Category Archives: Being Green

WHAT EARTH DAY MEANS TO ME AND A GIVEAWAY!

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Go-Green

 

When I started Caroline Creates, I had no idea that one day the materials and processes I used would be SO important to me. Now it is more than ever. You see, havng kids really changes your world view. Before I even got pregnant with Ms. Fi, I started exploring what being green meant. I learned a ton about GMOs, chemicals that we use to clean our houses, the food industry and what it all means to the future of our planet. Then, when I became a mom, the importance of implementing a green way of living became even more important because now I was responsible for someone else. OH man.

I’m so proud that Caroline Creates is an eco friendly stationery company. I try really hard to choose materials and vendors that are good for the environment so you can feel good about sending your friend a card or invite that will most likely end up in the trash. Right?

Remember this post from a while back? It’s about doing little things at home that are green. What do you do to be green and help the earth? It can be small or big! Tell me in the comments and share it on Facebook and you could win one of our personalized notepads!

oh and the above graphic is a great iPhone wallpaper!

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Go-Green

OUR GREEN STATEMENT

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Go-Green

I’ve been working on my WHY and getting the biz ready for some big big things. One of the most important things I did after my rebrand, was make being green a huge part of Caroline Creates. It’s a huge part of my life and dictates why I buy things and how I live my life so it was only natural to incorporate that into my business.

So what makes my products green?

All of our invitations, save the dates and note cards in the shop are printed on 130# recycled white paper and our envelopes contain 30% post consumer waste. All papers we use are FSC certified. We all offer our custom clients many green options. We strive to choose materials that are good for the environment but still stylish.

You know “green without all the granola!” Did I mention that all my packaging is either recycled or biodegradable?

So as our new collection launches, you can be assured that not only are they fresh and quirky; they are green.

 

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Reusing old bar stools and making them new

REDO AND REUSE- THE LIVING ROOM PART 2

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Reusing old bar stools and making them new

If you read the previous living room post from a few weeks ago, you know that our living room has been struggling to find it’s identity (much like me. How ironic). Phase 1 has occurred and the ugly old brown bar stools have a new life!

I love covering things to make them new again. I didn’t want to paint these, I just wanted to give them a little life. New fabric is always a great way to go. It’s not terribly expensive and if you have a fabric store like mine, you can find some unique prints. There are also some great online resources such as Spoonflower.

What you’ll need: drill, scissors, staple gun, Scotch Gard spray, and of course fabric. Now I know Scotch Gard probably isn’t the greenest thing to use, but when you have toddlers it really cuts down on the amount of time I spend scrubbing out play dough stains from my fabric. Normally I wouldn’t even bother, but since this fabric is white and will be used often, I figured it was necessary.

After my hubby unscrewed the cushions from the chair, I cut the fabric into four equal squares. Setting the cushion in the middle of the fabric, I started by pulling the four sides in tight and stapling. *Note: be sure to watch the direction of the pattern on each cushion.

From there, you can begin going around the cushion, pulling the fabric tight and stapling.

 Once it’s all stapled and pulled tight, you can either trim the excess fabric or glue another piece of fabric over the stapled part. I decided to leave it unfinished since the base of the bar stool covers it.

Look at that beauty! Hey, I did that! Saweet!

Now is the time to apply the Scotch Gard. I’m no expert so follow the instructions on the can. Once that’s done, I reattached the bases to the stools, mindful of the pattern direction and done!

Easy peasy and now I have funky bar stools that no one else has! Look you can see my Toms in the background. We are becoming so cliche.

Stay tuned! I have pillows to make and maybe some fun DIY art too. What have you recovered and reused in your house?

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REDO AND REUSE- THE LIVING ROOM PART 1

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I feel as though like us, our house has been struggling to find it’s identity. It was built in 1968 and when we moved in it had suffered a bad 1980′s redo. Needless to say, the living room has been a struggle. In December, we finally updated and opened the kitchen and added a nice bar area. Of course, I wanted to clean the whole room before I photographed but hey, here is me in real life:

Oh man that’s messy. P.S. the oatmeal can is a toddler activity I found on Pinterest. The kid loves it! So our walls are gray and originally wood paneled. We loved these stools when we found them but I knew they would need to be recovered. That brown color is SO icky. Not to mention the giant stain already on the one stool. Thank you Ms. Fi.

Here is the current color scheme and fabric used in the room:

I had purchased these not long after we moved into this house. I was on a real Damask kick. The red and orange summed us up so well. I went to the University of Oklahoma and Chip is a ridiculous UT fan. So like I said, I love the colors but the pattern has got to go!

Now another important thing to factor in: I don’t want to be wasteful and keep this nice and eco-friendly so I decided to reuse the pillows as well as the bar stools.

Here is the pillow that inspired the new design:

I ran across this beauty at target a few months ago. We have a record player and felt it was SO us. I went to the fabric store and found the rest of the design:

The chevron fabric will go on the barstools and the other two fabrics will be used for the pillows. I’m so excited to keep the red and orange. I may even throw some burlap into it. We shall see!

Stay tuned! I’m going to start on the bar stools soon!

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TRASH COMPACTOR?

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Ya’ll. Not only is Scotland and Ireland both beautiful countries that I want to live in, they are super green! I mean we get over there and my little hippie self gets giddy like a Catholic schoolgirl looking at a Justin Bieber poster (too far?).

The first thing I noticed was the lack of water. The toilets, faucets and showers all run on less water. Of course, my American self immediately was like “what’s wrong with this thing?” When I realized this was no coincidence, I was impressed and yes it all works just fine.

In Dublin, they had these lovely solar powered trash compactors/cans. I’m not kidding:

I threw something away just to see it in action. I’m sold.

In Scotland, they had the same water conservation going on. Not too mention just a general respect for the environment that I don’t see too often here. The parks and lochs were so clean. I mean spotless.

We saw two alternate sources of power: hydro and wind. Our tour guide told us that the majority of their power comes from these sources. He also said that they invented wind power (I think he was exaggerating). Now granted, Scotland has to be the wettest and windiest place I’ve ever been.

I can’t even begin to tell you about the food. Most places served local food and I can’t even tell you how many organic/vegetarian/vegan restaurants I saw. Of course, we were traveling with meat eaters so I didn’t get to try them but in general the food was fresher. Again, I realize they are surrounded by the best landscape for this sort of thing.

I couldn’t help feeling like we could learn something from them. It was something they were so proud of and wanted to tell you about. Wouldn’t it be great if America was like that? Just sayin’.

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