We had quite a weekend: Sunday

After recovering from all the green beans we snapped, and other "events" that took place on Saturday, we celebrated Jeff's 40th birthday on Sunday.  We had a fun time and I think I got too involved on rubbing in the fact that Jeff is 5 years older than me, especially this year.  Because I have five more years before I hit the hill going 40!  Ha!

Skylar, Scottie, Jeff, and Shane.

Cucumbers from our own garden!

My '40' glasses.  I was a bit disappointed to find very little ideas for a 40-year birthday party online.  So I had to come up with clever ways to bring some life to ordinary pieces.  I think these jars were a great addition.  These are just simple Ball® jars with Elmers poster paint on them. 

Poster board with the same paint pen used.

Same here with the black poster board and the white paint pen.  These tombstones are made of drywall, cut with a jig-saw into the shape of a headstone.  They are from my Halloween stash.

I decided there was enough black and white for the party, so I brought some color to the cake.  Jeff loved it!

He was only given what all "old men" need after 40.  Ha!

Skylar and I got Jeff a metal-detector for his birthday.  We feel that every old man should have one.  Ha!

A bag full of everything of 40 count.  40 straws, 40 Jelly Beans, 40 Swedish Fish, 40 Goldfish Crackers, 40 Life Savers Mints, 40 Andes Mints, 40 Lemon Heads, 40 Stickers, and 40 Smiley Faces.  

40 Sucks!  

(Pinterest Credit:  Vicki Bramer via spottedcanary.com) 

We had a great time and Jeff brought in his 40 years with a laugh and a smile.  Happy Birthday Boodie Tuesday!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!  :-)

Eco-Tip:  Make the switch to energy savings by changing out at least one light bulb in your home.  An energy saving light bulb with the Energy Star label can save you about $20-$60 over the course of its burning life.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

We had quite a weekend: Saturday

We had quite a weekend this past two days.  We spent Saturday gathering green beans together and picking about 2,000 beans (no joke), and then celebrated Jeff's birthday on Sunday (he turned 40).  Let me tell ya, today is a day of rest for me for sure.  Skylar decided he wanted to stay home from school and you know what, I let him.  I didn't feel like getting up and around, packing a lunch, or even moving from my warm bed when the alarm went off at 6:30 this morning.  One day off isn't all that bad, so here's a recap, in pictures, of what we did.

We started off Saturday by replanting a few plants for the fall, and then picking all the green beans we could possibly pick. 

(The above pictures were taken right before I took a major tumble down the back steps.  I hit my head and slipped my shoulder out of place. :-(  It was/is a bummer).

Our crop of green beans has taken off so fast.  I was actually shocked at how quickly the vines took over the east end of the raised beds.

It almost ended up being a jumbled mess at times, but we trimmed and cut back as we could.  Honestly, I feel like we just couldn't stay ahead of the climb.

TONS OF GREEN BEANS!

PITA wanted to try one after we brought the buckets in.  As you can see below, he quickly changed his mind.

After picking, stringing, snapping, and bagging, we realized we have enough green beans to tide us over for several months.  This is a good thing though!

Green Beans anyone?

Eco-Tip:  Decline the use of a plastic bag whenever possible.  Every year 100 billion plastic bags go into landfills and it takes up to 500 years for one bag to decay while laying there on the earth.  Use a reusable shopping bag for every trip, every time, every purchase.  For this and other green tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Spark of Love this Week: Mouse-keteers, Bike, Stickers, Oil, and Card.

These mice.

Because I found "The Three Mouse-keteers" in the bottom of an empty dog food bag in our garage.  I didn't have the heart to harm them, so I set them free near the river.  I know, craziness, but I felt good afterward, it was the right thing to do.

This bicycle.

Because for $29, we got a good deal on a transition bicycle for Skylar to learn to use hand brakes.  He will be set to take off on long rides once he masters the concept of the hand brake.  He is doing great with it too!

The back of this car.

Because it just says all the right things.

This olive oil.

Because I got it for under $8 and it's the best olive oil I've ever used.  It's from a company called Nektar. 

This birthday card.

Even though this card was from a few birthdays ago, it's still my favorite one.  I turned 35 on August 35th and while I was packing away the cards I had received this year, this one caught my eye.  It's from my brother who lives in Arkansas while I am here in Oregon.  This card was the best gift that year when I was so sad that I couldn't spend it with family.  Fortunately, I was able to fly to Arkansas and spend my birthday  with him, and we had a blast!  He is the greatest brother any sister could ever want!  

