Over the past year I have won an assortment of items. Most have come from the amazing handmade shops on Etsy that offer giveaways and promotions to increase their audience and shop traffic. I have been so pleased with this community of handmade giveaways that I wanted to share its benefits:
Through an Upcyclers contest, I won a Hot/Cold Cherry Pit Pack! It is made from a 100% cotton shell, filled with dried cherry pits. Pack can be microwaved or frozen, and I have especially enjoyed the frozen pack on my sore neck. With concern for the environment, Saved by Grace Designs, created a socially conscious hot/cool pack without using a food source, or chemically manufactured products. We were lucky to win one of this quality made packs!
Excuse the phone camera photo, but I won this cute slouchy hat from Lambkin Toques etc. Located in Canada, this handmade Etsy shop uses recycled wool to make these awesome hats. I love the chocolate color and the soft wool of this hat. Now I just need it to get cold enough in Florida to wear it. 
Personalized Key Chain by Beadsoul
Beadsoul, where I have previously shopped, held a Facebook giveaway not long ago. I won a hand stamped personalize key chain. I love it! Lisa, from Beadsoul, uses great communication and her talents to make some high quality customized pieces!
Ladies Organic T-Shirt by WOMB Apparel
Again, please excuse the camera phone image. I won this cool t-shirt on the Love 2 Upcycle blog. Wisdom of Mind and Body (WOMB) Apparel sponsored a giveaway on this upcycled website. I won this 100% preshrunk organic cotton ladies t-shirt! It has kept its color through washes and is very nicely made.
On Earth Day I won a $10 gift certificate to Our Children’s Earth, where I selected some felt play food for my two year old, It is made from recycled felt, including some that was made from recycled plastic bottles in the USA! My daughter loves playing with it in her kitchen, and we love this eco-friendly shop!
Locally, at a Leukemia Lymphoma Fundraiser I won a $500 for laser hair removal gift certificate, a paper beaded necklace, and one month gym membership. Cha-ching! Here’s the recycled paper beaded necklace…
AND many of you know I LOVE to garden! So I am happy to report while tweeting on Twitter’s #gardenchat, I won a $250 gift certificate to Subaru Gear, which afforded me this awesome collapsible wagon. I have been using like crazy! Here we are at the farmers market.
Can’t you believe I’ve won all that?!! This comes from a girl that a year ago would have told you she never wins anything. lol Not sure how long my luck will last, but I am excited to have received such awesome creations. Most giveaways took just a second with a like on Facebook, a comment on a photo, or a share on Twitter. So next time you see a giveaway come across your social media networks, take a minute to check it out. It might just pay off!
We’ve had an amazing week! Our shop traffic and stats have been off the charts! We received a lovely response to our Earth Day Giveaways, but we were also featured on Oprah.com’s blog! We were surprised (and excited) to see the article! That little mention has given us some great advertising this week!
Earth Day Kitchen Ideas – Oprah.com
Our three Earth Day Giveaways offered up some inspiring comments and new followers! We are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day every day through our sustainable shop’s efforts! Thank you all that entered! Here’s the lucky winners, selected by Random.org:
Winner of our Wine Cork Magnet Set…
Beth M. From Beths
Winner of our Reusable Chalkboard Gift Tag…
Tori K.
and the Winner of our $15 Gift Certificate is…
Gari Anne Bead Lovers Korner
Congratulations! I will be contacting everyone directly. Happy Earth Day!
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
― Rachel Carson
- Earth Day Recycled Wall Art by TheWoodenBee
Tomorrow is Earth Day, and this post starts our third and final Earth Day Giveaway!!!
In our first two, I asked you to follow us on our social networks and leave a comment that you did in exchange for entries!
Earth Day Giveaway: wine cork magnets
Earth Day Giveaway: chalkboard gift tag
You are still welcome to enter these giveaways, all end tomorrow at 10pm.
- Earth Day Recycled Wall Art bt TheWoodenBee
For third and final giveaway of the year, we are going to offer a chance to win a gift certificate to our online shop! This is the first time we have EVER offered a certificate!
WIN $15 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE WOODEN BEE
I was going to make it for good on our fun wine corks supplies, but instead I think it should be good for the entire shop! Details: you will have $15 to spend and apply to any order in our Etsy shop. Gift certificate will apply to shipping. Winner will be randomly selected, by random.org, on Earth Day (April 22nd, 2012) at 10pm.
How can you win this fabulous giveaway? Just leave a leave a comment, sharing how you plan on becoming a little greener before Earth Day 2013. That’s it!
