Sweet Pennies from Heaven

8 Awesome #EarthDay Ideas (Recipes, Gardening Tips and Recycling Ideas) #MomsCheckIn

by 1,413 Comments

 

earth day ideas

 

Awesome Earth Day Ideas

Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd. Do you do anything to celebrate at home? Maybe a small craft or a fun and easy recipe. It’s a great time to talk to your kids about the earth and what we can do to make it better. Ways to take care of it, starting at home doing simple things.

Our Moms Check In moms are talking about Earth Day this week and we’re sharing some easy reduce/reuse/recycle ideas, gardening tips and a couple of really fun “dirty” recipes! If you have any awesome ideas, we wanna hear! Drop us a comment or chat with us on our social media channels using #MomsCheckIn.

Awesome Earth Day Ideas to use year round:

1. Easy Gardening Tips

2. Earth Day Cupcakes

3. Dirt Pudding Filled Cupcakes with Candy Carrots

4. Over 20 Ways to Reuse Diaper Wipes Containers

5. 13 Useful Ways to Reuse Coffee Creamer Bottles

6. 17 Creative Ways to Reuse Coffee Cans Right Now

7. 21 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags

8. How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers to Reuse for Crafts, Storage, etc.

 

 Sharing our thoughts on Earth Day…

Amanda-626x1024

“This year for Earth Day I plan on making cupcakes for Josh! These Candy Sprout Dirt Cupcakes look just like the real thing and I think he will get a big kick out of them! I can’t honestly say that we go all out, but he usually does something special at school that leads into some pretty great dinner conversations!”

– Amanda is the mom to Joshua and owns It’s a Fabulous Life. If you are looking for a one stop place for all things mom, It’s a Fabulous Life is it! Full of recipes, fashion, DIY projects, recipes and parenting articles it’s the place for all of Mom’s favorites to come together! Follow her on Twitter here!

 

 

 

stephanie

” I think it’s important to teach our kids to take care of the world we live in. We have Sam participate with us when we recycle and when we work in the yard. He loves watching things grow and helping to take care of them. Check out these easy gardening tips as you celebrate Earth Day this year!”

– Stephanie is the mom to Sam and the author of Spaceships and Laser Beams. If you ever need party ideas her site is the place to visit! Specializing in all things boy, it’s full of inspiration! Follow her on Twitter here!

 

 

 

Jenni-Eaves1-213x300

“We usually do something pretty easy for Earth Day, whether it’s a little craft or making a “dirt” type of dessert or snack like these Garden Pudding Filled Cupcakes. They celebrate at school and little man comes home with all kinds of cute crafts and the like. It’s a great reminder for us all that this Earth is ours to take care of. We need to be good stewards.”

– Jenni is the mom of one and the author of Sweet Pennies From Heaven. A hearth and home website, Sweet Pennies From Heaven focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home. Follow her on Twitter here!

 

 What is Moms Check In?

Who are the moms of Moms Check In? We’re 3 moms who are also professional bloggers. We chat about a new topic each week. We talk about things from dirty diapers to date night, and everything in between. Moms love to talk to other moms and let’s face it…MOMS know everything!!

Before you leave, let us know…

What are your favorite Earth Day ideas?

 

11 Genius Plastic Bag Hacks & Craft Ideas

by 1,871 Comments

11 genius plastic bag hacks Hometalk board

Don’t you love hacks?! I mean, seriously……I always say “Why didn’t I think of that?!” when I find a killer idea! Some of them are life-changers!! I put together a post back last year – 21 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags. While I was searching around on Hometalk, I put together a board with some other plastic bag hacks and craft ideas so I wanted to share it with you.

Visit my plastic bag hacks Hometalk board to find all the different ideas!

What is Hometalk? If you’re not on Hometalk, then you’re really missing out. It’s basically Pinterest, but for Home & Garden ideas only. I love it over there. Make sure that you follow me on Hometalk – cause you know we all love to follow eachother!

There are many different ways that I reuse plastic bags but so many ideas I’ve never thought of. Since my house is usually overflowing with them, I’m interested to see all the different ways I can reuse them!

