ScrapTiffany Recycled Blog Hop: Gifting With Newsprint

It's a ScrapTiffany Recycled Blog Hop! If this is your first stop today, you can start at ScrapTiffany and work your way through all the recycled creations by the design team members.

Before you go, have you ever needed a quick way to wrap a present or just wanted to save money when giving a gift? If your answer is yes, then I have something for you:

Gifting With Newsprint

Covering a box with newspaper is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to wrap a gift, so that's what I did first. Then I used an envelope template and traced the outline onto newspaper.

Envelope Template

After cutting it out, I folded the bottom and sides using Glue Dots® to adhere them together.

I placed a small handmade card inside and used a Removable Glue Dot® to secure the top flap in place.

Newspaper Envelope

To create the bow, I followed a gift bow tutorial by Jessica Jones of How About Orange.

Newspaper Gift Bow

(Jessica also has a tutorial on how to make gift bags from newspaper that I plan to try in the future.)

It's been so nice having you stop by Snap.Scrap.Blog.Tweet, but I must send you on your way to the next stop on the blog hop. 

Say hello to my crafty friend and Twitter buddy Renee of Charms Buttons & Bows. (Don't forget to visit my other blog, ecoScrapbook, to see how many recycled items I used on one scrapbook layout. I'll also have an extra post on Friday for my next ScrapTiffany Challenge: Stamping.)

Full list of participants (there will be giveaways too!):

Start here---> ScrapTiffany

Michelle 

Katie 

Kay 

Jennifer 

Norazah 

Jolanda 

Bev 

Krischelle 

Sophie 

Gaby 

Dale 

Danielle <---You are here

Your next stop---> Renee 

Becca 

My other blog---> ecoScrapbook
ScrapTiffany <---And finish here!

Disclosure: This blog post was written while participating on the Glue Dots design team.

Creating a Healthy Home Environment for Children & Free Coupons

When I became a mom, my point of view of the world around me changed. Little by little I asked questions. Is this safe for my baby? Should I do this or that? What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What could I be doing better? The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know very much at all. 

Being a mom (or being a person in general) is a lifelong continuous process of education and  gaining wisdom. Today, I hope you will take a moment to educate yourself about the environment around you, make a decision to be more conscious about what you bring into your life and then take that knowledge and share it with others as I did during my Healthy Home Party sponsored by Healthy Child Healthy World.

A package arrived at my house a few weeks ago from Healthy Child Healthy World and it was filled with all kinds of delightful goodies for me to share with others. Take a look...

Included in the Healthy Home Party Kit were safe and environmentally friendly items and information from these companies:

Klean Kanteen

Revolution Foods

Plum Organics

Luna

Yes To Carrots

Activeion

CleanWell

Earthbound Farm

Earth Friendly Products

Eat Cleaner

Happy Baby

Naturepedic

Organic Valley

Seventh Generation

Mohawk

Now you may be wondering what is Healthy Child Healthy World. It is a nonprofit organization that educates parents on how to create safer and greener environments for their children. If you browse their website, HealthyChild.org, you will find that it is loaded with information that will help you make better and healthier decisions about the environment around you and most importantly, your children.

Why is a healthy environment important? The answer is simple. Our children need healthy places to live and grow. They should not be exposed to toxic chemicals that can harm them and these toxins are in products that many of us use everyday: pesticides, food, body wash, furniture, cleaners, etc.

What can you do? Follow these 5 Easy Steps to improve your families' health:

1. Manage pests safely
2. Use nontoxic products
3. Clean up indoor air
4. Eat healthy
5. Be wise with plastics

One of the simplest things to do is make your own cleaning products. Using natural and safe cleaning items that you make at home will save money and keep your family healthy. There are several possibilities when it comes to homemade cleaners and I decided to share an easy microwave cleaner with my guests. I mixed up 4 tablespoons of baking soda with enough water to make a paste, passed out old socks and told my guests that we're cleaning a microwave today! (This was fun!) My microwave was nasty and gross. I had heated up spaghetti earlier in the week without a cover and it splattered all over the microwave.  So we scrubbed and rinsed. Cleaning with baking soda was surprisingly easy and it worked!