If I could enter, I would put. “Planning on installing a rain barrel” but you can find more ideas in our Earth Day post last week.
Hope you have a wonderful Earth Day! And thank you for entering all our giveaways this week!
Bee
This spring we’ve enjoyed reusing even more home construction waste by creating a line of chalkboard gift tags and labels. You can use these fun little black boards again and again!
For second Earth Day giveaway this week, we are going to give away one of our beaded chalkboard gift tags, made from reclaimed and natural materials!
FIVE ways to enter, for multiple entries per giveaway! Be sure to leave an individual comment for EACH entry.
1. Follow our Facebook page, and comment that you did below.
2. Follow our blog (on the top right of this page) and comment that you signed up for email notifications.
3. Follow us on Twitter, and comment that you did below.
4. Follow all our boards on Pinterest, and comment that you did below.
5. Favorite our shop on Etsy, and comment that you did below.
If you entered our first giveaway, then all you have to do is leave your comments again, to be entered to win AGAIN! Random.org will select all winners on Earth Day, Sunday April 22nd, 2012 at 10:00pm, by numbered comments. The more you leave, the more chance you have to win. Winner will be contacted through their comments, so be sure to include a form of contact.
Wait, what about some bonus entries? I know you really want to win these adorable gift tags!
Recommend our Earth Day Giveaway to your friends & followers and tell them to leave your name in their comments for extra entries. You can also look for extra entry opportunities on our Facebook page throughout the week!
You are welcome to enter all three of our Earth Day Giveaways this week! Missed the first one? You can still enter here! Check back tomorrow for your chance to win a gift certificate!
Thank you for helping me celebrate our planet by supporting our ecofriendly business.
Good Luck!
Bee
The first part of this year has been spent celebrating wine corks and all the colors and crafts they can be. For this giveaway we took our latest tutorial, making wine cork magnets, one more step, and we turned our colored wine corks in magnets! And you can WIN this earthy set of cork magnets!
Wine corks have been permanently dyed. Magnets are made with 25 Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets. Each little magnet can pull a little over 2 pounds and holds down several sheets of paper.
So get organized in upcycled style and enter our first Earth Day giveaway!
FIVE ways to enter, for multiple entries per giveaway! Be sure to leave an individual comment for EACH entry.
1. Follow our Facebook page, and comment that you did below.
2. Follow our blog (on the top right of this page) and comment that you signed up for email notifications.
3. Follow us on Twitter, and comment that you did below.
4. Follow all our boards on Pinterest, and comment that you did below.
5. Favorite our shop on Etsy, and comment that you did below.
Wait, what about some bonus entries? I know you really want to win these adorable magnets!
Recommend our Earth Day Giveaway to your friends & followers and tell them to leave your name in their comments for extra entries. You can also look for extra entry opportunities on our Facebook page throughout the week!
Winner will be randomly selected by random.org on Earth Day, Sunday April 22nd, 2012 at 10:00pm. Winner will be contacted through their comments, so be sure to include a form of contact. You are welcome to enter all three of our Earth Day Giveaways this week! Check back tomorrow for your chance to win some chalkboard gift tags!
Thank you for helping me celebrate our planet by supporting our ecofriendly business.
Good Luck!
Bee
- Recycled Planet Earth notebook by Recycled Fibers
Happy Earth Day! Ok, so what does that really mean?
Earth Day by definition is a noun meaning, a day’s observance of the need to protect the Earth’s environment, in many countries on April 22.
The first Earth Day was organized in 1970 to promote the ideas of ecology, encourage respect for life on earth, and highlight growing concern over pollution of the soil, air, and water. ~dictionary.com
I’m sure there are many ideas about how to celebrate Earth Day. I am seeing adorable Earth Day party favors and all sorts of green ideas on Pinterest. I know a few of my friends that donate their time every year to different community clean-ups and other environmentally friendly efforts. I think there is an endless array of ideas and ways we can celebrate and give back to our planet.
- Reclaimed Wood Organizer by The Wooden Bee
Maybe you’ve been wanting to start a small kitchen compost, have been meaning to install a low flow shower head, or need to properly recycle all the empty paint and stain cans in the garage (<– on my to-do list). Whatever the task, if it’s healthy for the planet maybe Earth Day is the perfect excuse to get it done?!
I wanted to share some of the things our family does this week to celebrate. We use this day of observance to refresh our children (and ourselves) on why it is important to living sustainably. I use the holiday to get everyone excited about our recycling, upcycling, and repurposing efforts again. I won’t bore you with everything we do or want to do, but here are the highlights of our young family’s Earth Day discussions:
What can be recycled in our house?
