Upcycled Project

Upcycling is a component of sustainability in which waste materials are used to provide new products, or at least that's what wikipedia says. Essentially upclcying is taking some old or unuseable and making it new again.









Here's my project, My sister Jennifer gave the dogs Cella and Afton treats in these cute Cardboard boxes for Christmas. I took them with because they were cute and I could always use them next year, Right?










Well While cleaning out the room and closet yesterday I had a thought why not paint them and use them now to put some things in.






Before:


























After:






















A little acrylic craft paint and just a few minutes and now they house some yarn and vintage thread I have which I'm sure I will never use but I love the wooden spools =)

10 hours later it's done...

You remember the war zone I called a sewing area well it's done organized and cleaned! yippee!!!

My sister and I arranged this and sorted fabric by colors and I even have drawers full of notions and yarn and ribbon whoo hoo

Before

After:

My first attempt...

Was a success...I made homemade honey wheat buns for our grilled chicken sandwiches this evening...wow! It was fun!

There they are all nice and toasty in the oven

And here right before one of them was in my mouth

Here's the recipe

Ashamed...

Of my sewing area..which as I type is behind me screaming because it's messy and unorganized... I got the bug to clean it up and sort stuff but my partner in crime aka my sister was busy so we plan on doing it Tuesday then maybe I can figure out what's going on with my rolled hem so I can finally finish the napkins I've been working on for two weeks...Here are some horrible pictures I'm telling you it's bad you might want to shield the little children's eyes

Today was the day...

Walking out the door at 5:45 Keys check...purse check..list check...mp3 player check...pull up at grocery store... bags uncheck! Crap I forgot my bags I never forgot my bags..so what did I do I ended buying three of the cheap .50 ones they have there and stuffing them full I did however get everything in them plus I had one Chico bag in

my purse for the bread and eggs...oops I guess I was more tired than I thought this morning.

And speaking of bags, Renee introduced me to this site fit and tumble and now I'm drooling because I want the aqua one and the brown with the little birdies....I guess I will whisper in B's ear and tell him maybe for fourth of july..we do get gifts for that right? :)

Green Cleaning

Ok so here is a list of everything I use to clean.

Kitchen:
I make a all purpose cleaner for the counters and stove top.

All Purpose Spray Recipe
2 T distilled white vinegar
1.5 cups hot water
1/4 cup dish washing soap or castille soap (Dr. Bronner’s is a common brand.)
10-15 drops EOs - you can blend or use Tea Tree Oil/grapefruit seed extract for antibacterial properties.
Mix in empty spray bottle and shake. You will need to shake each time you use.

I usually use clove essential oil as my scent and to help with disinfecting needs.

When I need a little more scrubbing power baking soda and vinegar paste always does the trick. This is what I use also to clean the oven.

Microwave: Take a glass mixing bowl fill with half water and half vinegar with either a half of a lemon squeezed then put in the bowl or a tablespoon of lemon juice...turn on for 5 mins to boil then let it sit for 5-10 mins the steam will loosen any grime you have in there.

Dishes:

I use seventh generation liquid and powder in the dishwasher I alternate. With vinegar in the rinse. To hand wash I'm still using leftover dawn I've had forever( I hardly hand wash)

Floors: I have a Bissell steam mop which I LOVE!

Dusting: Wood I use a diluted Murphy oil soap and a microfiber cloth. Anything other than wood I just use the cloth.

Bathroom: Counters and bathtub/shower I use Seventh generation bathroom cleaner. Toilet I use vinegar/baking soda and method lil' bowl blue toilet cleaner. I also love methods flush able wipes for quick clean ups.

Here are a couple more recipes for cleaners =)

Mold/Mildew Stains:
1 drop of tea tree oil to 1 cup of water

Floor Cleaner:
2 cups vinegar and a few drops of clove oil to 1 gallon of water.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Sprinkle w/ baking soda and let sit for 5 minutes. Drizzle with vinegar. Scrub and flush.

One of the three R's: Reuse

Other people can reuse things you don't anymore. I've had one yard sale right after we moved into the house. I always say I want to have another one but get tired of having things around. The solution to this problem for me is a yahoo group called Freecycle . A place where you can list items for free for people to pick up. If you search you probably will find one local to you. If it is a bigger ticket item I list it on a free online classified craigslist. We've had some luck with craigslist, where we live though not many people use it so it's really hard to sell things sometimes. There is also just donating to your local thrift/charity. So before you think about throwing those old jeans or dishes away see if someone else can get some use out of them.

The year in review

It's been a year or so since we started changing things so I decided to sit and think if I can recall everything we've done.

- No paper towels we use unpaper towels which sit all pretty in a decorative bowl on my island. They are made of flannel and sherpa

- Cloth napkins, I had four when we first started from a set of placemats I got for our new table they were never used and just sat in the closet. I broke them out and now have a over flowing basket of napkins that I only buy when I find them on clearance =)

-I got rid of all my old plastic wear..except for on piece of Tupperware I couldn't part with. With plastic you worry about BPA. BPA is Bisphenol A, It leeches into food and drink when exposed to heat. Now there is BPA free plastic but I fell in love with Pyrex/anchor glass storage I know I have multiples in every size...I would buy it when it was on sale at the Dept. stores and even found some big pieces at biglots. For the pieces I already had that had no lids I called Pyrex and order replacement lids.

- Buying organic when I can. There isn't much around us and our shopping is limited to "That store that shall remain nameless but starts with a "W" ." With vegetables and fruit I try to buy local and in season. I go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning. The older man in the first booth always says "I get happy when I see those bags a coming" I rack up =)

- I do all the shopping on Friday morning. We use to do it together all the time I enjoyed it until food prices started going up and B would go on and on about how expensive I am. I kept asking did he want to eat if not I wouldn't buy groceries anymore. So I started going Friday mornings while he is at work and I can shop and read labels in peace. Oops I got off subject. I always bring my reusable bags, I pick a line where there is someone in front so I can unload and then bag myself. It's aggravating when cashiers look like I'm inconvenienceing them buying asking them to use my bags. I mean I was one once but still I'm not rude, well not most of the time. Anyways I got to some of the same cashiers so they know me and granted half of B's family works at walmart anyway. We don't live in a big area

-Oh I almost forgot..along the lines of reusable grocery bags I have reusable produce bags which I LOVE! I have three kinds and they all have a different purpose.
Which I got from here, here, and here

-I bake and cook more often then I use to. I'm not afraid to try new recipes though B is afraid of them sometimes lol. I want to start canning but I think it will be next year we failed at getting a garden going this year.

I think that is everything from the crunchykitchen. More crunchyhousehold stuff tommrrow.

I know I left off cleaning but that is a post all in it's self =)

Number 1

Well here goes I'm not sure how interesting I can be but it's worth a shot. I think this will be the place to record what is going on in our lives,what projects we're doing, and among other things, the adventures in being Green in a place where people look at me funny all the time. Anyways I'm Christina (Hi Christina) I'm a stay at home mom to a 8 year old poodle named Cella lol. We haven't been blessed with kids yet maybe one day down the road. I am apart of a wonderful community online that started all this greenness. From them I learned how to change major and minor things in our lives and also started a store to sell some fuzzy balls =) I think that's all the intro for today I leave you with this...
Cella says goodnight land!