And some of these Scentsy Bars:

I got to pick out three scents of my choice and being a newbie in the world of Scentsy, I read each description of each scent and settled on Pretty In Pink,  Twilight, and Hemingway.  I couldn’t wait to smell them when my package arrived…and then there was the choice of which scent I would use first.  Oh, the agony of such a decision!  I settled on Twilight, broke off a little square, plugged it in and man does my house smell amazing.  It’s a fresh, clean scent that also leaves a home smelling warm and welcoming.

I feel far more comfortable leaving a plug-in going than I do leaving a candle burning somewhere in the house with kids playing and a curious kitty getting into everything.  I love that once the wax has liquefied, you can simply pour it back into its little spot in the container and reuse it.  Then, just wipe out the warmer with a cloth and choose another scent for another day.  And the wax is food-quality wax…just in case you have a curious toddler in your home.  The very-low-wattage bulb barely uses any energy and while the website says that these plug-in warmers are intended for small rooms, I tried mine in the living room and the fragrance has spread through at least four rooms!  I love this.

Know what else I love?  Gwenda’s generosity.  She not only sent me my choice of a Plug-In Warmer and my choice of 3 Scentsy Bars, she’s going to send one of you the same!

These were runners up for me when I was trying to choose a warmer:

Cute, right?

To enter this giveaway:

I want you to look through the Plug-In Warmers and leave a comment linking to the ones that you love.  And check out these scents!  Makes you wish the internet was Scratch N’ Sniff, right?  If you’re a Scentsy veteran, share your favorite scents with us.  Please leave a single comment only, unless you share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere.  In that case, leave a separate comment linking to each place you shared.  Contest will end at 12pm CST on Thursday, March 18 and the winner will be announced soon after.

Another way to get some Scentsy love from Gwenda: She said that if any of you sign up on her site to host a Scentsy party and raise a minimum of $150, you will have your choice of a Full Size Warmer or a Plug-In Warmer and 3 Scentsy Bars.

In the meantime, I’m thinking I might need this:

It’s gorgeous and needs to move in with me.  Meet Victoria, the Warmer of the Month.  And what’s the scent of the month, you ask?  Spring Clean!  You just can’t go wrong.  And this month they are both 10% off.  I’m in love.  Love, I tell you.  Love.  I’ve been missing out on Scentsy for far too long!

Now, get busy!  Go warmer shopping.  You might just be plugging one in before you know it!

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Thank you all for your entries!!  Wasn’t it fun to dig through and pick out some favorites?  Who knew I’d fall so in love with this stuff??

So…the winner is number 52!  Congraulations, Chanece! Email me with your choice of plug-in warmer and 3 scents!

And in related news:  Gwenda has decided that we should team up and do a Scentsy giveaway every month!!  Check back often for these awesome giveaways and many others!

Our family dedicated yesterday to dirt.  We gathered supplies at the store and headed home to begin.  Shayne worked on cleaning out and mulching flower beds while the kids and I got started on our garden.

Getting started:

Containers.  Now, we’re starting with classic pots and planters, but you can use anything, really.  I’ve seen old cowboy boots, reusable shopping bags, potato bags, old wheelbarrows and bathtubs…you get the idea.  I intend to keep an eye out for fun planters later, but for now…the basics.

Potting soil.  I grabbed these bags of organic soil intended for veggies.

I didn’t realize until I’d already begun that they were intended for in-ground use.  Oopsy.  I’m going with it anyway.

Plants and seeds…

Drain holes.  Some pots already have holes, some have perforated areas to be punched out as necessary, and old boots and bags will need holes punched in them.  I used a screwdriver and punched out some holes.

I lined the bottom of the pots with newspaper.  This will keep the soil in and let excess water drain out.

Next up:  time to fill the pots with potting soil.

Then we planted.  Follow the directions on the package.  Most seed packages won’t have directions for container gardening, so be flexible.  I planted extra seeds in each of my containers and then I’ll thin out the plants at they begin to grow.

And here is our container garden in its infancy:

The pots line either side of the walk just outside our back door.  That’s one big plus of container gardening:  easy access!  It’s right outside of our office window so that I can keep a close eye on the plants and it will discourage small animals from invading.

What did we plant, you ask?

Tomatoes (Celebrity and Patio.  Patio tomatoes are cherry-type tomatoes that are supposed to thrive in containers.)

Eggplant (black beauty)

Yellow Squash

Radishes

Jalapenos

Green onions

And….I’m trying herbs for the first time.  They may move into our sunroom.  We’ll see.

Cilantro

Rosemary

Basil

Oregano

We may add more in the coming weeks, but for now I think we’re off to a good start!

