How to Make Your Thanksgiving Eco-Friendly

When I think of Thanksgiving, family comes to mind and I'm thankful to have such a wonderful support system in my life. I also think of turkey and all the food that comes with it when we gather together for a feast. I think of fall colors (not the snow and frigid weather outside my window right now) and realize Christmas is right around the corner.

As an eco-friendly crafter, I created three projects with Thanksgiving in mind. I have Halloween decorations, but not many Thanksgiving items to put out in the fall. The projects below will last the entire season.

Twine Bottle

I've been collecting empty bottles since there are so many ways to upcycle them. This particular bottle is from the Mexican soda Jarritos. It has a cool texture and I didn't want to cover the entire bottle with twine. Find out how you can make it on the Glue Dots Blog.

Fall Votive Candle

Who doesn't love burlap and chevron right now? When shopping for projects, you'll want to look for natural fiber items like jute twine and burlap. And I've always promoted eco-friendly and recycled cardstock like the kraft paper shown above. The supply list and directions can be found here.

Thankful Spool Centerpiece

This is a perfect addition to the projects above and includes the same type of embellishments in the supply list. Visit the Glue Dots Blog to find out how I made it.

Now that we've greened-up our Thanksgiving decorations, how else can we make a day of thanks also a day to be eco-conscious?

Green Thanksgiving Tips

1. Support local farmers' markets and stores when shopping for your meal. If the budget allows, choose organic foods.
2. Use recipes that allow you to make your food from scratch. I recently made a green bean casserole I found on Pinterest. Instead of canned soup, I made a homemade cream sauce and the result was delicious.
3. Eat dinner by candlelight (see projects above).
4. Ditch the paper plates and disposable napkins and cups. This is the perfect time to bring out those cloth napkins you rarely use. You can also invest in a nice place setting to use for years to come or find an assortment of pieces at a secondhand store.
5. Avoid the aerosol sprays and scent your home by simmering a pot of cinnamon sticks.
6. Recycle packaging, cans or bottles used to make your meal.
7. Compost scraps of vegetables and other leftovers.
8. Plant a thankful tree with your family.

Have another green Thanksgiving idea? Share it in the comments! ~Danielle

Related:

Kid's Craft Tutorial: Newspaper Leaf Wreath

Home Decor Tutorial: Repurposed Pie Pan

Photo Collage Pumpkin Centerpiece

From Picture Frame to Dry Erase Board

As I began purging my household of unwanted things for my upcoming move, I stopped when I looked at an old framed poster of the ocean. It hung in the bathroom and acted as a reminder of where I'd like to vacation one day. It's not the most beautiful thing on the walls of my home, but I liked looking at it in a locked bathroom during my mini-breaks from the chaotic life of being a stay-at-home mom.

Instead of keeping or donating it, I chose to transform the frame into something new:

Dry Erase Board

See how I made it on the Glue Dots Blog! ~Danielle

Related Glue Dots Projects:

Upcycled Diorama

Chalkboard Headband Storage

Upcycled Pencil Storage

DIY Ombre Cork Board

Too many wine corks? No problem! Let's get crafty! Check out my recent Glue Dots® project:

Ombre Cork Board

Find the supply list and directions on the Glue Dots Blog. ~Danielle

Related:

Wine Cork Bird House

Upcycled Flower Carrier

Repurposed Pie Pan

It's a Blog Hop with Glue Dots & Marion Smith Designs

After an incredibly long and cold winter, I'm happy to see green grass and the flowers in full bloom. To celebrate the season, Glue Dots and Marion Smith Designs have teamed up for a blog hop, as well as introduce the new Glue Dots blog!

Upon receiving Junque & Jems and the Never Grow Up paper collection from Marion Smith Designs, I was inspired to create an upcycled diorama with my stash of Glue Dots.

Let's have a look:

Upcycled Diorama

Supplies:

Glue Dots® (assorted)

Glue Dots Desktop Dispenser

Marion Smith Designs paper

Marion Smith Design embellishments

cardstock (green, blue)

aluminum roasting pan

butterfly punch

EK Success fence

small flower pot

floral foam

moss

miniature beehive

fishing line

wire

The new Glue Dots Desktop Dispenser made it easy to attach punched butterflies to the paper tree I created:

and the floral embellishments to wire for the flower pot:

After attaching the background and paper tree to the roasting pan, I added clouds with Pop Up Glue Dots®, doubling up for more dimension:

and hung a couple with fishing wire:

Then I pulled out the XXL Glue Dots® to secure the rolled moss to the bottom of the diorama:

I also used an XXL Glue Dot® to keep the flower pot in place before using Glue Dots Glue Lines® to attach a popsicle stick to the back of the cut-out girl:

This allows her to stay standing and move around within the scene.

What a doll! I wish you can stay and play for a bit, but it's time to continue the blog hop and have a chance to win some goodies!

Dawn Barrett

Donna Budzynski

Erin Bullock

Joy Dickson

Jessica Griffin

You're here--> Danielle Hunter

Samantha Taylor

Grace Tolman

Marion Smith Designs Blog: Day 1 & Day 2

Find Marion Smith items at Scrapbook.com and BlueMoonScrapbooking.com. 

