Mother Earth Says: No balloons!

As 2009 winds down and 2010 looms ahead, we all begin thinking about the important things in life.  I think most of us can agree that at the top of our list would be one of the most important things of all – throwing an epic NYE bash!

As always, I will be the one to 1) ruin your fun by saying that your party is killing the earth and 2) make it even better by replacing your old faves with your soon-to-be new ones.  Here are some of the most crucial aspects to throwing an eco-friendly, yet equally bitchin’ New Year’s shindig.

1) Choose eco-friendly champagnes.  This article on TreeHugger.com has a great list of organic sparkling wines at all price ranges.   If you’re like me and still too poor to afford a bottle of anything over $7.99 then you can still opt for the favorites as long as they’re grown and bottled as close to you as possible.  For example, if you’re a California girl, such as myself, you have the pleasure of sippin’ on BevMo’s finest.  That’s right, I’m talking about Cook’s and Andre.  You’re welcome.

2)  Use real champagne glasses. I know you are all classy ladies out there, so kick the red cup habit and get something real stylish.  If you can’t afford the cost and the injuries that result from broken glass, opt for acrylic or plastic champagne flutes.  Just be sure to recollect them at the end of the night so you can use them for your party next year (or next week).

3)  Skip the streamers and confetti. Seriously, who decorates their party with streamers past the age of 6 anyway?  If your party is not complete without the midnight confetti toss and next day incessant vacuuming, then be my guest.  But please, please, please don’t waste your money and our precious resources at an overpriced party goods store.  All you have to do is look in your recycle bin, dig out that old newspaper and start ripping it to shreds.

4)  Ditch the Fritos and get your a** in the kitchen! By whipping something up on your own, your food will be yummier, cheaper, and healthier for you than those nasty processed foods.  Plus, there’s really no way to know exactly how much the Earth died (tiny overstatement) just to get you your frozen spinach dip.  If you’re ready to get your hands dirty but you don’t know how, just follow the recipe of your favorite party foods and then substitute the ingredients for organic, fresher, and less processed alternatives.  Eat up!

5)  Spend your money on booze. And not on your NYE party dress.  Get real, you know you’re only going to wear it once anyways!  Be resourceful and utilize all your resources before heading to the mall.  Borrow clothes from your friends and match them with those shoes that you haven’t worn in a year.  (I promise, nobody will notice.)  If absolutely cannot live without a new party ‘fit, hit your local thrift and consignment stores today!  Not only will you spare the earth’s resources, but you also have a higher chance of buying a designer label that’s actually within your price range.

[Ever see something you want but don’t have the money to buy? Ever get sick of studying/watching TV and have the urge to get crafty and make things on your own? We know! Us too! We just don’t know where to start, which is why we got some of CollegeCandy’s craftiest writers to share their favorite DIY projects with everyone. So get to your nearest craft store for the essentials and let’s make some fun sh*t.]

I don’t know how it happened really, but over the years I’ve accumulated quite a large jewelery collection. I think a lot of it came from my Bat Mitzvah, when I got more bracelets than I knew what to do with (oh what I would give to trade all that in for cold, hard cash). Still, today I’m lucky to have a very impressive jewelery collection.

It’s so “impressive” that I often get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff. It’s everywhere – in bowls, in bags, in my mini-fridge (though I can blame Keystone Light and a power hour for that one). It’s a mess.  My necklaces get tangled, rings get broken and earrings are separated from their mates. I got so overwhelmed that I had to find a solution and – yay for me – I came up with the perfect answer to my jewelry problems. Bonus: it also happens to be a great and unique way to spruce up a boring wall:

The Corkboard Jewelry Holder

Materials:
Small bulletin board
Box of pushpins (if you can find cute ones, that’s definitely a plus!)
Cork board strips (you can get them at Staples)
Hammer
Nails/Double Sided Tape

Steps
1. Go around your room and gather all of the jewelery you wish to display.
2. Separate it all by type: 1 pile for necklaces, 1 for earrings, etc.
3. Discard any lone earrings (let’s be real – you aren’t going to find the other half anytime soon).

For Necklaces and Bracelets:
1. Hang the bulletin board on the wall using the hammer and nails. If you’re not allowed to use nails in your dorm room, try some really heavy double-sided foam tape.

