Friday, January 28, 2011

Posting Again.... What I've been doing lately of Pincushions and Going Green

Well, I haven't really been keeping up with either of my blogs.  I am going to find a focus for each one and post on a regular basis.

I spent from November through half of January sick with something that affected my lungs dramatically.  Thank goodness I have short term disability insurance!  I am just getting back to work slowly, and getting my strength back after spending so much time stuck in bed.  So far it's going pretty well.

Of Pincushions 

While I was laid up I did spend a little bit more time crafting than I have in a long time.  I have taken to making those bottle cap pincushions that are so popular.  I have been using the pop bottle caps that most people use, but I have also been using different size caps, like Sobe, and even the lids to prescription stock bottles from the pharmacy I work in.  I wash my old flattened out pillows and use the polyester fill in them to stuff my pincushions, or I use the cotton I save from the pharmacy.

and Going Green...

Which brings us to my next topic...going green.  I have been recycling for years...I have always had to fight the rest of my family about it, but they are getting better.  It is pretty easy to recycle where I live.  We don't have to sort, wash, or peel of labels, which are all things we used to have to do.  So I don't know why it is such a hassle to the kids to recycle.  I have a bin in the house, so it's either recycling or not.  They do have to rinse out food from cans to keep the dog from going through the recycling, but that's it.  We have this HUGE recycling bin, and this tiny garbage can.  Recycling is free, garbage is not...I told the kids to do the math if they didn't care about he enviroment.

So, I thought they were doing better, they don't like to watch me dig though the garbage and pull out the recyclables.  Today is garbage day, and we forgot to put the bins out.  So I yelled for the kids to help me and started hauling things out.  When I got the bags from the kids, I asked which was recycling and which was garbage.  My 20 year old son says "Oh mom, it doesn't matter one time"....  So, I took the bags out to the cans and went though them.  At least 75% of what they wanted to throw away was recycling.

So, how do you get your kids and other family members on the recycling bandwagon?  Not to mention, upcycling, re-using and reducing.  Which brings us back to my pincushions, which are made entirely from recycled or reclaimed materials.  I'll try and post some pictures later.