As much as I hate freezing temperatures and blustery weather, the one good thing that usually comes out of a cold winter is fewer bugs. However, this year we’ve barely gotten a token blast below the freeze mark and I’m pretty sure I can hear the ants chuckling about their impending world domination. The giant red piles never abated from last summer and somehow in the middle of February, I’m finding them in the cat food bowl. Grrr. This means war!

There are many ways to wage this war without resorting to chemicals. These are my favorites.
1. Death From Above: Instant Grits. Sprinkle them around the mound (but not directly on it!) and the ants will eat the grits, be unable to digest them, and basically explode. Sorry ants, but this is MY house.

2. The Barrier Method: any strongly smelling granulated substance, like cinnamon or fine coffee grounds will perform as a barrier and can be used around the corners of cabinets, your home’s foundation, or in the crawlspace. If you can see where they’re coming in, caulk it, or try temporarily spreading something like vaseline to interrupt their track. A vinegar and water solution will erase the scent they follow when making trails.

3. Build a Moat! In our house, pet food is a favorite attraction. During ant season, try putting your pet’s food bowls inside a larger, shallow bowl of water with a little dish soap in it.

4. The Trojan Horse: Sugar Baits!
Ingredients: Borax, granulated sugar, water, some small containers with a removable lid (baby food jars are ideal for this), a hammer and nail, and a spoon for measuring.
How to: Fill each jar about 1/3 of the way full with the borax. Then add the granulated sugar to fill it up to just over half. You might need to adjust this mix depending on how much of a sweet tooth your ants have. Tiny ants like sweets more than the bigger carpenter ants. You want enough sugar to mask the taste of the borax, but not so much that there isn’t enough borax to do the job. Add enough water to make something that looks like toothpaste.

Use the hammer and nail to poke holes in the jar lids big enough for the ants to easily get in and out of. Place these baits outside near where you see ant mounds, but again not directly in the mound. The ants will sniff out the sugar and carry the tasty, but poisonous mixture back to the nest and feed it to the Queen. Once the Queen dies, so does the colony.
You can also put these inside your kitchen cupboards. Just make sure your pets or kids don’t think they are toys. Borax is fairly safe, but it wasn’t meant to be ingested.

until next time! <3
Lorigami

This week’s Tuesday Treasury winner is Lori from BeJeweledNH for her treasury Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Who’s the Greenest of Them All?.  This post and selection of the winner this week are courtesy of last week’s winner – Nancy from Soul Role.  Here is Nancy’s post:

I am really bad at choosing a winner for the Tuesday Treasury because they are all so good in their own unique way (and how could they not be filled with great shops from the Eco Etsy Team?)!  But in the end I went with the treasury that gave me the biggest ‘yes’ feeling when I first viewed it.

Visually, her treasury was cohesive and eye catching and really gave me the feeling of spring on the horizon.  I loved the wide variety of items she chose and was once again amazed at what a versatile group we have!  I felt like this treasury was a great contender for the front page and I liked the fact that she carefully tagged the treasury according to the merchandising themes.

BeJeweledNH makes beautiful jewelry out of found objects(in addition to raising two children!) and has a great selection of pieces to choose from!  With over 70 items to choose form it was hard to pick one, but I really love this turquoise ring!  It is stunning and beautiful and best of all “This whole design is not only one-of-a-kind, it’s also made from entirely upcycled and vintage pieces!”.  Just lovely!

Runners Up

Earthy and Irish by Bee from The Wooden Bee – The treasury is really beautifully done and perfect for the seasonal themes!

Life by the Pond by Bonnie Lee of TheFamiLeeJewels.  I loved the ‘Life by the Pond’ theme and all the lovely items included here!

With talk about green energy this and clean power that – it’s easy to get lost in the rhetoric of the new technology movement and fall victim to eye-glazed apathy. But one British wind power company is set to fight this eco-fatigue with it’s latest viral campaign that takes on nuclear power in the U.K..

Realizing that a picture is worth a thousand words, Ecotricity takes it a step further to show that a video is worth a million. Their latest campaign “Dump the Big 6″ pulls on the heartstrings of Brits and foreigners alike to rekindle our passion for ditching archaic forms of energy. And as if that weren’t enough, the company has truly harnessed Facebook as a platform for relaying the message.

So if you’re needing an eco-wake up call these last few weeks of winter – or want to see how far you can push your Facebook fan page – check out the inspiring campaign here.

Recently I posed a question to my fellow seamsters of Team EcoEtsy: is it safe to put fabric through a paper shredder? Why, you may ask, would I consider such a hair-brained idea?

