Really...I'm on Break

Okay, so I'm having a little bit of trouble staying away. Especially when it's Backwards Works-for-Me Wednesday over at Shannon's House.

I have posted about this previously, but I spit this out to the wider audience:

What is a nice, natural way of deep-cleaning wall-to-wall carpeting? The kind that has some orange juice down near its roots?

Now I'm on break. Really.

Works for Me Wednesday - Green Holiday Card Bubble Craft

Even though it's *only* the 19th of December, my holiday cards are already looking a bit droopy hanging there on the armoire. As you consider what to do with all that cheery cardstock, post-holiday, think about making some colorful "bubbles" with your children. Depending on the card's size, trace a ramekin, saucer, or other small round dish on the card's design, cut it out, and then decorate (if it even needs additional sprucing) as you please.

When you're done, send those bad boys, with love, to Miss.Donna Quirke Hornick. Do I know her personally? No. But could she, and her room, use a little perking up right now? Yes. Works for me!

Bubble on!

{{More fabulous ideas over at Shannon's house}}

WFMW - Green Search Terms for Amazon

Amazon can be a great resource for book buying, not only because of the discounts, but also because you can often find a copy of a book used, for a fraction of the original cost. Of course, there is shipping involved, so if you are sending a book to someone as a gift, or not able to find the book at your local library or at your small, independent bookstore, you may want to try Amazon instead.

Amazon, like any database, can be a bit tricky to search. Here are some subject headings (there are so many others) that might help you narrow down your search for green-related children's books (don't forget to combine the term(s) below with the subject heading "Children" if you really want to limit your search to books for and about kids):

Natural Foods
Recycling
Nature
Environment
Environmental Protection
Nature Craft
Peace
Yoga
Outdoor Games

{{Lots of other tips over at Shannon's house!}}

Wednesday Me For Works

First of all, thanks to all you for suggesting ways to corral my Playmobil toys and to iron my organics at the last Backwards WFMW!

Now, a plea to both loyal readers and guests...two of you once posted about making tulle skirts for kids from scratch and non-food advent calendars (actually, update: I've since found one I had in mind from Nini Makes). Can you please refresh my ailing memory and alert me if you were indeed the one (or two or three or four of you...anyone!) that addressed these topics?

More questions to be answered over at Shannon's place!

Don't forget my bloggy book giveaway...still plenty of time to enter!

With bloggy love,

Amy

Works for Me Wednesday - One Word

Etsy.

{{Visit wordier WFMW suggestions over at Shannon's House}}

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Update: Per Thia's request, I am posting a disclaimer: Warning, perusing a database of adorable handmade things made by very crafty people can put a serious dent in your productivity, not to mention your wallet. You've been warned.

Wednesday Me For Works!

Finally it's backwards Works for Me Wednesday over at Shannon's house!

I have two questions for you, loyal readers, if you don't mind...

How do you keep track of all the billions and billions of PlayMobil pieces

and...

For children's organic cotton clothing how do you minimize the need to iron them (the clothes...not the children)?

And oooo, I received a reply from Whole Foods about their local (not!) apples. Stay tuned!

Works for Me Wednesday: Take Paper Home from the Office. Really.

If your children are like mine, you know that they go through paper like...um...well, nevermind. Anywho, they use a lot. In a previous post, I suggested an easy way for those work-out-of-the-home-moms to obtain a paper stash while recycling at the same time: take home all that "used" paper from the office.

Fortunately, my department at work does not simply toss all those non-confidential rough drafts, "oops" and "I thought you were going to change the toner!"-type mistakes. We take the "used" paper home, flip it over, and feed it through our home printers or let our kids use it as scrap paper. We even take some to our daycare provider. I say, 50% of that paper isn't used, baby!

For more fancy-pants ideas, head over to Rocks in My Dryer's Works for Me Wednesdays.

WFMW - Organic Milk and a Not-So-Green Baggie

Ah, WFMW... Today's theme WFMW over at Rocks in my Dryer is Brand Loyalty. What brand names always work for you?

I have said it before, and I will say it again. My secret un-green shame is Ziploc bags. I love how they seal, I love how they repel water, I love how they come in so many cute sizes. As that wacky woman Molly Shannon played on SNL used to say, "I love 'em, I love 'em, I love 'em."

So, let me try to redeem myself by trying to get some green back into the conversation. I just cannot bring myself to buy non-organic milk for my children. My favorite (and it also happens to be the least expensive) brand is Whole Foods' 365 1% milk. Not very sexy, I know. But I am loyal to it.

Works for Me Wednesday: Cancel Your Paper

This was kind of a light dawns on Marblehead moment for me (does this expression make any sense to anyone living outside of Massachusetts? But I digress...).

Every Sunday we get the paper delivered, but we literally live about a half a mile from at convenience store. It's not a very pleasant walk, as it involves some asphalt and standing on a exhaust-laden street corner while waiting for the light to change, but no ifs, ands, or buts, it is a very doable walk.

So yesterday when my newspaper renewal notice came in the mail, I canceled the newspaper in the hope of getting some much needed exercise on Sunday mornings.

And no using the car to get to the store and no using someone else's car to get the paper to my house! There. I snuck in some green again. Damn, I'm good.

Check out the dozens of other great ideas at Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by Rocks in My Dryer. Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Works for Me Wednesday: Green Magazeeeen

I am a magazine junkie. My all-time favorite is Family Fun but give me a Woman's Day, People, Washingtonian, Kiplinger's, Martha Stewart, Cottage Living, Good Housekeeping, Kiwi, Southern Living, Sunset, Designer/Builder, New York, Journal of Light Construction (okay, my husband's read), Washington Parent, Yankee or [Insert Name of Magazine Here] and I'm all over that puppy.

I just love the way the cover of a magazine screams: Get Organized! Cook This and That! Have More Sex! Make This Elaborate Structure Out of Fruit!

Yet, if I indulged my magazine habit every time I went throught the checkout line, I'd be one broke puppy.

So here (are you still with me, because I am getting to the good part) is what I do. I am a member of a secret neighborhood network that takes magazines we have just about devoured in the 3.24 seconds since purchasing them and we swap them. Yes, my heart does a little pitter-patter when I arrive home from work and see a bag of like-new mags sitting on my front steps (unless it has been raining. then I cry because they are wet). Any magazine that you have impulse-bought, or subscribe to, or stole from your doctor's waiting room (I am told this happens. I do not do this) can be added to the bag and passed along. It's very informal - you can tear out pages, keep the entire issue, give the entire bag to your sister-in-law who is taking a transatlantic flight because the bottom line is that none of us really have time to read all those beauties so we take what we can get. And, have I mentioned how Green this is? Why, I bet you didn't even know I was sneaking in some Green. As painless as sneaking zucchini into muffins, eh? (I do not do this. I am told this happens)

Works for me! Post what works for you at today's Works for Me Wednesday hosted by the fabulous Rocks in My Dryer.

A Green Works for Me Wednesday

Today I'm joining my first blog carnival: Works for Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks in My Dryer! Every Wednesday, bloggers post a teeny tidbit describing something that...well, you guessed it...works for them.

Of course, I have to stay true to my blog's niche (love that word) so let me share a way in which I made my daughter's recent birthday a little big greener. On the invitation I expressly asked that attendees bring regifted gifts only...and as I've mentioned before, Sprout could not have been happier with what she received: tons of books, a pair of pink crocs, some new toys that our neighbors had received as gifts and had never opened, and some cold hard cash, which I guess is cheating a little bit, but hey...that's a regift wouldn't you agree? Sprout was happy and so was I knowing that we received some perfectly good toys that were just no longer the toy a la mode for our family and friends.