Do you garden?  Is it in-ground or container gardening?  Feel free to share success stories!

P.S.– I have a couple of gardening gurus in the family who cannot be stumped!  Hey Aunt Cathy, what have I done wrong so far?

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Each week we gather in the evening after kids are tucked in bed and we knit.  We share our stories from the week, our frustrations in life, we discuss movies and tv shows, we knit, and we laugh.  A lot.

This week, we decided to try something a little bit different.  We thought that we would try our hands at dying our own yarn.  I used my crock pot and they brought over their big stock pots.  Using Wilton food coloring as our dye and a splash of vinegar, we set to work.  Unfortunately, both of my camera batteries were dead so my photo documentation of the evening is sorely missed.

The next morning, I hung my dripping wet yarn on the line and admired my handiwork.

I’m not normally a fan of such light colors, but I think that this colorway is just lovely if I do say so myself.  And in case you’re curious which Wilton colors I used to achieve this combo…I used black and a teeny bit of violet.  See, when I added the black color, it immediately separated into a gorgeous blue and purple blend, but the purple was a tad light for my taste.  I mixed up a little violet and poured it in 3 spots.  Turned out kinda nice, don’t you think?  I think I’ll name it….um….wow.  I’m not cut out to name yarns.  It makes me think of the sky just before a really good spring storm, though.  “Calm Before The Storm” or um….”Bruised Sky” or….yeah, I’m not so clever this morning. Forgive me.

Problem is, I’m uninspired in my knitting at the moment.  I’m still a very slow knitter and I seem to find less and less time on my hands as each day passes.  So, what I want to do with this yarn is pass it on to one of you guys.  Whether you knit or crochet or just want to use it for kid crafts, I want it to find a loving home.

You know what that means!  It’s time for a giveaway.

To enter: Leave a single comment telling me either what the yarn should be named or how you feel about spring storms.  See, I love them.  A lot.  I’ve always secretly wanted to be storm chaser.  But…back to the giveaway….

Leave your comment before 12 pm CST on Monday, March 15 and I’ll randomly select a winner soon after.

If you want an extra entry or two, link to this page on Twitter and/or Facebook and leave a separate comment linking to each one.

Thank you and good luck!

A little info on the yarn:  I know very little about dying yarn.  This was more experimental than anything, so I cannot promise perfection.  I can only promise that it’s yarn.  220 yards of100% Peruvian Wool dyed in a crock pot using Wilton food coloring and vinegar.  No scary chemicals.  Hand wash separately  in cool water and hang  to dry.

WINNER:  Congratulations, Leigh!  Email me and I’ll get the yarn to you.

As far as the name, you guys had some awesome suggestions!  I think I’ll go with Impending Storm for this batch, but might just use the other names for inspiration for other colors as I keep dying. Thank you all!

At the bottom of each post, you’ll find this:

Simply click that, then open or save it.  Print and stash for crafty days!

I’ll include some links to my more popular tutorials for you guys to bookmark and save as PDFs.

Owl Party Favor Tutorial

Hair Clip Tutorial

Felt Board Tutorial

Halter Top Tutorial

And while I’m in halter-top-making mode, I thought I’d share some fabric combos from Fabric.com that are so cute and fun!

I love these two from Michael Miller’s Lagoon collection.

These prints from Alicia Place Frost are just gorgeous!

Who can resist Heather Bailey’s Pop Garden collection?

This fun set is from Michael Miller’s Gray Citron & Black collection and I just love it!

You can never go wrong with Amy Butler.  These two are from her August Fields collection.  Beautiful!

So, I hope the PDF feature makes crafting a bit easier for you!  Be sure to let me know if there is anything I can do to make things on The Green Wife easier for you guys to use and enjoy.

And I want to know:

Who has started on their spring sewing?  What fabrics are you loving for this season?  I would love to see some links!

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This afternoon, I grabbed this scarf from my scarf collection.

It was a favorite when I purchased it months ago, but it really washed me out and was a little bulkier than I cared for.  It’s been hanging unloved for too long, so the Recon-a-Thon was the perfect opportunity for it to be transformed into something that would get worn and loved.

I used my halter top pattern and got busy.  It was very sheer, so I lined it with muslin.

Now Elliott has a fun little hippie halter dress ready for spring!  She refuses to take it off now because it ‘makes me dance so pwetty!’.  Just add sunshine!

So…what do you think?

Think about your daily routine. Think about how many steps you take in a day. Around your house. Out to your car. Walking to your mailbox. Across the grocery store parking lot. Up the stairs. Across the lawn to your neighbor’s house. Down the sidewalk. Around school and through the office. Through the rain, rocks, mud, snow and stickers.

