The Mad Recycler

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Another turquoise cuff! I ♥ Turquoise!

Do I even need to write a description for this?

Don't forget 2 shows this weekend, which I hope to have a bunch of these bracelets made and for sale! Friday I will be at the Winthrop American Legion from 4 pm - 8 pm and Saturday at the New Testament Church in Massena from 9 am - 3 pm :).

Monday, April 11, 2011

♥ A Little Hope on a Rainy Spring Day ♥

I have been trying to be extremely patient with my seedlings this year b/c I am doing them in a totally different way then before. I use to start my plants using the jiffy seed starter mini greenhouse, but decided to try my own recycled seed starting pots and a little greenhouse the BF's grandma found at Kinneys for $25. I really didn't care about the greenhouse, but I needed a nice set of shelves to put in front of our sliding glass door b/c it receives a good amount of sun for most of the day. The greenhouse seems to be helping b/c yesterday morning my Roma tomatoes and my pansies finally popped up! :) :)

Roma Tomatoes

Pansies

Mini Greenhouse

So since the recycled newspaper pots seem to be working well, yesterday I started my snapdragons, black eyed susans, dahlias and fox glove. All I have left to start this week are the zinnias, Chinese lanterns, and sunflowers. I think my little greenhouse will be full. :)

Don't forget I will be at two craft shows this coming weekend, one Friday April 15th from 4 pm - 8 pm at the American Legion in Winthrop and Saturday April 16th from 9 am - 3 pm at the New Testament Church in Massena.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Happy Friday! New Packaging - Bedspring Wreath Decoration Sets

Lately I have really been working on trying to make my decorations as easy to understand as possible. I'm not sure even with me explaining all of it people truly understand that great changeability of this wreath. So to make it easier. I decided to package up my decorations into sets and sell them per set versus individual. That way I can sell seasonal sets, holiday sets as well as other themed sets. Watch for these at my next craft show!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Another recycled cuff - The Pink Rose

I love making these bracelets! Each one of them is so unique, I really am going to have a hard time parting with any of them, but there will be some for sale at my next craft shows, April 15th from 4 pm - 8 pm at the American Legion in Winthrop and April 16th from 9 am - 3 pm at New Testament Church in Massena.

This bracelet was created using leftover scrap fabric use to create the hat in this past halloween's Mad Hatter Costume. The cuff itself is made from soda can, that I cut into strips and glued together. Then I created a casing with a small piece of elastic and attached it to the soda can and covered it! The large pink rose is also from a soda can! The best part about this bracelet is all of it is recycled, even the elastic was leftover from something else! Its a piece of jewelry you can feel good about.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

New Shop Alert in Potsdam, NY - Maple Run Gourmet Grocery & Gift Emporium

Yesterday was the grand opening of a new shop in downtown Potsdam. I went down on my lunch break to check out the Maple Run Gourmet Grocery & Gift Emporium. The shop features all things maple. I love maple syrup so of course this was the perfect place for me. I was able to sample some of their specialty products, like the maple butter, maple candy, maple BBQ sauce as well as Maple Wine. I loved the Maple Wine, it was drier than you think it would be, but it is currently not for sale as they wait for their liquor license. There is also a selection of smoked meat and jerky. A great selection of wooden kitchen products made from maple as well as gourmet/specialty kitchen items, like the crepe maker which I just may have to go back and get for my kitchen. I left the store with maple, popcorn, a maple lollipop, maple candy, maple soda and maple pumpkin butter. All of it was delicious, the maple soda was only "ok" for me, it tasted like carbonated maple syrup which can be a little much to drink a whole bottle of but it was interesting to try anyways. So for a great gift or something unique for your next party check out the Maple Run Gourmet Grocery & Gift Emporium at 49 Market Street, Downtown Potsdam open from 6 am - 8 pm.

Photo from Maple Run Gourmet Grocery & Gift Emporium

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Recycled Newspaper Flower Pot - Version 2

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Terri Guillemets

Remember the Newspaper Origami Starter Pots I made, well I ended up being a little behind on starting my flowers, so I needed a quicker way to make the pots. This method is much easier and quicker!

My Roma Tomato plants in their starter pots! I can't wait to make more homemade spaghetti sauce, we only have 10 quarts left from last year! :)

Check out the tutorial:

You will need:

1 small glass

1 page of newspaper per pot

1. Layout your sheet of newspaper horizontally like below.

2. Fold paper in half vertically.

3. Using the glass, place the edge of the newspaper on bottom edge of the glass, leaving the open part to be rolled in the newspaper, begin to roll.

4. Try to roll the paper as evenly and as tight as possible, this will give your pot a stronger lip.

5. Once the paper has been wrapped all the way around, start folding the long edges inside the glass and make a lip around the edge of the glass.

6. Press around the lip of the glass, to mold the paper.

7. Carefully remove the glass, it will be tight and will require a little wiggling.

8. Now to make the bottom of the pot, press the glass into the pot and twist to mold the bottom. You may have to adjust your paper to make sure there are no holes.