Posts in the 'Eco-Lifestyle' Category
August 17th, 2010 by Britt
You did not just slave over a year’s worth of crafting for your wedding just to throw it all away in the end. No way. I allowed myself to throw away certain items, namely the ones that I couldn’t stand to look at anymore. Case in point: flag and crane strings had to go.
But for the most part, reusing our wedding decor and supplies for our home has been working out quite nicely. In fact, I would go as far as to say our home has never looked more stylish than it does now. And for a couple whose home decor has consisted of everything Ikea for the last 5 years, it’s nice to see a unique, one-of-a-kind change.
2 bouquets, 6 vases, 2 record sleeves, 4 painted bottles, and a hot pink reindeer. All used at our wedding. All re-used to make our home pretty!
We even used our cake topper and a pair of photo lounge shutter shades as decor!
I call this one: "pimp my bookcase."
Neon drink coasters from the wedding are now water catchers for our plants!
And this one I will of course call: "pimp my windowsill"
My bouquet, a lantern, and a couple tins from the wedding: Now being displayed as decor in our bedroom. Underneath our Bowie "Heroes" poster, naturally.
More bouquets, bottles, and lanterns used as decor!
Make any DIY signs? Use them as wall decor. Sure, "Parking Hitchfest 2010" doesn't quite make sense in the context of your home... BUT it will serve as a fun memory for us until we get sick of looking at it.
More reusable DIY signage! Our "Food Truck" sign brings a smile to my face everytime I sit down to play piano.
Sure, we may not need to keep this "Photo Lounge" sign hanging around the house... BUT I wonder if another engaged couple would get some use out of it at their wedding??? 
You can also use your decor for functional purposes. I got the idea from Mrs. Broke-Ass herself (she’s so clevah!) about re-using our mason jars as drinking glasses. Just today I cleaned out all the wax from the jars (just use really hot water), washed ‘em up nice, and now we can use them for beverages!
These puppies are just *waiting* for me to pour beer in them!
And there I go! Reuse-ifying feels so good!
We also reused a few hand-painted bottles to act as book-ends.
Functional & beautiful!
AND lastly, we are keeping 2 of the 10 of our handcrafted beer bottle chandeliers to act as lighting for our dining area. We are hoping to use them as outdoor lighting… eventually… when we can finally find an affordable place in Los Angeles with a yard!
Home dining room lighting at it's weirdest... errr... I mean, "finest." 
What the chandeliers look like all lit up! Can't wait to get a backyard!
Seeing all the wedding crafts come together as decor for our home has brought so much joy to my heart. I had planned from the start to reuse our DIY decor, and I am over the moon proud of ourselves that we actually followed through with the OG plan. I feel the payback on our investment already!
And for everything that we didn’t reuse — which was surprisingly very little — we will either Brideshare or sell. I will keep you all updated on everything we are selling/sharing. Please contact me if you would like to reuse any of our decor for your own wedding: i.e. bouquets, bottles, mason jars, signs, lanterns, etc. We’re happy to share!
How about you guys? Have any ideas for reusing wedding decor in your home? How about outside the home?
August 16th, 2010 by The Broke-Ass Bride
Maegan over at Love, Maegan might not know it yet, but she is my new best friend. Her site is a phenomenal resource for fashion, fun how-to’s and girl-crush worthy style, but what makes Maegan so irresistible is her down-to-earth warmth. We asked her if we could share a couple of our favorite DIY projects of hers with y’all, and this one is perf! For all you Louboutin lovahhhhs out there (and I knows y’alls out there)… grab a pair of old strappy pumps and some spare fabric, get your craft on, and redirect that $6 hundo into something else (or save it altogether). People, with DIY as easy peasy lemon squeezy as this, you can afford to make ‘em in every color your heart desires!
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Christian Louboutin Petal Sandal
What you’ll need …
…I am so in love. I think the only thing they’re missing is the red heel. I cannot wait to wear them! {…ps: because they are removable, I can also wear them as bracelets/cuffs, hooked onto my vintage chain necklace or even in my hair …I know!}
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Thanks, Maegan!
May 17th, 2010 by The Fresh Hubby
Because sometimes you just want a little BANG in your buck, we introduce to you:
The Splurge is our new fantasy shopping series dedicated to the finer things in life that we aspire to put on the registry, save up for, blow it all on, or just daydream about! It’s all about straight up fun window-shopping fantasy feasts for the eyes. ‘Cause sometimes ya know what your bank account says, but you’ve just gotta pop the cork on your champagne tastes and get high on the bubbles. You’ve got the urge. The urge to SPLURGE!!!
