Feelin' a bit green

Oh sure, that queasy feeling, or maybe a happy St. Patrick's Day ale, makes you feel a bit green. but I'm talking about the latest revolution of " going green". An environmental holiday hoopla that well, I just don't get. See, I remember being green before we knew what the term meant. We were always recycling, whether it be returning glass bottles to the store for deposit, or if any of you grew up in Canada, returning the bottles to the "PoP Shoppe". We were making paper out of old papers, recycling newspapers, creating crafts out of unused doodads & cans. And over the years, since I was a kid, I've honed the creativity in reusing to a bigger & better venture. Enter my two eco savvy daughters, whose imaginations can see past the old ready to discard items into new must have accessories.
Global warming? Maybe, maybe not. Before you throw that bottle away though, let your imagination decide what else you could do with it. It actually becomes a quest of sorts, & pretty soon you'll find you can't stop trying to reuse. This morning as I was packing up trash & yes, my big ol' recycle box, to take to the dump, I spied shredded paper, perfect for creating handmade paper, & the chipboard dividers from a box of glass bottles. Chipboard makes fabulous book covers or cut outs for scrapbooking & such.
Want to make your own paper? Easy, just mix shredded paper with water in a blender with about a tbs. of white glue & blend til mush (an old but working blender works best I found one at a thrift store for $3.) Fill a plastic bucket(like for cat litter boxes)with water, & add the pulp. You can then either scoop out the pulp & use it like papier mache or make a box with window screening & wood & scoop out paper sized amounts of pulp. Drain on towels & then let dry. I believe you can dry the pieces in the oven at 200 degrees F but be careful if you try that. don't leave the oven area. Paper & heat sometimes create more heat than one should want.
Now that you have that paper, what to do with it?
Stay tuned. I've got some ideas coming up !!!!