If you’re like me, you hate wasting fabric, even the smallest of scraps, and I have a veritable mountain of them! I thought perhaps instead of using polyfil batting to stuff the spikes of my dino scoodies I might try using shredded fabric scraps. My first attempt worked out fairly well, but it involved laying the scraps out on my cutting board and running through it multiple times with the rotary cutter – effective, but time consuming and resulting in an aching wrist (the old carpal tunnel). So I wondered if the paper shredder might do a better and quicker job of it – most shredders are meant to cut through plastic credit cards, so why not fabric?

Before attempting this clever plan, however, I thought I’d better ask around. Who better to ask than my EcoEtsy teammates? Here were some of their very helpful replies regarding both shredding of fabric and uses for shredded fabric:

Myra (HerbanLuxe): “My daughter tried this once out of boredom and jammed my shredder.  I would recommend using a rotary and cutting the scraps into small strips.” (Myra and I appear to have much in common, including adventurous daughters.)

Jennifer (LilGirlShop): “I save all of my fabric scraps, thread, and used dryer sheets to stuff my dog beds. Fabric scraps saved for stuffing are those pieces too small to use elsewhere.”

Erin (DinnerTimeChimes): “Offer the tiny scraps cut into strips to birds for nesting.” (I LOVE this.)

Rain (Remainewicked): “My experience with fabric scraps is they work well for small projects that won’t be used as a snuggle toy. I also make them into beds for my dogs, but I leave a small opening to add more as needed… and it will be needed, because it packs down. They are also great as appliques, anything crazy quilted and for draft stoppers. ”

Lori (Lorigami): “Things designed to cut paper are not sharp enough to cut fabric. You won’t ruin the shredder, but it won’t cut the fabric. Works well for draft dodgers, but that’s the only thing I’ve really found successful.”

Lisa (JohnsonFamilyZoo): “I keep my scraps and when I fill a flat rate priority box, I list it on ebay or etsy and they always sell! The scraps aren’t very big and I make a few bucks – like $5 (hey, it’s a lunch!) while someone else finds a use for my discards. One of my regulars sent me a pic of bookmarks she makes with the scraps she’s bought.  I accidentally caught my sleeve in the paper shredder once. Bell sleeves shouldn’t be worn while cooking or paper shredding!”

In addition to these helpful tips from the EcoEtsy team, I did some hunting and found this cute tutorial from Craftaholics Anonymous for Scrap Fabric Vases. I also found a clever storage idea for scraps from Film in the Fridge (which will only work, trust me, if you don’t have cats). Another idea, from my soap-crafting friend Zoe, is to use small fabric squares to package handmade soaps! And if you have scraps that are long and thin, you may want to try your hand at weaving a rag rug.

If you’d rather just do a clean sweep and lose the scraps, GrowNYC takes clothing and textile donations for reuse. Otherwise unusable scraps are sold to recycling markets that turn materials into wiping rags, fiber for car seats, and insulation. Contributions to the program directly benefit Council on the Environment, Inc.  Goodwill and Salvation Army stores also accept rags and textile scraps – when you drop off your scraps be sure to tell them that your donation is for salvage, not sale. If this sounds like a good idea, check with your local charity or thrift shop to see if they have a similar plan. If they don’t, suggest it!

If you love fabric as much as I do, show it some love and give it a second life.  How do you recycle fabric scraps?

Linda Everett
(LindaEve on Etsy)

Team Eco Etsy is on F.I.R.E!!

I was a guest on The Green Divas Radio Show yesterday to promote Team Eco Etsy and announce a big news!

I met Green Diva Meg from The Green Divas Radio Show last week over Vegetable Pad Thai in Union Square, in NYC.

You know the famous farmers market No Impact Man goes shopping for groceries in his movie?

We dished and shared green ideas and how we can collaborate. Then, she asked me to be on the show and I almost choked on some bean sprouts! Her show was booked – I mean, BOOKED, until April, but luckily, she had one spot that became available for Saturday 18th. So I grabbed it faster than a rickshaw speeding by.

Yes, they have bike peddling rickshaws all over NYC now. How green, eh?

Anyway, so I was on the show yesterday, after Ed Begley Jr – you know, the fabulously talented actor-turned-activist? – called in! I guess you can say he was my opening act.

Well, the Green Divas (Meg and Lisa) and the Green Dude (Paul) were nice enough to let me talk and talk and talk incessantly about Team Eco Etsy! And all the wonderful things we are doing but especially about the big news I’ve been biting my lips for a month!!

