Stretching the Life of Candles

My husband and I love to keep a year-round supply of candles in the house, so we pretty often have a collection of candles that are almost-fully burned out.

But instead of throwing out glass jars that have a little bit of wax left in them, my husband has embraced an awesome repurposing project - combining the wax to make new layered candles!

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Adventures in Sewing and Repurposing

One of my 30^th birthday bucket list items was to learn how to werk a sewing machine. Up til a few months ago, my sewing knowledge consisted of fixing frayed hems and sewing buttons back on. By hand. One look at my work and you'd swear the eight-year-old kid down the street fixed my clothes for me.

But I get grand craft ideas in my head, and sometimes, a desire to attempt to pull them off. My first big sewing machine project came about when my fiance's stepmom showed me a beach bag she created. We made plans for a craft afternoon - a CRAFTERNOON if you will - and I started hunting around the house for materials.

I knew I wanted to repurpose some kind of fabric instead of spending money on something new. I can't do anything if I don't attempt to be sustainable! I grabbed a few shirts, a spare towel and a scarf. Now, I have a slight obsession with scarves. Collection of scarves, I mean. Damn autocorrect. I had quite the large pile of scarves, and while I loved most of them, I just didn't wear all of them. This berry-colored fringe scarf was one I didn't wear as often, though I loved the colors.

We decided it would be perfect for a beach bag, since it is a lighter material. Armed with instructions via iPad (paperless!), we started off on the project.

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Birthday | The Next Decade

The #Countdownto30 has officially hit 0! Today, I'm celebrating turning 30, as gracefully as I can attempt, and having a great weekend with my boo.

It's been a hell of a ride so far this year, since I created my Countdown to 30 bucket list six months ago. I'm honestly proud of myself for checking as much off my bucket list as I did. And I'm proud of how much ass I've kicked so far this year. I'm finally starting to feel like a grownup with my stuff together. Although there are still more than a few hot mess days that happen.

Goal: Age like a fine wine.

✔ Buy a new car. What WHAT! Starting off my 30s in STYLE. With about a week and a half to spare, I said goodbye to the car I've had since high school and drove home in a pretty sweet Prius. I'm in love, y'all. One of my many favorite features is the trip summary once I park. It's already become an obsession of seeing how many miles per gallon I can get on each trip.

1/2 ✔ Travel somewhere new. So I haven't really made it to visiting any new cities in the past six months, but as I was talking to a friend recently, I realized I could look at it as visiting new places within my own city. I've gotten to visit local businesses that are either new or new to me, and it gives me a newfound love for my hometown.

1/2 ✔ Clean out, donate and start fresh. Well. I've done alright at purging some more clothes and other things, but unfortunately it's all still sitting in a pile in our house. We still haven't gotten to that damn garage sale, but are planning it for this month. My fiance has sold some of the items in other ways, so we are still making progress.

✔ Learn how to sew better. A couple months back, my fiance's stepmom and I had a sewing date (split into two sessions), and she helped me make a beach/pool bag from a repurposed scarf I had. It turned out way better than I expected, and I had a blast learning how to use a sewing machine. I eventually want to invest in one for the house so I can alter clothes that need a better fit.

Bonus ✔ Try aerial yoga. Not long after I wrote about my current yoga obsessions, I learned about a local yoga studio that offers aerial yoga. Sure, I had never heard of it before, but it took about .2 seconds to intrigue me, and I signed up for the intro class. I cannot WAIT to try the full class. It's like you flyin', yeah!

Bonus ✔ Got a ring put on it. Although not really a bucket list item, it is a pretty great accomplishment that happened during the last six months. My mother is proud to report that I am not officially an old maid.

Bonus ✔ Eco Cajun goals. From a full blog redesign to a magazine cover and a weekly interview on 106.3 during Earth Month, it's been a good year so far for this little site.

So I'm feelin' PRET-TY GOOD about the next decade in my life!

As I did last year, I'm giving y'all a lil Eco Cajun birthday Spotify mix. Some of my current song obsessions with some good summer tunes mixed in.


