Living Green Archives - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

How to Make Eco-Friendly Party Decor

June 1, 2016 by Ashley Hackshaw

This month’s theme as a Michaels Maker was summer celebrations and I wanted to show how to make your own eco-friendly party decor. Since every other recent post has been about chickens I thought I’d just continue that theme as well. I’ve been wanting to have an open house for the new chicken coop, or an “open coop” as I guess that would be called:

Since we are really into re-use and composting I wanted to make the majority of the DIY party decor eco-friendly:

Here are a few ideas for a more eco-friendly party:

**Use plain, uncoated paper goods that will break down and compost quickly.**

It’s easy to make eco-friendly party supplies for any theme party if you take just a little time to make a custom stamp. You can stamp kraft paper tablecloths, kraft wrapping paper, and even napkins. I made a few stamps for this party theme…because unfortunately “Open Coop” party supplies aren’t the biggest seller out there:

To trace it I draw or print off an image and rub pencil all over the backside of the image:

Then I turn the image over onto a Easy Carve Stamp Block by Speedball and trace:

When traced the image will be left behind:

Then you can slowly carve out around the image using this Speedball carving tool:

You can even carve text! I printed out the words “open coop” on the computer. Just remember that when you draw an image that when it is stamped it will be reversed…so you need to draw the picture on your stamp in reverse. An easy way to reverse an image before tracing is to just put a piece of paper on top and hold the paper up to a window and trace.

To make my decor I just set up an assembly line of stamping…like for this chicken banner printed on card stock:

You can mix in ready-made letter stamps too!

**Start collecting re-usable containers that will withstand heavy use.**

I love the idea of re-usable containers for parties…like these adorable little galvanized bins that I used for popcorn:

I always love using kraft paper for my party supplies and decor because it’s easily matched and also compostable:

Who doesn’t love Smores?

Michaels has these packs of wood berry baskets that are easily stamped:

Wood, kraft paper, and metal galvanized bin can be mixed and matched into a great combination of textures for any party theme:

Paper straws in mason jars add can easily add interesting pattern contrast:

I mixed and matched kraft cardstock and white cardstock to make banners. If you make enough banners you don’t need any balloons! After the party is over the images can be cut out and used for something else: journaling, handmade cards etc.

Notice the imperfections I left in my stamping! It adds handmade character!

Also, you can’t go wrong with mason jars for drinks!

A few other easy tips:

Provide clearly labeled bins and containers to make recycling and composting easy.
Skip the plastic toys or grab bags and allow people to take home bits of your handmade decor instead.
Plan ahead and buy local produce from the farmer’s market.

If you need more help on stamping check out this easy foam stamp tutorial!

And more ideas here for stamping:

From paper crafts, party goods and baking supplies to new outdoor lighting, glass and floral, Michaels is your DIY destination for all of your summer celebrations.

Be sure to check out all of the other Michaels Makers DIY summer party ideas on the Michaels blog.

P.S. I have a stack of little chicken stamped journals that I made for this project! If you would like one leave a comment and in two weeks I’ll randomly pick three people to send them out to.

You can also visit the other summer celebration ideas below:

[Read more…]

Building Raised Garden Beds

September 22, 2015 by Ashley Hackshaw

My fall garden is planted! While we were working on the picket fence for the garden around the train depot we were also working on raised garden beds:

I knew that I wanted to use cedar to keep my garden chemical free, that I wanted to stay away from pallets and any pressure-treated or chemically-treated wood:

I ordered the cedar wood from Lowe’s for 7 foot by 4 foot beds that would be 12″ tall. Each bed consists of two of these 6″ tall rectangles that we cut and assembled using deck screws. (For special widths and customized lengths check with your local Pro Services department.)