I’ve now enlisted the help of Hometalk to help me organize my kitchen too. It’s a New Year and this week I’ve spent a ton of time organizing my kitchen cabinets. I live in an old farmhouse and I don’t have a ton of space in the kitchen…not even a pantry. Ugh. So I have to get creative when finding new ways to organize everything in there. Lastnight, I actually pulled EVERYTHING out of my pots/pans/mixing bowls/baking pans cabinets.

I was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor when my husband walks in. He instantly turned and walked right back out. Hahahhaa! He knew what I was up to! I usually start those kinds of projects at night, so he walked out before I got the chance to wrangle him into helping me. Smart man. Smart, smart man. Hometalk has given me lots of great ideas that I can’t wait to put into use in my kitchen!

How do you reuse plastic bags? We want to know!

I invite you to follow me on Hometalk, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

Ways That We Reduce and Reuse Everyday Things – Our #EverydayEffect Challenge

by 888 Comments

Everyday Effect


I’ve always been on the “frugal” side of life for the most part. Part of being frugal, naturally, includes finding ways to reduce and reuse things. I won’t say that I’m an avid recycler – because if I did…I’d be lying. I do try to green things up a lot around here though. I’m the one who wears my tennis shoes until the sole comes off (literally, TRUE story). I’ve been known to walk plum out of my shoes.

A lot of my kid’s clothes are hand me down (not too proud to admit) and I love to find good deals at the local thrift shops. I’m just always finding ways to get good use out of what we have until it’s flat not any good to use anymore. If Eli gets a hole or a stain on his shirt, it goes in his play clothes pile. From there it will eventually over time make it’s way to the “cleaning rags” pile. Just another easy way to reduce and reuse!

eli's paint and play shirt

 

P&G (Procter & Gamble) has an awesome Every Day Effect Conserve it All challenge going right now that I’m proud to participate in. This challenge is just one way to let others know that doing just simple, ordinary things daily can and DOES make a difference. P&G believes the most effective changes don’t necessarily start with grand acts and can start much closer to home, by changing the way we think about things like waste. Ordinary actions like washing your laundry in lower temps and doing the dishes with a more concentrated product can help allowing us to reduce energy and waste!!

Save some Green Everyday Effects P&G Challenge

For the Every Day Effect challenge, I wanted to challenge my family to leaving the lights off during the day. Our house is surrounded by trees so we have alot of shade during the day. I knew that this would INDEED be a challenge. Surprisingly enough…I’ve been the one having the most difficulty with it. It’s not that I don’t want to do it…it’s just a force of habit to turn the lights on in any room I’m in even when there’s plenty of day light coming in through the windows. Goes to show how much we just take for granted, huh?! I’ve posted sticky notes on all the light switches saying “Save some GREEN!” and it has been a nice reminder. Making a concerted effort towards something can create a habit, so that’s what we’re shooting for.

I also wanted to share a few other simple things that we do every day (simple things that YOU can do too) that makes an impact in greener and all around healthier living. Really, if it’s something I can do it’s something that you can do too! Reduce and reuse!!

Ways we reduce and reuse around our house:

  • Use cold water for laundry (except for whites and/or towels)
  • Make my own laundry detergent (much cheaper, plus I don’t have to throw out all the plastic bottles)
  • Let dishes air dry vs. using heated dry in dishwasher
  • We don’t have a compost pile, but you can add cut grass and food scraps to the pile if you have one (This is something I am interested in doing…need to do some homework!)
  • Reuse my coffee creamer bottles
  • Reuse my coffee cans
  • Reuse plastic bags
  • Use vinegar as my MAIN cleaning product…it does it all (awesome cleaner and all natural)
  • Turning TV’s and lights off when not being used (we’re working on the light issue)

 

flower

Doing these everyday things like I said DOES make a difference! No, you might not be saving the whales by re-using your coffee can for some awesome reason – but you have to look at it as a chain reaction. You never know – the next coffee can you throw out could possibly end up in the ocean eventually! Honest….just think about it that way. Over time your small efforts pay off.