Now, I believe there is a birthday drink or three calling my name! #ByeFelicia

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say bye to artificial dyes

While we're working on greening your laundry routine, let's go to the beginning. It's time to wash ya dirty clothes. Whether you use powder, liquid or detergent pods, you are probably cleaning your clothes in a mess of chemicals and artificial dyes.

While you see Spring Mist, Island Fresh or Ocean Escape on the label, that fragrance alone could be a combination of several hundred chemicals, including many that are hazardous. According to Mother Earth Living, laundry detergents are often derived from petrochemicals and contain synthetic fragrances, even when they're marketed as “fragrance-free.” Optical brighteners are found in many detergent formulas; they're additives that emit blue light, making whites appear whiter. They tend to stay in clothes after washing, which can cause skin irritation. They also decompose relatively slowly and can be toxic to marine life. (If you want more detail on which ingredients are the most harmful, check out Mother Earth Living's list of laundry chemicals to avoid.)

So what's the alternative to washing your clothes in chemicals?

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soft clothes, minus the static and the chemicals

Dryer sheets make your clothes smell good and help reduce static electricity. But in order to function that way, they're loaded with chemicals, including toluene, styrene and phenol, which can cause acute respiratory tract inflammation and irritation, according to an Anderson Laboratories study. And that's in addition to aggravating some people's skin, especially if you're sensitive to synthetic dyes and perfumes. And it's not cool when your clean clothes cause you to break out or get a rash.

There are better and more natural ways to get soft, static-free clothes! 

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gettin' crafty with it

It's been a minute since I've completed a good eco-friendly craft project. Between multitasking on five different things at any given time, my track record of craft execution and just not needing to make anything, my project roster has suffered.

But! I've made a few things over the past couple years that I'm pretty proud of, so let's recap my Eco Cajun craft history, shall we?

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spray to a new life

When I started doing more green crafts, I started saving more raw materials in my apartment. A few months later, I had few crafts and tons of materials. If there's such thing as a jar/bottle lady, I would be that lady.

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crafty weekly simple eco tip, 8.7

This week's simple eco tip comes from a link I found on Pinterest. Swiffer Sweepers are very convenient cleaning tools for your house, but the disposable cloths create so much waste, and cost extra money. The blog Natural Nester came up with a way to reuse an old towel to create a reusable Swiffer cloth.

 Image: Natural Nester

From the materials to the setup, this looks like a wonderfully simple way to create a handy reusable cleaning cloth for something you probably already have.

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magnet crafts, weekly simple eco tip, 7.17

Magnets are a popular advertising/promotional item, and as such, there are always random ones around the home or office. And they are great for reusing!

One of my recent craft projects was to make a pocket to keep on the front of my refrigerator, to hold important papers or other things I don't want to lose just yet. Our area phone books always have attorney magnets on the front as advertising, and they come in so handy for crafts.

This project took about 10 minutes, tops. First, gather your materials - some old magnets, a folder and some shipping tape. Then, tape the sides of the folder together to create your pocket. Last, glue or spray mount the magnets to the back of the pocket. Just be sure to spray the correct side of the magnet - I speak from experience. My brain? Not always so sharp. But anyway, that's it! A quick and easy way to get a magnetic pocket for your fridge.

These magnets are also pretty perfect for homemade dishwasher dirty/clean magnets. I've made both separate and all-in-one kinds and use them daily at home and at work.

But you don't have to be limited to these ideas - you can reuse promo magnets in all sorts of ways! They can be attached to the back of a photograph or a lightweight picture frame, or if you had heavier-duty ones, to the back of a dry erase board or notepad for grocery lists.

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mason jar lamps! crafty friday, 7.12

Try to contain your disappointment, but instead of Link Friday this week, I'm giving you something a little different!

When doing dishes the other morning, I recognized the need for a light over my kitchen sink. Inspired by the approximately 4,000 DIY mason jar lamp pins on Pinterest, I decided to make my own. I followed the guide from Everyday Family to make mine, since it doesn't require the use of cutting tools. 

The entire project took maybe an hour to complete, from getting the idea in the morning while loading the dishwasher, to spray painting at lunch and completing the rest of the assembly after work. And I'm completely satisfied with how the light turned out! In full disclosure, I always have grand craft ideas, fueled even further these days by Pinterest. The problem is that my execution rarely ever lives up to my ideas, and I'm left with kind of mediocre crafts. (At least I don't have this problem in my cooking!) But this project actually may be one of my best Pinterest craft successes.

