Reduce,Reuse, Re-purpose Round-up With DASANI

This post is sponsored by DASANI.  All opinions are 100% mine! 

I have been talking about how DASANI is celebrating reducing, recycling, reusing in many ways!  They have created a new bottle made out of 20% plants,  their bottle is 100% recyclable down to the ink they use on their labels, and they are partnering with New Balance to re-purpose their bottles into shoes. 

DASANI is also giving back through a fun Facebook app: Photosynthesis

Get creative with Facebook’s new timeline feature and support a good cause by ‘recycling’ your Facebook photos into an eye-catching image to top off your profile. For each photomontage created through the app, DASANI® will make a donation to the national non-profit organization, Keep America Beautiful in support of recycling initiatives on college campuses throughout the U.S.

How to use the app:

Fans who have ‘liked’ the DASANI® Facebook page can access the application on the Photosynthesis tab of the Facebook page.  First, fans will select a photo from either their Facebook albums or a design from DASANI®, to create into a photo-mosaic. The Photosynthesis app will ‘recycle’ all of the fan’s existing Facebook photos into a stunning mosaic that fits perfectly as a cover image on their profile. Each time a fan participates, DASANI® will donate $1 to the nationally recognized nonprofit, Keep American Beautiful, in support of their Bin Grant Program on college campuses. In addition, the fan’s profile photo will be added to the DASANI® mosaic of supporters, which will be featured on the Photosynthesis tab.

We also had a fun linky party showing off our projects that celebrated Recycling, Reducing, and Re-purposing! 
 Here is a round up of our favorite link-ups:

Bring new life to glass bottles with Its Over Flowing

Make your own Googly eyes with MeiJo's Joy

Re-purpose a table into to a chalkboard table with Kalina Blog

How cute are these Recycled Robots at Art Club Blog ?!!

Ski poles turned into a  Lamp at Reposhture

Check out this cool car make out of cardboard at Kayboo Creations

 Thanks to everyone who linked up to our RRR party!  And be sure to check out DASANI's Facebook page and use their Photosynthesis app to create some really fun mosaic pictures as well as helping keep America clean!


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Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! Taking Care of our Planet.

This article is sponsored by DASANI.  All opinions are 100% mine.

This past Sunday was Earth Day!  A day to remember to take care of our planet.  We try to do our share by recycling our paper, glass, cardboard and plastic.  I try to re purpose items into crafty projects.  And we donate many of our things that we do not use.  How did you celebrate Earth day?  

DASANI's is celebrating our earth by creating a new bottle that is made up of 30% plants... HOW COOL is that!! 

 

 DASANI is now served in PlantBottle® packaging. Plantbottle is the award-winning bottle made from up to 30% plants sourced from sugarcane by-products from Brazil. Brazilian sugarcane is considered an “Advanced Renewable Fuel” by the EPA & is the only first generation biofuel widely recognized by thought leaders globally for its unique & social performance.  Learn more About PlantBottle® 

In addition to saving energy, PlantBottle is 100% recyclable and DASANI has optimized the bottle design for ideal recycling including the cap, label, inks & glues.

DASANI believes in not only promoting the recycling of its bottles, but also promoting the many cool items the recycled bottles can become. That’s why we partner with companies with similar mindsets, such as New Balance.

DASANI and New Balance have partnered together for the launch of newSKYTM, a line of footwear made from recycled plastic bottles. Together, we are working to both show consumers that there can be all kinds of exciting ways to recycle materials into new uses, and that we all need to do our part in protecting our environment. Check out DASANI's Partnership with New Balance

Now talk about re-purposing... I have done my fair share of re-purposing around here, but I have never made a plastic bottle into shoes!  That just blows my mind!  SO COOL!

To celebrate recycling, reusing, and re purposing we are going to host a Recycle/ Re-purposing Linky party on Monday!  

Get all you best recycling project and your re-purposed crafts ready to link up on Monday May 1st!!   In the meantime... check out this awesome video to get inspired!  Click on the link to be taken to the video: New Balance newSKY Shoes

Keep up with the latest news and deals at DASANI's Facebook Page

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Yarn Wrapped Pine Cones {tutorial!}

My son found these pine cones at the park and had to bring them home.  I saw my green yarn and inspiration took over.  I mean, isn't everything cuter with yarn wrapped around it?!

Here is what you will need:

Pine Cones

Yarn

Spray Paint

Hot glue

First spray paint your pine cones.  I did one side- let dry, and then flipped and did the other.

Then Wrap your yarn around the end:

1. Big blob of hot glue on the tip and coil your yarn around it the blob. 

2. Then make a line of Hot glue down the side.

3. Wrap your yarn around the side on the hot glue you just made.

4. Tuck the end inside one of the pine cone bristles to hide, it.

Display on your spring mantel.

