Organic Lifestyle

Eco-friendly Christmas Tree Craft Tutorial, or… how to distract your kids while you get some stuff done around the house this holiday season

I can barely call this a tutorial because it is just gluing paper on a cone shape, but that is the genius of this sweet little craft. I first showed this post last Christmas, and as we pulled these trees out from storage this year my daughter begged to make more.  So see?  Even though it is soooo easy and barely requires five minutes of adult set up/supervision, it is something your kids will love, enjoy, and be proud of years later. If you need to get some stuff done around the house and need an easy distraction for the …

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Firestarter Tutorial

Temps are dipping into the cold near-freezing numbers at night here in SC, and instead of turning on my heat, we’ve been having lovely evening fires to heat the house. So that means, starting a fire.  Which can sometimes be frustrating, but not so when you have a fabbo, eco-friendly, completely free, made from stuff lying around your home fire starter on hand!   I originally published this tutorial last May, and I’ve been using my firestarters like crazy.  So I thought this would be the perfect time to re-post… enjoy!!! xoxo, Laura     Ready to get started? Here …

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Cold Relief Kit

I recently cleaned out my bathroom cabinets, and got them stocked and ready for this fall and winter. Fresh coconut oil for chapped winter skin, Vitamin D and fish oil and Vitamin C supplements to boost our immune system… and THESE indispensible products from Lana Bella:       My favorite soaps on earth. I love them so much, I’ve blogged about them before. Lots of hand washing throughout the cold and flu season is the #1 thing you can do to protect yourself from getting sick. I believe it is more important than supplements, then a flu shot, then …

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Gazing balls for your gorgeous fall yard… craft tutorial

“Gazing Balls” just doesn’t sound right, does it? I mean, I have a spam filter and all, but dang. Gazing balls? I almost wrote “Glitter Balls” but oh my goodness that’s worse. So “Gazing Balls” it is. Overlook the name. Ahem. Because this craft is a really fun and simple one to do outside with your children this fall. Everyone loves the cooler weather and the bright, vibrant colors that fall brings, right? Why not capitalize on all this fall freshness and add some sparkle to your fading garden beds, getting them beautiful for the darker, colder winter months ahead. …

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Guest Posting on Delia Creates!

Hello Monday. Today my week starts off to a great start, as I am guest posting on one of my favorite blogs, Delia Creates. She is running my crayon melt tutorial, and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve followed her blog from the very beginning… she and I started our blogs at about the same time, and watching her blog grow and evolve has given me plenty of inspiration to put my heart into my own blog as well. Not to mention she is a fabulous photographer and her crafting and recipes feed the artsy and cozy side of my soul. …

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Saving Summers Seeds (say that three times fast!)

Remember my tutorial, back in June, about allowing some of your garden fruits and veggies to go to seed and how to harvest and save them for replanting? If enjoy gardening, you’ll take twice as much pride and twice as much pleasure in planting seeds that you’ve saved from your own garden.   Propagating your own garden from your own seeds means you have basically a free garden, assuming you use your own compost for fertilizer. That’s my goal… add one or two new crops to the mix each year, but re-grow my old faves from the previous year’s seed. So …

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Grape Jelly Time

Around here in SC we are wrapping up grape picking season. You have another week or so to get yourself (and your kids!) out there picking the lovely muscadine grapes that are growing right on the vine. After you come home with them, you’ll want to be sure to make the easiest jelly on earth out of ’em. This is my favorite preserve to make, because there is no hulling, cutting, dicing, getting the seeds out, milling, peeling, etc… that comes along with strawberry jelly, apple jelly, cherry, etc. I guess it’s about equal to making my other favorite preserve, …

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