First Up: The Athena Water Ionizer from ION WAYS
We are serious water snobs. I blame Dana. When it comes to water, she may have one of the most sensitive palettes in the land. My parents think she has a lime obsession, because her secret weapon to mask the taste of their tap water is to squeeze some citrus into every drop she drinks. So, when she saw the ultimate in water purifiers, The Athena, at a green products expo recently… her eyes went AWOOGA! Lucky for us, IonWays was kind enough to provide us with a complimentary review unit!
The price may well give you drymouth, at $2,195 big’uns, but this is no ordinary water purifier. It doesn’t just run your water through a charcoal filter like most household sytems. Instead, it separates it: dividing the acidic elements of your water from the alkaline elements, allowing you to closely monitor and adjust the levels according to your preference. I could go on about all the possible health benefits to this (and I will in a later post), but for now I’ll tell you the secret reason I love it: The filter talks when you turn it on! Hello future robot household appliance fantasy, here we come!!! Meet Hunter Jetson… and his filter, Athena…
April 22nd, 2010 by The Broke-Ass Bride
Earth Day is 40 years old today, and we’re so excited. Mother Earth means so much to us, that we even made a vow to protect her during our wedding! So, naturally, on this day in her honor, we’z about to bust out some of our favorite green goodies to help you discover how being green can help you save green, have fun, and give Big Mama Earth a big, heartfelt, broke-ass hippie {HUG}
Anyone out there have disposables guilt? You know, that regretful feeling when you buy a pack of disposables for your home, a party or a wedding event? Hang onto your socks, and meet this bevy of bio-goodness. There are tons of disposables out there made from biodegradable materials, such as corn starch, bamboo and sugarcane bagasse, and they’re super affordable, yo! We used some for our day-after party and they were perfect! Biosmart used to offer a $20 party pack that fed 50 people… I wish they’d bring that back! But still you can get 125 plates for $9.99 or 250 bar cups for $24.61 – can I get a what what? That’s my jam!
Ohh Emm Geee.
Yes, please.
Sustainable Party is an adorable site filled with different styles of sustainable disposable – from your basic whites to some really stylish bamboo. They sell most items in bulk batches (ranges from 25 to 3,000) and bulk batches mean bulk discounts, and you know we love that! And I can’t resist those party monsters they put in the product porn GreenFeet has a great selection at great prices too – but my favorite has got to be the bamboo spork!
Present your disposables in a cute fabric lined basket, tie some rustic twine around the utensils, cut up recycled fabric with pinking shears to create adorable cloth napkins and some grub…. you’ve got yourself a guilt-less, easy clean up and affordable feast.
Browsing for a wedding dress can be eco-friendly in so many ways these days, its hard to justify not checking this shiz out! Naturally I’ve gotta plug the eco-fashionistas out there, having worn a gown made of sustainable fabrics… so let’s give it up for Deborah Lindquist, Amy Jo Tatum, and Puridee who handmake gorgeous confections of dresses out of organic and recycled fabrics and are just to die for!
Amy Jo's green-chic line has retro flair
I LOVE this color by Puridee!
But there before buying new, make sure to check out the zillions of bridal resale options… from vintage shops in your hometown to awesome online resalers like Recycled Bride, wedding website classifieds, or charity resale events like Brides Against Breast Cancer. You can even rent gowns like the one in yesterday’s gorgeous real wedding feature for just one night! Already married? Unload that lonely gown and send it down the aisle again on another lucky brides back, and list it for resale or donate it today!
Guiltless snacking is my favorite.
Add some sun to your day.
I’m sure you’ve seen that Sunchips has a very sexy new biodegradable bag, but did you know that all those old bags can still be put to good use? Check out this cutie pie chip bowl from Ecoist for your wedding registry or a gift, or snag a purse made from a Lay’s bag for your summer wedding!
California Pink Tourmaline, and vegan!
Something old, made new.
Eco-wedding rings do exist, and what a great way to make a vow, right? Recycling rings from estate sales and vintage boutiques is a great place to start, but you can get even more progressive by seeking alternative styles like the gorgeous wood-laid reclaimed silver bands right there, or those made of reclaimed metals and non-diamond jewels like this gorgeous $298 pink solitaire by McFarland Designs on etsy. Even better, scour your old jewelry box and ask friends or family to donate old metals, send ‘em to a jeweler, and have your own design cast from some meaningful metal.