So, if you want to make your own, here's how I did it!

My first step was to grab a mason jar (given to me by my boss) that was sitting in a cabinet in my kitchen, and my can of spray paint from previous random craft projects. 

I set down some junk mail on my patio and spray spray sprayed the rim and lid of the mason jar, leaving the jar itself alone. Then I went back to work and let the paint dry in the amazing Louisiana humidity.

After work, I grabbed a pendant light kit and light bulb I was using for another crafted lamp over my desk (sorry desk, I'll replace it all soon!) and placed the screw part on the lid to find the (almost) middle. Then I traced the circle. I also grabbed a hammer and a nail.

And then I just hammered the nail on my circle line, one dot at a time. Here's a hint, don't use a tiny nail, just for annoyance purposes. This was probably the most time-consuming step in the entire project, and my hand started to hurt from holding the tiny nail in place for all the holes.

939284 nail holes later...

Once I had all the holes done in step 5, I had to figure out how to punch the circle out. The tutorial from Everyday Family used scissors to cut it out, and also suggested pliers. Well, this girl didn't get that fancy. Instead, I took the nail and either punched more holes, or put the nail in the existing holes and wiggled back and forth until the spaces between snapped apart. Wiggle wiggle wiggle! Once I had most of the circle separated, I took the hammer and finished the job. It was fun!

You are going to have super rough edges. I attempted to file them down with a handsaw. And by attempted, I tried once and it didn't work well so I left it alone. It'll be fine...enough.

After that, I decided to wrap jute around the rim part, totally covering up my spray paint job. Some jute and some superglue, and five minutes later, you have a covered rim. Totally optional of course, or you could use other kinds of ribbon or little jewels or magazine pages, etc. GO NUTS! Or don't. I mean, you don't have to. It's cool.

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER 'CAUSE YOU ARE DONE! Place the light socket kit in the hole of the mason jar lid, and put the rim on top. Then screw in your lightbulb and screw the whole shebang to the mason jar. And then hang it up wherever you wish! Oh and by the way, somewhere in this process, I ended up spray painting the light kit top to match the lid. It looks way nicer like that.

And because I already had every piece of this, this project was free dollars. The best kind!

The one thing I failed to do from the tutorial I followed is punch holes for air to escape through the lid to avoid overheating. Though I'm using a 9-watt CFL light bulb and the light is only for when I'm working at the sink, I will go back to add the holes for extra safety.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have dishes to wash. Have a great weekend and see you back here next week!

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summertime gone green

The heat of summer has set in, so now we have the choice of simply surviving it, or making the best of it. This week, I'm taking a look at some eco-friendly products that help to do both! To catch up on some summertime conversation tips, head this way. 

Insect repellents are necessary to summertime survival, but unfortunately many conventional repellents contain DEET, a chemical that can irritate skin and has caused seizures in children and adults. Be sure to choose only repellents that don't contain DEET for your and your children's safety. Wellness Mama has recipes for making your own bug spray, using mainly essential oils. I haven't tried doing any of these, but my curiosity has been piqued! The Daily Green also features DIY recipes, natural products, and other eco-friendly ways to avoid bugs – such as wearing long pants, a hat or scarf. (The key is to finding long pants that don't make you feel like you are being smothered!)

You can also turn to candles to help you block bugs while you're enjoying an afternoon or evening outside. Citronella oil is an essential oil that has been classified as a nontoxic plant-based insect repellent in the United States since 1948. Look for Citronella candles made from eco-friendly wax, such as the selection at Buy Green, and enjoy your outdoor barbecue!

Don't forget to outfit your home's windows with light- and heat-blocking curtains. This will save you from misery and extra energy costs.


When you go outside, always be sure to put on sunscreen. This is something my parents have always told me, and something I may not have always listened to. But as I grow older, I know that when I spend time in the sun, I don't want to feel like I am baking, so I slather on the sunscreen. I've also recently committed to using a BB cream with sunscreen in it, and I feel so much better about going outside every day. And there are natural alternatives to sunscreen, but I cannot personally vouch for how well these work. 

