Pickin' up the pace
I've been avoiding this 100 Things Meme and have considered giving up the topic and switching to a new one, being that a lot of the things I'll be putting in it will be things I'll be getting rid of as I attempt to downsize what I own so that it'll all fit in my car (or perhaps some extra, to be left at my parents' house, though I really wanted to be completely moved out of there for good..).
But the purpose of this wasn't to celebrate STUFF anyway. It was to show all the interesting things you can get without further harming the environment, by using things already created some time ago or made out of recycled materials, so as not to be furthering completely unnecessary new production, being that there is SO MUCH STUFF out there just waiting for someone to take it. Just visit one antique shop or thrift store, and you'll see what I mean.
I think I will quicken things up a bit though, by putting multiple in one entry.
#3: Eco-friendly dish brush
Handle made of bamboo, bristles made of recycled plastic, and biodegradable, plant-based plastic on the rest. The brush is removable and you can buy replacements for it, so you don't have to throw away the whole thing. I bought a toothbrush with that concept awhile back and accidentally broke off the brush so it wasn't usable anymore :( This doesn't seem too easy to break, but the brush has popped off every once in awhile when I'm scrubbing hard..
I bought it at Zandbroz Variety Store in Sioux Falls, SD (http://www.zandbroz.com/), and there's also another location in Fargo, ND which I've been to also (don't know if they have the brush). A very fun store. http://www.iherb.com/Full-Circle-Home-LLC-Laid-Back-Dish-Brush/25352?utm_source=shc&utm_medium=c&ppnshpng
On a side note, at the Fargo one I bought a cologne. The brand is Demeter (http://www.demeterfragrance.com/), and all of their scents that I smelled there were AMAZING. I must have stood at them for about 15 minutes, smelling each multiple times. Tomato, grass, campfire, ....... I finally settled on thunderstorm. It's so strong and unique I don't know how much to wear it though ;)
And browsing all their scents on their website, I see they have firefly (which I can only imagine smells like a glorious summer night), glue(...I don't know about that one), green tomato, honeydew melon, laundromat (haha), sawdust, sushi, suntan lotion,....etc, etc. Seriously, if you ever have a hope that something will actually smell like the scent it's named, THIS is the brand to go with. And I am totally sidetracked here, but well, they have some all natural flower scents...so, there, that's why this fits heh heh. And in case you can't get out into nature but need your fix, just take a whiff of one of their bottles.
#4: Homemade soap, on a homemade soap dish
I didn't make either of these things, but someone did, in their home, or you know..outside of a factory. The soap I got from a woman selling what she makes at a craft fair in Utah. Most craft fairs, farmer's markets, and the like have someone selling soap, candles, lipgloss, etc. that they made themselves from natural ingredients. These things tend to be of high quality and smell good too, from what I've found. This bar is lemongrass something...and doesn't have any animal fat in it. I was glad to finally be able to use bar soaps, living in my own place for awhile. The soap dish, I don't know who made that, but it looks to be someone's art project from a pottery class. I bought it from one of the thrift stores in town. Oh right, the frog is from that thrift store too :)
#5: Halloween stuff! (2011)
I love Halloween, and thrift stores are a great way to get stuff for costumes and decorations, especially since you may not want to wear a costume repeatedly. Last Halloween I bought this black dress, white collared shirt, black pantyhose, and a black rose at thrift stores for my Wednesday Addams costume. The only things I bought new were face makeup and black jewelry from Walmart (ugh.) (And I wore shoes I already had.) I also bought these cute decorations, to make the house more festive. I don't know what the heck the decoration in the background of that last photo is for... I thought they were for hanging up, but they're attached in a circle... And a Halloween windsock, which I hung on a tree outside..but either someone stole it or it blew away :'(
#6: Soy candles
Okay, apparently it's kind of controversial whether soy candles are in fact better for the environment (outdoors and indoors) than paraffin wax ones, but they do send up less black soot (my mom's arch-nemesis b/c it leaves stains on the ceiling), are made from a renewable resource rather than petroleum, and seem to have stronger scent (that's not an environmental bonus..in fact, it's safer to have unscented candles, but what's the fun in that? But even if soy candles are more a marketing ploy than anything, these two were locally made where they were purchased.. the mug one is from a little store in Chicago, and a local lady made the candles in old mugs, as a neat way to repurpose. The lemon one is from a giant awesome antique/random stuff store in Omaha, NE called The Imaginarium. It smells incredibly lemony...when I burned it I found out it actually permeates a bit TOO much. Made locally too.
