Reuse our Favorite R

One of my favorite parts of the 3R's of Recycling is the Reuse! I love finding new life for old things. One of my great loves is lids, yes lids. Bottle lids, jar lids, you name it. Most people may not know that the lid should be removed prior to recycling, and in some places it can not be recycled at all. The lid is normally not made of the same kind of plastic, and if you area only does a few of the plastic numbers then they do not recycle the lids. One very sad point is that depending on your Recycling Centers policy if you do not remove the lids they will put all your recycling in the regular trash and into the landfill. The common answer for this is they just don't have the manpower to do the work required to remove the lids.In any event we find the lids to be very useful items in our household of six From meal times to art time, there are many secondary uses for lids that can add life to the item and ease to your life.

Check out some of the things we use our lids for:

Matching Games for Toddlers

Water or Sand Play

Snack Cup

Holder for ketchup, dip and other condiments

Small Part Holder for Crafting

Glue or Glitter Holder

Lid Cover for Cups

Cooking Spoon Rest

Leave a comment and tell me your ideas for reusing lids or other things!

When I was a little girl, no matter where we lived we always had a garden. No matter the size, there were always certain rules that were followed. One was that Marigolds were always planted with the vegetables. As a little girl I thought it was just to make the planting beds look pretty. Now I am older and understand the relationship that marigolds have in the garden.

Marigolds are easy to grow and they help keep the away aphids, the relationship between plants and insects is known as ‘companion planting,’ and it has been passed down for generations as the safest, most natural way to garden. Our new buzz word for it is organic.

Marigolds were first discovered by the Portuguese in Central America in the 16th century. Marigolds are hardy, annual plants. There are two genuses which are referred to by the common name, Marigolds viz., Tagetes and Celandula. Tagetes includes African Marigolds and French Marigolds. Celandula includes Pot Marigolds. Tagetes are used in the garden to repel insects and Celandula is an extremely effective herb for the treatment of skin problems .

Marigolds can be planted anywhere in the garden to deter Mexican bean beetles, squash bugs, tomato hornworms, and whiteflies. They are also known to repel harmful root knot nematodes (soil dwelling microscopic white worms) that attack tomatoes, potatoes, roses, and strawberries. The root of the Marigold produces a chemical that kills nematodes as they enter the soil.

Other plant that help with pest control:

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  Peppermint repels ants, white cabbage moths, aphids, and flea beetles.


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  Garlic discourages aphids, fleas, Japanese beetles, and spider mites.


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  Perennial Chives repel aphids and spider mites.


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  Basil drives away flies and mosquitoes.


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  Rosemary and Sage repel cabbage moths, bean beetles, and carrot flies.

Find out the story behind the fairies

Fairies were a great part of my childhood and my years of playing in the woods near my childhood home. Years later after I left childhood behind I still made stories and painted fairies. When my nieces and nephews took their naps I would weave stories for them to drift off to sleep with. When I became a nanny and now a mother I still used the memories of my times in the woods with the fairies as my inspiration with my children. Now I have this wonderful new way of bringing them to life for everyone.

Meet the Fairies from Fairyland....

You see it now, just behind the tree, the fairy ring of mushrooms. You know you want to. You have heard the tales. So, just step inside the mushroom ring and come with me to the magical world of Fairyland. You have come at just the right time, The Fairy Festival has just begun and you are invited to join in. Fairies from all around have brought their wares for you to try. Come join the tea party and merriment and meet the fairies of Fairyland.

Lavender and her fairy friends are here to meet you. Lavender wears a band of lavender in her hair and loves the sweet smell that surrounds her. She is a cute little fairy that has the grandest tea parties. She loves to solve problems and is the leader of the group.

Miss Marigold wears a dress of gold and has flowers in her hair. She teaches Charm and Manners to all the Jr. Fairies at The Charm School. All of fairyland is abuzz with excitement over her arrival. Lavender is even preparing a Welcome Tea.

Petunya wears a dress of pink and loves the flower she is named after. Petunya loves to bake and make sweet treats for all her friends in fairyland.

Hyacinth loves to get up early to meet the morning sun and wash her face with the first morning dew. She loves honey and dreams of one day having a Honey Stand at the Fairy Market.

Rose loves to make lovely smelling lotions and potions for all her fairy friends. Sometimes she even leaves some for the little girls that live in the valley.

Ivy loves the color green and lives in a lovely little house in the an old oak stump all covered with ivy. Ivy loves all plants and loves to grow special fairy flowers.

Zinnia wears a dress of orange but also loves the color purple. She washes her hair with blueberry juice, and it has become a lovely shade of purple! She lives in the blueberry patch, where she always has a fresh supply. One day she hopes to have a blueberry stand at the Fairy Market.

Daffodil wears a dress the color of sunshine. She is always happy and can brighten any gray day. Daffodil has a silly side, and some days you will find her walking about with a daffodil flower upside down on her head as if it were the grandest hat! Daffodil is always there to help a fairy friend or human that may need her.

These girls love tea time, midnight parties, and enchanting adventures. I started making these for my own children when all the information about the dangers of plastic worried me. There are fairies in two sizes, playsets, a playbox for each doll (more to come), and storybooks to come about the fairies. These dolls are great interactive toys that will enhance you daughter's childhood and will be toys that she cherishes forever. A set of delicate wings are painted on the back of each fairy, but the flying is up to you!

My Fairies can be found here:
http://www.thefairyring.etsy.com
http://www.theenchantedcupboard.artfire.com
http://www.theenchantedcupboard.1000markets.com