Wool soap saver

I am sure you have one of these problems if you use bar soap:
1. The bar of soap slips all over the tub or shower and won't stay in the soap dish.
2. The bar of soap gets all mushy and makes a slime on your soap dish.
3. You have little slivers of soap that end up either dissolving in the soap dish as slime or getting thrown away.
4. Your wash cloth starts to stink like mildew if you try to reuse it a day or two.

I have most of these problems. But one day I discovered that wool is fairly mildew and bacteria resistant and makes a great skin exfoliator.
I decided to make some soap savers from an old felted sweater I had lying around. The wool helped with all the problems I had before. The soap wasn't slippery anymore. It didn't leave a slime everywhere. The slivers stayed put and the wool didn't start to get gross and stinky like a wash cloth.

Here's how I made mine:
I cut a rectangle of an old felted wool sweater, folded the ends up so there is an overlap.
Then I sewed the sides up and turned it.
All I have to do to change or add more soap is fold one side over, drop in the soap and fold it back.

Super simple and easy to do!
Try it!

Green is easy when you are cheap

Think about it. The best way to be green is to stop paying for expensive packaging, to reuse what you have, and to not introduce toxic chemicals into the environment. So, basically live like you would have before the industrial age. Here's some tips:


1. That thing in your house that shows you all the coolest new gadgets and gizmos, turn it off!
TV not only stagnates your brain and body but makes you feel like you "need" everything and if you have kids, you have heard them want everything from toys to vacuums and pipe cleaners. Who really needs all that stuff? And think of the money you'll save on electricity and cable bills!


2. Why buy it when you can make it or grow it? Everything from pantyliners to pantryshelving can be made using a little ingenuity and a pattern, and many patterns and how-tos are available online for free! And it will fill up all that spare time you have when the boob tube is turned off. You can find recipes for soap, laundry detergent, quick fix meals that don't come from a box, and patterns for cloth diapers and feminine products, stuffed animals, toys, shelves, even houses!


3. Stop throwing things into the dump! Why use throw-away stuff when you can buy good quality dishes that will last for literally hundreds of years or flatware that you can pass on to your grandchildren? That's why our grandmothers stuff seems so priceless today, they used it for everything so it's part of our parents every food memory. If you simply must have a new set of dishes every year, shop the second hand stores and donate your old dishes. Everything comes back again. And if you follow rule 2 it's easy to follow rule 3 because then you can cut out lots of paper and packaging as well as reusing what you make!


4. Slow down and enjoy what's here and now. Do you know what you can take with you when you are dead? . Memories. That's it. So why work yourself to death trying to buy a new car or house, when you can slow down and enjoy exactly what's in front of you, family, friends, good food. It doesn't take much to have a fun family night. I can remember having a great time sitting in front of our wood burning fire with my family listening to the fire crackle and pop and telling stories about our favorite things. That's the biggest secret, if you enjoy what you have, you won't want more.


5. Stop buying junk. Think quality and care. When people start buying things just because they are cheap or trendy, then they rack up somewhere, either the house or landfill or your pocketbook and they end up not so cheap. If you buy a new pair of sunglasses every other week because they break or because you lose them in your house or car, its not so cheap anymore. Try before you buy so you know that its something you can or will use and have a care regiment in place so that your good quality things stay good quality. Buy things as an investment and take care of them as if they are just that. Repair instead of replace. Buy things that grow with kids and they can use for a long time.


Using these 5 simple rules you too can be cheap and when you're cheap, it's easy being green!

Gonna have an Earth Day

     That was the title of  the play we did in the 4th grade, "Gonna have an Earth Day" and I played Small Voice, the one that finds out that one 'small voice' can make a difference.  It's been quite a few Earth Days since that play and now, I am going back to being one 'small voice' at this years Earth Day Festival in Nashville, TN's Centennial Park.  This saturday, I will be taking my salvaged jewelry and inspiring people to think about reusing everyday objects. 
     My main focus for my jewelry lately has become using objects that have lost their official usefulness.  I will be selling lots of button rings, earrings made from plastic bottles and containers, bracelets made from salvaged electrical wire, and pendants made with expired dog tags.    Now, when I throw things away or recycle them I think first, can I reuse this one more time before I stick it in the pile? Because ultimately, for most things anyway, reusing saves more energy than recycling. 
     I don't stop at the actual jewelry. Instead of putting greeting cards from Christmas and birthdays into the bin, I use the pretty blank parts as cards for my earrings and tags for my necklaces. I have about a dozen old peanut butter jars that I use for beads, wire scraps, and catchalls.  Old tins and sturdy boxes are used for shipping.  Clothes with holes or stains get cut up for jewelry bags and shopping sacks. My displays are made of an old pair of shutters, scrap lumber, an old art case, and a mismatched sheet for a tablecloth. I have driven my conventional husband crazy with all of my salvaging and hopefully it will payoff. 


I hope to sell lots at the festival on saturday, it is my business after all, but I hope that my creations will inspire people to think about what they buy and what they throw away as well.  Earth Day is a day for inspiration afterall, its a day when all us 'small voices' get together and make a difference.


     If you would like to know more about the Earth Day Festival in Nashville go to www.nashvilleearthday.org