2. Place the push pins across the top edge of the bulletin board, about a finger’s width apart.

3.  Hang necklaces and bracelets on the pushpins.

Note: If you have a lot of bracelets, make two rows of pushpins: put the bracelets across the top and hang the necklaces beneath them.

For Earrings and Rings:
1. Hang cork strips on your wall using nails or double sided foam tape.

2. Insert 2 pushpins approximately a finger’s width apart.

3. Hang earring/ring on the pushpins and adjust if necessary.

4. Repeat.

Note: For non-dangly “stud” earrings you can poke a holes in the cork board using a push pin. Then, just stick your earrings in the holes you made. I don’t recommend directly sticking your earring posts in the board, because they will bend or break.

Warning: Once your jewelery is neatly organized and out there for the world to see you may have to fight off the grabby hands of a little sister/roommate/best friend. But at least the new organization will allow you to know which adorable accessory is missing….

I think we can all agree that Hallmark cards are lame. If the card doesn’t contain something that you would actually say out loud on it (“For You, Mother, on Your 50th Birthday,” anyone?), it’s not worth spending your hard-earned cash on. Especially considering they cost like $5!

So what’s a gal to do when the holidays and special occasions roll around?

Duh! Make your OWN cards.

If you normally run screaming at the thought of anything crafty, take a deep breath and hang with me for a second. I also hate crafts, but I love to make greeting cards. They’re so much fun, and you can personalize them any way you want. AND they can be as simple or as involved as you like—no need to spend an hour laboring over intricate cutouts and frilly decorations if you don’t want to.

Here’s the other good news—they’re easy. All you need to make a basic card is some paper that you can fold and some markers (or crayons, pens, colored pencils, paints, or even chalk). Try making a painting on the outside of your card and writing a message on the inside. If that doesn’t strike your fancy, do a stencil or make a collage. A mosaic is another fun idea.

And don’t limit yourself. Remember, you can use anything to spice up the design—ribbon, googly eyes, fabric, shells or leaves, beads, scrap paper… you get the idea. Here are a few materials you may want to gather:

Glue. If you’re really desperate, you can tape cut-out pictures to a card, but it looks kind of tacky (no pun intended) and it won’t be as permanent.

Scissors. You can tear the paper to fit your needed shape, but it’s easier (and cleaner) to cut. Plus, you can cut out any shapes you want.

Pipe cleaners. As in the cool picture above and the How Stuff Works tutorial from where it came, you can twist pipe cleaners into flowers, moons and stars, hearts, birthday cakes… you get the idea.

Scraps. If you’re a pack rat, you’re probably a natural for making greeting cards. Saving receipts, business cards, take-out menus, and old wrapping paper will really pay off when you want to make a cool patterned skirt for a greeting-card girl or a funny-lettered billboard that spells out a birthday message.

When you’re making your cards, keep a couple of things in mind:

- Reinforcement. When using a lot of glue, you don’t want marker pictures to smear or bleed, and you don’t want those annoying wriggly wet lines. If it looks as though your card is heading in that direction, dab some glue lightly on the edges of one or two more pieces of paper that are cut to the same size as your card, and glue them on the inside so that the card will look smoother.

- Personality. Keep your audience in mind when making your cards. Just as you wouldn’t buy a card with a Shakespearean love sonnet on it for your brother, you wouldn’t want to give a slapdash and amateurish-looking thank-you card to someone with whom you just had a job interview. That’s not to say you can’t give homemade thank-yous after job interviews–just that if you do, they have to look professional.

- Creases and folds. Decide whether you want a long and narrow card, a fat square one, or something in between. Fold the card in half, and cut. If you don’t have a scissors handy, you can crease it along the edges where you want the cuts. Fold one way sharply, then straighten the paper and fold the other way. Make each fold again a couple of times to reinforce it, then use one hand to hold the paper and the other to tear gently along the edges. It should tear away in a straight line.

If you’re not artsy and all of this talk about designs makes you wanna hurl, just fill your card with cool words. A simple list of words and phrases that remind you of the other person is a creative, personal and not-at-all artsy way of creating a special card. It might seem lame, but if you’ve ever received a homemade card, you know how great it feels.

Now all you need is an occasion. So log onto Facebook right now and find out when your next friend’s birthday is—and get cracking!

[Image courtesy of howstuffworks.com.]

