Mina
Participation Levels
08/01/2009 20:05
Ice Cream Day
08/01/2009 20:00
Magazine crafts!
07/26/2009 12:09
| This was made completely out of old magazines!!! This is quite a feat! |
Poop!
07/26/2009 11:44
The Best Cereal to Buy
07/18/2009 12:21
Charms!
05/17/2009 07:02
This charm consists of 3 main parts; the sheets of plastic, the background newspaper, and the pressed and dried flowers. Read each section carefully before trying them out.
This is made from the clear plastic of fast-food salad lids. I mean the lids on top of those take out salad boxes from Burger King or Wendy’s. I’m not exactly sure but I think that plastic soda bottles work too. Now get out two of those (unless you are making really small ones). One rule to remember is that a 1/2 inch diameter circle will shrink to about a 1/16 inch diameter circle after heating. So knowing this, cut out a size that you want in any shape. I suggest starting with a circle or rectangular shape practically the size of the lid. Cut out two that are exactly the same and put one in the toaster oven. You should definitely use the tray that sits on top of the oven rack (it should have come with the toaster oven). I covered it with tin foil just incase things get messy. Set the heat on toast and set it for about 5 minutes. BUT YOU NEED TO WATCH IT UNDERGO THE HEATING PROCESS!!!! Over heating it will cause the plastic to burn and get melty. After the first minute or so, the plastic will start to curl in on itself and it will look like you messed up, but don’t panic it’s supposed to do that. It will eventually become thicker, smaller, and flatter. You need to get it out of the oven immediately when it stops moving and it looks flat. After taking it out of the oven, it’s crucial that you remove it from the pan and flatten it while it’s still hot. I placed it on my counter top and pressed it with the bottom of a kettle. Be careful, it will be hot. If you couldn’t flatten it because it cooled too fast, you can warm it up in the toaster oven and try it again. Do the same with the other sheet of plastic.
This depends solely on you. All you do for this is cut out a size of newspaper a bit smaller than the plastic sheets you made, and color it. I suggest you clip a piece with lots of fine writing on it because it looks the best. Use highlighters to color on the newspapers since markers tend to be too dark and the letters on the paper will not show.
THE PRESSED FLOWERS
Pick out a few small flowers and some stems with small leaves on them. None of these should be bulky. The key to pressing flowers is drying them as quickly as possible to maintain the radiant colors. So just pressing them in a book will cause them to lose most of their color, that’s why we are going to use a microwave. Prepare two sheets of coffee filter paper and two heavy ceramic tiles. Put a sheet of filter paper on top of one tile. Orient the flowers and stems so that they are not touching each other on a sheet of filter paper and place the other on top. Put the other tile on top of the whole thing and microwave it for a minute. Then take it out immediately and remove the tiles. Separate the filter papers carefully, the flowers will stick to the papers so peel them off. Use toothpicks, tweezers, or whatever you need to fix your flowers so they are positioned the way you want. The flowers
Now that you have all the parts, you can put it all together. Just use a clear drying glue to glue the newspaper on one sheet of plastic, then glue the flowers in an artistic fashion. Finally, put glue on the edges of the flower side of the plastic and use the second sheet of plastic like a cover glass.
Green coffee cup
05/14/2009 19:55
Green Up Keene Day
04/21/2009 19:24
Thanks!
04/21/2009 10:49
I wanted to take a little time to thank everyone that has help me and the GKT team to start this club. There are so many people that helped in some many ways. So this blog is a pat on the back to them. Thank you for all you have done!
My parents are I think the most important people that have helped me personally pursue this club. They have been so supportive of me taking all these risks. They believe in me and that I’m very thankful for. They have both lent GKT money to get the fundraisers and the projects like the t-shirts going. We are keeping a tally of all that we owe them so we can pay back every cent. Without their giving-ness it would have been a lot harder to get the club started as well. My mom, Steph, has thought of many possible fundraising ideas with her creative mind. She has opened her home to all these girls to come over to her house and raid her space. But she never gets overwhelmed, and she is always ready to offer us a place to work if needed. My dad, Dan, has helped us purchase products for fundraising, and start and manage the website. Without their encouragement I don’t think I would have really had the guts to start what I did.