The BIG News

We’ve been invited to be on Practically Green – a totally awesome site that helps users to be greener by having them take a detailed quiz and then suggesting ways to take action steps based on their answers. We will be on the site on our own special Group Page where the team members can register to support each other, and to have some friendly competition amongst ourselves at the same time on being green.

Isn’t it awesome or what? Practically Green has been so generous and the folks there have been great to work with. It’s a fabulous site that is growing faster than even they’ve imagined. That means there are so many people who are interested in being eco-friendly and learning how to be greener. We are so lucky to be invited to be on its Group Page! We are the first Etsy team and I believe, a non-corporate entity to be on it. We are grateful for this priceless opportunity. Please vista Practically Green’s Blog and check out their awesome articles. I know they’ve featured Eco Etsy in their articles here and there since we’ve been talking to each other about this project.

In addition to Practically Green, we have The Green Divas Radio Show (Podcast of yesterday’s segment) to thank for allowing me to announce this big news on its show! I hope y’all tune into The Green Divas Radio Show every week on Saturday at 10 AM. You can stream it live from WMTRAM.com on your computer. They have wonderful guests each week and we can learn a lot about what’s going on in the “green” communities around the country.

Thank You Green Divas Meg & Lisa, and Green Dude Paul!

Here is yesterday’s podcast on The Green Divas Radio Show.

*NOTE: You can check out Practical Green but if you are a Team Eco Etsy member, please do not register yet. Wait for further instruction before registering.

The last several times I’ve gone grocery shopping my 4 year old daughter has begged me to buy grapes. While I’m happy to fill the cart with all sorts of other fresh fruits and vegetables, I’ve firmly denied her request for grapes. Why? This time of year they come all the way from Chile, over 6,000 miles away from my grocery store in Portland, Oregon.

There have been a few posts about wintertime farmer’s markets and eating local food. It’s easy to make local food purchases at farmer’s markets because everything there is local! But what about the supermarket with the baskets of berries next to piles of citrus, boxes of winter squash alongside tropical pineapples and at least 8 varieties of apples no matter what the season? We’ve gotten so used to being able to buy kiwis and avocados, asparagus and eggplants any time we feel like it that it’s easy to forget the cost we’re paying. The cost that goes beyond the charge on our debit card.

There’s a cost to our environment. Those out-of-season foods are growing hundreds of miles away. The 6,000 mile trip the grapes took to my grocery store may be extreme but researchers from the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan calculated that American food travels an average of 1,500 miles to reach us. That’s a lot of fossil fuels being used up by transportation and harmful greenhouse gasses being emitted.

There’s a cost to quality. It takes time for the food to travel all that way. The long trip may not affect the quality of something like dried pasta but it’s a different story when we’re talking about “fresh” produce.  If produce were picked perfectly ripe and delicious it wouldn’t last long enough to make the journey to us. Watery tomatoes, flavorless strawberries and rock-hard nectarines were some of the finds in my grocery store yesterday.

There’s a cost to community. In the dead of winter, there are farmers in my city, and probably somewhere near you as well, who are out in the rain, tending their winter crops, getting things in place for spring and investing their time and expertise into our community. They are cold, wet, dirty and determined. They are committed to providing quality produce, reviving forgotten heirloom varieties and choosing sustainable farming practices. Making local and seasonal food choices supports them and keeps our money in our own communities.

There’s a cost to our sense of place. We become disconnected to our environment when we don’t know what is growing near us. Eating seasonal food connects us to the rhythm of the seasons. Roasted root vegetables are a perfect match for a crisp winter day while a bright fruit salad conjures up memories of eating outdoors in the summer sun. There’s nothing more natural than following the earth’s cycles.

So how do we do it? I won’t define “local” for you. You may be a pro at eating local and restrict yourself to food that comes from your immediate community. Maybe local for you means your state or region of the country. For some of you it may simply be food that comes from your country, or that which doesn’t need to cross an ocean. Once you have an idea of your food standards here’s what you can do at the supermarket:

• Come prepared. Know what’s in season in your local area so you can make smart choices.
• Read signs and labels. Some supermarkets make it easy by posting countries/states of origins but other times you’ll need to look closely at packaging or stickers on individual items. If you still can’t tell, ask an employee. If nothing else it’ll send the message that you value local food.
• Get your family on board. Discuss the reasons behind your choices with your kids and other family members. It can be hard to pass up that yummy tropical fruit but if your family knows why they should, they’ll be more likely to get on board.

I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself when I pass up out-of-season food. I know that what I choose instead will taste good and be better for all of us. And when the day comes later in the year when I finally say yes to my daughter’s request for grapes? I can’t wait to see the smile on her face when she tastes how yummy they are and the connection she makes to the grapes we’ll be able to see growing in our community. It’ll be worth it.

