sew sow so

First off Dolly is magnificent! I love the flower in her hair!

And back to your question about school gardening:

A box garden for every class is a wonderful idea. We have done the same. What I have found though is without the infrastructure for the teachers to know what to do with them, it only goes so far. That is where your connection to GrowingGreat may be most valuable. I think though, ultimately, there is so much put on our teachers right now that some (as we talked about today!) just follow the prescribed checklist of reading, writing, and 'rithmetic without ever leaving that box. It is those teachers (and in some cases parents in the classroom) that realize that the garden can be used for more than just teaching nutrition but integrated into those three subjects (along with science, art, history etc.) that will have the "best" garden boxes on campus.



And so, a question now for you. I need to get a "system" in place and will start with the pile on my desk in front of me. What do you do with magazines? (Ok, not the most important doc in front of me but hey, its the top of the pile so its a start!) I have every dwell since the beginning - and am not sure why. But also can't seem to part with them? Should I?! I also have piles of tearsheets from those mags I have bid farewell too (Martha Stewart; Sunset, Real Simple...) I'll add - I don't have time to paste them into some kind of scrapbook, as others have suggested to me. What do you do?

So good to be with you today in person. (And to know I can be with you any day here.) xo

Green Giving :: For the Kids

cross-posted at sewgreen

December has arrived, and Advent has begun in our house. The countdown to Christmas is a tradition brought from my own childhood where we would be rewarded daily with a new picture to discover behind the flap of a paper Advent calendar. In an effort to minimize "stuff" - and inspired by Stephanie - we made a move to a homemade "experiential" calendar a couple of years back, where every night would bring us a new activity. Build a Fort. Take a Walk to look at the neighborhood lights. Have breakfast for dinner. Write letters to Santa. Lie in the backyard and look at the stars. We tucked these ideas, written down on paper, into numbered miniature stockings I made out of felt and hung by the chimney with care.

There are many great ideas for handmade advent calendars to be found. A few from flickr:

1. first, 2. advent calendar, 3. Baby sock advent calendar..., 4. Advent garland, 5. Advent calendar for the boy, 6. advento, 7. advento, 8. stockings 1234, 9. Advent calendar, 10. advent calendar, 11. stockings_1234, 12. advent calendar


and more at the Creative Advent Calendars group.


And this great pattern over at the Purl Bee.





Another source of holiday inspiration, the New American Dream website is chalk-full of ideas. I find myself rereading many of the articles this time of year. A good start here.

Drink it up

Love this campaign. "tap - ask for it by name"

You can purchase the bottles or one of their very clever recycling kits here.

via inhabitat

a new footer

for my email.

inspired by a colleague's message i have added this as my "signature":

Please consider the environment; do you really need to print this email?

Goodness knows I myself print out way too many email messages - this made me stop and think!