You know, I realized shortly after I wrote about the top five small-space animals that, well, not everyone can have animals. Now, I know that there are certain people who sneak by their ordinances and ignore the rules of the college/landlord/whatever and keep their critters regardless of what is and isn’t allowed. But for people who do want to follow the rules or having a pet right now just isn’t feasible, how about brightening up your room with a little green?

Plants do a lot more good than people give them credit for. As we all know from third grade science, they take in the gross carbon dioxide we breath and give us back lung-friendly oxygen. They also do an amazing job of cleaning the air. They can also filter pollutants in our air – stuff that come from everyday house products like plain old bug spray, spray starch, and even glue. And studies have proved that in work places that had plants had up to a 40% reduction in headaches, sour throats, and coughs. There was also an 84% increase in well-being. If you don’t like numbers, though, let me put this in laymen’s terms: plants + your dorm = happier, healthier place.

So, how do you know what plants to get that’ll help the most? That’s why I’m here. No worries. Since I don’t have to lay things out the way I had to with the critters a few articles ago, I’ll give you nine – because I just couldn’t find a good number ten – of what I think are the best dorm-plants, once again in order of care. (If you’ve never really taken care of a plant before, check this site out first. Plants need more than just water and sunlight if you want them to be really awesome!)

Jade: I recently almost entirely killed one of these – because I didn’t water it for almost two months. It’s coming back now. That’s how hardy these things are. They like the average room temperature. They prefer bright light or full sun, but they can tolerate all the way up to partial shade. Allow the soil to dry a bit (stick your finger in the pot; if the soil is dry for the first inch, it’s time for a drink) between waterings. Jade is a pretty slow grower, so repot them every two or three years. (Aloe Vera are pretty much identical to Jade in care, so you can opt for either.)

Mother-In-Law’s Tongue (Snake Plant): These guys’ name always made me laugh, but despite the implied harshness, they’re pretty easy to take care of. They too like bright light or full sun. They can handle just about any temperature. Let the soil dry a little between watering on these guys, too. They’re a pretty slow grower, so repot them every two years or so.

Spider Plant: Don’t be creeped out by the name; these guys get their title because of the little baby plants they produce. (Share the abundance with a friend!). These guys can stand up to a lot of abuse. They like average temperatures and thrive in well-lit but indirect light. During spring and summer, keep the soil moist, but not sopping wet. During fall and winter, though, let the soil dry a little between watering. You can even mist them if you’d like, since they love humidity. Only repot them if you can see the roots coming out of the bottom of your pot.

African Violet: Another flowering plant, these guys will give you the cutest little flowers totally at random throughout the year. They’re another fan of bright light, but they don’t like full on sun a whole lot. Allow the top soil – about half an inch – to dry between waterings. DO NOT get the leaves wet! They’ll get brown and shrivel up. You really don’t have to repot these guys at all, because they really like being root bound.

Pothos (Devil’s Ivy): If you’re into vine-like plants, Pothos is your plant. They like bright light and enjoy partial sun. They’re okay in average room temperature, but they thrive in warmer areas (70 – 90 Fahrenheit). Let the water dry as much as you would for African Violets. They like misting too. Repot these guys during the growing season (spring/summer) only if they’re showing their roots.

Chinese Evergreen: These guys have HUGE leaves – and they get pretty big, too. Really, if you have one, you don’t need any other plants. They love shade and are great for rooms without much sunlight. They’re fine in average temperature, but keep their soil fairly moist (again, don’t drown the poor things). Repot them when they’re getting really rootbound.

Christmas Cactus: These guys have gorgeous flowers when they bloom (and incase you haven’t figured out when that is, it’s around Christmas). They love bright light/full sun, as well as warmer temperatures. Water them with the same frequency you would a Jade or a Snake Plant. Getting to flower can be a little tricky; check out this site for more care info.

Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily): You’ve seen them before, all lined up in malls and probably at Easter services. Their flowers are huge and gorgeous. They’re another one that like indirect light and average temperatures. Their soil should stay fairly moist, too. Take good care of them and they’ll always have a flower up for you.

These plants are all pretty popular, so it’ll be easy to find them at your local nursery (and sometimes you’ll even see plants like African Violets and Spider Plants in big grocery stores). And even though I put them in order of care, they’re all outrageously easy to take care of, so don’t worry if you’ve got a withered brown thumb – these guys can make any plant-killer look like a regular horticulturalist.