Happy 4th of July: Upcycle Ideas for a DiY American Flag

I want to wish all of my readers a Happy Fourth of July! In the spirit of red, white, and blue... I've come across a few DiY ideas to make a creative flag using upcycled items. The flag above is made of color coordinated odds and ends, arranged in "stars" and stripes - this is definitely my favorite! Check out the other ideas...






Chainmail flag using soda can pull tops




License plates




Fused plastic grocery bags (love this!)




Bottle caps on strung together on strands of string




Plastic drinking cups pushed through a chain link fence





Wooden boards from a picket fence


I hope that sparked some ideas to create a flag and celebrate this patriotic holiday. Enjoy the fireworks! <3

Winner of the Headline TSHIRT Giveaway!

The giveaway is over and the winner has been randomly chosen by Rafflecopter.

Congratulations to reader Natasha H.!!

Special thanks to everyone who participated, and to Headline Shirts for making this giveaway possible. There will be plenty more giveaways to come, so don't give up yet!

FREE T-shirt Giveaway from Headline Shirts, plus review!

Looking for some cool tees for the summer?  Well you've come to the right place!  I was recently given the opportunity to try a t-shirt from Headline Shirts in San Francisco.  There is a wide selection of humorous designs on their website, and the t-shirts are super soft and comfy, with that unique vintage feel.  Shipping is fast, and they charge a flat rate of $5 for any size order within the USA, or $10 for international orders.  Not bad!

I LOVE that it comes shipped in compostable packaging!  (as shown above)

Now, it's your turn to score a FREE t-shirt from Headline Shirts!  Simply enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.  There are many ways to earn multiple entries, which means more chances for you to WIN!  The giveaway will start on June 19, 2012 and end at midnight on June 30, 2012.  Winner will receive an email from me with a special one-time code to use at the Headline Shirts online store.  The code will be good for 1 free t-shirt of your choice and free shipping.  Thank you for your participation and GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Lorax Birthday Party at Tanaka Farms in Irvine, California

This weekend we celebrated my daughter's 6th birthday with a (Lorax theme) strawberry picking party at Tanaka Farms in Irvine, California.  Guests enjoyed a tractor ride around the organic farm and sampled fresh vegetables during the tour.  At the end of the tour, all of the kids picked fresh organic strawberries to eat - and a container to bring home.

Here are some of the vegetables that were sampled: carrots, yellow string beans, green onions, sweet corn, and strawberries of course!

There were rows and rows of organic strawberry plants.

After we finished picking delicious strawberries, it was time for the party!  For lunch, there was coldcuts, cheese, and rolls, as well as an antipasto salad.  There was a candy buffet filled with naturally colored chocolate candies, home-made candy dots on paper strips, organic chocolate graham bears, all natural mini marshmallows, whole grain cheddar goldfish crackers, and rock candy sticks in orange, yellow, and light blue!  Naturally colored yellow chocolate mustache lollipops were displayed as centerpieces on the tables.  Saving the best for last.... homemade cupcakes with naturally colored buttercream frosting and truffula tree cake pops (also naturally colored).

I know many of you are interested in planning a Lorax themed party, so I will post lots of pictures to give you ideas for your own event.

 If you decide to use my ideas or borrow my pictures, please link back to my blog.  At the end of this post is a list of where I purchased supplies, and I will post "how-to" pictures of the supplies that I made soon!

DiY HAPPY BIRTHDAY bunting/banner

DiY felt mustache utensil holder

DiY mustache straws and mini mason jar sippers

Faux/artificial grass runner

Naturally colored yellow chocolate mustache lollipops (the kids loved these!)

DiY utensil holders with bamboo utensils

Natural/Organic/Healthy Candy Buffet

Homemade truffula tree cake pops with naturally colored royal icing

Where to get your supplies...

Gingham fabric (to make tablecloth): Fabric Direct

DiY Truffula Tree tissue paper poufs: coming soon!

DiY HAPPY BIRTHDAY bunting/banner: coming soon!

Artificial faux grass runner: Lowes

Folding tables: Walmart

DiY chocolate mustache lollipops:  coming soon!

Orange plates: Party City

Yellow napkins: The Webstaurant Store

Bamboo utensils:  The Webstaurant Store

DiY felt mustache utensil holder: coming soon!