We’d love to hear your comments…let us know how YOU try to make a difference. Leaving comments always gives others ideas as well. We can all definitely learn from one another! While you’re still here, make sure to head over and enter yourself to WIN an awesome prize. P&G #EverydayEffects Pinterest Giveaway! Some lucky person is going to win a washing machine!!! You can connect with P&G on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date in all the latest news!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks and P&G.

13 Perfectly Useful Ways To Reuse Coffee Creamer Bottles

by 2,101 Comments

Coffee Creamer BottlesCreative Ways to Reuse Coffee Creamer Bottles

 

I’ve been on a lightning streak lately with ways to reuse some perfectly good containers vs. throwing them in the trash. If you use creamer in your coffee then you probably go through a lot of coffee creamer bottles. Here are a few really cool ways to reuse them instead of throwing them out! Here are some awesome ways to reuse coffee cans too!

 

Coffee Creamer Bottle

Reuse Coffee Creamer Bottles In the Kitchen:

Makeshift sports bottle. This is another way I use mine. With the flip top lids, they’re easy to drink from and fit perfectly in my fridge!

Store dry cereal or the Baby Goldfish Crackers. These little bottles are great to throw in a diaper bag and the cereal or crackers don’t get crushed like they do if you just use a baggie!

Store sugar or cinnamon. Having the easy pour spout on the coffee creamer bottles makes it easy to add a little sugar to your coffee or cereal without having to drag the bag of sugar out. I keep mine by the coffee pot! Keep some cinnamon in another one. Great to pour out into a measure spoon when cooking.

Homemade Creamer. If you make your own coffee creamer, reuse your creamer bottles to store it in.

Homemade Dressing. Same as above…if you make your own dressings, add a label to a bottle and store your dressing. Easy pouring onto a bed of pretty greens!

Keep chocolate chips in. If you bake a lot, then you probably always have chocolate chips on hand. I hate when the bags tear, so you use a creamer bottle and pour them out as needed.

 

In the Bath and Utility Room:

Keep homemade laundry detergent. If you make your own detergent, use one of these bottles to store it in. It’s perfect with the easy pour spout and the smaller bottles will fit nicer on the shelf than a big ole’ bottle. If you’re going on vacation, this is the perfect size to take too. Just enough if you have to do your own laundry while gone!

Epsom Salt. If you add some Epsom salt to your bath water, keep a small creamer bottle full next to the tub.

Shampoo or Body Wash. A lot of people make their own shampoo and/or body wash. You can store yours in these bottles. Also, if you buy the bulk size containers, it’s much easier to refill these bottles than man handle the giant bottles in the shower!

 

Kids and Crafts:

Make Bowling Pins. Fill 10 creamer bottles up with water, sand, or gravel. Set them up and let them go bowling in the yard!

Music Shakers. Add rice or beans to a bottle. Perfect music makers for your little ones!

Store Glitter. If you use a lot of glitter when crafting, store your glitter in the smaller creamer bottles. This way you can have better control over how much is being used.

Store Glue. If you’re a major crafter or teacher, you might buy glue in bulk containers. Pour some over into a smaller creamer bottle for fun projects. Just label accordingly.

 

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you have any other fun ideas about how to reuse coffee creamer bottles we’d love to hear them. Just leave us a comment below! Here are some other tips that you might find useful. Some reader favorites are:

17 Useful and Creative Ways to Reuse Coffee Cans Now

21 Ways to Reuse Plastic Grocery Bags – Plastic Recycling

How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers – Reuse Your Containers

How to Get Rid of Fleas Using Apple Cider Vinegar – All Natural & Thrifty

Topic: Reuse Coffee Creamer Bottles

17 Useful and Creative Ways to Reuse Coffee Cans Now

by 2,249 Comments

coffee cans

17 Useful & Creative Ways to Reuse Coffee Cans

 

I don’t know about you, but we drink a lot of coffee at our house. I know we’re not the only folks that drink a ton of coffee so I can’t even begin to imagine how many coffee canisters are floating around out there! I’ve found a few creative ways to recycle containers – for instance – I learned how to remove ink from plastic containers so that we can reuse them! Coffee cans are a whole other beast!