I'm feeling good about making my own homemade cleaner and sharing with others. The party is over now, but guess what? I saved something for you! The first 5 people who email me their contact information will receive:

• Organic Valley coupons ($15.00 value)
• Earthbound Farm pamphlet (with recipes and coupons)
• "Creating Healthy Environments for Children" DVD code

There's no catch - just be one of the first 5 people to email scrappindanielle (at) gmail (dot) com...and that's it! Do want a bonus? I also have assorted coupons leftover and you can get your hands on some if you email me AND leave a comment below.

I know there are many things to think about right now, but just start with one thing you can change and make a commitment to keep learning about safer alternatives. You can even have your own Healthy Home Party. Sign up HERE. Or join Healthy Child on Twitter every Thursday night at 6pmPST/9pmEST for news and tips.

Resources:

• Recipes for Safer Cleaners
• Healthy Child Pocket Guides
• Healthy Home Party FAQ
• 5 Easy Steps
• Cosmetics Database
• Household Product Database
• Consumer Reports Eco-label Guide

Thanks for stopping by ScrappinMemories4U.com! I hope you have learned a lot today! I know I've learned a few new things and all I have to say is "Keep it coming! I love to learn!" 

You may also be interested in:

• Don't throw away your nail polish!
• Nail polish paintings, ecoSCRAPBOOK & Etsy
• 30 Green Things To Do
• Green scrapbooking: Ways to be an eco-friendly scrapbooker

Disclosure: The Healthy Home Party Kit was sponsored by Healthy Child Healthy World.

The Retweetables: Halloween Edition (Part Two)

 This was me. A clown. Not one of my favorite costumes as a child, but to tell the truth, I chose this photo since the quality was better than the other ones I browsed through this morning. My mom created a HUGE scrapbook for me when I turned 30 and then filled a large photo album with all the other photos that couldn't fit into the scrapbook. So as I was looking through the album, I debated between the photos of me as a punk rocker, a witch with a green face and a few others. I like the photo I chose because it brings back memories of my blue tennis shoes with velcro, the big orange rocking chair that sat atop our red carpeting and the brick fireplace that I ran into right before I started kindergarten (and ended up with a horribly bruised ear). At least the carpet brings out my face paint and the red polka dots on my costume.

Since I'm on the subject of face paint and costumes, check out this week's #Retweetable Halloween tweeters:

• @thesmartmama: homemade Halloween makeup tips http://ow.ly/2Tbv4 #ecowed 
• @KTnestingspot: Still don't know what the kiddos will be on the 31st?  See our Storybook Halloween Costume Ideas for inspiration. http://fb.me/JVOjC5ot  
• @eHow: FREE and Spooky Halloween Pumpkin Carving Templates: http://ow.ly/2T2WV 
• @MaxineNelson1: #ACarticles - How to Compost Leftover Pumpkins & Halloween Candy http://tinyurl.com/34vad2a  #Halloween #pumpkin #candy #compost #AC #Yahoo
• @BeckyHigginsLLC : Just printed this for my little girl, thanks. She'll love this! RT (via @milliemux) Halloween Paper Dolls http://goo.gl/fb/4mia8
• @Healthy_Child: Get tips for a green #Halloween http://bit.ly/cVceJF #healthychild
• @CKeditorial: wants you to win some pretty-but-spooky Halloween goodies! Enter to win at... http://fb.me/LhTZhCgT
• @craft: Halloween brings out the most awesome/fun crafts. Are you making something for Halloween? Enter it in our contest! http://cot.ag/aR2tPc

Other noteworthy tweets that aren't Halloween related, but I had to share:

• @ScrapSmart: Here’s a fun scrapbook project: “Young Me/Now Me.” It’s sure to make your family laugh! http://bit.ly/abokhl http://fb.me/JQfpEmsh [Some of these are hilarious!]
• @ScrapGirls: 5 iPhone apps for crafty & creative people: http://bit.ly/dl2HUn [I wish I had an iPhone.]

