Earth Friendly Spotlight: Reduced, Reused or Recycled

Today we celebrate Earth Day and the final round up of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products.

 This collection features items that are made from re-purposed, up-cycled and/or sustainable materials.

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Reduced, Reused or Recycled:

"Our candles are made from hand rolled sheets of 100% pure beeswax, which are natural, non-toxic, sustainable & renewable. Beeswax burns cleaner than paraffin candles and naturally give off a light, sweet honey scent without the addition of any fragrance oils. Available in pillars, tapers, and votives." - Scott owner of Little Bee

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"Petite textured studs handcrafted from recycled sterling silver and Moissanite (an Eco-friendly, sustainable diamond alternative)" - Erin owner of Erin Deluca Jewelry

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"If you love the stuff from the Burnt Shop but don't need anymore "stuff".... bring me your glass and wood pieces! I'm happy to add my original designs or something of your choosing to make your own treasured items that much more special." - Denise owner of The Burnt Shop

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"Bamboo is a durable, sustainable and renewable resource. And as an added bonus the dense grain resists bacteria. My housewares are conditioned with food grade mineral oil and natural unbleached beeswax. The bright pops of color are hand painted using non-toxic water based paints and sealed with a naturally ocurring resin." Alonda owner of Designer Dwellings

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"All of the paper in our buttons and magnets are recycled and our notebooks and cards are all made from recycled paper and cardstock!" - Kelly owner of Our Secret Treehouse

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"The Silver clay that I use to make my jewelry is manufactured using recycled and reclaimed silver. The silver is from eyeglasses, photography supplies, industrial sources, utensils and from silver jewelry that has been turned in for reclamation." - Denise owner of InDee Designs

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

Earth Day Spotlight: For the pets

This week to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd we are sharing daily round ups of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products. Around here we love our critters and we love celebrating them with natural, sustainable and organic finds. 

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Eco-friendly finds for the pets:

"Made with sustainable Aspen wood, these leash hooks are painted using natural milk paint in gray or white. Aspen wood needs to be harvested regularly to keep other Aspen trees healthy and thriving." - Cyn owner of RiverDog Prints

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"Handmade by me, this soap was created using the old fashioned method of cold process soap making. No synthetic colors, dyes, perfumes, preservatives have been used." Jess owner of Treefort Naturals

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"It's for the Birds! Provide nesting materials for your feathered friends. Great for your indoor birds and their outside relatives! 4" vine ball filled with 100% all natural (no dye) fiber donated by our herd of alpaca - eco friendly and sustainable." - Lori owner of Flatland Alpacas

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"The Mary Chicken tote, printed on a bag made from Ecotech which is 65% pre-consumer cotton and 35% recycled bottles, made by a family/woman owned company in NH." - Jennifer owner of Hickster Tees

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"Handmade, wood and paper, use daily forever." - Vanessa owner of Queen Vanna Creations

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Stop by tomorrow for the final eco-friendly roundup!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

Earth Day Spotlight: For the kids

This week to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd we are sharing daily round ups of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products. Our little ones deserve the best products free of harmful chemicals.

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Eco-friendly finds for the kids:

"While all of our toys are made with child safe materials, our puppy pull toys go one step further and are strained with coffee and finished with our own blend of organic beeswax and organic jojoba oil." - Vivienne and Vinny owners of The Toy Box by Vinny

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"All natural, handmade products including 100% natural Baby soap, Calendula Lavender baby balm, hand knit cotton washcloth & natural wooden soap deck." - available at Treefort Naturals

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"The teether is made of solid maple and sealed with organic beeswax and olive oil, the ears come off so they can be washed. This is a greener alternative to plastics, and it will last for years and years" - Kristen owner of Milo and Molly

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"The Happy Snacker is a stand up on its own, generously sized reusable snack bag. The outside is made of sturdy duck canvas or organic cotton prints, and the inside liner is made of food safe ripstop nylon. The Happy Snacker features an end to end hook and loop closure to keep snacks fresh- and pull tabs made from re-purposed vintage grosgrain ribbon from France." - Carrie owner of Mister and His Sister

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"Many of my items are made from organic or upcycled fabric. These fabrics are not only super soft, they use far fewer resources to produce than conventional or synthetic fabrics. Tinymack clothing is also made to be worn and loved and passed on from child to child -- which further reduces its environmental impact. Love for the earth and love for little ones is what we're all about." - Kaci owner of Tinymack

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"Starting with a repurposed mint tin, I add full pans of handmade watercolor paint and a color guide. After that, I paint the top of each tin. The watercolor paints are handmade using quality ingredients including local honey." - available at Sprinkles of Color

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Stop by tomorrow for the next eco-friendly roundup!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

Earth Friendly Spotlight: Bath and Body

This week to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd we are sharing daily round ups of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products. Today we have organic and natural finds for happy and healthy skin.

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Eco-friendly Bath and Body finds:

"Solid lotion bar...all the good stuff of a moisturizing lotion minus the water and preservatives...plus you can ditch the plastic lotion bottles." Jess owner of Treefort Naturals

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"This soap was handmade using the cold process method. Contains NO animal products and no preservatives. The soap will arrived wrapped in 100% recycled banana fiber paper and fully labeled." available at Nutmeg Naturals

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"Pure, organic olive oil soap, nothing extra added. Extra gentle." - Erin owner of Pure Naked Soap

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"Handmade lip balms, scrubs, salves, and solid perfumes produced with only simple minimal ingredients." - Scott owner of Little Bee

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"All natural goat milk soaps , hand & body butters" - Nancy owner of Lyric Hill Farm

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"Handmade soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs & lip balms made with fair-trade butters, organic oils and essential oil. Family & friends are the only animals we test on." - Laura owner of Olive My Skin

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Stop by tomorrow for the next eco-friendly round up!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

Earth Friendly Spotlight: House and Home

As makers we take great care in selecting our materials. For many that means finding local sources, organic or sustainable products. This week to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd we are sharing daily round ups of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products.