What choices do you make at the supermarket? Are you inspired to do anything differently?

Tinkan Designs is the amazing upcycled shop of metalworker, blacksmith and artist Annabel from the UK.  Annabel is a self-taught jewelry maker and general maker of ‘things’! She has used a variety of recycled materials over the years, mainly because she hates waste (a true eco-etsy girl) and she finds it hard to throw anything away if it still has some life in it.

Her industrial jewelry is very cool and unique and Annabel is looking for just a little tweaking of her shop to help her recycled ring pulls really pull in the customers!

Unique and Recycled-Jewelry, Accessories, and metalwork … Purses, metal ‘Noz-bugs’, and wheel-rim Barbeques…and of course much more ring-pull Jewelry!

 

It does not rank high enough for unique, recycled jewelry to be worth using it as a shop title. I would play around with it. Tinkan Designs ranks very high for ring pull jewelry and I would probably work in tab pull jewelry somewhere - although I can see that a tab pull is different from a ring pull – I didn’t know this before looking at Annabel’s shop and I would guess many potential customers wouldn’t either. Also since there are no images on page 1 of a ring pull jewelry Google search I would title an item or 2 with this wording on Etsy and a couple of blog posts and see what happens.

 

The first page of our Etsy shop has several urls- using the same url (for example tinkandesigns.etsy.com) consistently will help avoid your shop competing against itself for placement.

 

Her shop announcement is hard to read and if I am unfamiliar with some of the verbage, her customers might be, too, so I would rework it. Since the first 160 characters is your shop’s meta description for search engines you need it to tell who you are and what you do. I would probably rework the first characters to something like : Tinkan Designs – recycled ring pull jewelry, accessories and metalwork

 

Tags & Titles - Etsy has very strong SEO and huge page rank so your item’s title is the most important verbage on your item’s page but since most Etsy sales still come from Etsy searches tagging for the most impact and highest placement is crucial, too.

 

Gold Earrings from Tinkan Designs

Let’s take a look at tagging for a pair of earrings. Tinkan Designs has titled these “Gold Earrings, made from recycled gold-colored aluminum ring pulls”. Your item’s title is the most important wording on your item’s page.

 

TIP – Switching our shop over to List View from Gallery View (click the box on the far right of your shop’s home page under your featured items) will make it much easier to see what wording we are using and overusing in our titles – it’s easier to read than our Currently For Sale page and we can see at a glance what items are getting the most views

 

These are tagged Jewelry Earrings Dangle gold lightweight ring pulls recycled upcycled trashionteam teamecoetsy british seller trashion british etsy team teamupcyclers eco friendly industrial

 

The first thing I would do with a new item is think about what a customer looking for my item might search for. This is a challenge for those of us working with recycled materials and I totally understand tagging these earrings with the color gold, but since most shoppers looking for gold earrings are probably searching material and not color I might skip it for a more relevant search such as dangle earrings or metal earrings.

 

I would do a quick scan of the search bar with a couple of ideas to see some high-volume search terms (see below)

 

earring-etsy-search

I could end up with something like “Mixed Metal Earrings from Recycled Gold Ring Pull Tabs”

Repeat your title in early tags – mixed metal earrings, metal earrings, recycled earrings, ring pull earrings – I would move the team tags to the back and end up with something like:

 

Jewelry, Earrings, Dangle, Mixed Metal Earrings, Metal Earrings, Recycled Earrings, Metal Dangle Earrings, Pull Tab Earrings (I wouldn’t repeat ring pull earrings since Tinkan Designs has this search term wrapped up already), Upcycled Earrings, Long Dangle Earrings, Eco Friendly Earrings, Industrial Earrings plus a couple teams

 

Now these are all very competitive and not very specific search tags, so I might work in some more specific words from Etsy’s monthly trends such as these for February : football party earrings,  game day jewelry, eco valentine, bartender earrings, etc

 

I would also use Craftopolis, Google Adwords, your shop stats, the Treasury page for trending tags and Etsy’s monthly merchandising post for tagging ideas.

Tinkan Designs Photos

Pics - Tinkan Designs has clear, bright pictures!

I think her solid or near-solid backgrounds like this one on top pop right off the page! Who could resist clicking this pic for a closer look! Sometimes multi colored, textured backgrounds (like the photo below it) can detract from detailed work  - her solid greys and woodgrains also work great with her industrial style!

I would also crop the photos myself so that Etsy’s cropping doesn’t cut the items off in 2 directions which makes it harder for the viewer to focus. Tinkan’s first page has alot happening and I would probably look to add some negative space in some first photos. We want customers’ eyes to end up where we want them to be!