No big deal,right?

Now imagine doing that barefoot. Every day. All the time.

Walking barefoot for miles just for food and water.

Imagine being denied an education simply because you have no shoes on your feet.

Now imagine a man who started a shoe company specifically to give away shoes. His name is Blake and he started TOMS. For every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, TOMS provides one pair of shoes to a child in need. One for one.

Brilliant, right?

Now, what if each of us took one day of our lives to go barefoot in order to spread the message?

And what if a really great company like Threadless had a shirt design challenge for A Day Without Shoes? Wouldn’t that help raise awareness? Talk about a conversation starter.

So, what I’m asking you guys to do is:

• Spread the word by telling two friends about TOMS today. Then ask them to tell two friends.
• Plan to participate in One Day Without Shoes.
• Dig deep in your creative mind and enter the Threadless design contest.
• Get some TOMS shoes for your family and, in turn, shoe another family.

And what am I going to do for you?

I am going to give away a $50 E-gift card to one lucky Green Wife reader.

To enter:

Leave one comment sharing a link–or links– to your favorite pair(s) of TOMS.

Leave a comment linking me to where you’ve shared this giveaway on Facebook.

Leave a comment linking me to where you’re shared this giveaway on Twitter.

Rules: No more than 3 entries per person and only one of each type of entry listed above per person. I will stop accepting entries at 12pm Central time on Friday, February 19, 2010 and will announce a randomly chosen winner shortly after.
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**WINNER** Im so sorry for the delay! I’m at WordCamp Miami and I’m getting caught up in all the awesome presentations! So…on to the winner…

Congratulations, ToyousJoyous! Email me at Abbie@thegreenwife.com and we’ll get you all set up with your gift card!

Thank you all for entering and I hope you all participate in One Day Without Shoes on April 8!

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Dear Abbie, I mean, The Green Wife,

I, like yourself, am trying to be greener. Over the past year, I have amassed quit a collection of those energy efficient light bulbs that are sold everywhere now. I feel good about them because I’ve been told they’re a small, easy step to take if you’re beginning to try to live greener. However, I have become concerned because they are not lasting as long as I had been promised and they cannot be thrown into the trash. According to the packaging and the bulb itself, I am instructed to dispose of the bulbs at an approved recycling facility as they contain mercury. What? Mercury?

I have four children and they can be wild at times so the last thing I want to worry about is a bulb getting shattered and depositing small, mercury coated shards of glass all over the place. In fact, that very thing happened yesterday. I was hosting friends for coffee when a little boy, who was jumping on my daughter’s bed, took a swing at her ceiling fan with a hanger and the bulb shattered. I didn’t even find out about the incident until later in the day when I found pieces of glass in my daughter’s bed and on her floor.

Is the mercury in light bulbs something I should be concerned about? Are they just not for everyone? Please shed some “light” on this subject.

Sincerely,

Concerned in Clyde

So to her, I say..

Dear Concerned in Clyde,

Thank you for writing me with your concerns with your CFL bulbs.  I did a little sniffing around the internet to see what I could find out.

Why do they contain mercury? Because it’s the single element that can create such an energy efficient light bulb.
Isn’t that dangerous? Mercury is toxic to humans.  However, the amount of mercury in a bulb is very, very minimal (5mg as opposed to 500mg or so in a handheld thermometer)  and is safely contained within the bulb to prevent exposure…..which brings us to the issue of your broken bulb.
What if a CFL bulb breaks in my home? Not to panic.  I’ll share the information I found on EnergyStar.gov:

1. Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

• Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
• Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
• Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

• Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
• Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:

• Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
• Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:

• If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded.  Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
• You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
• If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes.  Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.

5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials

• Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
• Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
• Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area.  Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming

• The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
• Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

Why are my bulbs not lasting as long as promised? I’m sorry that I don’t know.  I looked at different manufacturer sites and found little to no information.  I think that’s something you’ll have to address with their customer service representatives….and I wish you luck.

Are CFL bulbs for everyone? I think that they are a wonderful way for every home to cut back on energy usage, but based on history of breakage they should probably be used in sockets that are protected by a globe or shade that would make accidents less likely to happen.

I hope that your children are safe from mercury exposure as well as broken glass!  Thank you again for writing me with your questions.

Sincerely,

Abbie, I mean, The Green Wife

I’ve recently discovered paperculture.com and I feel the need to pass on some PC love to my readers.  Paper Culture is an eco-friendly stationary company that offers extremely cute, modern cards for all occasions.