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Eco-friendly House and Home finds:

"100% linen tea towels, hand stenciled with water based fabric paint. I use 100% linen because it's made from the flax plant. Flax is a natural fiber making flax linen recyclable and biodegradable. It's also incredibly strong and lasts for decades." - Cyn owner of RiverDog Prints

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"Add sparkle and shine to your glass and mirrors without filling your home with toxic chemicals. Available in many fresh scents, our glass cleaner is made from just a handful of simply ingredients and essential oils. Contains NO synthetic fragrances, no detergents, no SLS, no colorants, no unpronounceable ingredients." - Jen owner of Nutmeg Naturals

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"Goat milk soap detergent made from all natural sustain-ably grown ingredients including our own raw goat milk and organically grown herbs and flowers. Eco-friendly, all natural laundry detergent in refillable tins of all US made ingredients and and packaging." - Nancy owner of Lyric Hill Farm

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"Ditch the dryer sheets and soften your clothes naturally! Eco friendly wool dryer balls made with locally sourced, ethically raise wool, embellished with grey fiber donated by our herd of alpaca. No detergents, fragrances or chemicals - and all with a zero carbon footprint." - Lori owner of Flatland Alpaca

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"A clothesline is naturally solar powered! Line drying ensure fresh smelling clothes and linens." - Vanessa owner of Queen Vanna Creations

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"We hand-pour all of our candles using high quality soy wax (a sustainable) grown in the U.S., phthalate-free fine fragrances and zero dyes or bleaching additives. Also, each tumbler is adorned with a bamboo coaster that can be re-purposed alongside the glass after burning. Our site has super easy step-by-step tutorial of how to clean the glasses as well as a ton (I mean a ton) of suggestions on how to re-use the glass/coaster combo!" - Randi & Yolanda owners of Rayne Home Decor

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"At the Burnt Shop we're all about renewable and recyclable wood and glass. With care, my pieces will last for generations. Using glass water bottle is a stylish, great tasting, eco-friendly alternative to all those plastic bottles!" - Denise owner of The Burnt Shop

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"Beautify the outside of your home while helping save the bees at the same time. Our Gardener's Bouquet combines a beautiful art-themed pack of  pollinator-friendly flower seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, with a colorful pair of  gardening gloves, and a 3 oz tin of our all natural hand & body salve with your choice of scent." - Scott owner of Little Bee

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Stop by tomorrow for the next eco-friendly round up!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

Save Money (and the Environment) with Recycled Packing Materials

As a vintage seller, owner of Start Talking Vintage of Manchester, CT, I love finding something old and making it new again, through giving it a new home or upcycling it for some modern appeal. 

I value being able to re-use, which is why I find such joy in re-purposing vintage materials. My passion for "recycling" doesn't stop just there- I also pack my sold orders using recycled materials. Not only is it extremely cost effective, but also beneficial to the environment!

Photo credit:  Windell Oskay

Tips on how to use recycled packing and shipping materials:

1. Save save save! I squirrel away old newspapers, used tissue paper and packing materials from things that I buy for my personal use. I have a spot in my attic for paper products that could easily be used for packaging. 

2. Make your own paper shred! I personally do not like to package with advertisement flyers from other stores- but the light weight material is perfect for packing. I use a small paper shredder to shred newspaper inserts. I mix the weekly sales shredded paper with kraft paper shred that I also shred myself- using those brown paper bags from the grocery store! 

Here you can see my handmade vintage music score ornaments 

packed snug with my own paper shred, straight from my shredder! 

3. Reach out to your friends and family and have them save their newspapers , cardboard boxes and other papers that would be suitable for packing for you! When your friends order online, ask them to save the boxes and the packing materials that their orders were shipped in!

4. Try The Freecycle Network. Freecycle is a website where you can post things you are looking to give away for free, as well as things you are looking to get- for free! The site is broken up by town, so all the listings you look at are local. I have responded to offers for bubble wrap, packing peanuts and boxes - where I simply had to connect with the person offering the free materials via email, where we arranged for me to pick-up. I have also made "wanted" posts for packing materials and have gotten offers for items. The premise of the website is just as it's name sounds- to recycle materials you have by giving them away for free to someone who can use them. Not only can you get packing materials from Freecycle, but you can also get printers, clothing, furniture and other household items people are looking to part with. I have gotten a sewing machine from the site!

5. Mix recycled materials with purchased ones. I never skimp on packing materials, especially when I am shipping fragile items. I also have a supply of new bubble wrap, boxes and packing peanuts that I have purchase, because sometimes my recycled materials need some more support in protecting my products.

6. Keep your materials attractive looking- always make sure they are clean! Just because it is recycled doesn't mean it should look like you personally picked it out of your neighbors recycling bin. I use a stamp that I had customized of my store logo on newspapers, tissue paper and kraft paper packaging. I also incorporate using baker's twine and other frills to pretty up my packaging. Branding can be everything!

7. Keep the recycling process going! I like to include a card in my packaging that says "The packing materials enclosed have been recycled. Please do your part and keep the cycle going!" This reminds my customers to reduce, reuse and recycle!

Enjoy finding materials to use in creative ways to ship your products!


Written by Jessica Marie of Start Talking Vintage. Jessica is a 21 year old college student who has developed a passion for all things vintage and the rich history they carry. She enjoys treasure hunting for historic beauties at estate sales, crafting, sewing and DIY projects, especially those that upcycle vintage items and give then new, modern appeal. She is studying Early Childhood Development and Education with the future aspiration of being a preschool teacher- but will never leave her old-soul vintage passion or eye for design behind.