Make your Valentine’s Day dinner party extra special this year by decorating your tableware with edible paint & glitter. It’s super easy, completely edible and eco-friendly. All you need are a few ingredients that you most likely have in the pantry and some plain jane dishes to dress up.

Let’s get started…

DIY Edible Sugar Glitter

Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar and a few drops of liquid food coloring until the color is evenly distributed. (You can also substitute salt for sugar, however the grains of salt give off less sparkle than the sugar.)

Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Pour the colored sugar onto the baking tray and spread the sugar thinly and evenly on the tray. Preheat your oven to 300ºF. Place the baking tray with sugar in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove tray from oven and let the sugar cool completely. Use a fork to break up clumps of sugar that may have formed.

DIY Edible Paint

Mix 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of water, and 2 drops of liquid food coloring.

Apply with a paintbrush to plain dishes, mugs or even glassware.

Sprinkle your homemade suger glitter on the paint while it is still wet to add a little extra sparkle and shine to every dish.

And when it’s time to clean up, just wash your dishes like normal. The paint and glitter will just melt off in hot water.

Have fun! Get creative! The sky’s the limit to color scheme & design.

It’s Thanksgiving week! What better way to celebrate than with green DIY crafts. If you’re looking to green up your table decorations or just have some fun with the kids here are some eco-friendly Thanksgiving craft projects.

Top 5 DIY Thanksgiving Crafts

1- Upcycled hand print turkey shirt

2- Corn husk recycled jar candle holder

3- Turkey made from toilet paper rolls

4- Biodegradable Thanksgiving placecards

5- Thankful turkeys containers

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween is almost here! Just a few more weeks. Are you all ready? Do you have your pumpkins carved? Do you have your costume picked out? Don’t worry, you still have plenty of time & we’re here to help.

Here are the top 5 eco-conscious Halloween tips for 2011:

1- Buy your pumpkins from local farms
2- Create your own party decorations to reuse year after year
3- Make your own costume from recycled materials
4- BYO trick or treat bag
5- Create a compost pile for your pumpkins on November 1st.

Looking to class up your average flower planters around the house? Try this unique and fun DIY project by Chrisjob over at Curbly that turns an old used book into a gorgeous one-of-a-kind planter.

Supplies Needed:

• Book
• Electric drill
• Hole saw
• Safety glasses
• Dusk mask
• Scrap wood – 2 pieces
• Clamp
• Exacto Knife
• Screen
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• White glue & small paint brush
• Clear polyurethane spray
• Plant with a shallow root system & dirt

Step by Step Directions:

Via: Curbly

Before you consider an incomplete set of dominoes as trash, think about crafting some unique drink coasters for your coffee table or as a gift for a friend that is a game lover. It’s a pretty simple DIY eco-friendly project when you use this step-by-step guide by NaturalMindset.

Supplies Needed:

• Hot glue gun & glue
• Scissors
• Old set of domino game pieces
• Eco-Friendly felt

Who’s dying Easter eggs with their kids this weekend?

Need some DIY eco-friendly tips to avoid the toxic store bought dye kits? Try dying your eggs with vegetables, spices and everyday items found in your kitchen.

Supplies Needed:

• Free-range eggs
• Alum powder (available at the supermarket in the spice aisle)
• White Vinegar
• Vegetables & spices
• Cooktop
• Saucepan
• Measuring spoons
• Wooden spoon and slotted spoon
• Vegetable oil, wax, electrical tape, leaves, stickers, etc (optional)

Step by Step Directions:

Step 1:
Choose which colors you’d like to dye your eggs.

• For blue, use red cabbage
• For red, try whole beets (not canned), cherries, or cranberries
• For light green, use spinach or fresh green herbs
• For tan, brew some strong coffee, tea, or a handful of cumin seeds
• For yellow, try turmeric (a spice) and yellow onion skins
• For olive green, use red onion skins (the color is produced by a reaction with the vinegar)
• For purple, grape juice or frozen blueberries

Step 2:
For each color, fill a saucepan with at least three inches of water. Add in your vegetables or spices. It’ll take a lot…around two cups, packed.

Step 3:
Bring the water to a boil, and add two teaspoons of alum powder – UNLESS you’re using onion skins, as it creates a funky reaction.

Step 4:
Boil for thirty minutes.

Step 5:
Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool slightly. You don’t want to add the eggs to boiling water, because the shells will likely crack.

Step 6:
Return to heat, and stir in two tablespoons of white vinegar. Add the eggs, and bring the mixture back to a full boil. Reduce the heat slightly, and cook for 10-12 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, and let the eggs cool in the dye.