Oh, and while I’m on the subject of coffee – my friend Alea wrote this post on how to use leftover coffee! Lots of great ideas and fun recipes! You know how sometimes you have that little bit left in the bottom of a pot? Instead of pouring it down the drain, use some of the ideas from her link above!

Ways to reuse coffee cans

Ways to reuse coffee cans in the kitchen:

1. Store table scraps and produce trash. Yes, it’s a less decorative use but still very useful. By keeping your table scraps and produce peelings in cans like this with a lid, it prevents the smell from lingering in the kitchen. It also keeps those pesky fruit flies away! One thing I tend to do is keep my canister with a lid in the fridge just so that the scraps don’t spoil so fast. When it’s full, you can dump it accordingly or add to your compost pile.

2. Make a set of Kitchen Canisters. Paint them and easily stencil or free-hand words like Flour, Sugar, Coffee, Tea, Cereal, Granola, Oats, or whatever you want. Or check out this idea…Organized Island shows how to use contact paper to decorate her coffee cans! The plastic lids keep everything airtight so whatever is inside will stay fresh! In order to be more “green” you can buy bags of coffee and simply refill your canisters. That’s what we need to do. I have to keep my eye out for some coupons though. It’s usually more expensive!!

 

Reuse Coffee Cans

Ways to reuse coffee cans in the bathroom/utility room:

1. Get rich in your utility room. Clean out pockets when doing laundry and place items in the canister. Usually my husband has tons of little metal screws, bolts and things from work in his pockets. Occasionally I’ll find money too! When he’s looking for something in particular, he always checks the cans!

2. Spare bathroom tissue holder. Get rid of that old tired wooden toilet paper holder that sits by your toilet!! Dress your canisters up and set them on the toilet tanks for cute decor!

3. Hold mani/pedi supplies. Add your nail files, clippers, remover, cotton pads and polish to a canister and when you’re ready to do your nails everything is all in one place.

4. Store plastic bags. I recently shared 21 ways to reuse plastic grocery bags. If you keep your bags, just cut a hole in the lid and you can pull a plastic bag out anytime you need it. These are great to keep in your bathrooms to quickly replace a small trashcan bag!

5. Store homemade detergent. I make my own homemade laundry detergent, but I currently store mine in a Huggies Wipes container. The next time I make it I’m going to make a double or triple batch and will store it in some of my coffee containers! They’re more airtight than the wipes container I’m using so less chance of drying out.

 

Coffee Cans Recipes

Crafty and creative ways to reuse coffee cans:

1. Use for gifting homemade treats or soup. You can actually bake bread in a metal coffee can. Tie a pretty bow on it and send as a gift to a new neighbor or friend! If a loved one is sick, send them some homemade chicken soup in a canister with a get well gift tag attached!

2. Make a bird feeder. This would be a fun project to do with the kids or make for a parent/grandparent! We live in the country so we love our bird feeders here.

3. Create outdoor lighting. Punch a bunch of tiny holes in several cans and string party lights through them to make a fun strand of luminary lights on your patio or along your sidewalk! I’m thinking of making some for my backyard!! Here’s a great tutorial for outdoor coffee can lanterns! These look like so much fun to make!

4. Turn into flower planters. Poke some small holes in the bottom of a can, fill with a few gravels and dirt and plant some pretty flowers. This is such a fun idea!

5. Decorate and keep craft/art supplies. If you’re already an artsy craftsy person you can easily find ways to doll up a canister and keep your drawing pencils, paints, markers, and other craft items in.

6. Keep yarn in. If you’re working on a knitting project, keep your yarn in the canister and cut a hole in the lid to let your yarn slide through. This will help in keeping your yarn from getting tangled and possibly the kids or cats from tearing up your work!

 

Ways to reuse coffee cans

Kid Friendly Ways to Reuse Coffee Cans:

1. Make a drum. You know how the kiddos love to beat on pots and pans! Give them a few coffee cans with the lids on and let them beat those drums. Throw some rice or beans in them and let them shake them up!

