Healthy and Green Living » Crafts & Hobbies

10 Ways to Use Gourds & Winter Squash (slideshow)

Melissa Breyer — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:01:14 +0000

I think it’s a shame that pumpkins get hijacked by Halloween. Although they make a brief comeback for Thanksgiving in pie form, it’s really all over for them much too early in the season. So what’s a pumpkin-loving girl supposed to do? This one makes a shift to other members of the Cucurbitaceae family: gourds [...]

Homemade Bows for the Green Gifter!

Megan Zehnder — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:05:42 +0000

Can you cut out wrapping paper completely this holiday season? After searching some green crafting websites, I�ve decided it�s easy to do away with wasteful gift wrap AND still make a very lovely gift presentation. Perhaps one of the easiest alternatives to wrapping paper is newspaper. Think that wrapping a gift in newspaper just isn�t as classy [...]

Knitting For Babies! (Diaper Cover Pattern Included)

Ronnie Citron-Fink — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:08:37 +0000

What could be more precious than a newborn baby wrapped up in a beautiful, thick, squishy hand-knit blanket? I don’t hold onto many of my kid’s old articles of clothing, but all of the baby sweaters I knit are carefully tucked away in a cedar trunk. Those beauties not only hold so many [...]

5 Simple Gifts From The Garden

Judi Gerber — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:08:36 +0000

If you are a gardener, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season — the traffic, the crowds, and the department stores — wears you down, you can venture into your garden to soothe your soul and to make gifts for friends and loved ones. You don’t need to spend a lot of time [...]

Cool Knitting Reflections (with pattern)

Ronnie Citron-Fink — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:12:59 +0000

I loved reading your knitting reflections last week. When did knitting get to be so cool? Lately, I�ve also been reflecting on my relationship and trends in knitting. As a college student, learning to knit was solely for selfish reasons. I wanted warm Icelandic type sweaters for hanging out in the woods. [...]

Nature�s Harvest Table 5 Ways

Cait Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:33 +0000

One of the most beloved holiday traditions in my family is foraging together for beautiful elements from nature to decorate our table. Bringing the season indoors just feeds our souls, and there is nothing more beautiful to us at this time of year than natural offerings of gourds or garnet-colored native corn or tendrils of curly willow or grapevine.

Make Your Halloween Safer with DIY Luminaries

Ronnie Citron-Fink — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:05:21 +0000

Here�s the good news: Halloween is fun for kids. Most of the Halloween fun happens when the sun goes down. Here�s the bad news: Halloween can be dangerous to children. A study from the Center of Disease Control found that Halloween poses special risks to children as they engage in door [...]

How to Preserve the Colors of Fall Foliage

Annie B. Bond — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:00:41 +0000

I saw the most beautiful peach-red leaf today, one of the most beautiful fall foliage colors I have ever seen. This is a leaf I want to keep!

Crafty Garden: Grow Your Own Crafting Supplies

Megan, selected from Green Options — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:01:46 +0000

I like my garden to be pretty, sure. But as busy as I am, I also need it to multitask for me. My recently-planted, multitasking garden has speckled cranberry, kale, and carrots (to eat), sunflowers (to hold up the cranberry and look nice), and lilac (to look pretty and smell nice). It also has many of [...]

Dumpster Diving Decorating: Green or Gross?

Ronnie Citron-Fink — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:59:54 +0000

A few years ago I was perusing a tile store looking for tiles for a DIY mosaic project and asked the tile salesman if he had any chipped or broken tile for my project. He pointed toward the direction of the dumpster out back. At first, I was put off by the idea [...]