Check out this green info from their site:

• 100% Post Consumer Recycled Cards: most cards are printed on “virgin” fiber. Even those that are “recycled” usually contain low percentages of Post Consumer content. Our cards are all printed on 100% Post Consumer Recycled paper.
• Carbon Neutral: As a company, Paper Culture offsets its carbon footprint as a CarbonFree™ Partner of CarbonFund.org.
• FSC Certified: Our paper for both our cards and envelopes is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Paper Culture is also an FSC certified retailer (FSC-SECR-0203 ©1996 FSC)
• Wind Power Generated: well, this one is pretty simple – the paper was produced using wind power.

Good stuff, right?

Now…look at this gorgeous Valentine!  Who wouldn’t love receiving that one?  Or sending it??

And you know what’s extra cool?  Right now, if you order Valentine’s Day cards from Paper Culture, 100% of the proceeds go to Haiti Relief. Super, super cool.

The have tons of adorable designs for other occasions, too.  Like birth announcements…

Baby showers…

Kid birthdays…

Moving announcements…

And tons more.

So go dig around on their site.  You’ll fall in love.

And because I know you’ll fall in love, I want one of you lucky readers to have a $25 gift certificate to spend on whatever design you’d like!*  Uh-huh.  I knew you’d like that!

To enter, leave one comment telling me what type of card you would order if you were to win.  If you have a favorite design, feel free to share that with us as well.  To get additional entries in the contest, link me in a separate comment to where you have Tweeted or Facebooked about the contest. I will stop accepting entries tomorrow, Thursday February 4th at 3pm CST and announce the winner soon after.  Good luck!

*Gift certificate expires 5/31/2010 and is good for first time customers.  It is not to be used with other offers or promotions and not applicable to shipping, tax or stamps.

**WINNER**

And our winner is #5! Congratulations, Michelle!  Send me your email address and we’ll get you taken care of.

This tutorial is for you mommies out there with a super-independent little one on your hands.  A little one that insists on doing everything by him- or herself, but just doesn’t realize the limitations that their age and size might bring.  Limitations such as not being able to reach the bathroom light switch during their mad dash to the potty while they’re saying to you, “No, Mommy!  I don’t need help!  I can do it all myself!”

Because Elliott is the epitome of Little Miss Independence, I had to come up with a way for her to reach the switch without moving her stool across the room in back in those 2.5 seconds she allows herself to make it to the bathroom.

Now, there are mass-produced versions of these light switch extensions available.  They work, but they are just not cute.  We just can’t have that, can we??

I decided to attempt making one from scratch.  I didn’t want to use wood because I’m a worrywart and I’d lose sleep at night thinking it was going to catch on fire.  Metal would be scary, too.  So…I bought a sheet of thin, flexible Plexiglas at Hobby Lobby.  I’ve never worked with the stuff before, so I’m sure there are better ways of dealing with it than what I did.  However, I got the end result I wanted and Elliott is very pleased with it…so no worries. (If you want to share helpful Plexiglas hints with your fellow readers and me, please leave a comment!  I would love to learn more about working with it.)

So…let’s get started.

You’ll need:

• A sheet of Plexiglas ($1.99 at Hobby Lobby)
• Mean scissors
• Craft knife/blade
• Sandpaper
• Marker
• Paintbrush
• Mod Podge or similar glue
• Pretty paper or fabric
• Embellishments

First, print out this template.

Then, place the template on a flat surface and lay your Plexiglass on top of it.  When you bring it home from the store, it will have a protective film on it. Leave it in place for now.

With a marker, trace the template onto your Plexi.

Carefully cut out your design.  (This is where I could use tips on using Plexiglass.  The stuff was cracking all around the edges.  Any suggestions on how to cut it and end up with nice clean edges?)  To cut out the inner circle, I used a craft knife to cut a slit through the center.  I had to cut from the top, then flip the Plexi over and go over it again.  Once it was sliced all the way through, I poked my scissors through and finished cutting out the circle.  Please, please use caution not to cut yourself.

Now remove the protective film.

Use sandpaper to smooth your edges and help round out the circles.  They don’t have to be perfect because they will be covered, but take the sharpest edges off.

Now, tear or cut strips of pretty paper or fabric.

Paint Mod Podge onto your Plexi a bit at a time and apply the paper/fabric until the entire thing is covered.

Wrapping the paper around makes for safe, smooth edges.

Apply stickers or any other embellishments, then give the entire surface a nice, full coat of Mod Podge.

Here is Elliott’s new freedom…er….extension.

She absolutely loves it!

Please be very careful in making and using this light switch extension.  It is not a toy and children should be supervised when they are using their light switch extension.  In case of breakage or damage that exposes bare Plexiglas, please dispose of the extension immediately to avoid injury.  Okay, thank you and goodbye.

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