Descriptions - Tinkan Design’s descriptions are well-written, but hard to read - I would add spaces between the paragraphs to break up the text and make it easier on the eye.

 

Branding - To build a sustainable business we need to get clear on our brand – when we know what we do that makes us special and more importantly why we do it, any changes will make sense for us.

 

What makes us different? What makes us remarkable? What is our “secret recipe”?

(wait, don’t tell me) – How do we add value to the people who buy from us? How do we add value to the people who interact with us? Is our brand consistent, is it authentic and honest?

 

Annabel’s brand is all about remaking throw-away things into amazing new things (this is not an easy thing to do and she does it well). She has a cool, raw, edgy industrial style.

 

It actually took me awhile to see that her shop name is pronounced Tin Can Designs – I was pronouncing it (in my head and when I was talking to myself – which is more often than I admit) Tinken and was thinking this was Annabel’s last name! If she loves it- of course she should keep it – never, ever substitute my judgement for your own – I might rethink it though. It could be limiting and maybe not personal enough for her very distinctive work style.

 

Because her materials have a past (we won’t hold that against them) she has a great opportunity to tell the story of her pieces with her branding and packaging. Annabel’s prices are low (an issue for those of us working with recycled materials - particularly throw-away materials –  is that we really need to communicate our process and find ways to add value so that our prices do not end up too low to be able to wholesale).

 

I would think about really creating stories for these pieces – like the beer can the girl drank right after finding her guy in the arms of her ex-best friend and right before she tossed his t-shirt collection - valued at $2500.00 via Ebay - in the donation bin or the beer can the philosophy major drank because how can you walk around sober when you’re an insignificant speck in an infinite and uncaring universe (or maybe something a little more upbeat) – with packaging and hang tags that work in the story of the material, Annabel could really define her brand (making Tinkan Designs the shop for ring pull jewelry) and add value to increase her price points.

 

Promotion -  I don’t know anyone who has had sales success with Etsy Search Ads – to be fair though, I personally only tried them for a short period and views actually dropped – this could be a coincidence or just bad timing, but it made me wonder if our eyes normally fall past the top row of any page and more toward the center anyway. Most customers will search a few pages, so relisting often enough to stay in those first few pages with your most important search terms is always a good idea.

 

I do know sellers, including myself, who have had success with Facebook Ads, Blog Advertising and Blog Giveaways.

 

(not blogs geared to artists/crafters though – I have had the most success with blog advertising and/or giveaways by creating my ad around a specific product of mine that targets the blog’s demographic - for example a bee necklace on a beekeeper blog, etc)

 

Tons of views are coming thru Pinterest postings these days – so making your photos as pin-able as possible is a good idea. You can also pin your own item now and then and joining is a great source of inspiration – although you always, always want to be making things that come from your heart and are unique to you; things you are passionate about – staying on top of what is trending via sites like Pinterest is important, too!

Tinkan Designs Recycled Bracelet

The most important online promotion is always relationship building. This is very personal work we are doing and it pays to put yourself and your energy out there. Relationship building can take up alot of our time and energy and it is up to us to decide what to invest our time and energy in!

Wrap Up – Since ring pull jewelry is not necessarily something people know they want (until they see it and maybe even until they touch it – I have the same issues with my own jewelry and so do most people working with recycled materials) and not terms people may be searching for, selling online is challenging - Tinkan Designs needs to think outside the box with her merchandising just as she has with her makings!

With some tweaks for SEO, some changes to her cropping and use of negative space and a focus on branding her items and creating value for her customers – Tinkan Designs may need so many ring pulls for her added orders that we will all need to be chugging back the brewskis for her (which means our user group conversations about what we all did last night will be way more exciting than the usual – composted the leftovers or retiled the back steps with used cereal boxes).

Saran-dipitous Moment:  That moment or faculty of making a fortunate discovery by chance.

The moment for me was when I peered into my 78 year old aunts’ refrigerator and saw no plastic wrap.  Anywhere.  It was then I  realized my complicity in swathing Mother Earth in sweeping wraps of name brand plastic.  Since my aunt is a great role model, I just followed her example.

Leftovers:

A cereal bowl with a well fitting saucer placed on top, holds in moisture and odors.  Bowls can then be stacked for more space.  Bowls can add a little bit of a treasure hunt aspect to finding that leftover chili, but it is microwave ready when you do locate it.  Canning jars, especially the wide mouth style, can hold a variety of foods.   Ball offers reusable lids for small and wide mouth jars that makes food storage in jars simple.  Non-standard jars are great for leftovers; think Adams peanut butter jars.   Even a small saucepan with a tight fitting lid can be used for leftover storage.

