gardenjen1234's Profile

Buy fabric, soak it in liquid starch and slap it up. While it's drying you'll need to tape it to the frame but once it's dry it will hold until you peel it off. When you move, peel it off, wash it and you can re-use the fabric.

I mix up a bar of soap with baking soda and borax. I don't measure but I do about 1 bar of soap to half of a box of borax and half a large box of baking soda. To make it faster, I chop the bar of soap into chunks and put it into the food processor with a bit of the borax. I used to grate it on my cheese grater but that took too long. Now I make several batches at a time (I store it in clean unused paint cans and label it with a label maker-it looks nice all stacked up) I use bars of Dr. Bronner's soap-found at the health food store. I've heard about Charlie's soap and I think it's pretty much the same thing, but I like mine because I can scent it by using a different flavor of Dr. Bronners.

I had one for years and it works great for apples, the slices are thin and the core is gone. I didn't make enough apple pie to justify keeping this in my smaller kitchen, but this is one tool I have wished I had a couple of times over the years. It doesn't do so well peeling potatoes (unless they are perfectly shaped), but it really is the best if you are in need of thin sliced apples and a bunch of them fast.

Microwave free for over a year, but I do use the toaster oven tons. I needed the counter space and really haven't missed it at all.

I too am trying to build a library of classics. Growing up, I borrowed them from my parents and now need to own the copies myself. I've found that Barnes and Noble has a bunch of classics and they all come with nice plain paper covers and they are cloth bound underneath in beige or cranberry. The prices are fairly reasonable. Recently though because they don't match my decor I've covered them all in a matching heavy wrapping paper and used my label maker to put the names on the bindings. They look pretty cool. However, it took forever and ever to get them all covered and make all of the little tiny labels.

just bought two klean kanteens this weekend...after reading all the posts about water bottles! The small one is great for my daughter, it will fit into her lunchbox for next year and I have the larger size which I leave on my desk at work. It looks good too

I bought Corelle for exactly the same reasons as Patrick. When I was teaching my daughter to drink from a cup instead of a bottle, I didn't want to use plastic and didn't want to risk glass, so the Corelle coffee cups were the answer. Also, their dishes are lightweight and stack much more compactly than the thick ceramic stuff. I bought the plain white set (Winter Frost I think) and I add the other pieces like the super small prep bowls every few months. Wal Mart sells them in sets or by the piece which is great since we use few large plates and many many bowls. Also, now I've been comfortable teaching my now 5 yr old how to wash dishes. Even if she drops them in the sink they don't break. My husband is the only one who has managed to break one and he dropped a bowl outside on the concrete.

My questions

Food: Local or organic? What if you can't have both ? Which do you choose and why? Personally, I go local since it is usually cheaper.

Cleaning supplies-what ingredients are safe? how do you find out? I make my own, but I'm not sure that Hydrogen Peroxide / Borax / Castille Soap are all that great, are they dangerous?

Re-use-how can I re-use things myself without recycling...This is extreme, but...can I make my own recycled plastic bottles? can I melt down my old aluminum foil and make it myself.

On the Green topic, I have so many questions, I think this new blog will be great, even if it isn't Green enough for some folks. Just having information is great, then we can decide for ourselves and our lifestyles what is worth starting /stopping, etc. Thanks for the new blog!

I just saw a red / blue metal version of this at a Cost Plus. It didn't seem very durable, but it was really cool looking.

I have used the huge post it easel pads with my daughter and she loves it. Two pieces of 'art' will cover an entire door. It's fun and she can put the pieces up herself. Unfortunately, it's an expensive habit since my daugher (and most kids I know) can go through an entire pad in one sitting.

When she tires of looking at them or runs out of space to hang new work, we fold up the pieces and put them into her 'box of wonders' and save them to look at in a few months.