Step 7:
Remove the eggs from the dye. If you’re satisfied with the color, then allow them to dry. For deeper, richer colors, strain the liquid, and allow the egg to continue to soak for up to eight hours. (Any longer, and the vinegar will start to disintegrate the shell.) If you plan to eat the eggs, put them into the refrigerator.

Via: Curbly

Want to live off the grid with a generator which creates free electric energy? Seams too good to be true. Well, it is true with Magniwork’s ultimate DIY kit for a free energy generator.

What is the Magniwork DIY Kit?

Magniwork is the ultimate DIY kit for energy independence. Magniwork includes a complete guide of over 50 pages of detailed instructions to help you build your own generator that will supply free energy for your home. No need for fancy solar panels or expensive wind turbines. Plus, Magniwork provides full technical support for each generator DIY kit.

How does the Magniwork Generator work?

Magniwork is a zero point magnetic power generator. It uses magnets, and magnetic force to induce perpetual motion. A perpetual motion device refers to a machine that runs perpetually or indefinitely, and produces a larger amount of energy than it consumes. Thus, it produces energy indefinitely without stopping, runs by itself, and no need for a third-party device or resource (like wind or solar) to power it. As a result, creating a completely free electrical energy which can fully power your home for free.

Say goodbye to big electric power bills and hello to Magniwork’s complete DIY guide for a free energy generator.

Credit card companies are always sending me new updated cards to replace my old ones. But what do you do with the old ones? Just trash them? How about making jewelry out of them?

Here is an awesome DIY video on how to make earrings from your old expired credit cards.

New Year’s eve is this Friday! Bring in the new year with this eco-friendly upcycled soda can noisemaker. It’s a simple DIY project that can even be done with the kids.

Supplies Needed:

• Fun image printed on lightweight or medium weight photo paper.
• Empty pull-top, 12 oz., aluminum soda can.
• Wood dowel, 1/4″ diameter, about 18″ long (or something similar)
• Dried beans, pebbles, dried pasta or something similar.
• Medium cardboard, like tag board.
• Decorating supplies like yarn, sequins, paint, glitter, etc.
• Double stick tape or spray adhesive.
• Hot glue gun.
• Tin snips (metal-cutting scissors).
• Scissors or paper cutter.
• Hole punch (1/4″ hole).
• Fine-tooth wood saw for cutting the dowel.

Let’s Get Started:

Step 1:
Cut a roughly 1″ hole in the center of the top of the can with tin snips.

Step 2:
Measure the inset top of the can (ours was 1 7/8″ in diameter) and cut a cardboard circle that fits. Punch a 1/4″ hole in the center of the cardboard circle.

Step 3:
Cut the dowel to about 18″ long with the saw.

Step 4:
Shoot a large glob of hot glue down into the center of the bottom of the can. Working fast, insert the dowel and stick it in the glue as close to the center as possible. Hold it until the glue hardens.

Step 5:
Drop in a small handful of dried beans.

Step 6:
Put the dowel through the hole in the cardboard circle. Apply hot glue around the inset top of the can and press the cardboard circle onto it until the glue hardens.

Step 7:
Paint the can and dowel a fun color.

Step 8:
Print & trim your image. Adhere it around the can with double stick tape. Be sure the top of the image is facing the right way and that the dowel is at the bottom.

Step 9:
Let’s decorate! Get creative here. You can use yarn and make some fringe or a pom-pom. Find odds and ends around the house to glue on like sequin, small buttons, glitter, etc.

Step 10:
Party Time!

A special thanks to the folks over at Vintage Image Craft for sharing their eco-crafts with us!

Feed the birds this winter with your very own DIY pine cone bird feeder made with all natural biodegradable components.

Supplies Needed:

• Pine cone
• Bird seed
• Peanut butter
• Spoon or butter knife
• Paper plate
• Fishing line, twine, or ribbon to hang pine cone

Let’s Get Started:

Step 1:
The first step in making a pine cone bird feeder is to attach fishing line (or something similar) to the pine cone for hanging. This is easier to do before the pine cone is covered in peanut butter.

Step 2:
Next cover the entire pine cone in peanut butter.  Put on a thick coat with a spoon, then pushed it into the crevices. Try to get it as deep as you can in the pine cone without breaking the individual parts.

Step 3:
Then sprinkle the bird seed all over the peanut butter covered pine cone. Get as much seed on it as possible.

Step 4:
Hang your pine cone bird feeder outside for the birds to enjoy. Make sure you get it high enough off the ground so small animals can’t jump up and pull it down.