All the rectangles stacked up and ready to move towards the garden:

4″ x 4″ cedar posts were cut to 12″ and placed in the corners of boxes. The 3″ deck screws were drilled in high on one side…

…and then low on the other:

Alternated so they wouldn’t hit each other:

We moved them down to the garden one by one and leveled them using the existing dirt. Where there was a slope we used the post hole bar to dig a little trench for one side. If they start to move around put in a few rebar stakes at the inside corners but they aren’t going anywhere right now:

To fill the beds I used a mixture of 1/3 native soil from our yard, 1/3 manure (bagged), and 1/3 top soil* (bagged):

*You can also substitute Nature’s Helper or really high quality compost for the top soil if you have it available.

The native soil was just tilled up in another section of the yard (where it wouldn’t be missed) and added first as a base. We added more native soil to mix in with the manure and top solid:

Then we added a few bags of aged cow manure and top soil:

Our soil is fairly acidic so I talked to our local NC State Agriculture Agent Christy to see how much lime I should add to the soil:

The most accurate way to add lime would be to have the soil tested for it’s pH levels but the rule of thumb in the area I live in is 4 pounds of lime per 100 square feet. For each 28 square foot bed that translated to about 1.1 pounds of lime per bed. I measured it out using a small postage scale:

Sprinkled in the lime:

And tilled the dirt by hand to mix it all up:

Then it was time to plant some seed for the fall garden:

After a few days my kale plants are already sprouting!

Kale is a very hardy plant in the cool weather. A great resource for fall planting can be found here.

I’ve left a little room in the garden for more beds eventually but I’m not sure what shape those will take yet:

One last note: I wouldn’t suggest using pallets or discarded wood for raised beds. Many pallets and treated wood have chemicals in them that can end up in your food. Hardwoods such as redwood, cedar and juniper are great for garden beds and will resist rot. It involves a little more upfront cost but at least your garden will be organic!

Stayed tuned to see upcoming DIY projects involving the garden and the train depot! Oh and the pea gravel…my favorite. Stay tuned for that too.

You can follow along real time at @lilblueboo on Instagram.

All the projects are indexed here:

Click here to read more about the Old Depot Project.

The Old Depot Project is sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement.

Safe Products for My Kid

September 15, 2015 by Ashley Hackshaw

I wrote a long article recently about the “Never List” i.e. things you should never use on your skin. Since the FDA does very little to regulate anything that goes onto our skin (and my child’s skin), I’ve become my own regulator. The goal we’ve set in our own house is simple: SIMPLIFY. That means: we use less of everything.

The less products we use:

the less exposure to chemicals.
the less accumulation of chemicals in our bodies.
the more I can keep up with what we are using.

Here’s what Boo uses from Beauty Counter’s Kids Counter line:

My kid can go through products like they are water so I make smaller batches for her in smaller bottles. She’s much more good at rationing what she uses that way.

We don’t really use lotion, but if we need to we just use organic coconut oil mixed with a Young Living oil such as Stress Away, Lavender or Thieves. If she has a cold we mix in a few drops of RC Essential Oil and it relieves coughing and congestion without using scary petroleum products like vapor rub. Lavender is also great for cuts and scrapes and we use Purification oil on bug bites or any other itching to relieve it right away.

I try to keep up with the Environmental Working Group’s news as much as possible but there is a lot to digest. It’s full of great information on consumer products, pesticides, GMOs, etc and you can start here:

Find out how safe your personal care products are in the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.
Get a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce
Find out how your home cleaning products rate in EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning

I’m not a model environmental citizen in any of these areas but I try my best to do the right thing, which is sometimes just passing along the resources and information so others can make their own decisions. So don’t take my word for any of it, just start reading and fall down the rabbit hole with me.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Young Living and I am a consultant for Beauty Counter. No one asked me to be. I do it because I want to share what I love.

Please help reduce the chemicals that are building up in our environment. Small steps.

And if you’d like to support my Beauty Counter shop and/or sign up for yourself you can click here or click the lovely image below. I would love to help you find the right products and/or have you on my team if this speaks to you.