Produce:

Fresh produce can be washed (or not) and wrapped in clean dishtowels.  Not only are they more rugged than paper towels, they are useful for wiping up if one of your bowls is dislodged.  Wrapped in a dishtowel, produce can be stored in the crisper drawer or on the lower shelves and the towel protects the produce from any temperature fluctuations.  It is also quite easy to find the produce that needs to be used first!

Beverages:

Milk and cream can be poured from their plastic jugs into glass pitchers.  Not only is it easy to see when you need to purchase more half and half for your morning coffee, but  it looks ever so nice on the breakfast table.  Juices can be in pitchers as well, or 2 quart size canning jars.  Little ones may need a helping hand using a glass pitcher.

Condiments:

Depending on your family preferences, condiments can be stored in their purchased container.  If you prefer dressings and sauces made from scratch, dressing bottles and canning jars are again easily found and used.  It is a really good idea to label the reusable lid if it is designated for a particular product.  Then the child who prefers grape jelly does not have an attack of the vapors in finding elderberry jelly on her pbj.

Saran-dipitous moments can be a marvelous catalyst for change.  Have you found an area of life that could be tweaked just a little to make a big difference?  I know I view my refrigerator with a lot more saran-ity, now that  I am wrap free!

The ingredients in most of the more popular household cleaners today include harsh or toxic products that can harm the environment and you.  With the “green” revolution in full force these days, there are more and more non-toxic products being introduced.  I personally love the “Seventh Generation” products. These products smell great, come in recycled packaging and do a great job.  But if you are like me, a clean freak who purchases a lot of cleaning supplies, it can get a bit pricey. I recently read an article in Natural Home Magazine about making your own oven cleaner with products you probably have in your pantry.  This inspired me to make my own cleaners and share some of the recipes with you.  Simple items like lemons, olive oil and baking soda do the trick for getting out those stubborn stains and disinfecting the natural way.  I have compiled a shopping list and a few great recipes to get you started making your own cleaners! Remember, you can experiment with these ingredients to make your own custom cleaner just for your needs.

Shopping List:

• Baking Soda
• Lemons
• Liquid Dish Soap ( Greenworks )
• Lemon Dishwasher Liquid Soap ( Seventh Generation )
• Olive Oil
• Lemon Juice
• Washing Soda ( Arm & Hammer all natural )
• White Vinegar
• Polishing Cloth
• Sponge

For more information on natural cleaners, check out “Letting Nature Work for You”, by Jenn Flynn-Shon,  a fellow Eco Etsy team member.

Kim Johnson, xoxo

This week’s Tuesday Treasury winner is Nancy from Soul Role for her treasury Tangled Up in Blue Un-Valentine Gift.  This post and selection of the winner this week are courtesy of last week’s runner up – Laura from Prairie Peasant.  Here is Laura’s post:

All of the entries this week were fabulous, and I changed my mind several times in my deliberations.  I thought Nancy did a beautiful job of expressing a different kind of sentiment about love, being “tangled up in blue!”  How many of us actually have as our reality of love the simplicity of a red heart and a box of chocolates?  Life is more complicated than that.  The variety of items Nancy chose blend together very well, and are themselves all tangled together in blue.

Nancy’s shop has an amazing variety of functional, beautiful, comfortable and long lasting clothing and accessories for people of all ages and genders, and it was really hard to pick one item to feature. I chose this fashion wrap top because of its versatility and because I just love the look:

For the runners up, I chose:

Mother Earth How Do We Love Thee by Tanya from ManilaExtract because it is so bold and striking and makes a strong statement about love and loving the earth.

Valentine’s Day is just a day away and news reports are all in a frenzy that this year’s holiday is projected to exceed national spending figures from the past decade. From the perspective of both a giver and receiver of v-day goodies – I will be the first to admit that there’s nothing exciting about yet another box of chocolates, bunch of roses, or other cliche ‘token of affection.’

That’s why this year I hope to think “outside the box.” The chocolate box that is! Giving an upcycled gift that’s both handmade and practical will outshine anything you’d pick up at the mall or Walgreens. And don’t let time be the excuse either! There are plenty of crafty green tutorials online that will show you how to create a timeless keepsake with eco-friendly materials. Like this DIY Love Headboard from House*Tweaking.

So avert your gaze from the media frenzy that is pink cupids and sugary stuffs – and fix it on the heart of the matter – the emotional connections you share with those you love. Peruse the Eco Etsy blog for great tutorials – and scour the internet for fun ideas. You’ll make this Valentine’s Day the most memorable, and earth-friendly, yet!

