New Kitchen courtesy of Resale

I've just gotten home after a full day family fun. My only disappointment today was the realization that I was 100 tiles shy of refinishing the bathroom.

Today we visited Re-Store. Re-Store is a resale store featuring items needed to remodel an repair homes. Everything is donated or rescued from the dumpsters at job sites. This wonderful store is run laby Habitat for Humanity and everything you purchase goes to funding new homes for people that need them!

After spending 2 hours sorting through 8x8in tiles I finally realized I would be 100 tiles short of the 260 I need. *sigh* Oh well, I can try again later.

Stay green, Yasha

Another score!

This "dumpster" score brought to you by a closing daycare. Any time a day care or preschool closes, moves, or wants to update equipment check with them to see if they are willing to part with older equipment and toys for cheap or free.

Here are some things I acquired for free:

 A Swing! Hooray! This one works!








A sink and Stove combo! I'll have to build a refrigerator and install some shelves under the sink for storage but it's very promising!







Some things I scored from dumpsters and lucky finds!

 Lucky Find! A Friend found this for me and saved it! It's a child's card table with matching chair.

 That same awesome friend found this couch for the kids. It was actually less stained before my kids got a hold of it!

 My Luckiest dumpster find! A working non smelly couch! It's lazy boy brand and works perfectly. I couldn't figure out why they tossed it except that it was stained and had a few tears.

And a like-new very sturdy bookshelf for the kids!

Stay green,
Yasha

Use It Up, Wear It Out...

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. That's what grandma said right? I try to take it to heart at our house so food, clothes, and other assorted things don't usually get wasted.

This is a big reason I shop used stores. I feel bad paying full price for kids clothes that I know they will grow out of before they get a hole in them.

I've scored pretty big over the years by shopping used but the biggest score is using it until it wears out completely. Take these shoes for instance. My favorite sandals have lasted me 4+ years of heavy wear. These poor shoes are practically the only thing I have worn in warm weather during that time.

It may now be time for new shoes but by using up my shoes until they have completely worn out I have probably saved about $40. That isn't much to some people but it's a day's worth of meals for my family.

Hope this inspires you to keep something a bit longer than you would normally!

Stay green,
Yasha

The coffee table said what!?

Well let me just go deal with that!

Ok I'm back and I think the coffee table took the worst of it. Ok, ok. I'm not punishing the family coffee table. I'm merely bringing it new life. Follow along with my sporadic posts as I refinish this wonderful piece of history. Well it should be history. At least if you consider a hand me down from your mother in law a piece of history.

Step one: Sanding off the old finish.
We'll call this step half done.

My "new" old picture frames

I have some old picture frames that just don't match. You know the kind, every shape, size, material, and color ever thought of. Some how my taste has changed over the years and I decided to buy new frames while never throwing out the old ones.

I finally got fed up with my frame fetish and decided to fix the problem only to discover a new and much larger problem.

I'm broke.

So what to do? What to do? Hmm... Don't I still have a can of spray paint around here somewhere? I do. I do! Hooray!

I am now the proud owner of 7 "new" black frames. All it took was a little bit of time and effort. No my frames don't all match in size or shape but they are all the same color. It gives it a kind of eclectic feel without being overwhelming. Since the color scheme in my living room is pewter and black this worked out pretty well for me.

Tips for decorating on a tight budget:

• Look around. You may have something you can use. The picture frames and spray paint I already had.
• Check resale, yard sales, and charity stores. Since I'm painting all the picture frames the same color and don't care if bevels or sizes match I could get any frame I want.
• Redefine your limitations. For the longest time I wanted frames from only one collection. One shape, one size, one bevel. I'm much happier with reusing my old frames and actually being able to display my pictures than having to wait and save up to buy the new frames at $8 a pop.

My next project will be a DVD stand that currently has a wooden finish. It will soon be black to match the rest of the living room!

Stay green,
Yasha

Mmm Leftovers!

I know I have my lunches for a week! Already the freezer and refrigerator is stocked full of ready made lunches for hubby and myself. Each lunch is stacked conveniently in a divided lunch container. I've only used leftovers from Thanksgiving for the first few, after that I use combinations of leftovers and frozen veggies to store in the freezer. I'm so happy I don't have to worry about any wasted leftovers since hubby never likes to make his own lunch and would rather grab one I've prepared for him.
I love the food that was cooked at Thanksgiving; the whole family chipped in. We had 2 types of cranberry sauce, 5 pies, 2 turkeys, a ham, dressing, sweet potatoes, scalloped corn, veggie trays, etc. No one left with what they made we all took home other people's left overs. Since we can replicate our own recipes we decided we'd give away what we made ourselves.