Oh, there are so many goodies we love that support and protect the lady that feeds us, houses us, nourishes us and on which we’ll marry… I could go on for days. Do your part today and every day. As the Native American Proverb says:
Treat the earth well… we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
What are your favorite green goodies?
April 5th, 2010 by The Fresh Hubby
Monday morning and you stumble out of bed. “Man oh man, I need some caffeine” you think. You fumble around the cupboard grab some roast, a filter, and stick it in the machine as you flip the switch to “Awake”.
While you fumble for a cup, you hear the soothing percolating gurgle almost whispering, “No worries, we’ll have you twitching with productivity soon.” And you mutter, “I can do anything as long as I’ve got coffee.” Then you hear a voice, almost like a mouse reply, “I can do pretty much anything too, and I don’t need coffee.”
“Who the!?” you yelp, as you swing around. “No worries!” The voice squeaks from the cupboard, “It’s just me, your friendly package of coffee filters.”
“But filters can’t talk!” You reply.
“What, you think all we do is filter coffee!? Rather than get offended, let me just tell you all the things we can do.”
"My caffeine brings all the boys to the yard...", sang the filter. Can you say Great Budget Wedding idea?! Coffee liner garlands are perfect! (image via Creature Comforts)
“Coffee Filters are super cheap and can be used for all sorts of things like:
1) Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome… Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.
2) Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
3) Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
4) Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
5) Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
6) Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
7) Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
8 ) Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
9) As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics.
10) Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
11) Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
12) Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
13) Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
14) Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.”
You stumble back with amazement.
“Wow I had no idea you could use coffee filters for some many things.”
The filter puffs up it’s folds with pride gloating, ”Yeah and you can find us at the dollar store for super cheap, but try and get us recycled because us recycled folks are better for the earth. Do you believe in reincarnation?”
Taken off gaurd by this question you reply, ”Wait, did a coffee filter really ask me if I believe in Reincarnation?”
“Well excuuuuuuuse me, you’re the one having a conversation with an inanimate object, but it’s soooo weird if it asks you about re-incarnation? Wake up and smell the coffee! Hay Oh! Coffee filter humor coming at ya.”
“No not a coffee filter joke!!!” You yell as you shoot straight up, only to realize you are still in bed and it was all a dream. “Oh my god” you think, “I read that email my mom sent me about how useful coffee filters are, and then I dreamt I was talking to one. That was too weird.”
You stumble out of bed and wander towards the coffee maker reaching into the pantry to grab a filter. “Goooooooooood Morning!” you hear from a mouse like voice…
What alternate tasks do you use coffee filters for? Hopefully you picked up some wedding inspiration in this post! Let us know what everyday objects inspire you!
April 2nd, 2010 by The Fresh Hubby
Get pumped to celebrate the worlds favorite holiday! Nope, it’s not Christmas and it doesn’t involve chocolate bunnies, it’s EARTH DAY! Earth Day is on April 22nd and I just can’t wait to open up my Earth Day presents. I remember last year I got an “Ozone-Hole Patch Kit” and “World Peace In a Can”. If only I could find where I put them…
Sing along now: Captain Planet he's our hero, knocking bad guys down to zero...
In honor of Earth Day’s big four-oh (she looks good for her age, right?) YourDailyThread.com, your green life style hook up for the City of Angels and beyond, is revamping their website with an online boot camp that can turn “Eco-Zeros” into “Eco-Heros!” Hoorah! Green is the new black, yo! And a green wedding? Tres tres eco-chic! So, when it comes to saving green, we do it while being green. It’s easy to rock your Broke-Ass while learning how to minimize your carbon footprint. Not only will you be living a greener life after this boot camp, you will also have a clearer understanding of why going green is so good for our earth.
DON'T GIVE ME TWENTY!!! Just put that bottle in the recycling bin, if you wouldn't mind.
Never recycled before? No problem, there is a first time for everything! Recycling and re-purposing can be fun and fulfilling! Our friends at Your Daily Thread are making it soooooo easy by making you a green starter kit to kick off the festivities. Orders from your drill sergeant will arrive via email Monday through Friday starting on Monday April 5th. So get your fabulous behind in gear and sign up to be an eco-conscious boot camp cadet today. That’s an order, soldier!
The boot camp is going on for twenty days and you can sign up for it here: www.yourdailythread.com/bootcamp By the time Earth Day rolls around you’ll have graduated from boot camp, and will be an eco-hero celebrating Earth the best way possible, by appreciating her.
March 29th, 2010 by The Broke-Ass Bride
Here at Team Broke-Ass, shopping is serious business, and so are sustainability, good value, and giving back whenever possible! That’s why we are luuurving on companies like Seven Hopes United, one of many rad Fair Trade green wedding and gift registries and shopping sites.