Thanks for stopping by ScrappinMemories4U.com! Follow @OhioDanielle on Twitter to stay updated on future blog posts.

Note: The above layout was created for Day 14 of Layout A Day (LOAD) and scraplifted from the January/February 2007 issue of Simple Scrapbooks (our challenge was to use something old). You can view my LOAD photostream on Flickr.

You may also be interested in:

• The Retweetables: Halloween Edition
• Mix a little gore with a few screams, add a dash of sparkle and you have a scrapbook layout
• You know you're a Glue Dot® when you can decorate Halloween treats like no other adhesive

How to make business card bookmarks using recycled scrapbook paper

If you're like me and own a small business with a limited budget, this project is for you. In the past, I've ordered business cards from Vistaprint with great results, but had to wait a few weeks to receive them since I chose the the slowest, yet cheapest shipping option available. Due to an upcoming craft show, I needed something fast and wanted more design options so I opted to make my own business cards, but with a unique twist.

Since I'm a scrapbooker and try to be environmentally conscious as much as possible, I decided to create business card bookmarks and print them on recycled paper. By doing this, I saved money, virgin paper and didn't have to worry about the environmental impacts of shipping the business cards.

Do you want to know how I made my business cards? Follow the simple instructions below and you can make your own business card bookmarks too!

Supplies:

• DCWV recycled paper, trimmed to 8.5x11
• Fiskars paper trimmer
• Fiskars rectangle hand punch
• 4" strips of ribbon
• computer
• printer

1. Create a new label template in a word processing application. Input the label width (4") and height (1.5") to be able to print 14 business card bookmarks per sheet of paper.

2. Type up your business information to fit into the label. Copy and paste the information until all 14 labels are complete. Save and print.

3. Use a paper trimmer to cut each business card bookmark.

4. Punch a hole in the center of one end of the business card bookmark. Repeat.

5. Fold your pre-cut ribbon in half and insert into the punched hole.

6. Take the two end pieces through the loop and gently pull until you have a knot at the end of the business card bookmark.

7. Clean up the ribbon edges with scissors if necessary. Repeat until all the business card bookmarks are complete.

And there you have it! A simple, crafty and inexpensive way to promote your small business:

Thanks for stopping by ScrappinMemories4U.com!

You may also be interested in:

• Scrappin' Memories 4U Custom Scrapbooking
• Nail polish paintings, ecoSCRAPBOOK & Etsy
• Glue Dots Design Team Announcement
• MemoryWorks: ele.ment.ary is here!

Nail polish paintings, ecoSCRAPBOOK & Etsy

Many of you may already be familiar with the nail polish drive that my daughter had at the end of last school year. Over 200 nail polish bottles were collected to take to Chemwise for recycling. The reason for this drive was to let people know that there are alternatives to toxic nail polish and how they can avoid adding these toxins to landfills. Read more about that HERE or visit Change Become Change, where I guest blogged about it.

Now we have all these bottles sitting in a plastic container and my daughter really wanted to paint with nail polish. We brainstormed an idea to make paintings and sell them on Etsy to pay for the nail polish bottle recycling fee.

My seven-year-old had a few painting sessions outside on the front porch, where it was breezy and well ventilated (please, if you decide to paint with nail polish DO NOT do it in your house unless you want to get a headache and a little buzz). Here she is working on one of her original paintings:

This is the big announcement I mentioned in yesterday's post: You can now see the FIRST EVER items listed at the ecoSCRAPBOOK shop: Nail Polish Paintings!!! My daughter named each one of the 9x11.5 inch paintings and you can go directly to the Etsy listings by clicking on the titles. Take a look:

The Sunset

The Big Heart

The Rolling

Mind Fly I

Mind Fly II

The Black-Eyed Pumpkin

Blood

A Christmas Tree

All of these nail polish paintings are now available for purchase at the ecoSCRAPBOOK shop on Etsy. Each original painting pays for 25 bottles of nail polish to be recycled. The paper used is acid free and was manufactured with wind power. 