2. Make a Money Bank. Cut a slit in the lid big enough for kids to slide change through and they’ve got their very own money bank. When it fills up, take them to town and let them buy something fun with their money. It’s a great way to teach them about saving money and spending smart at an early age!

3. Coffee Can stilts. This is super cool, creative and looks like loads of fun! PlayCreateExplore has a nice tutorial on how to make coffee can stilts here. I can’t wait to make some of these!

4. Make a Time Capsule. Decorate and fill up a coffee can with all sorts of things like pictures, popular toys of today’s time, etc. Seal the lid nice and tight with glue or tape and hide it somewhere where someone through the years might find it. If you’d rather keep it so that your kids can have it when they’re older…keep it in a closet or somewhere you’ll remember!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips. We’d love it if you left a comment below! Let us know any other tips you might have to add to the collection of ways to reuse coffee cans!

Ways to reuse coffee cans

If you enjoyed these tips, check out some other fan favorite posts below:

21 Ways to Reuse Plastic Grocery Bags – Plastic Recycling

How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers – Reuse Your Containers

Homemade Laundry Soap | Only 3 Ingredients (Just 2 Cents per Load!!!)

How to Get Rid of Fleas Using Apple Cider Vinegar – All Natural & Thrifty

Topic: Reusing Coffee Cans

How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers – Reuse Your Containers

by 3,569 Comments

How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers

Remove Ink from Plastic Containers

 

Don’t you hate throwing away plastic containers, especially those that you know would work perfectly to keep something else in?! I never did that because most plastic containers would have the ink printed labels on them and to use them for something else just seemed tacky.

I found out that you can use 100% Acetone (nail polish remover) to remove the ink from plastic containers and then you have a pretty white container, voila! Non acetone polish remover will not work nearly as well, so make sure you’re using 100% acetone!  Now you have a clean container that you can do anything with. I’m so glad this worked and I’m happy that I could add this tip to my Thrifty Household Tips section of the blog!

 

Need a printable and reusable menu planner for your fridge? We’re offering one for FREE right now! Just click below and I’ll send it straight to you!!


printable-menu-plan-offer-1

How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers:

There are a couple of different ways that you can do this. I’ve done it both ways and either is fine. You can either use an old cleaning rag or paper towels. Just pour 100% acetone onto your rag or paper towel, hold it on the container until the ink starts to disappear and begin wiping working in one direction. Just as you would when removing finger nail polish from your fingernails. Side note: If you’re wearing nail polish, you should wear gloves unless you’re wanting to re-polish!

How to remove ink from plastic containers

The other way that you can do it is to wrap an old dish towel or a couple layers of paper towels around your container, using rubber band to hold it in place. Hold the container over a trashcan or sink and soak the paper towel or dish towel with the 100% acetone. Let it sit for several minutes and then take a peek. The ink should easily rub off. Remove the rubber band and towels and rub off any left over ink.  After you’re done taking the ink off, dispose of your rags accordingly and then use hot soapy water to wash the containers.

I like to use containers for different things. Acetone can break down the plastic so it’s not recommended to use for leftover food. Mostly, I reuse them for household cleaners that I make myself at home. I also keep them in my craft room (perfect for different color glitter, sequins, small stamps, etc. Some stray mini lego’s have found a home in one too. Any size container can be reused to hold something else! It’s better than throwing away the plastic and then later needing to buy a baskets or containers to hold and organize your things.

Keep your bowls and containers, remove the ink or plastic labels and store them somewhere out of the way. Most containers can be stacked into each other to save space so you can keep them neatly out of your way until you’re ready to use one!

What sorts of things do you keep and reuse?? We’d love to hear, leave us a comment!!

Topic: How to Remove Ink from Plastic Containers


printable-menu-plan-offer-1

the chick behind this blog! I'm your ordinary, everyday wife and mom to an incredible pair of stinky guys! I am a self diagnosed coffee addict with a ginormous sweet tooth, preferably baked goods!! My hope is to help you, teach you, and entertain you on your way to a more thrifty and frugal lifestyle! Along the way, you'll find awesome recipes, great tips, and tons of randomness! We have loads of fun, so ya'll come back now, ya hear?!

Quick Links