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Friday Roundup: Garden Party

Spring is so close I can smell it, y’all. I am so ready to hang out back with a glass of wine, play some Scrabble, and enjoy our beautiful garden! How awesome would these lovelies look around the yard?
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Sustainablog’s Pedal Powered Blogathon March 26-27

Pedal Powered Generator

Jeff's going to power the blogathon using a pedal-powered generator like this one!

My pal Jeff Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is hosting a blogathon over at Sustainablog on March 26-27th. The event is raising funds for Dancing Rabbit, an eco-village out in Missouri. He’s using a fancy pedal-powered generator to keep his laptop going for the whole 24 hour event, and he’ll be posting as often as he can.

I’ve admired Dancing Rabbit since they were featured in an episode of 30 Days a couple of years ago. Do you guys remember that show? Morgan Spurlock from Supersize Me! hosted it, and he challenged folks to make a huge life change for 30 days. In the Dancing Rabbit episode, a dedicated, meat-eating hunter-type went to live in this vegetarian, intentional community. The community in the episode was Dancing Rabbit.

Here’s a little video introduction, for folks unfamiliar with Dancing Rabbit:

You can check out more about Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village on their site.

To learn more about the blogathon, including how you can get involved, head on over to Sustainablog for all of the deets! He’s looking for green bloggers to contribute and help spread the word, and he’s put out a call for door prizes!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo via Bike Portland

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Veganize It: Maple Almond Fudge

I wish our maple syrup was this cute!

Yesterday, the amazing Alix of Cute and Delicious posted this recipe for vegan fudge. In the comments, I asked if she thought maple syrup would work in place of the corn syrup in the recipe. As soon as thoughts of maple syrup entered my brain, though, my mind shifted gears to dreams of maple fudge.

Obviously, needs to happen in my kitchen ASAP. It is 100% on, and I want to try to do it by veganizing this recipe.

The plan is to sub Silk creamer for the light cream, almonds for the walnuts, and possibly use additional maple syrup in place of the corn syrup, since that’s not something I’m too into buying.

Here is my reason for this post

So, I’m planning to give this a whirl over the weekend most likely and wanted to get some feedback from you guys on my veganization plan. Do you think it’s going to work? Someone suggested agave instead of corn syrup, or I could pick up brown rice syrup if you think the syrup is mission critical.

Not that I’m scared of a cooking fail, but it’s more fun to end up with a tray of delicious fudge than to….not end up with a tray of delicious fudge!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Focus on Ottawa

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…and a Happy (Belated) International Women’s Day to You!

I had no idea there even was an International Women’s Day until my friend Tasha posted about it over at The Voracious Vegan. According to this article in the New York Times, the U.S. didn’t really pay much attention to this holiday until recently, which is probably why I and many of the local ladies I know haven’t heard of it.

A little googling turned up this video from Girls Making Media, a program that helps teen girls learn video production:

Another friend sent me this page that talks about what a big impact even a tiny amount of support can make for a woman in poverty.

So since yesterday was all about honoring women, I thought I’d talk about some women who I really admire:
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Sundrop Jewelry: Lovely Recycled Glass and Sustainable Practices

Hat tip to my pal Taylen for sending this link! Shaun and Tawny Reynolds’ company Sundrop Jewelry uses passive solar power to create gorgeous recycled glass jewelry! They’re super-transparant about their materials and sourcing over on their blog, which makes me love them even more!

On the blog, they talk about everything from where they get their silver findings to the impact of shipping and what they’re doing to improve all of it. It’s refreshing to see a company so open about its processes. I love how on the level they are about everything – they admit areas that could use improvement right alongside great news about how they’re lightening their business’ footprint.

Of course, the part I’m most enamored with is how they form those lovely drops. Check out this totally rad video of the process:

What a simple setup, and the results are just beautiful! They stock earrings, belly buttons rings, necklaces, and wine charms in their online store as well as in bunches of shops around North America.

[VIA: Green LA Girl]

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Friday Roundup: Team EtsyVeg!

Official EtsyVeg Logo

You guys, I am super-excited to be a brand new member of the EtsyVeg street team! What an amazing group of crafters. There’s a super-active membership, and I’m loving the emails that have been flying around. It’s refreshing to be part of such a supportive group of like-minded folks!

Since I’m all dizzy with newness and camaraderie, I thought it would be fun to feature a few finds from fellow EtsyVeggers today.
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Global Warming Facts and a Fantastical Chart

I normally try to save hot topics (get it? HOT topics?) like global warming for some of the other places I write, but I ran across several articles this week that just felt like they needed sharing.

Snowy Frog

It’s been a snowy, cold winter here in the U.S., and of course that means lots of jokes about us kicking that global warming problem. The thing is, this was the fourth warmest January on record worldwide. Weather is not the same as climate. While weather looks at conditions tomorrow, climate refers to larger overall trends, and the larger trend is warmer each year.

Joe over at Climate Progress posted this informative video outlining the science behind climate change, and I wanted to share it here, as well:
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Shop Talk: Sustainable Printing

My business cards and postcards from Mondo Print

Printed materials are a fact of life if you’re running a crafty biz. You need business cards and promotional materials, and there is paperwork like invoices and price sheets that just need to be printed out sometimes. As hard as we try to do everything electronically, from time to time hard copies are just unavoidable.

Here are a few resources to help your printed materials have a lighter impact:
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Tutorial: How to Make A Simple, Recycled Mailer

Since I started listing scrap packs in my shop, I’ve been going through mailers like nobody’s business! I’d already worked through the stash I’d set aside from packages that came to us, and using brand new ones just felt so wasteful. Instead, I decided to raid the recycle bin and see about whipping up some mailers of my own!

All you need to make your very own are: a pair of scissors, some packing tape, and thin, scrap cardboard from the bin. I used an empty six pack caddy that was left over from a party at our place.

If you’re using a six pack, just use your scissors to cut the faces off of the front and back:
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Reuse Inspiration: Junk Mail Garland

If you know me, you know that I love a repurposed banner! They’re quick and fun to make and work for so many different occasions!

Of course, I am head over heels for this awesome paper bunting that Jessica Wilson at Scrumdilly-Do made out of junk mail. All you need to make your own is junk mail, a heart punch, ribbon, paint, and your sewing machine! Want the full scoop? Head on over to Scrumdilly-Do for the complete tutorial!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by jek-a-go-go

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