How My Hair Will Save The Planet

For the past couple of years, I had been growing out my hair. I was doing so, so that I could donate it to children suffering from cancer and other health issues where they would lose their hair. I had almost a foot ready to be cut. I went into my salon with a ziplock freezer bag and said "cut it". When my stylist asked where I was sending my hair, I told her Locks of Love. At the mention of the name, another stylist came running over. "No, no, no. You don't want to send them your hair!" I was confused by this and asked him to elaborate. He began to tell me about all of the controversy that surrounds this company. I never knew! He suggested that I send my hair to Pantene. I said, "thank you for your input, but now I will have to go home and reseach a bit more before I send my hair to anyone". A quick Google search and I found much of what he was talking about regarding Locks of Love. (I'll leave that for you to do yourself). I looked into Pantene and found that they only make their wigs for woman suffering from breast cancer, not children, not men, and not for any other medical issues. Additionally, after giving it some more thought, many of their products contain the very same ingredients that are known cancer causing agents. It just didn't seem like the right choice either. So who was I going to send my hair to? I had been growing it out for so long, and I really wanted to do good with it. Back to Google I went......

After much research, I found a company called Matter of Trust. This is a great company, with a major mission, saving the planet! They turn hair and old fleece into booms that are used to clean up oil spills. How cool is that? I contacted them immediately. Since I am just one person, and only had a "small" amount of hair, they asked that I mail it to them to be used for educational purposes. My hair will be used in a classroom setting to teach others how to make their oil busting booms. 

And this is how my hair will save the planet! Before you donate to a company, no matter what it is that you are donating, please do your research. Do not donate blindly, and NEVER give to a company with zero transperancy. 

Please enjoy the pictures below of my hair cut experience. :) 

The perfect gift.....

Owls, Owls, Owls!

It’s getting close to that time of year again. Time to figure out what to give your child’s teacher for the holidays! What teacher doesn’t love owls? Order your owl gift today. Large owl pendants stand approximately 2.5in tall and can be added to a key ring or an adjustable cord necklace. Pendant alone is $10, with key ring it is also $10, and on an adjustable cord necklace it is $12. Small owl pendants are great for earrings and/or brooches. Earrings are $10 each pair and brooches are $6 each. Apple brooches can also be made for only $5. Other animals and insects can be made upon request. Visit www.poptabilicious.com for more info and to place your order today!

Cigarette Butts are now Recycleable!

Our friends ar Earth911  shared this wonderful article today. It explains how a great company, Terracycle has teamed up with Santa Fe. Natural Tobaco Co. to recycle old cigarettes. This is great news for our beaches and world! Spread the news. The next time you take part in a beach or park cleanup, now you can recycle all of those butts you pick up, instead of trashing them and further filling our landfills. Please read the article that Earth911 posted for details on just how to recycle these little cancer sticks! 

                               

Seeds of Death: Unveiling The Lies of GMOs

Our freinds ar Realfarmacy.com have posted this full length documentary for viewing. Please do youself a favor, take an hour out of your life and watch this. You just may save your life. We need to band together and fight for our future. GMOs and Monsanto must come to an end. 

Liebster Award

I've been nominated for a Leibster Award by The Precious Princess's Guide to Bananaland. 

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn't that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

This is a quick synopses of how it works:  

I think I will do this a little out of order, because that's how I roll. First, I will answer the questions asked of me. (Keep in mind, I did not write these questions...)

1)  If you could haunt someone, who would it be and why? 

My husband. It's fun to drive him nuts. I would probably randomly poke him while he was trying to do something, similar to what I do already. ;)

2)  Where is your dream vacation spot? 

Somewhere quiet where I'm able to hike and play in the dirt. Also, somewhere not too warm and not too cold, like 75 and partly cloudy. 

3)  Do you like birds? If yes, explain. If no, move to the next question. 

Yes, I like birds. I wouldn't want one as a housepet however. I like quiet and cleanliness too much. I like birdwatching in nature, where they belong. 

4)  If you could go back in time, what era would you visit? 

The 50s in America. Most definitely! I've always been enfatuated by that time. It was a simpler life, yet the beginning stage for so much. 