Random Photo of the Week:

Eco-Tip:  Using baking soda throughout your house is a great way to stay green with your cleaning routine.  Baking soda mixed with water, vinegar, or even essential oils can clean just about anything with a bit of elbow grease with it.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

  

How to make your own MetroMint Water

I have always loved MetroMint and when I first started drinking it the company only put out Peppermint Water and Spearmint Water.  Now there is all sorts of other flavors like, CherryMint, and LemonMint, and even GooseberryMint.  But the price of each bottle soon adds up, so I went on a hunt to find out how to make my own in a pinch and here is what I discovered.

I used the peppermint herb for my water, but spearmint or even peppermint essential oil (Mentha piperita) could be used.

What I found with the essential oil though, it wouldn't dissolve.  You know, because water doesn't mix with oil.  But if you were in a hurry just to get the mint flavor, I could see dropping a few drops in the water and making a dash to the gym or work in the morning with it.  No harm there.  

Here's what I did with my mint-water:   I took a few snips of leaves from my peppermint herb.  

Washed them thoroughly and cut them into smaller pieces.  I then boiled them for about 30 minutes over high heat.

Then strained out the leaves from the water.  

I smashed them a bit with the backside of a spoon just to make sure all the oils from the leaves were extracted.

I allowed it to cool to room temperature and then placed it in my fridge.

I poured 1/2 cup of peppermint water to 32 oz. of water in my water bottle.  It works best when the water is ice cold.  It has a slight tint to it from the leaves, but it taste the same.  You can even add this to some lemon water and get the same flavor as LemonMint.  Be sure when you use any type of essential oils (especially citrus) that you store those in glass containers.  The oils will eat through and break down plastic containers.

Enjoy your homemade MetroMint® water! :-)

(Metromint water is a registered trademark of Soma Beverage Company, LLC.)

Eco-Tip:  Unplug your chargers once you are finished with them.  Even though the phone, Kindle, or other electronic device isn't hooked up, electricity is still being used.  So unplug and save power.  For this and other green tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

      

Seed Bead Ornament

I've recently taken up the love of working with seed beads.  Through BeeSpa I have grown to love seed beads more and more because they are so fun to work with when creating just about anything.  This recent project was more of an experiment than anything else, but it came out better than I expected.  Here's how it's done.

What you'll need:
1,000+ glass seed beads of different colors.
 Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Hemp Twine, or wire.
Star design cut-out or plastic made ornament.

I went with three different colors, as shown.  I started with a star design I found in a magazine a few years back, but you can use any design you want.  A good start would be a design like this here.  You can even start with a plastic design similar to the one pictured HERE.  Save the image to your computer, adjust the size you want and then print.

Once your star is printed, or the design you picked, lay it on newspaper and cover with a sheet of wax paper.  Trace on top of the wax paper the exact image that's underneath.  There is no rush here so take your time.  The image itself can be a bit messy, but don't go too far off pattern.  Be sure and make a small loop of glue at the top to hang the pattern later.

Once the image has been traced in hot glue, allow to dry completely and remove from the wax paper.  You want to keep the wax paper underneath it while you set the beads, but you don't want it to stick to the paper anymore.  Once your image has been lifted from the wax paper, you can begin setting your seed beads to the design where you want them to be.  I worked in small areas at a time so that I didn't get too many seed beads in one area and they didn't attach completely.  Start from the outside in and lay a dab of glue in one area and apply your seed beads, as shown above. 

For the outer, orange circle, I applied a circle of glue and then sprinkled seed beads on top.  I went back over the area with more seed beads and smashed them into the circle of glue.  I repeated the same process for the blue and then again for the center orange, as well.  I allowed each section to dry completely before going onto another section, that way the colors didn't mix with each other.

Once your design is covered in the seed beads and has fully dried.  Attach a small twine of hemp string to the top and hand in a window.  You can even use this method for custom gift tags and name plates.  

Drawing with hot glue is fun, but takes practice.  You can get the same results with Puffy Paint, if you wanted to mix the colors up and do a contrast.  

Eco-Tip:  Save water when you flush the toilet.  If you don't have a water-saving toilet opt for for one in the future, or get the same water-saving satisfaction by placing a brick or large stone in your toilet's tank.  For this and other green tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.