#7: Colorful rug
I got this rug for $2 (I actually asked for less than the tag, which I think was $3...feel kinda silly/obnoxious about that). It's in the entryway from my garage, in front of my washer and dryer. I considered buying a larger rug to put over the wood floor in my frontroom (where my couch is) but never found a used one I liked. There were some huge area rugs at the thrift store though..just dark and very old-fashioned and dusty and heavy. Like those ones from big manor houses or whatever. [I'll get to the shoes later.]
#8: Side table
I rescued this from my family's next-door-neighbor's curb.... so, FREE. Stuck it in my car and brought it back to my apartment. It's great for my plant, for my dinner, for burning a candle or incense... And the wood legs kind of go with (though different, lighter wood) the wood front legs/trim on my couch, not that I try too hard to coordinate such things.
#9: Leaf dish
Found this pretty painted ceramic maple leaf-shaped decorative dish at one of the town thrift stores....then one day a friend came over, saw it, and was like- I almost bought that! The two of us have similar taste in home "decor"..I've complimented her on several things in her home. We both go for that nature-inspired, lots of greens and browns, animal and plant motif stuff. Yeah, I'm a bit of a modern-day hippie ;) I put the leaf shaped candles in the dish, except for Halloween when it held candy corn, as pictured. It remained out year-round. p.s. Fall is my favorite season. (Oh, and you can see a bit of decor in my friend's place above, in the picture of me on Halloween)
#10: String 'o chilis
Saw these in a bag at the thrift store, and was like ...why not?! Not as good as when people hang up real chilis, but these are cute too...and they match the pattern in my kitchen window curtains quite well.
Okay, I'll stop there for now. Stay tuned for more on the next episode of "Shit Found in passionrlsusall's Humble Abode".
In other news, my house reeks of smoke after burning up cornbread in my microwave. Ugh..like the time I burned garlic cloves in the microwave, but not as disgusting of a smell.
Also, the locally-owned grocery store in town is being converted into a bigger ACE hardware (it was already attached to one..now it's being taken over), which saddens me :(( Still to be owned by the same people it sounds like, but that place was nice....a bulk section, organic section, and a guy who'd personally ask you if there was anything they could get for you and what you thought of items. And the bagger would take your bags to your car for you. And though I won't be living here much longer, I hate that big corporations continue to overtake local businesses. Booooooo, Walmart and Hyvee won out :(((((((
But the purpose of this wasn't to celebrate STUFF anyway. It was to show all the interesting things you can get without further harming the environment, by using things already created some time ago or made out of recycled materials, so as not to be furthering completely unnecessary new production, being that there is SO MUCH STUFF out there just waiting for someone to take it. Just visit one antique shop or thrift store, and you'll see what I mean.
I think I will quicken things up a bit though, by putting multiple in one entry.
#3: Eco-friendly dish brush
Handle made of bamboo, bristles made of recycled plastic, and biodegradable, plant-based plastic on the rest. The brush is removable and you can buy replacements for it, so you don't have to throw away the whole thing. I bought a toothbrush with that concept awhile back and accidentally broke off the brush so it wasn't usable anymore :( This doesn't seem too easy to break, but the brush has popped off every once in awhile when I'm scrubbing hard..
I bought it at Zandbroz Variety Store in Sioux Falls, SD (http://www.zandbroz.com/), and there's also another location in Fargo, ND which I've been to also (don't know if they have the brush). A very fun store. http://www.iherb.com/Full-Circle-Home-LLC-Laid-Back-Dish-Brush/25352?utm_source=shc&utm_medium=c&ppnshpng
On a side note, at the Fargo one I bought a cologne. The brand is Demeter (http://www.demeterfragrance.com/), and all of their scents that I smelled there were AMAZING. I must have stood at them for about 15 minutes, smelling each multiple times. Tomato, grass, campfire, ....... I finally settled on thunderstorm. It's so strong and unique I don't know how much to wear it though ;)
And browsing all their scents on their website, I see they have firefly (which I can only imagine smells like a glorious summer night), glue(...I don't know about that one), green tomato, honeydew melon, laundromat (haha), sawdust, sushi, suntan lotion,....etc, etc. Seriously, if you ever have a hope that something will actually smell like the scent it's named, THIS is the brand to go with. And I am totally sidetracked here, but well, they have some all natural flower scents...so, there, that's why this fits heh heh. And in case you can't get out into nature but need your fix, just take a whiff of one of their bottles.