So what are you waiting for? Visit ecoSCRAPBOOK and buy one or more today! (Yes, I am trying to sell you something, but it's for a good cause. And thank you so much for taking a look.)

Thanks for stopping by ScrappinMemories4U.com!

P.S. The ecoSCRAPBOOK shop will have eco-friendly scrapbooking supplies in the near future! I have a lot of ideas for this little Etsy shop so I'll keep you posted!

30 Green Things To Do

1. Utilize curbside recycling
2. Reduce plastic bag consumption
3. Buy secondhand clothing & household items
4. Learn organic gardening
5. Reuse boxes for storage
6. Buy products with reusable packaging
7. Snack on SunChips with the compostable bag
8. Drink Capri Sun & turn in pouches to Terracycle
9. Remove as much plastic from kitchen as possible
10. Stop buying so many paper plates
11. Make wall art with photo greeting cards
12. Reuse plastic container lazy susan as picnicware
13. Let the kids create things from the recycling bin
14. Use the blank side of school papers as notepads
15. Buy organic food
16. Eat less meat
17. Turn a favorite hobby into an eco-friendly one
18. Read about greener living
19. Wash full loads of laundry in cold water
20. Use fragrance & dye-free laundry detergent
21. Make natural cleaning products
22. Avoid air fresheners & spray perfume
23. Buy phthalate free children's hair & body wash
24. Recycle toxic nail polish & buy safer alternatives
25. Participate in Earth Day activities
26. Remember to take reusable bags into the store
27. Don’t buy plastic products with PVC
28. Take shorter showers
29. Read all ingredient labels
30. Spread the word and educate others

Try one thing or try them all. If one of the green things to do isn't for you, move onto the next and try again at a later time. My family went almost two full months without using paper plates, but life is hectic and I hate doing dishes (we don't own a dishwasher), so we still use an occasional paper plate or two or four. That's okay for now. We are trying to be better than we used to be and that's what matters.

What green things do you do?

You may also be interested in:

• 11 ways to be an eco-friendly scrapbooker
• Scrapbooking with DCWV's recycled cardstock
• Kitty litter + newspaper + decoupage = Scrapbooking storage

Thanks for stopping by ScrappinMemories4U.com!

Nail Polish Drive Update: What's in your nail polish?

UPDATE: I'm proud to announce that my daughter has collected approximately 225 nail polish bottles to donate to Chemwise, Inc. We've been storing them in a sealed recycling container that gives off a noxious smell upon opening, after all, it contains bottles filled with toxic chemicals. My daughter is currently accepting donations and looking for sponsors to pay the $.35 cent per bottle recycling fee. If you would like to help her out, please email me at scrappindanielle (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you!

The original post...

What's in your nail polish? Do you know there are chemicals in nail polish that can cause birth defects and cancer? Here's just a few:

Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP): An ingredient that stops nail polish from chipping and causes damage to a baby boy's reproductive system.

Nitrocellulose: Once used in automobile paint and also known as "gun cotton" in the fireworks industry.

Formaldehyde: A cancer causing ingredient that is associated with allergic reactions and asthma.

Toluene: A petroleum-based solvent known to cause cancer and can damage the immune and reproductive systems.

Should you be concerned that you are putting chemicals on your nails? That is up to you to decide.

Should you be concerned that these harmful chemicals can end up in the landfill? Yes! And you can do something about it!!

Gather together any old or unwanted nail polish bottles and take them (you can ship them too) to your local disposal facility. One place to check-out is Chemwise, a chemical recycling and disposal facility. Priti NYC, an organic nail polish company, has teamed up with Chemwise to offer a nail polish recycling program and participants can receive 15% off their next online purchase. Click here for more information.

My daughter and I have started our own nail polish drive and have placed a donation box inside her school. I encourage others to spread the word and start their own community-wide nail polish disposal collections.