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DIY Kindle Book Cover

Hello F&J readers! Jeannine here. My hubby and I got each other Kindle's for Valentine's Day this year. We are both total book nerds and are constantly reading, so the e-book has been tempting the techy sides of us for years. This isn't a Kindle review, but I will simply say, I love it. I wanted a hard case to protect it, but didn't want to pay the store-price. So I made this, absolutely free from what I already had in my house. If you're crafty, you'll definitely have these things laying around. Even if you're not so crafty, there's a good chance you'll have all or most of the items you need. And if you're too busy wiping butts to have time for crafts {like me} this one doesn't take too much time. Because of the glue, I had to spread it out over a few days, which actually made it a little easier to get done. {I think this would work for other "tablet" type devices too.}

Materials:
~hard cover book of your choice (I chose a classic, old-fashioned looking book)
~pencil
~razor knife (a.k.a. box cutter)
~Mod Podge
~artist paint brush

I chose The Secret Garden for mine {a childhood FAVORITE} and Treasure Island for my hubby's. I like the idea of secrets and treasures hiding within the books.

Open your book to the page you want to start cutting on. I went to the table of contents page, leaving the first few pages in tact. {I don't know why, it just felt like a good place to open to. I'm weird like that}.

Center your device where you want it to sit in the book.

With your pencil, draw a line around your device.

"Paint" the book pages together with Mod Podge on all three sides. Give it some time to dry.

 **If I could re-do this, I would adhere some kind of elastic or leather tie inside the back cover that I could use to hold the book closed once it's all finished. I didn't think of it though, until after I glued this together. I think an elastic head band would be the perfect size. Though, it would be just as easy to wrap it around the whole book to hold it closed.**

With the razor knife, start cutting out pages following your pencil line. You want to follow the line exactly, or even go slightly outside the line, otherwise the device will be too snug. 

This step is the most tedious. You have to keep cutting and cutting until your hole is deep enough for your device to fit the way you want it to. Also, I recommend cutting a notch on the bottom a couple inches wide so the power button isn't getting bumped. {See the bottom picture for an example}.

Be sure to save those pages for one of the many awesome book-page-crafts out there!

**I cut mine slightly inside the lines, thinking I wanted my Kindle to fit snuggly, but it was too snug. And when I tried to widen the hole, it didn't work too well, which is why the cutting looks a little wonky at the bottom.**

Paint Mod Podge inside the "frame" to hold the pages together.

Optional: Cover the whole page with Mod Podge to protect the paper, inside and outside the frame.

Give it a day or so to dry.

Drop in your Kindle, and there you go!

Some things I love about this:

~It "feels" more like I'm reading a book; it's more natural in my hands. 

~I can easily rest it on my knees if I'm sitting in bed.

~It doesn't cramp my hands trying to hold on to that skinny little thing.

~It keeps my Kindle safe{er} in the tub - I don't feel like it's going to slip out of my hands and into the water.

 

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Summer Sewing for BOYS!! Mens shirt into boys shorts

Here is a SUPER easy sewing project for your summer time boy!

Take a men's shirt and turn it into shorts!

What is so nice about use the men's shirt is that your legs are already hemmed! : )  

Here is what you will need:

Men's Shirt

Dana's (From Made) Pattern for Shorts with pockets

(You use her pants pattern and shorten it for the shorts)

1. Cut out Dana's Pattern pieces and mark on the pattern how long you want your shorts to be... I used a pair of shorts my son already had.  Remember the legs are already hemmed so you don't need to add a seam allowance! 

2. Cut out the front and the back pieces 

3. Cut out your pocket pieces out of the extra fabric of the shirt.

Sew together using Dana's Shorts tutorial  and Pocket tutorial

 (honestly she has better pictures and directions that what I could do!) 

Love love love!!  

The boy and the shorts!  

I made this shirt into these shorts.

Here are some shorts I made out of Seersucker material using the same pattern.... I love this pattern... so easy for some awesome boy shorts! 

Of course I made a shirt to match!  I just cut out the shape of a 3 and used Wonderunder to attach it to the shirt and hand embroidered around it.  

Made is celebrating the SUMMER boy this week! 

Check out all the cool boy projects over there!

Nature Treasure Hunt with the kids!!

We are so excited to play outside every chance we get! We had a LONG snowy. cold winter and spring took it time to finally come around this year! So, when it gets nice we head outdoors as fast as we can!

There is an awesome trail by my parents house that leads to a nature centers and a dam. The kids and I took a little adventure walk on the trail. To make it more interesting I decided to collect "treasures" with my 3-year-old. He loves to pick up and collect things.

I got the idea to use the egg carton from I am Mama- Hear me Roar! But, I used it a bit different then she did (Although her activity is awesome too!)

We loaded up the stroller (I LOVE my Joovy Caboose Sit-n-Stand !) with water, snacks, and an egg carton and we on our way!

We walked on the path and when ever my little man found a "treasure" (or something that he thought was pretty cool) we picked it up and put in in our Treasure Box (the egg carton).  

I let him pick up pretty much anything that he thought was a "treasure"... but I did draw the line a cigarette butts and out right nasty garbage!

It was so fun walking and collecting all of our little treasures!

We had fun at the nature center too! 

They had all kinds of things for the kids to climb and play on!  

I hope you are having fun outside too!

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