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Lemon Aid

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“LEMONADE” Mixed Media Collage Print, by Linda Woods

“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” When Dale Carnegie first spoke those pithy words of wisdom, his intent was to remind us that no matter what comes our way, it is up to us to make the best of it. For me, though, as soon as I hear “When life hands you lemons…”, I think “Lucky me!” That could be because I always associate the cheerful little yellow fruits, not by their sourness, but by their powerful mood-lifting effects. And, it’s not just me; research has proven that just a sniff of fresh lemon really can boost moods and increase optimism in test-subjects. It sounds counter-intuitive, and I stumbled upon it completely by accident, but the tart juice of the lemon is actually an age-old remedy for nausea, too, and is commonly recommended by naturopaths. I can vouch for this first-hand; when I was pregnant with my son and deep in the throws of morning all-day sickness, the only thing that could calm my tummy and allow me to function was to (literally) suck on a lemon.

So, when life hands you lemons, here are a few ideas for what you can do…

”When life hands you lemons, wash your socks!” Can doing laundry make you happy? It can if you use an eco-friendly product with an uplifting fragrance like the one pictured above by Maylee’s Garden. Scented with pure lavender and lemon essential oils, this all-natural, vegan laundry soap is made by hand by the always effervescent Libby, and contains absolutely no palm oil or harsh detergents. It’s also great in cold-water and suitable for HE/front-loading machines.

“When life hands you lemons, go shopping!” …and be sure to keep your positive eco-karma intact by bringing along a handy reusable shopping bag. This reversible one, pictured above, handmade by Charity of Lil Hipsters, features a cheerful lemon print on one side and a fresh green solid on the other.

“When life hands you lemons, take a bath!” Scrub your troubles and bad mood away with the zesty Lemon Slice soap made by DeShawn Marie The handmade, 100% vegan soap contains a triple-squeeze of lemon (lemon peel, lemon essential oil and lemongrass essential oil), along with nourishing coconut milk and exfoliating dried chamomile flowers. After you’ve toweled-off, visit DeShawn’s website for details on her soap club, which offers a different soap every month!

“When life hands you lemons, rub it in!” Into your cuticles, that is. The next time you find yourself in a seemingly endless line-up, instead of impatiently tapping your fingers, massage Pure Intox’s conditioning, lemon-drop scented balm (above) into your dry cuticles instead. The uplifting scent of lemon will energize and relax you while you wait (patiently) for your turn.

Of course, when all else fails, go ahead and make that lemonade.

Old Fashioned Lemonade
1 cup Simple Syrup (recipe below)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cups cold water
Ice and lemon slices, to serve.
Directions: In a pretty pitcher, combine simple syrup, lemon juice, and water. Adjust sweetness/tartness by adding more sugar or more lemon juice. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon slices.

Simple syrup: In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.

A Sweet Surprise

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There’s no denying it – America has a sweet tooth. According to the National Confectioners Association, retail sales of chocolate, candy and gum amount to approximately $28 billion dollars annually. All of that sweetness, however, comes wrapped up in a problem. Because candy-wrappers are usually made up of mixed materials, they are generally not recyclable.

The hybrid of paper, plastic and metal that is responsible for keeping your treats fresh and tasty also prevents them from being conventionally recycled. As a result, millions of candy-wrappers end up in our landfills and eco-systems each and every year. Without avenues to recycle the wrappers, we can either choose to reduce waste by buying bulk candy (or candy with more recycling-friendly packaging such as paper or foil) or we can upcycle the empty wrappers into new, usable goods. Here are some Etsy sellers who are doing just that!

mms

Tracy’s passion for upcycling candy and snack packaging came after a recent vacation to the Croatian Islands. She was so taken by the beautiful and colourful designs on some chip bags, that she packed the empty bags in her luggage and brought them back to her Seattle home. It didn’t take long before Tracy found a creative way to use her “souvenirs”. Clever quilt blocks made from the hoarded chip bags were followed by a mini-wallet, which ultimately became the inspiration for her line of accessories. “After making the Croatian chip wallet, I thought about all the chip bags, soda wrappers, candy bar wrappers & coffee bags that get tossed into the garbage,” says Tracy. And so, Squiggle Chick Designs was born.

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Raise a Glass – American Craft Beer Week

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May 17 to 23 is American Craft Beer week. At events across the nation, the art of the Craft beer will be celebrated by beer lovers, independent breweries, retailers and homebrewers alike. The annual festival has been the largest of its kind since 2006 and shows no signs of going flat (pun intended). To mark the occasion, I have assembled a small sampling of clever, handmade items that make use of everything that remains when the beer is gone, such as the bracelet by Michelle at Art Again (above). Cheers!

San Diego’s Stone Brewing Co was founded in 1996 and is considered one of the fastest growing breweries over the past 10 years. In addition to the seven beers that they brew year-round, they offer five “Stone Special Releases” annually and have seen an impressive increase in production over their 14 years in business; from 400 barrels in their opening year, to 98,500 in 2009. With numbers like that, it would seem that the gang at BottleHood have their work cut out for them. Created out of a desire to do something positive for the environment and the local economy, BottleHood opened up shop with their recycled glass creations. This set of tumblers, pictured above, was made from four Stone Brewing Co bottles, collected from restaurants and pubs in the San Diego area.

The story behind the Flying Dog Brewing Company involves a couple of adventurous ranchers, Sherpas, a runaway donkey, Hunter S Thompson and, perhaps least surprisingly, a flying dog. Since its auspicious (or suspicious) beginnings in 1990, the company has grown to a relative giant in the craft beer world; shipping over 500,000 cases per year world-wide. Success hasn’t tempered their gonzo spirit, though, and that is evident by their slogan “Good beer, no shit” and the unmistakable label artwork. Tracy of Squigglechick Designs, previously featured here, has taken one of my favourite labels from the Flying Dog pack and fashioned it into this one of a kind luggage tag. No one would dare try to snag your suitcase with this on the handle!