5)  Do you want to go where everyone knows your name?

Do I want to go to the bar on Cheers? Yes. Do I want to go where everyone knows my name? No. I value my privacy. 

6)  What is your favorite insect?

This is a hard one. There are so many cool ones. I think I have to go with praying mantis. 

7)  If you were a pig, would you be a big, fat, lazy kind or the kind that runs around snorting and     rooting in the mud? 

I would probably run around, snorting and rooting in the mud, much like I already do. ;)

8)  What are your feelings about Marilyn Monroe? 

She became famous off of being a floozy. I neither like nor dislike her really. I do not however like when people dress their little girls in shirts with her picture on them. I've seen this a lot lately and just shake my head wondering what they are thinking. 

9)  Liquor or beer/wine?

Depends on the occasion. 

10)What are the ingredients for a classic vodka martini?

Vodka and something else? I really don't know what's in most mixed drinks. I just know which ones taste good. ;)

11)Do you consider yourself attractive? 

I suppose so. 

Okay, now on to the 11 random facts about myself. Hmmmm.....
1)  I was born at home. 
2)  I'm from a small town in Maine. 
3)  I met my husband in high school in New Jersey. 
4)  I have 2 crazy girls. 
5)  Every day I strive to be a better person than I was the day before. 
6)  I have a hard time making it through movies, as I have I can't sit still long enough to watch one. 
7)  I would much rather live on a commune. 
8)  I love the smell of sawdust. 
9)  I always believe I can do anything, even if I've never attempted it before. 
10)I have a bad back that limits me sometimes and this makes me angry. 
11)I will be cutting off all of my hair soon and donating it to charity. 

And here are my nominations.....
1) Cut The Plastic  
2) Florida Family Nature 
3) RubbishLove 
4) Artful Salvage 
5) Melissa's Jewelry and Gems 
6) Bead Lover's Korner 
7) The Royal Bohemian 
8) The Wooden Bee 
9) Backyard FL Gardening 
10) The Prismatic Peacock 
11) Love 2 Upcycle 

Here are your questions, fellow bloggers....
1) What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? 
2) Living or dead, who would you love to have a 1 hour conversation with? 
3) Where were you born? 
4) What is your guilty pleasure? 
5) Would you rather be poor and happy or rich and lonely? 
6) Do you recycle? 
7) Do you play chess? 
8) If only able to keep ONE book for the rest of your life, what would it be? 
9) Coffee or tea? 
10) What is your favorite movie? 
11) What is your earliest childhood memory? 

Desiree's Jewelry, Beading & More A.K.A. Poptabilicious

Does your daughter have a birthday coming up? Or maybe your mother? Whomever that special girl is in your life, you want to give them something from the heart. Right? What could be more heartfelt than a custom piece of jewelry? Whether it is for a young girl or a grown woman, Desiree's Jewelry, Beading & More A.K.A. Poptabilicious can create that special piece for you. All custom requests are given personal attention and made to meet your standards. Examples of the many different types of work created can be found on Facebook or you can access the main site for premade items. 

Custom wedding jewelry and hair vines are also available. Why spend a fortune at a boutique when you can design your own piece for a much more affordable price? The choice is yours! Contact Desiree for all of your custom jewelry needs. 

Happy Earth Day!

As most of you all know, today is Earth Day! I try to celebrate this day all year long, but giving Mother Nature her own day is great too! In honor of the holiday, TODAY ONLY, I am offering 22% off my entire Etsy shop of upcycled, pop tab jewelry! Just use coupon code EarthDay22 at checkout. Earrings and Bracelets also make great Mother's Day gifts! Take advantage of this Earth Day sale to be guaranteed to get your Mother's Day purchase on time. Mom deserves the best. Celebrate Mother Nature and Your Mom today! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PopTabilicious?ref=pr_shop_more

 

Beaded Flowers

In my love of all things nature, I've gone ahead and taught myself the French beading technique, so that I could create wonderful, beaded flowers. Below you will find pictures of an aztec lily I just finished working on. This particular piece is $35. I can create other flowers or various colors and sizes as well. Pricing will depend on the type of flower, size, materials needed, etc. If you are interested in one please message me on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DesireesJewelryBeadingMore 

Over The Shoulder Bottle Holders!