Fair trade is the Bibimbap Biggity Bomb, and it gives back to the craftsman and artisans who create the goods. Seven Hopes United, Global Exchange, and SERRV feature products that are fair trade certified which means that they are made in fair trade co-ops and aim to provide economic stability. Oh hello, I love that mission. The added bonus? The price will often beat large chain stores!
Fair Trade intends to provide access to other marginalized goods, and gives a higher and more fair wage back to the people who produce these products. These gift registries have crafts, jewelry, and housewares from all over the world including places such as Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. Their products are beautifully handcrafted, and part of all proceeds are invested back into the artisan communities. It’s shopping for a cause!
Some of my favorite items:
This necklace is the "Taryn Delicate Y Necklace" in Teal. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the turquoise and brown together!
These could be the perfect gift for any bridesmaid. I never met a pair of baubles I didn't like!
Love these square salad bowls!
Go ahead, register for a hammock! You've earned the relaxation!
Tons of sites and wedding vendors offer fair trade or some other charity incentive these days, so be sure to patronize vendors like this when possible. It’s a great way to pay it forward while getting your shop (and your wedding) on, and to get your marriage started off on a great karmic foot, yo!
December 7th, 2009 by The Broke-Ass Bride
The Fresh Hubby and I are proud to announce our debut as the Green-Ass Bride & Groom, bringing you Eco-Chic on the Cheap, a regular column in the (soon-to-be-launched) Eco-Beautiful Weddings E-zine and their brand new eponymous blog!
We’re totally psyched to be bringing our love for weddings and our love for the earth together in a big old lovefest (aka our column, debuting December 15th) to help you find your perfect shade of green, while saving some green!
Oh snap, who dat?
And, I ain’t gonna lie, I’m totally crushing on my cute cartoon hubby! Our likeness was done by none other than the fabulous illustrator and Broke-Ass sponsor, Astrid of
Champagne Promises, LLC, thanks to Katie from
Elegance and Simplicity – our friend, and editor in chief of EBW!
So
stop on by, have a look see, and get excited about all the eco-goodness comin’ your way. See you over there!
September 3rd, 2009 by The Broke-Ass Bride
We got the idea to register for vintage dishware after seeing the plates of our dreams on set at a television sitcom taping we attended. I was flat out drooling for them, and even Hunter gave them a hells yeah. We scampered over to check the stamp on the plates, ran home to google it, and mentally filed it away. After a long and painful search for something new (and more readily available) that we loved just as much, we finally decided to go our own way and register for the first dishes to steal our poppy lovin’ hearts.
Wild Poppies – Metlox: Aren’t they dreamsicle?!?
It was the perfect decision for us, and we love our dishes more and more every time we use them. In fact, we ended up buying vintage silverware to go along with it!
The benefits of vintage dishware are threefold:
1. more financially friendly – the set we picked out cost less than most sets we saw at Crate and Barrel or Macy’s.
2. more eco-friendly – reuse is always a better choice than buying new, any day!
3. more finger friendly – we excel at breaking dishes. Vintage dishware is often sturdier and more break-resistant, which means keeping our wedding dishes safe for years to come!
Whatever your taste, you can find vintage dishes to suit them, in many places both online and in shops. Check out these babies:
Manzanita by Brock
Johnson Bros – Chelsea Collection
Starburst by Franciscan
Gold Dahlia by Metlox
You can search for vintage dishware at sites like Metlox California (who were supremely helpful in our registry process), Replacements.com, etsy, and ebay among many others. You can also try flea markets and antique bazaars in your town, like the Rosebowl.
There are also some progressively fierce companies taking vintage dishware/china and turning it into something modern and delicious, like Esther Dirkx!
via Reform School – a favorite green boutique of mine
“But, Dana” you protest “how do I register for something so random and hard for guests to find/pay for?”
Woman, hie thee to Wishpot! You can register for items you find anywhere, in brick and mortar stores or on the internet. Its a convenient way to unleash yourself from single-store registries, and allowed us to explore our eclectic tastes in a personal and customizable way. It worked great for us, even when we bought our flatware through auction. We just manually listed it, posted the price, and someone “reimbursed” the gift to us. Or, contact a replacement company and ask if they’ll set up a registry for you. Many offer that service these days.
There are tons of ways to make your registry more personal, and more green. But vintage dishware is my absolute favorite (she says, as she eats her cereal from a sunny poppyfilled bowl).
Did you register for any vintage items?