Once I got home All i had to do is replicate a couple of things I cooked that day. The rest of the packed lunches are pure leftover. Since I froze some of it we won't get tired of having turkey everyday.

Now what did I do with those veggie trays? All we had left was broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. What do you think I made? SOUP! Mmm, yummy, tasty soup. Hearty and filling. That will be our dinner for the next two nights, the rest of the soup will be dinner one night in January!

I just love Thanksgiving such a bountiful harvest of, love, family, and food!

Stay green,
Yasha

Repurposing the Desk

I have this old cheap desk that I used for my computer before my hubby moved in with his awesome one. I've been getting around to repurposing it to fit my baby's needs. All I need to do is install some shelves and I think I'll be done.

The ABCP's of Recycling

Say what? The ABCP's of recycling are important for everyone to know. Knowing and understanding what they are will help you improve the productivity of your local recycling center.

Want to know what they are?

Aluminum. Find out if your community has an aluminum recycling center and if it does or does not pay.
Bags. As in plastic bags. those little things you take your groceries home in. Or the nice big plastic bags you find at most clothing retailers. Just because it didn't carry your milk doesn't mean it can't be recycled too. Anything you take home from the mall can usually be recycled. Find a local drop that collects them.
Cardboard. Does your recycling center take cardboard?
Paper. Does your center take paper? If so what kind? Do they only take office paper or will they take newspaper?
Plastic. What number do they take? Our local recycling center only takes #1 and #2 to be recycled but I have known others to take #1, #2, #5, and #7.

Many places will also take Glass, Steel, and Batteries as well as those items listed above.

Find out what your local community can recycle and try to separate items before you haul it away. It can save you a lot of time when you arrive if everything is already separated.

Stay green,
Yasha

Getting the recycling done

I have it all piled up and ready to go! I'm just too busy to take it down to the car. Silly, right?

I have this problem every week; I just get busy and forget to take it to the car. The center is only 10 minutes away but it takes me another 10 minutes of multiple trips to take it all to the car.

My laziness is ridiculous as I would love to reclaim my floor space at the end of the week. See I pull all the recyclables out of their hidey hole so I can take them to the car. It just seems to take me an extra day to get it done. I love the part where I'm saving the earth I just don't like the part of doing the work. Sound familiar anyone?

Yes, I love to recycle and I recycle everything but even I get lazy about it. Well I'm off to save another tree.

Stay green,
Yasha

What recycling really means

So I'm sitting here eating my cheddar bunnies and thinking of what recycling really means.

Recycling is not just the act of taking stuff to the recycling centers or putting it out in your curbside bin. It's more than that. Recycling is taking items to consignment shops, resale shops, goodwill, and yard sales. It's throwing that banana peel on a compost pile instead of in the trash. It's using cloth, hybrid, or green diapers.

You know that old t-shirt with all the holes in it? Well if you can't wear it anymore use it to wash or dry your car, dust your house, or wash windows, counters, etc! It's amazing what you can do with things when you put your mind to it.

The side of my cheddar bunnies box recommends using it for a bookmark, arts and crafts projects, and coloring paper. Go figure, my box of bunnies has a life outside of holding cute little edible rabbits.

I know that flylady would pull her hair out at my collection of boxes towards the end of the week and yes I know it's unsightly. However, as I find more ways to recycle I find myself getting rid of more clutter around my apartment. I guess recycling is a lot different from how my mom taught me it should be.

Stay green,
Yasha

Introduction to the masses

So this is my first post. I've never had a blog before so this is kinda new to me. I wanted to do something for earth day but I missed out on the tree planting they had at the park and I don't have a yard to plant my own. So I started this blog; maybe I can convince someone to recycle too.

As I finally get to write something for a blog I created last week, I'm at a loss for words. I figure I should, perhaps, introduce myself. I'm a simple wife and mom. I cook, I clean, I work 40 hours a week, and I recycle. I try to help the environment anyway I can. Now I don't go out of my way to do so but now days you really don't have to.

About my family I live with my husband and child. I cook most of my meals at home. This not only saves us money it saves gas, but more on that later. My husband and I work at the same place. Fortunately the company we work for tries to recycle almost all of the waste they produce. I'm very proud to work for them!

My baby is enjoying new found freedom right now as she discovers more and more ways to move. She like to help me find new ways to recycle, usually by playing with boxes or papers before they go to the center.

For now that's all I have. Keep recycling!

Stay green,
Yasha