I assume some of you may be wondering why I go by PopTabilicious. I make upcycled jewelery out of pop tabs. I just love making new items with them! I make earrings, bracelets, bookmarks and now Over The Shoulder Bottle Holders! I can make them in any color, as long as I can find the yarn! I can also customize them for those odd shaped water bottles and the length of the strap as well. Made with pop tabs and yarn. These can be used when you are on a hike, at a concert, or just a simple way to carry your water bottle around when you are on the go. Order your custom one today. Only $24.50 plus shipping ($5.60 in the U.S.). Choose a color and let me do the rest!   

Small Steps, More Recycling

Do you recycle in your home? We do. I thought we were doing a great job with recycling, until I realized how much paper waste still never made it to the recycling bin. Something had to change. I took an old box and labeled it "Paper Please" and placed it in a convenient spot in our home, an area where we sort mail and school work, close to the kitchen with the nonparishable boxes, and is central to all the activities that go on in our home. I noticed a difference immediately. Once the box is filled, we dump it into the larger recycling bin for curb pickup. In 1 week, we've filled the box THREE times! 

Did you know that most people never recycle all of their bathroom items? This is another location where you can add a small box or bin. It doesn't have to be something fancy, it can just be a box you were going to recycle anyway. All those toilet paper rolls, makeup/toothpaste boxes, shampoo bottles, etc. can be placed in it and brought to your larger bin on recycling day. It's so simple and adds up to make a BIG difference! 

What else can you do to make recycling easier in your home? 

Have A Lot of Bracelets?

Do you have a lot of bracelets? Are you always struggling to find the one you're looking for in that standard old jewelry box? Here's a cheap and easy solution to your problem!

My daughter has a lot of bracelets and never wore any, because she couldn't find them in the messy jewelry box she had. We found an old plastic, wall mounted type paper towel holder. First, we spray painted it all black. Next we took a tube from a used roll of paper towels and decorated it with black and red markers. Finally, we mounted it up on her wall and filled it with her bracelets. That's it! Such a simple project. It looks cool and keeps her bracelets organized! 

An Upcycling Project For My Future Rock Hound

Not too long ago I saw a post online for a vintage thimble holder. A local mom was selling it for only $3! I thought, "Wow, this could definitely be repurposed into something great". After thinking about it for awhile, I had it. I would make a new shelf for my daughter, the future rock hound! This is what the shelf looked like when I got it: 

Each square is almost exactly 1 cubic inch. There is a plexiglass cover that slides on and off. I cleaned it up and bought some felt to line each square. 

Then came the tedious job of cutting each and every little piece of felt......

After a weekend of hard labor, the shelf was complete! 

Then it was her turn to fill it with some of her amazing finds! We were able to hang it right on her wall where she can slide the lid and add more whenever she pleases. 

Here is the finished project: 

It was a lot of work, but I was very happy to be able to make this amazing, one-of-a-kind piece for my daughter. All in all it cost less than $5 total in materials and a whole lot of love! 

Future Rock Hounds: 

04-05-13 It begins........

Welcome! 

I've never done this before, but I felt it was time to begin. First, let me tell you a little about myself and the reason I wanted to create this blog. My name is Desiree. I work from home as a medical transcriptionist, as well as taking care of my 2 crazy daughters. I also create jewelry that I sell online and locally. (You can find more on that here: www.potabilicious.com). One of my main focuses is upcycled jewelry from pop tabs. My kids and I are always up to some sort of crafting. I especially love teaching them upcycling. We have made many projects out of found objects. I will share some of those with you soon! I love collecting and sharing information on recycling and upcycling. I plan on adding much of that information to this page. In addition, we have been moving over to a more organic/whole food lifestyle. Not only is this good for our health, it is also better for the planet! I will also share information from time to time on this. I hope to connect and share as much as I can with as many of you as I can. Together we can help save this planet for our future! 

~Desiree~