers

  Recycled T-shirt Flowers

Materials:

• Old tshirts/scraps of fabric
• scissors
• circular object [to trace around]
• pen/pencil/marker to trace with
• yarn or string
• hot glue
• needle and thread
• frame [$1 from dollar tree]
• paper in coordinating color to flowers (optional)
• buttons/beads to glue in middle of flower
• acrylic paint (optional)

Steps:

1. Trace around your circular object on the fabric scraps and cut out circles. I used thirteen circles to make mine. These are for the fabric flowers which will become about 3/4 the size of the original circle.
2. Now make 13 yo-yo flowers. Fold about 1/4 of an inch of the edge of a fabric circle and sew a running stitch as close to the edge as you can. Do this all the way around the edge of the circle until you come to the end. Before tying a knot, pull the thread and scrunch the material as tightly as you can into a pouch. Tie the thread. Flatten out the pouch and you have one fabric flower made. Do this for the rest of the circles. Thanks to SecretLife from Threadbanger for this tutorial on yo-yo fabric flowers.      
3. If you do not like the color of the fabric you used, using acrylic paint, paint the fabric flowers and leave to dry overnight.
4. Hot glue a bead or button, if desired, into the middle of the flower.           
5. For the background you can either use a scrap of fabric or paper. I used a sheet of yellow construction paper. I didn't like the way it looked plain so I painted the paper with a some watercolors.
     
   
   
   
   
6. After the paper has dried, arrange your flowers on a scrap of fabric or paper that will serve as the background.
7. Hot glue yarn as stems attached to the flowers. To make a leaf out of the yarn, just tie a knot around a loop of yarn.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. After the yarn is glued to the flowers, glue the flowers down to the paper or fabric background.
9. Now you can arrange the yarn stems in any way you'd like. You can glue them down each individually [like the first picture below] or you can gather the stems and make them into a bouquet [like the second picture below]. 
10. Place your artwork in the frame. If the fabric or paper is not large enough for the frame, you can use scrapbooking paper as a matte around picture. Just measure the amount of area you need around the fabric or paper and cut. I used an inch all around and made sure to tape the fabric and matte together.
11. All done! Display your frame :) NOTE: For the bouquet, I left the stems hanging out of the frame to emphasize the 3-D nature of the artwork. I think later I will hang the frame right above a vase and put the ends of the bouquet into the vase for it to pop even more. 

 

HAPPY CRAFTING! 

XOXO,

MissEcoChic