Clean Air Pumpkin Bash!

Bring your post-Halloween pumpkin to 415 Mason Ct, #1 in Fort Collins, CO from 4pm-6pm
on November 1st...Smash it & we will compost it!

Summer Pinwheels

Here are some ideas for some easy pinwheels - just click on the links below.

You can use recycled paper, pencils, or clothespins to make these colorful for summer celebrations!

Craft-Project-How-to-Make-a-Pinwheel

http://familycrafts.about.com/

http://www.ehow.com/how_4487596_make-paper-pinwheel-craft.html

Make your neighbor SMILE with a May Day basket!

Here’s how you celebrate the first day of May:
Craft yourself up a bunch of homemade hanging baskets. Then on May Day (May 1), fill the baskets with fresh-cut flowers and sneak them onto the front doorknob of your friends’ houses for them to discover.
Here's a picture of a basket you can make out of an upcycled tin can and a wire hanger:

Now that's enough to make anyone SMILE!

idea from http://www.craftingagreenworld.com/

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

Here are natural ways to dye your Easter Eggs this year:

RedRed onion skins, use a lot (boil with eggs)
Pomegranate juice
OrangeYellow onion skins (boil with eggs)
YellowLemon or orange peel (boil with eggs)
Carrot tops (boil with eggs)
Celery seed (boil with eggs)
Ground cumin (boil with eggs)
Ground turmeric (boil with eggs)
Yellow BrownDill seeds (boil with eggs)
BrownStrong coffee
Instant coffee
Black walnut shells (boil with eggs)
Yellow GreenBright green apple peels (boil with eggs)
GreenSpinach leaves (boil with eggs)

Blue
Canned blueberries and their juice
Red cabbage leaves (boil with eggs)
Purple grape juice
Violet Blue
Violet blossoms
Red onion skins, less amount than you need to make red (boil with eggs)
Lavender
Diluted purple grape juice
Violet blossoms plus squeeze of lemon (boil with eggs)
Pink
Beets, fresh or canned
Cranberries or cranberry juice
Raspberries
Red grape juice

Thanks to care2.com!
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-natural-easter-egg-dyes.html#ixzz1K5GNqeoJ

Recycled Bottle Flowers - Spring Craft

This idea is from easy-child-crafts.com:

The idea is super easy. Here's what you'll need:

Materials

• Empty 2 liter plastic bottles
• White glue
• Scissors
• Markers
• Acrylic paints
• Paint brushes
• Sandpaper
• Stickers
• Skewers

Instructions:

1. Cut the plastic bottle one-third of the way down from the top. Sand the bottle using sandpaper



2. Mark at least 5 "petals" using a waterproof marker. Cut along the lines to form "petals".



3. Coat with a layer of white glue and let dry.



4. Paint and decorate the petals using acrylic paints, waterproof markers and other stickers and glitter.



5. Poke a small hole through the bottle cap. Place a skewer through the hole and screw back onto the bottle.

That's it....You've just made a great recycled craft! Congrats!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Here is how you can make a trap to catch a leprechaun!

Leprechauns have big egos, so a giant version of their own hat is irresistible to them. Once they step on the false top, you'll have caught a 10-gallon prize.

So that the top doesn't give way too soon, use a lightweight bait, such as a crumpled piece of gold foil.
Our hat, a recycled oatmeal container, is wrapped with green felt secured with double-sided tape. To make the trap, we cut a hole in the lid (see image), then cunningly concealed it with a circle of green felt that will give way when the leprechaun steps on it.
Leprechauns love to break rules. Warning signs are sure to lure them in.
Natural materials make these woodland creatures feel at home. Our ladder is made from twigs held together with wood glue.
Thank you to familyfun.com for this idea!

Clean Air Kids Compost in Windsor

Michael Lang understands the importance of composting any food waste and other products during lunchtime.

And he's only in the fifth grade.

Michael, 11, and his classmates at Grandview Elementary School in Windsor will become the first elementary school in Weld County on Monday to recycle compostable waste during their lunch periods.

“I think it's going to be fun to start composting. It's going to be really important and it's going to help a lot,” Michael. “I think it will give us a good start.”
Fourth-grader C.J. Christensen, 9, is also excited about the program.

“I think this is really cool, and that it's really going to help out our environment,” C.J. said. “I bet I'm going to be doing this for a long, long time after this. This is really exciting for me. I think the world will be doing great if other people catch on with this. If we keep doing this, I think the world is going to be in great shape in a few years or so.”

Read more in Windsor Now 

Easy Bird Treats to Make

Winter time is the time to take good care of our  outdoor feathered friends. These easy bird treats are fun to make & make birds happy.

Supplies

Slice of sandwich bread for each hanger
Cookie cutter or paring knife
Yarn or other strong piece of string or cord
Peanut butter or vegetable shortening
Wild bird seed

Instructions

Use a cookie cutter to create shapes from slices of sandwich bread. We did stars and circles for our treats.

Let bread sit on the counter until dried out, a couple of hours should do the trick.

Line a plate with bird seed.

Use a toothpick or wooden skewer to poke a hole through the bread for the string. Be sure that you leave enough room above the hole so that it doesn't tear.

Thread string through the hole and gently tie in a knot.

Spread both sides of bread shape with peanut butter. Coat with bird seed by laying it on the bird seed lined plate and turning over to coat thoroughly.

Hang your creation outside.

Editor's note: Try to hang your treats in close proximity to a branch that the birds can perch on while sampling their goodies.

This craft is reprinted courtesy of Amanda Formaro of CraftsByAmanda.com.

Fun with Recycled Egg Cartons

Fun ideas of things you can make with egg cartons from freekidscrafts.com:





 

   For instructions, click HERE