Have you ever wanted to offer discount codes in a fun way? Or needed a cool promotion for your event booth? Scratch-off ticket may be the answer.

Scratch-off tickets can be a highly effective promotional tool for your shop and they are so easy to make.  I’ve ran a little experiment during a recent event by creating 50 scratch-off tickets and giving them to random people who stopped by my booth.  One of the tickets was for a free mascara, one ticket had a coupon code for 25% off and one ticket was a gift certificate for a $25 shopping spree at my booth. The results were awesome, people were flocking to my booth to grab their scratch-off tickets – I ran out very quickly too.

In this post I’m going to share how I made my scratch-tickets – I recently found a cute template on BHG and I altered it to fit my needs.  I’ve since created an additional template and have shared both at the end of this post.

DIY Coupon Code Scratch-off Tickets

What you will need:

• Coupon Codes or Freebie you are giving away –  Cost: whatever the prize is
• 4×6 Cardstock  - Cost: FREE (if you use junk mail or old holiday cards)
• Contact Paper or Packing Tape – Cost:  $1 (try Dollar Tree or other $1 store)
• Metallic Acrylic Paint – Cost: FREE (use any water-based ink or paint you have on hand)
• Dish Soap – Cost: FREE (we all do dishes)
• Small Paint Brush – Cost: FREE (use what you have on hand, makeup brushes work)
• Old plate or wax/parchment paper – Cost: FREE (again, use what you have on hand)
• Printer – Cost: FREE (technically since you already have it at your disposal. If you don’t have a printer you can hand draw your cards)

Let’s Make Magic:

1. If using junk mail, you may want to paint or cover the paper white and let it dry before proceeding. Print your  template  with messages and coupon codes on to your cardstock. I like to have three or four scratch off areas.

Scratch-off heart template

2. Next cut a strip of contact paper that will fit 3 or 4 of your shapes and trace the shape of the scratch off area to the paper side of the contact paper. If you are using packing tape, you may want to stick the tape to a piece of parchment paper and trace the shape onto the parchment paper.

Trace scratch off area on paper side of contact paper

3. Now it’s time to make the scratch-off magic.  Mix two parts acrylic paint with one part dish soap (example: 2 tbsp paint to 1 tbsp dish soap). The soap prevents the paint from binding together and what you are left with is cool, professional looking scratch-off paint.  

Making Magic

4. Next with your small paint brush or sponge brush paint the shiny side of the contact paper. You may need to do two or three coats to get full coverage (make sure you can’t see through it). Let the paint dry completely between coats. 

Paint the shiny side of the contact paper

5. Once you are happy with the coverage and it has completely dried, cut out the shapes using the template you drew on the paper side of the contact paper. Remove the paper backing and put the cut-out over the area that has the coupon code or message.  VOILA – You have a scratch off ticket.

DIY Scratch-off Ticket

Easy right? Now it’s time for you to try it.  I’ve created two template which you can edit using Photoshop  or my favorite, http://Pixlr.com.  Each template is a *.psd file which  means you can see and edit the different layers to fit your needs.

Template 1 – heart

Template 2 – clover

(If you don’t know how to use Pixlr or Photoshop and would like a custom template, send me a message herbanluxe@me.com)

On February 7th, Etsy announced that they will be rolling out a new Direct Checkout feature over the next few months.  At present, Etsy shop owners have been able to accept major credit cards payments for shop orders only through the use of PayPal.

If you noticed the announcement in your shop and watched the video, you probably already know what I’m talking about. If not, give the video below a gander.

Direct Checkout, will give shop owners the ability to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card right through their shops, bypassing the whole PayPal ordeal. Etsy also announced that PayPal is sticking around and there are no plans to discontinue its use. Whew!

When direct checkout becomes available, shop owners can choose it as an accepted payment method in the shop dashboard under Shipping & Payments.  This will come as a nice option for PayPal-averse customers. There will be fees associated with this payment acceptance method.

Direct Checkout under Shipping & Payments

Here is an excerpt of the information Etsy shared on their blog about the Direct Checkout fees:

If you sign up for direct checkout, you’ll use our new Shop Payment Account area to manage the money you make. This new area allows you to control deposits into your bank account after you ship your items, and issue full or partial refunds directly to your buyers. Direct checkout will cost a 3% + $0.25 USD payment processing fee per sale. This fee will be automatically subtracted at the time of sale and will be reflected in your Shop Payment Account. If you issue a refund to a buyer, this fee, as well as your transaction fee, will be credited back to you proportionately.