#4: Homemade soap, on a homemade soap dish
I didn't make either of these things, but someone did, in their home, or you know..outside of a factory. The soap I got from a woman selling what she makes at a craft fair in Utah. Most craft fairs, farmer's markets, and the like have someone selling soap, candles, lipgloss, etc. that they made themselves from natural ingredients. These things tend to be of high quality and smell good too, from what I've found. This bar is lemongrass something...and doesn't have any animal fat in it. I was glad to finally be able to use bar soaps, living in my own place for awhile. The soap dish, I don't know who made that, but it looks to be someone's art project from a pottery class. I bought it from one of the thrift stores in town. Oh right, the frog is from that thrift store too :)
#5: Halloween stuff! (2011)
I love Halloween, and thrift stores are a great way to get stuff for costumes and decorations, especially since you may not want to wear a costume repeatedly. Last Halloween I bought this black dress, white collared shirt, black pantyhose, and a black rose at thrift stores for my Wednesday Addams costume. The only things I bought new were face makeup and black jewelry from Walmart (ugh.) (And I wore shoes I already had.) I also bought these cute decorations, to make the house more festive. I don't know what the heck the decoration in the background of that last photo is for... I thought they were for hanging up, but they're attached in a circle... And a Halloween windsock, which I hung on a tree outside..but either someone stole it or it blew away :'(
#6: Soy candles
Okay, apparently it's kind of controversial whether soy candles are in fact better for the environment (outdoors and indoors) than paraffin wax ones, but they do send up less black soot (my mom's arch-nemesis b/c it leaves stains on the ceiling), are made from a renewable resource rather than petroleum, and seem to have stronger scent (that's not an environmental bonus..in fact, it's safer to have unscented candles, but what's the fun in that? But even if soy candles are more a marketing ploy than anything, these two were locally made where they were purchased.. the mug one is from a little store in Chicago, and a local lady made the candles in old mugs, as a neat way to repurpose. The lemon one is from a giant awesome antique/random stuff store in Omaha, NE called The Imaginarium. It smells incredibly lemony...when I burned it I found out it actually permeates a bit TOO much. Made locally too.
#7: Colorful rug
I got this rug for $2 (I actually asked for less than the tag, which I think was $3...feel kinda silly/obnoxious about that). It's in the entryway from my garage, in front of my washer and dryer. I considered buying a larger rug to put over the wood floor in my frontroom (where my couch is) but never found a used one I liked. There were some huge area rugs at the thrift store though..just dark and very old-fashioned and dusty and heavy. Like those ones from big manor houses or whatever. [I'll get to the shoes later.]
#8: Side table
I rescued this from my family's next-door-neighbor's curb.... so, FREE. Stuck it in my car and brought it back to my apartment. It's great for my plant, for my dinner, for burning a candle or incense... And the wood legs kind of go with (though different, lighter wood) the wood front legs/trim on my couch, not that I try too hard to coordinate such things.
#9: Leaf dish
Found this pretty painted ceramic maple leaf-shaped decorative dish at one of the town thrift stores....then one day a friend came over, saw it, and was like- I almost bought that! The two of us have similar taste in home "decor"..I've complimented her on several things in her home. We both go for that nature-inspired, lots of greens and browns, animal and plant motif stuff. Yeah, I'm a bit of a modern-day hippie ;) I put the leaf shaped candles in the dish, except for Halloween when it held candy corn, as pictured. It remained out year-round. p.s. Fall is my favorite season. (Oh, and you can see a bit of decor in my friend's place above, in the picture of me on Halloween)
#10: String 'o chilis
Saw these in a bag at the thrift store, and was like ...why not?! Not as good as when people hang up real chilis, but these are cute too...and they match the pattern in my kitchen window curtains quite well.
Okay, I'll stop there for now. Stay tuned for more on the next episode of "Shit Found in passionrlsusall's Humble Abode".
In other news, my house reeks of smoke after burning up cornbread in my microwave. Ugh..like the time I burned garlic cloves in the microwave, but not as disgusting of a smell.
Also, the locally-owned grocery store in town is being converted into a bigger ACE hardware (it was already attached to one..now it's being taken over), which saddens me :(( Still to be owned by the same people it sounds like, but that place was nice....a bulk section, organic section, and a guy who'd personally ask you if there was anything they could get for you and what you thought of items. And the bagger would take your bags to your car for you. And though I won't be living here much longer, I hate that big corporations continue to overtake local businesses. Booooooo, Walmart and Hyvee won out :(((((((