A Little Research Can Prevent a Lot of Animal Cruelty

Killing an animal for food is a basic instinct dating back to prehistoric humans. The difference now is how the animals are treated before they become food. A little research in knowing where one’s food is coming from can mean a lot in the way of better treatment for animals. Click here to read more...

Rainbow Tissue Paper Card

This little card is made by placing colored paper or cardstock under a printed tissue paper overlay for a muted rainbow effect. Easy for kids. Using recycled paper keeps your cards eco-friendly. Click here for the video tutorial.

New Website

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got my website redone and I moved my blog to its front page on www.TheWoodlandElf.com. It just seemed to make sense to have everything all in one place. Therefore I will no longer be putting full posts on this blog. However, for those of you currently following this blog, I will continue to post the feed linking to the current blog. In the meantime, check out the new blog at www.TheWoodlandElf.com (and if you find any links I forgot to activate, be sure and let me know. Thanks.)

Too Little Sunshine as Harmful as Too Much

We all know that too much sun is a bad thing. Sunburns hurt, are very bad for the skin and can even lead to skin cancer, but getting too little sun is just as dangerous. Sunshine is a real life "miracle drug." The natural source of vitamin D is something our bodies need, but very few people actually get enough of it. One of the biggest problems is sunscreen.

Naturally most people use sunscreen to avoid being sunburned, but sunscreen also blocks the rays needed for the body to create vitamin D. That means all the sun being absorbed isn't providing the body with any benefit; in fact it can actually be harmful. Vitamin D helps prevent all types of cancers, but if sunscreen is blocking the vitamin D intake, then body is just absorbing sun rays (often a cause of skin cancer) with no vitamin D to counteract the effects. Sitting in a sunny window has the same consequences. The harmful rays that can burn your skin come through the glass, but the good vitamin D infused rays can't get through the glass. 

Make a Moth Repelling Lavender Sock Sachet

Scuffing my feet in and out of farm boots all the time means that I go through pairs of socks pretty fast. That leaves me with quite the pile of socks with holes in the heels. I've tried darning them, but it doesn't really last that long, so what to do with all those un-wearable socks? Make sock sachets!

More specifically, sock sachets filled with lavender. It's a "two birds with one stone," solution. Moths don't like the smell of lavender, so a sachet filled with lavender heads keeps moths away from clothes just as well as cedar or mothballs would (and the lavender smells a lot better too!). And making the sachets out of old socks is a great way to upcycle socks that are past their prime.

How to Make a Lacy Heart Valentine Magnet

Most Valentines go through the mail, are enjoyed for a few weeks, and are then thrown out, never to be seen again. So this year I decided to try something a little more practical, by giving out Valentine magnets instead of Valentine cards. They're something practical (as far as I know, everybody uses magnets at some point or another) as well as being cute enough to keep year round.

These little magnets are also a good way to recycled excess seambinding pieces, small bits of cardstock and business card magnets. (In the office where I work, they often update the magnetic business cards. Rather than throw out the old ones, I take them home for crafts, so I've usually got plenty that need recycling.) The lace makes these look fancy, but really they only take a few minutes to make, and since they use hot glue, you don't even have to wait long for the glue to dry!

Can Green Energy Help Prevent Nuclear Weapons?

We all know that green energy is good for the environment, better for our breathing air, and helps lessen our dependence on foreign oil, but what about world affairs? Can green energy help with that? Well, it could certainly help prevent the generation of dangerous nuclear weapons.

Some people refer to nuclear power as a "green" energy, and while it is true that it doesn't produce emissions like coal, it is certainly not a "green" energy. The Nuclear Energy Institute says that "A typical nuclear power plant in a year generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel." That's a lot radioactive waste, which can remain highly hazardous for thousands or sometimes millions of years. The only way to dispose of it is to bury it for thousands upon thousands of years. Somehow a power source that produces so much dangerous waste just doesn't strike me as being all that "green."

2 Minute Valentine Card



Here's a simple, kid-friendly Valentine card that's good to do with younger kids. It's quick and easy and turns a bunch of hearts into a flower for Valentine's Day. Regular tacky glue and kid-friendly scissors will help keep the project nice and safe for tiny hands.

An Easy Homemade Cleaning Product

When it comes to household cleaners, many of them carry a toxic chemical ingredient list long enough to warrant a hazmat designation. These noxious chemicals pollute our water when they're washed down the drain, as well as being potentially hazardous to breathe while they're being used to clean. Fortunately there are some safe (safe enough to eat even) and very effective alternatives that you can find right in your own kitchen.

Vinegar is probably most well-known of natural cleaning substances and with good reason. It's a wonderful disinfecting cleaner and is great for rubbing down countertops and greasy appliances. When mixed with baking soda it can be used to unclog a drain, and you can even throw a little vinegar in with the laundry for a safe, natural fabric softener.