Month: December 2013

DIY: Eco Chic Photo Canvas

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This Christmas, I am attempting to make more homemade gifts.  For your friends and family who love photos, a fun and easy project is transferring a photo onto a canvas.  After researching this on Pinterest (which has a wealth of information for DIY projects) I tried out a few different methods.  After some trial and error I finally found a method which worked for me.  For my photo transfer onto canvas, I choose one of my favorite photos of my mother and I which was taken on one of her birthdays.  Yep, the camera got me when my eyes were closed.  Nonetheless, I love this photo. What You Will Need  Canvas, photo, mod podge, paintbrush, and ribbon -which is optional- Easy Steps To Follow Step 1. Paint the canvas with mod podge Step 2. Paint the back of the photo and then carefully place the photo onto the canvas. Step 3. Add a couple of layers of mod podge over the photo.  This creates a protective seal. It will look like this.       …

Sharks Under Threat: FINdonesia Upcoming Documentary

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To date, 100 million sharks are killed every year.  Sharks are brutally slaughtered for their fins.  Despite efforts being made around the world to ban shark fin soup, and countries stepping up giving their support for the ban, unfortunately there is still a demand for shark fins.  The rapid decimation of the shark population is largely contributing to the disruption of the balance of ecosystems in the ocean.  Sharks are pivotal to the ocean’s ecosystems.  Bottom line, we cannot afford to lose sharks. As the tag line reads, from Mark Thorpe’s upcoming documentary FINdonesia, “Being #1 is not always something to be proud of” and that is the case with Indonesia being the world’s leading supplier of shark fins to the southeast Asian trade.  As a dedicated ocean conservationist with a passion for film, Mark has set out on a mission to help protect these majestic animals.  For many, he is a hero.  The aim of his documentary is to shed new light on this pressing issue, and help facilitate a resolution to end the …

Eco Chic Gift Wrapping

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  I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far!  Only now have I started tackling gift wrapping.  Personally, I enjoy gift wrapping.  Nearly every year, without fail my sister has me wrap all the gifts for her friends. One way you can incorporate being eco friendly this Christmas, is by wrapping most, if not all your gifts with newspaper.  It’s a fun way to repurpose newspaper. Use a ribbon to add a little flare.  The good thing about ribbons is that they can be reused.  If you love putting your presents in gift bags, consider purchasing a stylish reusable bag. Happy gift wrapping! With love, from one tree hugger to another, xo

Eco Chic Christmas Greetings

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‘Tis the time to start sending out Christmas Cards… One of my favorite things about Christmas is writing and mailing Christmas cards to friends and family.  I love getting cards in the mail.  However, as much as I love receiving and sending cards across the globe it adds up on its environmental impact.  For instance, “300,000 trees are cut down to fulfill the demand of Christmas cards in US each year.”  Yikes! Below are a few ideas on how to be eco friendly this Christmas. Deck The Inboxes With Christmas eCards eCards, are probably as eco friendly as it gets, since no trees are cut down to make your beautiful Christmas Card. Blue Mountain offers a range of fantastic eCards.  Homemade eCards Here is a collection of Homemade eCards, using Martha Stewart CraftStudio App available for the iPad.  It is a super easy app to use, with lots of fun options to choose from.  It includes, stamps, stickers, paper background, stencil cutouts, colorful fonts and much more!     Recycle Old Christmas Cards If you …

Which Is The Greenest Christmas Tree Of All?

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The first day of Christmas, it’s all about decorating the Christmas Tree.  Which tree is the greenest? Is it more eco friendly to have a real Christmas Tree or a faux, plastic one?  Growing up my family always use to buy have a real Christmas tree and it was always fun decorating.  An added bonus was a portion of the proceeds was donated to a charity of our choice.  One year, I was decorating the tree and my cat Poca decided to help out, she ran up the tree and of course it toppled right on me, both Poca and I were fine.  When we made the switch to a plastic tree, thinking it was more eco friendly by sparing a tree from being cut down, for some reason none of our cats bothered climbing the faux tree.  They just kept trying to knock the ornaments off the tree. I have done a little research surrounding the debate of which tree is the best choice when trying to be eco friendly and have minimal impact …