While researching the craft breweries of the West Coast, two words kept coming up – “Gold Rush”. Prospecting must’ve been thirsty work because from California to Alaska, there was a lot of beer consumed between 1864 and 1867. Lucky for us, the tradition of excellent, locally-brewed beer in that region has continued to this day. The Alaskan Brewing Company, founded in 1986, is keeping that rich history alive with their Alaskan Amber. Brewed from a Gold Rush-era recipe, the beer is just one of the reasons why the independently owned and operated company has the distinction of being the most award-winning craft brewery in the Great American Beer Festival’s history. The notebook pictured above was created by Fairbanks’ Princess Paige from an Alaskan Amber 6 pack bottle carrier. It would make an ideal beer-taster’s journal or prospector’s notebook.

While handcrafted beers can be enjoyed year-round, this is a great time to get out and learn more about the fine, independent breweries in your area. Many have special events, including tastings and tours; to find out what is happening in your area, visit the American Craft Beer Week events page.

In The Garden

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Planting season will be upon us very soon. More time spent in the garden, kneeling down and bending over in order to fill our little patches with colour come the summer. Cassia Beck has captured a scene from summer; the season that doesn’t seem to hang around Scotland for too long for a couple of weeks between the months of June to August.

And being able to be green-fingered, even when you don’t own a garden is possible by Creating a kitchen herb garden in a planter on the window sill. Most herbs are minimal effort plants and don’t require a lot of TLC.

“Annual” herbs (aka herbs that only last a season) are cilantro, basil and chervil and are probably some of the more high maintenance herbs – they will need to be re-planted every spring.

“Evergreen” herbs (aka herbs that won’t die back in the winter months) are the herbs that will remain green all year round; lavender, rosemary, sage and thyme are examples of evergreens – and they will make your home smell wonderful!

“Herbaceous” herbs (aka plants that will die back in the winter months but grow back strong and healthier than ever before) are the herbs like tarragon and chives and require the least effort – plus they are brilliant for seasoning and flavouring food!

These gorgeous and sturdy planters from Andrew’s Reclaimed Shop are crafted with care; made from mill end waste cut cedar and waterproof food grade glue.

If you’re planning on creating a herb garden make sure you put it into an area with good air circulation and light – most herbs require little effort but they still love the sunshine, good soil and pruning – depending on which variety of herbs you decide to add to your planters.

If you do have a garden spare a thought for your left-overs.

Vegetable peelings work as a great alternative to shop bought fertilizer; simply wash out a left-over ice cream tub and store veggie peelings in there, place the lid back and over time the peelings will break down into compost for your garden.

Milk cartons also work as multi-purpose/make-shift garden tools. Watering cans are created by piercing the milk tops several times, filling the milk carton with water and screwing the pierced lid back on. Or why not create a scoop for your fertilizer from a milk carton? Cut from below the handle, cutting diagonally until you achieve the scoop shape – and viola you have your very own little scoop instead of the carton going out to be trashed.

The daffodils usually spring up in April here; peeking their little yellow heads through the bulbs just in time for the UK Mothering Sunday. Currently we’re waiting for the Big Freeze to end and would be very welcoming to some sunshine, spring flowers and all the lovely things a garden in bloom brings.

Until then, I am tempted to fill my walls with home decor stickers like this:

It would save us hundreds in re-decoration costs – and we’d be able to un-stick these vinyl stickers and take them wherever we were instead of having an eternal mural we’d have to leave behind. Plus it would make my garden-less and bare walled household a cheerier place to be while everyone else enjoys their gardens in the upcoming months.

Green Groceries

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I’m so excited to introduce the latest Try Handmade columnist: Liz Grotyohann.

You may already know her as a co-founder of cosa verde, but I know her as our new Going Green columnist!

Please welcome her to Try Handmade, and let her know what concerns you have about leading a greener life. Are there issues you hope she addresses? Speak up in the comments.

[hLiz]

We’ve all heard how bad plastic bags are for the environment. As many as 500 billion to one trillion bags are used worldwide each year. Some cities have outlawed them. Many people have switched to carrying their own bags to the store—an easy way to do something good for the environment. Every major chain now has stands of “eco-friendly” totes available—cheap!—so that you can do your part.

reusablebags01

But, while carrying your own bag is definitely better than using new plastic, those bags at the store aren’t as “eco-friendly” as they claim to be. Many of those bags are made from virgin materials. Studies have been done that say that those reusable bags need to be used 100-300 times before they make up for the impact of their own production. So, why carry a bag emblazoned with a store logo—do you really want to advertise for them?—when you can buy a responsibly-produced, stylish, low-impact handmade bag from an independent artist? There are so many options out there made from organic cotton, sustainable fibers like bamboo or hemp, or vintage or recycled fabric.

Shown above is a bag made from old sailcloth by reiter8, a recycled canvas tote by forestbound, and a hemp market tote from olivebrown.

reusablebags02

Or go for an organic cotton bag like this one from moop, or a bag made from repurposed or vintage fabrics like these two from VOLK and bananasaurus rex.

And remember the plastic bags that you use at the store aren’t just the ones at the checkout counter. There are more and more options available now for lightweight, durable handmade bags to carry your produce and dry bulk goods.

reusablebags03

Kootsac offers inexpensive, lightweight produce bags in a number of sizes and fun colors. Little Green Pea has cotton bulk food bags, and adorable reusable sandwich bags. And wonderthunder sells these adorable screenprinted vegetable bags that are so much more fun (and green!) than plastic.