Glue Dots® products are available online at Jo-Ann.com or at your local Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.

Are you ready for a chance to win?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to stop by the new Glue Dots blog, visit our group of designers and say hello to all the designers from the Marion Smith team. Good luck! A winner will be announced on June 13th! ~Danielle

A Very Recycled Scrapbook Page

As I participated in Layout a Day last month and worked on my dog's tribute album, one of my favorite challenges was to use items not typically found in a scrapbook store. As the EcoScrapbooker, I definitely went overboard and turned trash to treasure!

Let's count the recycled items on this page...

1. Background Cardstock: It's made by Wausau and was purchased at an office supply store. The paper is recycled and FSC-certified.

2. Decorative Cardstock: BasicGrey is found in scrapbook stores, but it's one of my favorite companies to scrapbook with since their papers are FSC-certified and use soy based inks.

3. Journaling Bubble: This is the back of a Christmas gift tag and I added Pop Up Glue Dots to bring it up off the page a bit.

4. Page Title: A sweater I received for Christmas came with this "delicate and special" tag which I thought was perfect for a scrapbook page about bringing home a new baby and introducing her to the family dog.

5. Flower Petal: The white stamped flower petal was used during the baby shower for my daughter in 2002!

6. Earbuds: I've had a pair of broken earbuds and have been waiting to use them. I thought they'd work well with the serrated edges from a box of aluminum foil (close-up below).

7. "Love" Tag: This was a leftover tag from my birdseed ornaments. It's made from a toilet paper roll and paper scraps.

8. Aluminum Foil Cutter: Hmmm, what to do with the serrated edge of an aluminum foil box when it's time to recycle the box? You scrapbook with it! Be careful though and use Glue Dots Glue Lines to adhere it to the page.

9. Vintage Lace Ribbon: My husband's grandmother gave me a tin full of ribbon scraps, buttons and other do-dads. The vintage lace fit the theme of the page - "delicate and special."

10. Bread Clip: I started saving bread clips a while back and think they make interesting additions to scrapbook pages. Not convinced? Check out the colorful scrapbook layout I made for the ZISierra Blog.

11. Produce Mesh: A little knot around the bread clip added a pop of red to balance the red heart on the toilet paper roll tag.

12. Fabric Flower: My mother-in-law made custom curtains for our dining and living rooms and I kept the leftover fabric to make crafty things like this fabric flower topped with an old brown button. 

What's your favorite recycled item to scrapbook with? ~Danielle

Related:

Layout a Day is Over & I'm Still Scrapbooking

Happy Pages From the Pet Memorial Scrapbook

Pet Memorial Scrapbook: The First & Last Pages

Valentine's Day Craft Projects

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I've been filling up on gourmet chocolates! To celebrate the holiday of love, I've gathered together three of my favorite Valentine's Day craft projects (free of extra calories).

1. Birdseed Ornaments + Upcycled Tags

Supplies: Craft Glue Dots®, toilet paper rolls, tag stencil (2 3/8" x 9/16") + small hole punch OR tag punch, brown ink, small bird stamp, small letter stamps, white cardstock, red cardstock, heart punch (1"), brown buttons, white floss, hemp rope, birdseed ornaments (click here for directions).

2. Coaster Scrapbook

Supplies: Glue Dots® (Micro, Lines, Ultra-Thin), Maya Road coaster book, Fancy Pants cardstock, BoBunny journal pages, Basic Grey stickers, Prima flower, StazOn black ink, small hole punch, square photos, white cardstock, paper trimmer.

3. Upcycled Chocolate Box Decoration

Supplies: 3 Valentine's Day chocolate box lids (small, medium, large), Glue Dots® (Lines, XXL), drill, fishing line, ribbon (2 1/2" wide), scissors, Maya Road star pins.

Hope your Valentine's Day is sweet! ~Danielle

Related:

Trinket Box Video Tutorial
Repurposed Pie Pan
Toilet Paper Roll Chandelier

2013 Highlights & What to Expect in 2014

Happy New Year! I'm back from a two week break and ready to get things rolling for 2014! Hope your holidays were happy and you're as excited for the new year as I am. Before we get into EcoScrapbook of 2014, let's have a look back at 2013.

The most exciting event of 2013 was the release of EcoScrapbooking: Crafty Ideas for Eco-Conscious Scrapbookers, a collaborative eBook by creative minds:

It's free to read online or download. If you haven't done so already, check it out and get eco-inspired this year as you scrapbook!

Another accomplishment was the completion of three Layout A Days, including one where I was a featured scrapbooker. Click the links see the layouts from February, May and October. You can join me for the next one in February as we discover ways to break all those scrapbooking rules! Click here to view more details

In 2013, a few of my projects became famous! Check out my googly-eyed Easter eggs on the Reader's Digest website! Then there was this rainbow craft project from 2011 that has been pinned and recreated countless times and brought in a ton of traffic from Facebook:

The biggest hit of last year, bringing in over 10,000 visitors in March, were the toilet paper roll Easter bunnies I made for Glue Dots:

I also took a road trip and taught my largest class at the Memories Scrapbooking Expo in Columbus:

visited the Jillibean's store:

and set up a table at a school's holiday gift shop:

Another cool thing of 2013 was when I shared my old scrapbooks with you. This one was from 23 years ago:

And here's a scrapbook from a few years later:

Now that we reviewed the old, what's new for 2014?

