happy living Design

dad project no. 2

We have one large wall in our 'TV room'.  I didn't want to hang artwork or pictures on it but wanted something to hang there to break up the wall and possibly reflect the light from the windows on the opposite wall.  I looked around at mirrors but I never found anything I liked (or that was low budget). 

I had a co-worker salvage a few window sashes from a barn he was renovating and my dad pulled a few more out of the trash and we came up with this configuration.  Dad replaced the panes of glass in the barn sash (center) with mirror.  The sashes were left in their natural state and just cleaned up and he hung them on the wall with Z-bar hangers.  I seriously would NOT get anything done like this around our house if it wasn't for my dad.

ps.  The pillows are by Kalla.

The Green Garmento

We used to frequent the drycleaners quite a bit especially for the boy's work shirts.  Now that I am not working full-time outside of the home and the boy has since switched to wash-and-wear suit shirts we make less trips to the cleaners and environmentally I think it's proabably best.  I still have my work and wool pants dry cleaned occasionaly and I use Dryel in between to freshen them up.  And there are just some things the drycleaners do much better than I do such as pressing (boy do they get those pant creases sharp!) and hemming.  And we always like to say hello to our friendly drycleaning lady.

I had the opportunity to try out The Green Garmento 4-in-1 reuseable garment bag for our last trip to the drycleaners.

We hung it on the back of our bedroom door and filled it up as items needed to be cleaned.  It has a pretty heavy duty hook on the back. 

Once we were ready to drop the clothes off the carrying strap came in handy as I had the bag across my shoulder and carried Kheri at the same time to and from the car.  It has a drawstring on the open end to keep all the clothes inside.

And when I picked up my clothes, the drycleaner returned them to me in the bag.  No plastic!

There's even a little pouch in the front for the slip or receipt.

The Green Garmento retails for $9.99 and if you make multiple trips to the drycleaners each year it would really cut down on the amount of plastic going into a landfill (like those reuseable shopping bags do for your grocery store visits!).  And I liked having an out of the way place to put the drycleaning as it was piling up.  Check with your local cleaners to see if they'd be willing to use them.

Full Disclosure (so I don't get sued):  This item was given to me for free to try out.  I may from time to time review items that I think I or my readers would like.  I won't give a good review to something I don't think deserves it.  That's not helpful to anyone, especially to you guys (the readers).  In general I don't make money from this blog and I don't make money whether or not you buy this item.  Reviews are just a way to show you something new.  Any questions, email me.

rent-a-goat

For years I've been talking about getting a goat to take care of our grass weeds.  We currently have someone cut our grass but we don't do anything about the weeds and they have pretty much taken over whatever lawn area we have, so in essence we have someone come bi-monthly to cut our weeds.  Now that we know how bad the pesticides used to kill weeds are both for us and the environment it seems even less likely that we'll ever have a decent looking lawn.  Except maybe if we got rented a goat to eat all the weeds!

photo by flickr user pixel_unikat

I ran across this post on the Seventh Generation blog and am convinced I need a goat for our .34 acres.  Plus they are so cute, aren't they?  I just have to find out from our local codes enforcement director if it's allowed in our Borough.  And if there is anyone around here that will rent me one.

piggy tote

I love this tote since I've just started playing the "this little piggy..." game with Kheri.

at Terrain.

Oma Vintage in Philly

Lollycrisp Vintage has been on of my favorite etsy shops for awhile now.  And they have opened a new brick and mortar store in Northern Liberties in Philly called Oma Vintage.  I love the clean, simple website and I can't wait to visit the actual store.  They sell clothes and accessories for men, women and children.

 

 

Paperless Post

Ashley so kindly let me know about this new site, Paperless Post, that allows people to design custom, personalized invitations and announcements online in a green and recession friendly way.  There are so many different styles to choose from and they are ALL nicely designed as a true custom cardstock invitation would be.  I spent A LOT of time thinking about all the great parties I would have just to send some stellar invites out to my friends and family.

I really like the idea of electronic or online invites but have never been thrilled about most of what has been offered up till now.  I think Paperless Post is the new best thing!

Some samples were sent along for a moving announcement, housewarming and screening party.

Jenny Lee-Katz fabrics

I love these eco-friendly fabrics.  I love even more that Jenny Lee-Katz is based in Glenmoore, PA which is only like 20 minutes away from me.

 She also sells pillows and bags on her website.

 

via Daily Candy.

Nearly Car-Free : Vauban, Germany

I would like to live here.  See and read.

farmgirlz and the weekend

Have you seen The Hip Homemaker's chicks?  How about Beegirl's bees?  And dig this chick, she's collecting rain water.

I have no plans for the weekend.  None.  And I am not sure how to deal with this.  Seriously.  I started making a list and got as far as "get a pedicure'.  It is not like I don't have anything to do.  But isn't it nice once in awhile to not have a list or an agenda and just go with it? 

Thank you to Summer of Design is Mine for making me the blog of the week.  Although we don't know each other, I think there is a chance the she and I were separated at birth as far as design goes.  I love everything she blogs about.

 

snack bags

I am thinking of how I can cut down on my use of Ziploc baggies.  I think these are perfect.
Reusable Snack Bags in Mint Stripe from Plum Creek.

PS.  Mamamade sells reusable snack bags as well.  It seems like she is out of stock right now.  But check back.