Tropical Seas offers eco-friendly sunscreens and other sun-care products in biodegradable packaging. Their goal is to create products that are also nontoxic to sea life, which is a nice thought to the fact that their packages just might end up in the ocean among the sea life. They also do not test on animals and do not use animal byproducts. The Honest Co. has a chemical-free, vegetarian sunscreen, and Abe's Market has an organic sunblock.

Image via Tropical Seas

Now, for the fun stuff!

A fun project to do with your children (or by yourself, because we are all just overgrown children anyway!) is to make bird feeders out of materials lying around the house. Bonus fun, this also provides entertainment for kitties sitting in the window, as it gives them endless birdies to watch during the day!

Earth911 shows how to make seven different recycled bird feeders, from materials such as milk cartons to Coke bottles to even floppy disks! I smell an eco cajun project happening soon.

If you have a garden, consider making eco-friendly plant markers. Buzzfeed and Apartment Therapy each have lots of different ideas for using materials you already have lying around.

Image via Apartment Therapy

Decorating your outdoor space will make you want to spend more time out there! And decorating it with eco-friendly items will make you feel good about spending time there.

Add color to your space with a recycled outdoor rug, such as the ones from Outdoor Rugs Only. Since they are made from recycled plastic, they are durable enough for outdoor use.

Image via Outdoor Rugs Only

You can also look for recycled rubber welcome mats, such as the lovely owl mat I found last year (featured above). Check out last summer's post about eco-friendly patio furnishings.

Another bit of decorating fun comes from adding recycled accessories, such as solar-powered string lights and other garden features. These solar-powered lights are going through their fourth summer with me and are still working nicely.

This recycled metal hummingbird feeder was something I chose as a birthday gift for my best friend this year, and her husband gave her this solar-powered lantern, both from Uncommon Goods.

And the last big part of decorating your outdoor space is the furniture. Look for pieces made of recycled plastic or rubber. Furniture made of recycled milk jugs is popular and sturdy, such as the chairs below from Polywood. 

Image via Polywood

Some other recycled outdoor furniture vendors include By the Yard, Loll Designs, West Elm, Crate and Barrel and Breezesta.

And get creative! Reuse items that you already have in a new way. Use an old colander as a planter. Use a large old bucket upside down as a small patio table. Use pallets in all kinds of ways. The possibilities are endless!

What's your favorite eco-friendly summer solution?

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eco cajun easter fun

When I write about new green practices, I always look forward to trying them myself. Since writing about natural Easter egg dyes for last week's Simple Eco Tip, I couldn't wait to go to the store and get my ingredients.

I chose blueberries to make bluish-gray, paprika for reddish-orange, turmeric for mustard yellow, pickled beet juice for pink, grape juice for lavender, and red onion skins for jade green.

Dyeing eggs with natural ingredients takes a lot longer than with the little box kits. Using spices involved boiling water, and using blueberries involved letting them thaw to room temperature. Using the onion skins involved chopping and simmering in water.

But the process overall was very fun and rewarding. It was interesting to watch food dye the eggs, especially the liquid from the simmered onion skins. I was a bit skeptical that the instructions said it gives a jade green color, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was true. They turned out to be my favorite.

Using the natural dyes also means you won't get as vibrant a color as you would with traditional dyes, but I still think they came out very well (except for the sad paprika-dyed eggs, but that's probably from my impatience.)

At the last minute, I realized I hadn't planned a way to let the eggs dry, and thought of what the kits come with for drying. I had a quick bolt of inspiration and found a cardboard box waiting to be recycled. Five minutes later, I'd cut strips and slits on those strips, and created a bunch of fish-shaped egg drying stands. They worked out great, and I got to reuse a cardboard box.

Although I didn't plan on spending part of two days dyeing eggs, I had fun experimenting and look forward to next year, when I can perfect each shade!

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Recycled Billboard Crafts, Attempt One

When I got a bicycle a few weeks ago, I set out to find an eco-friendly or recycled materials basket for it. After not having found anything online, I started brainstorming ways to make my own basket, and the thought of using billboard vinyls kept sticking with me.