I've always wanted to incorporate stories about people, particularly from the younger generations, who are making a difference in the world by being "green."

I will continue focusing on eco-friendly scrapbooking and crafting as I dig into my stash of saved goodies. And I plan to experiment with more alternative ways to scrapbook. Like my 2012 Instagram scrapbook, I will make a 2013 book of square prints, but this time it'll be Smashing! I've briefly played with a Smash Book previously, but haven't used one as a scrapbook yet.

Finally, I will memorialize my dog in a tribute post, as well as an entire scrapbook dedicated to our beloved Tabatha. New Year's Day was a sad one for our family when we discovered our 12-year-old dog unexpectedly had gastric volvulus, commonly known as bloat, and one of the main health concerns for German Shepherds. So look for that in the near future.

I don't have a plan set in "digital" stone yet as I've done in the past. Blog posts may even be limited as I wish to focus more on the world of publishing. We'll just have to wait and see what 2014 is really all about. Cheers to a new year! ~Danielle

My Girls Surprised Me With Newspaper Art

This is the week of Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for many things, most importantly, my family. I'd like to share with you three crafty projects created by my beautiful daughters who know how to put a smile on my face by turning trash to treasure.

 

The girls, ages 11 and 5, utilized leftover newspaper I had out while painting our upstairs hallway. They also used cardstock, washi tape, a star stencil, stickers and Mini Glue Dots.

Doesn't that put a smile on your face? Happy Thanksgiving! ~Danielle

Related Projects Using Newspaper:

Kid's Craft Tutorial: Newspaper Leaf Wreath

I wrapped a gift with newspaper and made a bow

Star Mirror Ornament

Gifts for $20 in 20 Minutes Blog Hop: Trinket Box Video Tutorial

Glue Dots recently challenged our design team to create handmade gifts for $20 or less that can also be made in about 20 minutes. We took the challenge and are blog-hopping to share the projects with you!

I chose to repurpose a chocolate box my husband gave me for Sweetest Day. With all the chocolate gone, I knew the empty box would be perfect for trinkets and other memorabilia.

Quick Handmade Gift: Trinket Box

I decorated the box using items from my own stash, which technically makes this a free handmade gift. For the purpose of this blog hop, I included the price of each item within my first-ever step-by-step video tutorial. Have a watch:

How did I do for my first video tutorial? I'm thinking this may be a new trend for me and like the results. There's room for improvement, but I'm feeling good about trying something new.

Now, let's get hopping! Check out the rest of the Glue Dots Team:

Glue Dots Blog
You're here--> Danielle
Dawn
Donna
Erin
Grace
Jessica
Joy
Samantha
Smitha

Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a supply of Glue Dots! A winner will be announced on Friday, November 22nd. Good luck! ~Danielle

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Glue Dots Favorite Things Blog Hop

Are you a scrapbooker, crafter, teacher, parent, home decorator... or just love Glue Dots®? Yes? Then you are in the right place! 

Welcome to the Glue Dots Favorite Things blog hop! You'll be meeting all the talented designers on the Glue Dots Resource Team and also get a chance to win some prizes!

I'm Danielle and have been designing for Glue Dots since 2010, making this my forth term on the team! 

Obviously, I love scrapbooking and crafting with Glue Dots and can never have enough Micro and Mini Glue Dots®... or even the Glue Lines®. I can't pick a favorite!

With so many Glue Dots projects under my belt and the two different blogs I've shared them on (my old and this one), my favorite thing is seeing what projects people like. 

Let's take a look at the fan favorites, my top five Glue Dots tutorials of all time, along with a couple of my recent favorites.

1. Paper Rainbow

2. Toilet Paper Roll Bunnies

3. Upcycled Toy Storage

4. Bloody Scrapbook Layout

5. Googly Eyed Easter Eggs

Honorable Mentions (a couple of my favorites)....

* Coaster Scrapbook

* Repurposed Pie Pan

All of the projects can be tweaked to your liking or for different holidays. Since we're in the fall season, imagine toilet paper roll pumpkins and bats... or use Glue Dots® to add googly eyes to your pumpkins. The ideas are limitless! Want more creativity? Check out the Glue Dots Team:

Dawn

Donna

Erin

Joy

Jessica

Danielle <--You are here!

Smitha

Samantha

Grace

And the... Glue Dots Blog

What's your favorite way to use Glue Dots? Share your thoughts below and don't forget about your chance to win an awesome supply of Glue Dots! You have until 12 p.m. CST on October 30 and a winner will be announced Halloween morning on the Glue Dots Blog. Earn extra entries by liking each team member's Twitter or Facebook pages (my Twitter & Facebook). Enter here: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway