I’m flying to Chicago today to be part of the Green Festival panel on Saturday (and to do a few meetings while I”m in one of my all-time favorite cities).

This little project is from my book Simply Green Parties and it’s something I think I need to make for when I’m on the road and find myself in musky smelling hotel rooms: a portable incense holder.

You simply take a matchbox and punch a metal grommet on the top (a little kit you can find at any craft store)   Then fill the box with small sticks of incense that will gently burn for a few minutes to freshen up any room.

That’s it!   Anything to help bring the smell and feeling of home on the road with you…

Happy Friday!

Anyone coming to see me at the Natural Health Magazine Wellness Weekend in Bedford, PA?    I’ll be there and hope to see you, too.

In my growing home collection, I’m very happy to report we are using sustainable materials in really fresh and fun ways. Water Hyacinth is an invasive aquatic species choking waterways in Asia, so we are using it to make some fresh new products.     This is a honey colored chip and dip bowl with an integrated ceramic bowl for your favorite dip or salsa.

Here it is in another shape and lighter color.   Both are available at stores like TJ Maxx right now.

And our woven wine carriers come in 2 packs or 4 packs; they are reinforced with wire so they are super sturdy and can hold bottles of very snugly and securely.   I picked up a few to fill with my new line of organic wines coming out in a few months.   Perfect way to give any gift of wine I say!

And in other news: Has anyone seen the revamped home dept at JCPenney?  I just picked up this Michael Graves lamp and it looks sooooooooo good in my living room.   And it even came with an energy efficient CFL bulb, too!     Loving the new direction and designs.

Have a wonderful weekend!

As you may know, I am working on renovating my kitchen at home which means its a good time to do smaller renovations throughout the whole house since a contractor will be here anyway.    In one of the bathrooms, I hastily decided not to move the electrical when I initially renovated to save some money.  Well, this “smart” solution has proved to be annoying with the itty bitty mirror and two very close light fixtures.    I am planning to move the electrical to the top middle and have one large library light above illuminating a very large driftwood mirror…. it will look so much better.

Goodbye to the stained glass in the entryway in favor of just simple, clear  bubbly glass instead….

Ditto.   Goodbye Brady Bunch and hello simplicity and clean lines….

And this large wooden eagle I have perched above the refrigerator right now will also need to find a new home once the renovations start… where to put him?

I loathe and love renovating homes: it’s a “process” for sure, but the end result is always worth it.    Am I right on this one?

For your comments on whether or not to swap out my chairs for my own bamboo director chairs.   I’m keeping my existing vintage wooden chairs….   xo

This is one of my favorite projects in my current book Upcycling Celebrations.   It takes old silk flowers (who doesn’t have ugly fake flowers stashed away?) and crystallizes them in one easy, non-toxic step.   Don’t you love this icy feel they take on?

It’s simple:  Save take out containers and clean them well.   Fill them with super hot tap water and a few tablespoons of Borax.  Mix.   Insert the flowers inside the container so they are suspended in the Borax mixture and let it sit overnight.  The next day, the Borax crystals will encrust the entire outside of the flower.

And this is a fun little project you can do with kids:   Save colorful plastic spoons of the same color (so think kids birthday parties) and tie them together with string to mimic tulips.    Insert into a terra cotta pot (we filled it with styrofoam packaging from a TV purchase) and cover the top with moss.

While Spring isn’t quite here yet, these little projects can help  bring a little fun and color back into the home.    Enjoy!