The original post / idea is by One Good Thing by Jillee, using baby lotion, vitamin E cream & coconut oil to make a simple DIY moisturizing lotion.

It’s almost the holidays! Now that exams are nearly over, it’s time for me to start scrambling to make some inexpensive handmade gifts to show the people I care about them despite being on a small budget. Today the pin that I am reviewing is a soft, pink handmade lotion with vitamin E, coconut oil, and baby lotion. Winter is the worst time of year for dry skin and rough feet so moisturizing lotion didn’t seem like a bad idea for a holiday gift. So now…it’s time to make some lotion! Read more »

The life of sustainability and ingenious crafting – many of us want it, few of us actually feel we have time for it.

A popular trend this holiday season, with the advent of Pinterest, has been making your own gifts for friends and family. A unique aspect of homemade gifts is that they often used recycled materials or natural materials you already have on hand! Here are our top affordable and creative DIY gifts this holiday season from a variety of creative crafting bloggers, if you’re looking for ideas:

Idea from Sparkle & Hay

1. DIY Printed Candles – While stamp sets aren’t free (most of the ones I saw were around $14), this project is my top pick; there’s no denying that this project just looks plain cool. I feel like candles are a gift that are kind of bland on their own (you don’t see “candles” on the top of most Christmas lists), but in putting a little thought and customization into them they make a way better gift! Read more »

Make a cheaper DIY gallery wrap with a Staples engineering print and foamboard. Original pin idea from dearlillieblog.blogspot.com

Another pin I thought I would try. As a photographer myself, I love large, gorgeous prints as home decor. However, high quality gallery wraps are usually $50-200. Recently I’d been hearing of this new trend of getting “engineering prints” done at office supplies stores for really cheap (under $10) instead. I was kind of skeptical. Are you really going to get high quality prints using some secret other method? Though of course I had to try it out of curiosity, too. Read more »

Pin idea originally by http://artisandesarts.blogspot.com/

Have you ever seen a pin you thought was really cool but weren’t sure if it was legit? Tell us about it in the comments and we’ll blog about it!

In high school AP art, I found my calling with colored inks and watercolors. They dry quickly and there’s so many cool effects you can do – wax resist, sprinkled salt to look like snowflakes or stars, flicking the paint off the brush to make it look like random spray, using rubbing alcohol to make “craters,” etc. Well, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I found this pin on Pinterest. Read more »

Duane F. Christopher, a professional landscape architect working in Rock Hill, SC is our guest for today.

Ever wish you could gain some professional insight in how to make a liveable and environmentally-friendly space and garden? Today we have a special Q&A with a local professional landscape architect who is a graduate of the prestigious Cornell University, an Ivy League research school in Ithaca, NY. Duane F. Christopher currently owns his own practice in South Carolina and is experienced in sustainability, gardens, residential design, and land planning. Read more »

Get ready for winter and to enjoy your time snuggled up indoors with these fall cleaning tips.

It’s finally fall! That means pumpkin spice lattes, caramel apples, Halloween and Thanksgiving, along with beautiful leaves and cool weather. Not to mention my birthday was this month!

But as the indoors start to become a cozy shelter from the winter cold, it’s probably time to do some fall cleaning and get rid of some dust in the air and make your house a bit livable for some wonderful nights in front of the fireplace (or the TV under a blanket drinking hot cocoa browsing Facebook and Pinterest, pretty much the same thing). Read more »

Did you know you can actually go green by reusing water from household chores and appliances like dehumidifiers to water plants?

When people hear “gray,” they usually think of losing their youthful hair color. Luckily, that’s not what’s going on here.

When you think about it, everyday household chores are using up a lot of precious water. Between laundry, doing the dishes, water for baths, flushing toilets, garbage disposal, and other appliances like dehumidifiers, the average American is using 50-100 gallons of water per day. That’s a lot, considering fresh water is such a scarce resource. Read more »

So recently I got a brand new midnight blue 2013 (ooh, from the future) Hyundai Elantra. It is probably one of the nicest things I’ve ever received in my life. When my older brother graduated from college, he got the hand-me-down family car that was at least 7 years old. It still had bite marks on the interior from when I was a child. Needless to say, it was not the ideal vehicle to be going on long commutes with or taking from Washington D.C. to the Carolinas. My parents decided it would be more fair to let me start my new life with a more reliable car rather than something that was falling apart (my last car utilized a lot of duct tape in the interior – nuff said). Read more »