Plastic Resin Codes 1-7, and all paper goods in our city’s curbside recycling program. Styrofoam at the local zoo, ink cartridges at office supply store
What can be upcycled in our house?
Permanently stained or torn t-shirts are turned into stain and paint rags for our shop.
All yogurt containers are cleaned and saved for paint cups.
All magazines are kept for upcycled art and craft projects.
What have we changed since last Earth Day?
We started using cloth napkins.
Started making some of our own natural household cleaners.
Bought everyone in the family bicycles.
What more can we do before Earth Day 2013?
Add a tankless water heater to our home.
Expand the backyard garden plot and compost system.
Install a rain barrel.
Family Activities Planned for this Week
For a little after school craft, we’re painting world maps made of rice.
While doing this week’s gardening chores, we are also going to discuss different types of soils, its importance, and what is grows well in each type. I collected soil from various places last week and we are going to examine soil types and then create “soil painting” with them.
We will end on Sunday with an Earth Day Family Movie Party. Fresh popcorn from our new stove top popper, and all the sea creature stuffed animals are invited to watch Disney’s Oceans with us!
We’re keeping it simple but using the holiday to remind us why we do what we do every day!
The Wooden Bee Activities for this week
AND like last year the shop is having a giveaway! In fact, we are having THREE GIVEAWAYS!
April 19th – Wine Cork Magnet Set
April 20th – Beaded Chalkboard Gift Tag
April 21st – Wine Cork Gift Certificate
Three eco-friendly giveaways… three winners selected on Earth Day!
Through our first two years we have recycled and upcycled thousands of feet of wood molding, hundreds of wood doors, and countless wine corks and hardware pieces. All that waste was saved from taking up landfill space, while beautiful pieces of cherry, maple, mahogany and pine passed through our hands and transformed into ecofriendly home decor and other unique items. We couldn’t have done it without our customers, and we feel blessed for this amazing opportunity.
So, Happy Earth Day. And whatever you do, I hope you enjoy our Earth even more on this day.
Check back soon to enter our giveaways here on our blog!
Hello! March just flew by! I didn’t keep up with my goal to post a craft tutorial every month, because March was full of spring breaks, birthdays, camping trips, and lots of fun! I would love to share with you a crafty little party we threw for my daughter at the end of March though!
Our oldest daughter turned six, and she asked for a Sea Turtle Rescue Party for her special day. Here’s how I made her party ideas come to life…
Our birthday girl requested a sea turtle egg hunt on the beach… So mom took Easter eggs purchased from Goodwill (they carry last year’s holiday decorations from Target), and placed ”grow your own sea creature” capsules in each egg. I taped them with blue painters tape, both to insure the eggs stayed closed during the hunt, but also to make them easy to find in the beach sand.
Then my daughter requested we make incubators to carry our sea turtle eggs off the beach. So, I wrapped old shipping boxes with recycled brown craft paper, and the kids could then personalize their incubators.
They had Sea Turtle Rescuer name tags, stickers, construction paper, markers, scissors, and glue to make their incubator creations.
On the special day of the party, we made a mock sea turtle nest on the beach and filled it with 72 eggs!
And all the little rescuers came out with their shovels and incubators:
After all eggs were found, we headed back to the party room to hatch our eggs!
We also purchased a beautiful sea turtle cake from a local bakery! The detail on the cake was amazing!!!
For party favors we used buckets bought on clearance last year, and filled them with Planet Earth coloring books, markers, compass, toys & snacks.
Happy Birthday to our first born! Can’t believe our little rescuer is six!
More wine cork tutorials and an Earth Day SALE coming soon!
Thanks, Bee
How to Make Wine Cork Magnets
Materials needed:
Oak Wine Corks
Drill
Glue
Magnets
This is a messy project because of the cork that will be removed with the drill, so I would definitely cover an area, or do this project outside. Let’s get started…
First decide which side of your oak cork you would like to be the front of the magnet. You will drill a hole for the magnet on the opposite side. The size of the drill bit doesn’t really matter (unless it is better than your magnet). You are going to use the drill to dig out a shallow hole the size of the magnet.
Don’t worry the holes don’t have to be perfectly circular or anything special. As you dig out the cork with the drill you can stop and check to see if the magnet is fitting. You want the magnet to fit in flush with the cork. If you drill or dig too deeply into the cork, don’t worry either, that’s what the glue is for. I use both sides of an old paint brush to help get extra pieces of cork out of the way as I’m drilling.