The goal of our nail polish drive is to raise awareness of the harmful chemicals hiding in products that we use everyday and to let people know there are ways to dispose of these products properly. Safer, non-toxic nail polish alternatives are available and include OPI Nail Lacquer, Priti Nails non-toxic nail polish (kids collection), Spa Ritual Lacquer, Safe Nail Polish, and Honeybee Gardens WaterColors.

You can learn more about the ingredients in nail polish and other cosmetics by referring to the articles/sites below:

• Avoid the 'Toxic Trio' of Ingredients to Get Greener Nail Polish (Discovery's Planet Green website)
• Getting the Gloss on Eco-Friendly Nail Polish (EcoSalon.com)
• Nail Polish Ingredients - Should We be Worried? (GreenFootSteps.com)
  
• Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database (Environmental Working Group)

You found this article at http://www.scrappinmemories4u.com.

An eco-friendly birthday party with Shrek

Shrek. Young children love him and adults enjoy watching his movies (as long as they don't have to repeatedly watch them over... and over... and over again). This big, green ogre has his face plastered all over cereal and snack boxes, making Shrek a perfect theme for an eco-friendly birthday party.

Supplies used:

Paper scraps
Blank cards, cut in half
Stickers (use your stash)
Coccoina Paste (eco-friendly glue)
Cereal box
Toy packaging

The Shrek characters were cut out of the cereal box and the toy packaging was trimmed to fit each character.

All the elements were then adhered to the blank cards and the invitations were finished.

Here's another look:

An invitation was then made into an 8x8 scrapbook layout.

Shrek Party Food:

Donkey Dogs (hotdogs)
Fiona Salad
Far Far Away Punch
Ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins)
Ogremole and tortilla chips (guacamole)
Puss in Boots Wraps (lunchmeat, cheese, spinach tortillas)
Villager Pickles (pickles wrapped with ham)
Magical Apples and Pumpkin Carriage Dip
Ogre Baby Pasta (pasta salad)
Shrek Cakes:

Shrek cupcake decorations were made by cutting out Shrek's head from playing cards and using Glue Dots to adhere them to Dum Dum Pops.

Don't throw away your nail polish!

What's in your nail polish? Do you know there are chemicals in nail polish that can cause birth defects and cancer? Here's just a few:

Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP): An ingredient that stops nail polish from chipping and causes damage to a baby boy's reproductive system.

Nitrocellulose: Once used in automobile paint and also known as "gun cotton" in the fireworks industry.

Formaldehyde: A cancer causing ingredient that is associated with allergic reactions and asthma.

Toluene: A petroleum-based solvent known to cause cancer and can damage the immune and reproductive systems.

Should you be concerned that you are putting chemicals on your nails? That is up to you to decide.

Should you be concerned that these harmful chemicals can end up in the landfill? Yes! And you can do something about it!!

Gather together any old or unwanted nail polish bottles and take them (you can ship them too) to your local disposal facility. One place to check-out is Chemwise, a chemical recycling and disposal facility. Priti NYC, an organic nail polish company, has teamed up with Chemwise to offer a nail polish recycling program and participants can receive 15% off their next online purchase. Click here for more information.

My daughter and I have started our own nail polish drive and have placed a donation box inside her school. I encourage others to spread the word and start their own community-wide nail polish disposal collections.

The goal of our nail polish drive is to raise awareness of the harmful chemicals hiding in products that we use everyday and to let people know there are ways to dispose of these products properly. Safer, non-toxic nail polish alternatives are available and include OPI Nail Lacquer, Priti Nails non-toxic nail polish (kids collection), Spa Ritual Lacquer, Safe Nail Polish, and Honeybee Gardens WaterColors.

You can learn more about the ingredients in nail polish and other cosmetics by referring to the articles/sites below:

• Avoid the 'Toxic Trio' of Ingredients to Get Greener Nail Polish (Discovery's Planet Green website)
• Getting the Gloss on Eco-Friendly Nail Polish (EcoSalon.com)
• Nail Polish Ingredients - Should We be Worried? (GreenFootSteps.com)
  
• Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database (Environmental Working Group)