Earth Day

Another year, another spring. Time to begin thinking how your garden will grow. Sharing this with your mini farmer couldn't be more rewarding. Think of all the goodness that comes from teaching kids to garden. From the care and attention paid to planting the seeds to the overwhelming excitement over the first sprouts there's so much to be experienced.

This carton wallet tutorial from Family Fun is one of those cool DIYs I've been meaning to craft with my 9 year old son for the longest time. First, we don't drink juice unless we're hosting a brunch for friends so we never see to have a spare carton and second when we do get one we never seem to carve up enough time to do it!

The time has come to accept defeat and face the fact that not matter how many times I cancel a catalog from being delivered to my home it always seems to work it's way back into my mailbox. Although most are tossed directly into the recycle bin out of sheer disgust at having my request ignored so many time, there are a few I still daydream over.

It's not often you'd allow your precious little one to play with a broken light bulb, or even a whole light bulb for that matter. However, when it's covered in layers of thick newspaper mache and colorful tissue paper and the sweet jingling-jangling sound forces you to rumba then perhaps, maybe let the kid have at it. Courtney from Babyccino has posted a magnificent tutorial for making homemade maracas. This project is as awesome as it is resourceful.

Despite my best efforts to bring enough reusable canvas bags with me when I go grocery shopping I always end up with a plastic bag or two either because I neglected to catch the bagger in time to tell him I really don't need a whole bag for three bananas or I spy some deal I can't pass up...I mean, who really needs 10 cans Hunt's Pasta Sauce? Apparently I think I do.

I love coming across projects that are as fun to build with my children as they are to play with. That's why I'm really into this Instructable for making a killer Rubber Band Powered "Hot Wheels" Type Car Launcher. The launcher is made from very accessible and mainly recycled materials. Instructable's member DotaDabbled has done a nice job providing step-by-step directions with tons of clear pictures and tips for crafting one with your little hot-rodder.

Susan Beal, contributing member of Craft Stylish, has posted a tutorial for creating a crackely felt baby toy. The project is complete with clear instructions and pictures illustrating how to fashion this cool owl-shaped toy using minimal materials including a few recycled items to make the oh-so-special "crinkly crackly" sounds.

We had a basic, basic plastic container worm bin about four years ago, which didn't yield a substantial amount of rich humus. However, maintaining the box proved to be fruitful in an entirely different way. Our young son (4 at the time) was totally mesmerized by the bin and its squirmy occupants which opened up several discussions on worms, recycling and taking care of living things. Who knew a silly little bin would hold so many teachable moments? I was crushed when we no longer were able to maintain it due to a home remodel (RIP worms).

Brainchild of Greg Horn, author of Living Green, A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability, and partner Tom Foerstel Just Do One is a site dedicated to fostering an online community of like-minded individuals set to living sustainably.

On Treehugger, Jasmin Malik Chua asks "Is Earth Day the New Christmas? We  didn't think it was possible for Corporate America to co-op and monetize Earth Day, but then again, previous generations probably thought the same about Christmas.