I have some contacts at the local outdoor advertising company, so I called them and asked if I might be able to take some billboards that were being thrown out. They said absolutely, and I went over to visit the warehouse and pick a few vinyls. I ended up with two smaller vinyls and a larger posterflex. After picking up a few construction supplies, I began working out how to make a basket and cupholder.

Cupholder concept #1.

It was an interesting process, making these things over the past two weeks. One thing I will admit about myself is that I have trouble actually executing the ideas that come to me. And I'm impatient. But I tried to be thorough and slow with these projects to make sure they would be somewhat usable. I did end up going with a second idea for a cupholder, and modified the basket design a few times.

My goal was to have both completed for this past Saturday, the day of Mickey Shunick's memorial celebration. I met that goal, even though I decided the cupholder wasn't good enough to be used. And I modified the basket one last time right before departing - giving it a way to close at the top instead of remaining open.

The basket did well on its first ride. It held everything it needed to, and it kept all the contents safe from the dreary, rainy afternoon. It left me with a lot of ideas on how to make a better version in the future, and I'll take my time working on that better version.


I learned through this process that billboard materials are fairly easy to work with. It's not difficult to cut, it sticks to Gorilla Glue (oh, the Gorilla Glue...), and it's a great all-weather material. Because of its purpose, vinyl is made to weather wind, sun and rain - and stay durable. What better material to make bike accessories with?

I began the basket with a square piece of vinyl and figured out how to fold it to make a cube shape. I then marked the fold lines and made cuts so I would be able to redo it another evening.

The initial basket shape, held together with incredibly official clamps. Hey, I reused as much as I could for this project!

Once I was satisfied with the shape, I glued all the panels together and kept the structure with two large books inside.

I decided to make the basket look more polished by adding a trim to the top, using the actual trim of the billboard, so the top fold was already well-creased.

One of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to attach the basket to my bike. Important, right? I ended up deciding to try industrial velcro, which I was able to get by the foot at a local hardware store (score a few points for shopping local!) instead of having to buy all 15 feet in the box.

Cupholder concept #2 with its velcro strap. This concept mostly needs a way to stay upright instead of just dangling from the handlebar. But check out my color matching skills to the basket!

My bike and basket at the conclusion of Mickey's ghost bike memorial. During the memorial, native butterflies were released, and this beautiful one landed on my basket. I think it's a fitting dedication to Mickey herself and her legacy, and a nice little way to inaugurate the basket for Shunick the Schwin.

I'm incredibly inspired to continue making things with the vinyls, and only in part because I still have a metric ton of it lying around my apartment. The ideas are endless; the ability to execute them, less so. But I won't let that stop me!

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repurposed billboards! [link friday, 9.28]

I've been on a major billboard recycling kick lately, thanks to my own crafting ambitions, but that's for a future post... (as in, next week, so come on back!)

Selling bags made out of billboards is becoming more and more popular these days. You can find them in different shapes and sizes, but the colors will always be somewhat of a surprise, since, you know, they're made from whatever billboards the company can obtain.

Photo: Alchemy Goods Ad Bag

• GorillaSacks has just about any kind of bag, made out of vinyl. You can find an iPad sleeve, grocery produce bags, market bags, messenger bags, lunch bags and even curtains (oh, how I am tempted to have a recycled billboard shower curtain...)
• Vy and Elle has messenger bags, wallets and clutches.
• Artecnica makes a stretch billboard bag, which basically has a large open-weave design, making it great for a beach bag or for holding stanky gym clothes.
• Billboard Ecology sells bags and lunch totes in partnership with schools for fundraisers.
• Earth Divas has a very pop-art style bag.
• Alchemy Goods has the above-pictured Ad Bag, which makes a great tote for notebooks or laptops. They specialize in items made from bicycle inner tubes and seatbelts. I actually have an ID holder made of bike tubes from them that I love.

Billboards are such a great working material, and we all know there is more than enough vinyl to go around that can be repurposed!


Have a happy and green weekend, and I'll see y'all back here next week! Where I'm going to talk all day long about my billboard crafting experiences!

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