Green Options » thrifting

Carnival of Green Crafts #2 (and An Invitation To All of You)

Skye Kilaen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:27:51 +0000

The second Carnival of Green Crafts is now posted at BlogHer. Crafts and DIY editor Deb Roby has done a fabulous job, so head on over and check out what she’s whipped up. I think the haiku is my favorite.

We have been so pleased that so many green crafters and craft aficionados out there have sent in posts, commented, and visited the carnivals thus far. For those who haven’t, we have the following invitation for you:

Submit one of your posts! Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. The next two carnivals will be here at Crafting A Green World and then at Whip Up. The blog carnival submission form is the easiest way for us to keep straight who’s sent in what, but if it gives you fits then email us at greencraftscarnival (at) gmail (dot) com.
Suggest someone else’s post! If you see a post out there and you think “this would be perfect for that green craft carnival thingy,” then by all means let us know about it. We’ll touch base with the author and make sure it’s ok with them before we link to it.
Host a carnival! If you want to be more involved in the green craft community or get more exposure for your blog, hosting a carnival is a great way to do it. Don’t be scared, we’ll help make it easy and fun.
Let us know about your blog! We love it when people send in their posts, but we also know that people get busy. So we have come knocking to several of you and asked for permission to include your posts. We’d also love to build up a list of blogs that hosts can pick from and know that the blog owner is fine with being included in the carnival whenever.So if you have a blog, and it has some green crafting content, and you just keep forgetting to send in a post - or if you’re shy about submitting - leave your blog’s address in the comments here. You can feel free to send in a post when you have something you’re extra proud of, but we’ll also keep an eye on it and quite possibly surprise you.

So that’s our invitation to you, to help make this carnival a fun community event. Let us know if you have any other thoughts as well.

Carnival of Green Crafts #1

Skye Kilaen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:11:13 +0000

Welcome to the first Carnival of Green Crafts!

For more information about the Carnival, please see the Carnival of Green Crafts home page here at Crafting A Green World.

We’re pleased as punch to announce that the next Carnival will be August 9th at BlogHer, courtesy of Hobbies, Crafts & DIY Contributing Editor Debra Roby. Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today!

Thanks so much to all the crafters who shared their posts with us for this Carnival. Let’s dig in!

Alternatives to Batting for the Green Quilter

Skye Kilaen — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:06:50 +0000

In Kelly’s recent post Tools To Use: Batting, she outlined several organic and sustainable choices for quilt batting - including my favorite, Hobbs Heirloom Organic Cotton Batting. Kelly was curious, though, about re-using old blankets or sheets instead.

Being creative with your quilt ingredients is part of the history of quilting. Now granted, many of the choices that early quilters made were due to economic constraints. I suspect that if the pioneers had sewing machines and fabric shops readily and affordably available, a lot of them would have taken advantage of those options. However, quilting does have a historical ethic of conservation and re-use. Quilters today manifest this ethic through the obsessive saving of fabric scraps too small for any reasonable project, “just in case.”

So if you’re willing to look past batting, there are other earth-friendly alternatives for your quilt’s insides. Your linen closet, thrift stores, or donations from other people’s sewing supplies may provide just what you need.

What Can You Do With Sheets?

Skye Kilaen — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:24:36 +0000

A couple of months ago, I bought a super-cute twin size sheet at Goodwill. Originally from Target, and probably sold in a package very much like the one pictured here, my sheet has spirograph-esque designs in mauve, persimmon, and lime on a white background. It was $5 with its matching pillowcase. I thought that was a bit high, but I had fallen in love with it, so it came home with me.

Problem #1: Nothing in my house is mauve, persimmon, or lime.

Problem #2: I don’t have a twin size bed.

So what do I do with this sheet?

Granted, sheets are just really big pieces of fabric, so there are plenty of options. But this sheet is so cute, I want to use it for something special.