Magnets
There are several magnets you can use. I selected Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets, size 3/8 x 1/16. I purchased a set from a cute little Etsy shop. Each little magnet can pull a little over 2 pounds and holds down several sheets of paper . What is important in magnet selection, is that they are stronger enough to hold what you would like, and small enough to fit nicely into your cork.
Glue
Now, we are ready to glue. I would recommend an industrial strength glue, like E-6000. It dries clear and is strong enough to hold the magnet to the cork while it is in use. I also like it because E-6000 is waterproof, non-flammable and washes off my hands easily. Just fill the drilled hole with glue and place the magnet in the center. If some glue oozes out or gets on the magnet, don’t worry it will peel off the metal when it is dry.
It is important to note here that the magnets will attract to each other while you are doing this project. Once glue has entered the picture, I would keep the corks with magnets drying in them, far away from other corks with magnets drying in them! I used some wood molding sticks to separate them, but you can use plates, cups, Tupperware, anything that would help separate the corks while keeping them face down to dry. E-6000 recommends you let the glue dry 24-72 hours. I found after 24 hours all was dry and ready for use.
This project allows you to showcase special wine corks. Like corks that are from a rare bottle of wine on a special anniversary, or unique corks that have pretty markings. I like to use oak wine corks that have natural wine staining on the ends.
Happy Crafting!
And of course, if you would like to me to make you a set, just hop on over to our shop!
February 25th, 2012 in
Eco-friendly Crafts | tags:
cork,
craft,
crafting,
eco,
how-to,
magnets,
sustainable crafting,
tutorial,
wine,
wine corks |
3 Comments
We are still replenishing supplies, restocking inventory, and revamping the workshop! Whew! Not much as been listed online, but we are filling custom orders again, and hoping the shop improvements are completed by the end of March. One of my new year’s resolutions was to post a craft tutorial on the blog every month. Last month I featured a tutorial on upcycling t-shirts, this month I am putting the finishing touches on a wine cork magnet how-to, with just days to spare. Next month, I am publishing a long overdue wine cork dyeing tutorial. Our corks have been a big hit in our supply section of our shop, and I’m doing good just keeping colors in stock! 
My husband did find the time to make me the above frame for Valentines Day! We had purchased the vintage print on Etsy, and he framed it with our reclaimed cherry wood molding and stained it in a warm honey brown. Together we also made two more reclaimed frames: a crab print for my father’s birthday, and palm tree print for our online shop.
Reclaimed Wood Frame with Vintage Palm Tree Print,
made from reclaimed cherry wood, salvaged glass, and a vintage Atlas Map page from 1896 with a palm tree image printed on it.
I haven’t been as diligent with snapping photos of custom orders before they head out the door, but here are some earring genies that were included in some awesome customer feedback!
Some buzzin’ highlights this month:
We’re featured TWICE in this fabulous article. 30 Ways to Reuse Wine Corks
Honored to take part in a green interview for my affiliation with Upcyclers, an eco-friendly Etsy team. Our Children’s Earth did a great job putting it together!
I am still writing weekly for Love 2 Upcycle, but this month I took on a monthly commitment to write for EcoEtsy. I am really excited about this new writing assignment. I will have the opportunity to share my knowledge and love for food and gardening. My first post was on Marigold Seed Saving, our next post is on unusual uses for garlic and is scheduled for March 8th!
February was wonderful, but we are excited for March. Spring break, first day of spring, our daughter’s fifth birthday, AND it is National Craft month! We will be showcasing our craft supplies with sales and giveaways so stay tuned!
Thanks, Bee
February 24th, 2012 in
Reclaimed Wood |
1 Comment
For the past six months I have been playing around with dyeing oak wine corks (synthetic will not take color). I am perfecting this process, which isn’t always easy with corks that love to float, and will have a DIY tutorial out in February. For now, I wanted to share the new colors of our latest crafting supply! Blog subscribers can enjoy 10% off until February 14th. Enter coupon code: ECOLOVE at checkout. Thanks!
Great for eco crafting: garland, key chains, coasters, trivets, bulletin boards, the list goes on… Colored corks make unique creations; from wreaths & ornaments, to vase fillers & wedding favors. Corks are a versatile eco-friendly craft supply!
February 1st, 2012 in
Eco-friendly Crafts | tags:
craft,
crafting,
ecofriendly,
Etsy,
handmade,
recycled,
supply,
sustainable,
upcycled,
wine,
wine corks |
3 Comments