The Direct Checkout fees are in addition to existing transaction and listing fees – these don’t go away. But, you only pay Direct Checkout fees, if you have chosen it as an accepted payment method and a buyer uses it to pay for a purchase – just like Paypal.

So let’s compare Direct Checkout to PayPal:

 Etsy Direct Checkout Fees:                                                   PayPal Fees:

3% + $0.25 USD                                            |                       2.9% + $0.30

On a $10 purchase paid with PayPal, the fees are $0.29 + $0.30 for a total of $0.59.That same purchase paid with Etsy Direct checkout, fees would be $0.30 + $0.25 for a total of $0.55. That’s a $0.04 difference, which may not seem like a huge difference but can add up to some savings at the end of the year – just do the math.

However, the question of “How and When do I get my money?” is a whole different story. Based on the information I’ve read on the Direct Checkout FAQ, there will be a payment delay of 3 days – which means you’re funds will not be available for deposit to your bank account right away. If a customer files a dispute with Etsy, that delay can be longer than 3 days. You can read the Direct Checkout Terms of Use here.

All of a sudden I’m having deja vu, remembering when all my funds were tied up over a customer dispute in PayPal’s earlier days – oh, the pain and frustration…  It took PayPal some time to get things figured out, payment processing is no joke.  Although I have a love-hate relationship with PayPal, I have to say that I like having anytime access to my money and having a Paypal debit card which is separate from my personal funds to pay for materials.

All joking aside (although I wasn’t joking), I predict that Etsy Direct Checkout will go through its fair share of growing pains initially because there are two things people don’t like – other people messing with their money and their emotions. At this time, Etsy has a chosen few early adopters to try out the Direct Checkout feature, I’m looking forward to any feedback they have.  For now I say keep you eyes on Etsy forums because as with all new features once it is rolled out to the masses I’m sure we will hear some juice gossip, complaints and whining from shop owners.

In the meantime, I suggest you all head over to the Direct Checkout FAQ and educate yourselves before jumping in with both feet.

Marigolds are a flowering annual that attract beneficial insects. They produce globe-shaped blossoms that consist of lacy foliage. Marigolds also produce a pungent smell that deters some gardening pests, so they are a popular plant among vegetable gardeners. They are ideal for planting in borders, beds, and container gardens. I find marigolds to be among the easiest to sow, grow, and save, so they are great for beginners.

Growing Marigolds

Marigolds are cross-pollinated by insects, so you should only grow one variety at a time when planning on harvesting their seeds.  To get started, just sow seeds in a sunny location, after the danger of spring frost. Thin seedlings when they are about two inches in height, with the final spacing of the dwarf varieties about 6-8 inches apart. Taller varieties of marigolds need to be spaced up to 18-24 inches apart, so research your selected variety before planting. Marigolds seeds can also be started indoors 6-8 six weeks before planting outdoors in the spring. However, I prefer to start them outdoors since seedlings are susceptible to damping-off (a fungal disease).  Marigolds are not fussy flowers, and do well in poor to average soil. The most important tip to growing them: keep their soil slightly dry. They don’t like soggy conditions.

Harvesting Seeds

Marigold blossoms turn to seed, so do not dead head all of their flowers. Let them wilt and turn brown, and do most of the drying on the plant. Marigold seeds are easy to identify because they have a unique appearance. The black or brown seeds are long and slender with a tip that resembles a tiny tuft of straw. I think they look like mini brooms.

The seeds are ready for harvest once the seed pods dry and turn brown. Cut the dried flower heads from the plant. Pull away any remaining petals, but be careful they are attached to the seeds. Then, gently crack open the seed pod and collect the seeds. After separating the seeds, spread them out to dry for a week, or two before placing them in a paper envelope in a cool, dark, and dry place. They are viable for about three years.

Marigolds produce so many seeds, that we have thousands from just saving the seeds of three plants. So, in honor of our first gardening post on EcoEtsy, we are giving three seed packs away!

Backyard FL Gardening’s Marigold Giveaway Details

3 packs of French Dwarf Double Mixed Colored Marigolds, that have been organically grown in our backyard, are up for grabs! Multiple chances to win per person:

1. Subscribe to EcoEtsy blog (there on the right, at the top —>)

2. Subscribe to my Backyard FL Gardening blog

3. Follow EcoEtsy on Facebook

4. Follow Backyard FL Gardening on Facebook

Leave a comment with your entries and an email address for contact. Three winners will be randomly selected by Random.org’s generator. Deadline to enter is midnight on Sunday, February 12th, 2012.

Happy Gardening,

Bee