Guest Post~Stacia @ Little Yellow Treehouse

I want to welcome Stacia from Little Yellow Treehouse to Paisley Passions today. She has some GREAT eco-friendly ideas to share with us. I think you are going to enjoy her ideas AND her FUN blog!

Take it away, Stacia! :)

Hi there, Paisley Passion readers!

Happy Tuesday and thanks for having me.


I'm Stacia from Little Yellow Treehouse.

This is my family (The Dad, Little C and Me)



Let me give you a quick rundown of who we are...

Who: Little Yellow Treehouse

What: A place for busy mom's to get tips & inspirations for living a greener lifestyle without spending all your green.

When: We started the blog in 2008 but have made the go green pledge this year.

Where: Blog or Facebook

Why: There's no in-your-face 'go green or go home' message here, just one mom trying to do better for her family. You know, real world stuff.


So now that you know a little about me, on to the meat & potatoes.


5 Easy Ways to Eco-fy Your Crafting

I love me some crafting but as I started this eco crusade, I really started to think about ways that I could make changes in every aspect of my life, even my craft projects.

So here are 5 easy ways that you can save some moolah and maybe help save a piece of the world too.


1. Shop from your shelf.

When you find that project that makes you want to run out to the craft store, don't. Instead, head to your craft shelf (shelves, bins, buckets, baskets, etc.) and see what you've got.

Get creative there first.

Below is a project that I originally saw done with magnetic paint, among other things that I didn't have on hand. It took me a while but I ended up only having to buy the magnets.

See? Good for the planet & my bank account.



Dinner Menu Cookie Sheet Calendar


2. Finish old projects.

Pick a few abandoned projects and take another look.

If you stopped because you just didn't like them, see if you can salvage any of the materials.

If you stopped because life got in the way, give it another go. You'll finish in no time.

Here's a baby book I made for my son out of blog posts from Little Yellow Treehouse. I had this idea for months, started many versions, even considered buying a pre-made one and then I bit the bullet.

I am head over heels for this little book.








Blog to Baby Book


3. Get creative with fabrics.

This one is tough for me. I love fabric shopping. A stack of neatly folded, printed fabric is inspiring. Browsing the aisles of the local quilt shops is a weekend favorite of mine.

But when I started looking around my house, I found some great fabrics too (and they were free).

Think sheets, pillow cases, old sweaters, clothes that don't fit

or your hubby's dress shirts that have coffee stains...



Dress shirt turned throw pillow


4. Swap with a sista.

Find a friend who has an excess and arrange a swap. Trade out paper, stamps, fabrics, even magazines.

It's better than shopping the sale racks, because it's FREE and chances are, your girlfriends will have tastes similar to your own.


5. Buy someone's old stuff.

Disclaimer: I'm a newbie to the garage sale & thrift store arena but I have seen evidence of some garbage turned gold. In fact, my mother-in-law recently told me of an estate sale she went to. She brought home baskets full of scissors, sewing notions and more vintage buttons than you'd know what to do with. Vintage Buttons!

If I could get my hand on vintage buttons, this would be the first thing I'd make.



Lenora Dame Retro Necklace


So there you have it. Five easy ways to make your crafting a little more eco-friendly and probably save yourself some money too.


I hope you'll stop by Little Yellow Treehouse and say hi. If you do, make sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can follow along too.

THANKS STACIA for the GREAT post! I think we all learned a thing or two from you today! I hope all my Paisley Passions readers will pop on over to Little Yellow Treehouse and say HI! :)