Mini mason jar sippers: Acme Party Box (set of 12)

DiY mustache straws: coming soon!

Apothecary candy jars: ebay and Save-On Crafts

Koziol Babell White Tiered Tray

Lime Green White Polka Dot Cupcake Baking Liners

Tree trunk wood slice: Save-On Crafts

Truffula Tree Cake Pops & Cupcakes: coming soon!

Naturally colored chocolate candies by Sunspire: LuckyVitamin (I separated the colors from the mixed packages.)

Rock Candy Sticks:  Nuts.com

Organic chocolate graham bear cookies: 365 Whole Foods

All natural mini marshmallows: Whole Foods

Butter rolls:  Cream Pan in (Old Town) Tustin, California

Whole Grain cheddar goldfish crackers by Pepperridge Farm: grocery store

Sparkly 6 candle by Spritz: Target

 

 

If I missed something, feel free to ask!

Sneak Peak: LORAX Birthday Party - DiY Truffula Trees & Mustaches!

My daughter is turning 6.... and is obsessed with all things Lorax.  So, we are hosting a Lorax themed birthday party for her and some friends at a local strawberry picking farm.  I've been busy planning everything from little felt mustache utensil holders to tissue paper truffula poufs.  Did I catch your attention yet?  Check back next week for pictures from the party, or sign up for my newsletter to receive an email when new things have posted.

***If you're going to use my pictures or ideas, please link back to this blog!***

Here's a sneak peak.......

 



 

You could not, would not, want to miss

A Lorax birthday party as cool as this!

Win a Free Year's Worth of Coupons - Giveaway!

Sunday Coupon Preview is holding a giveaway through June 15th to win a year's worth of coupons for free!!  It's so easy to enter too, simply LIKE their facebook page and/or sign up for the Sunday Coupon Preview email updates to be entered.  Four winners will be randomly chosen on June 18th and each will receive a $125 Paypal payment (enough to cover the cost of 52 weeks of Sunday coupon inserts).  AWESOME!!

For the links to enter, go HERE and scroll down to "Win a Year's Worth of Coupons" section.  Good luck!

Natural & Organic Printable Coupon Update: Gardein, Organic Valley, Tazo, Nature's Path, Newman's Own, Silk, Kashi, Cascadian Farm, Ecover, AVENT, Plum & Gerber Organic

There's a bunch of new coupons that I added to THE LIST:

 

GROCERY:

$1.50 off any two Organic Valley Milks, 64oz or larger

$1.00 off One Dozen or Two 6-Pack Organic Valley Eggs

$1.50 off any two Organic Valley Butters

$0.50 off Newman's Own Salad Dressing

$1.00 off one Tazo Filterbag Tea or Latte

$1.25 off (2) Silk Pure Almond Half Gallons

$1.00 off Any Three Good 'n Natural Bars

$0.55 off any Florida Crystals Sugar product

$1.50 off any TWO Kashi steam meals™

$0.55 off on NEW Almond Plus almond milk

$1 off 1 box Cascadian Farms cereal

$1 off Wildwood Tofu, vacuum pack

$0.75/1 Lundberg Family Farms bag of Rice Chips

$1.50 off 2 Mary's Gone Crackers products

$1 off Crunchmaster Crackers, bag or box

$1 off Nature's Path Granola Bars

$1.00 off ONE MorningStar Farms Veggie Foods

$1 off 2 Gardein products

$1 OFF any (2) Stubb's Bar-B-Que Sauce, Marinades, or Spice Rubs

$0.40 off any ONE (1) Lipton® Tea Bags, New Tea & Honey To-Go or Pitcher Size or Iced Tea Mix

$1 off any Woodstock product

 

PERSONAL CARE:

$2.00 off on any (1) New Schick Xtreme3 Eco 4ct

 

HOUSEHOLD:

$1 off 1 Sophie's Kitchen product

$1.50 off Ecover Zero Range product

 

BABY:

$1 off Yes To Carrots baby item (Target coupon)

$1.00 on any 2 Garden of Eatin' Tortilla Chips products (3oz or larger)

$1.50 off AVENT BPA FREE Toddler Cup

$3 off  AVENT BPA FREE Multi-pack Baby Bottles

$0.85 off 4 Gerber Organic Baby Food Pouches

$0.50 off 1 Plum Organics Baby or Tots Pouch