Barbara and Michael from 24 Carrots are still spreading the word about our team to everyone that puts a toe over their front door. They also got us an ad in the Shopper News and a contact to do a press release. I’m unbelievably happy the have them as friends and mentors - I can’t even explain it. They keep on the flow of orders for our laundry soap. The soap is currently being sold at the Farmstand. Since they are spreading the word about my club I’m trying to spread the word about their store. So if you live in the Keene area, check out there store, it is amazing!
Megan and Jennifer from Hannah Grimes have helped in many ways from having a sale in front of their store on a Saturday in early April and selling our Easter themed products in the store to advertising in their newsletter about the event and a little blurb in the Keene Sentinel on the Environmental page. They have opened the Hannah Grimes Center to supply us a meeting place in the last few months of the school year. They are so open to trying to help people to do the best they can do (like GKT)! Next time you are in downtown Keene stop by Hannah Grimes. They have products from many different artists, companies, and places in the local area. You might even find some GKT products!
As a result to all these people more and more people and groups are getting in contact with me about Green Keene Teens because they are curious about what we are up to. Campus Ecology at Keene State College has offered a place for us at their last event of their Earth Week happening this coming week. Holly Gowdy, who works for UNH and oversees the 4-H clubs in this part of the state stopped by our last to offer any help to our club that we might need or get us more information about anything we are researching on our projects. Jason Etheridge also sat in on the meeting and told us we could have articles published in one of the Keene Public Library’s Teen Advisory Council’s issues if we wanted.
The little things one person can do as I’ve said before, have made a big difference in our world. It’s amazing how one act can snowball into a bigger act or idea. If you are interested in helping or supporting Green Keene Teens please contact me at lucy@greenkeeneteens.com or talk to one of our members. We need your help to become bigger and better than ever!
Anyone who is interested in learning more about us (especially members parents) please come to an event or a meeting, grown-ups that have showed support tell me that we are well put together, mature, and motivated group. So don’t doubt what we are capable of. Because we have just gotten started!
New Members
04/19/2009 19:38
Make a Rice Bag Heating Pad
03/28/2009 12:54
Get an old T-shirt (any kind of clothing you don’t wear anymore, but preferably stretchy and soft, but NO METALLIC - remember it‘s going into the microwave!)
Cut out rectangles twice the size of however large you want the bag to be (for instance, if you want a medium sized bag, cut out a rectangle the size of a sheet of paper 8x11 inches)
Fold it in half and sew (either by hand or sewing machine) two short sides of the rectangle together with the inside of the shirt facing outwards
Now, the bag should look like an inside-out tube. It should be a rectangle (or square) half the size of what you started out with when it’s lying flat on the table
Sew the bottom of the bag together (still inside-out)
Turn the bag inside-out so that the outside of the shirt is facing out and the inside facing inwards
Fold about an inch of the top of the bag into itself so that the frayed edges are now inside the bag
Pin that part you just folded so it wont spring back out
Put some white long grain (NOT INSTANT) rice in the bag (I suggest that it’s full but not too full so the bag can conform to your feet or hand shape)
Sew up the top. You’re all done!
DO NOT WASH IT!!
Microwave it for only a minute the first time you use it so you don’t smell a burning scent then add a minute or two depending on how hot you want it (the length of time you microwave it for depends on the amount of rice you have in it, so until you know how hot you want it and how long it takes to make it that hot, do it in one minute intervals)
It stays warm for quite a while
Don’t over-do it or you will scald (maybe even burn) yourself
Beer Bottle Goblets!
03/20/2009 19:39
You just cut the bottom of the bottle off. Then fire the edges that you cut (so you don’t hurt yourself). Next, glue the bottom to the top of the bottle, and fire the places where they connect to insure it’s leak proof. They don’t look half bad and it’s a great way to use a beer bottle again if you’re not recycling it (though I gotta say, you should recycle it). You can actually drink out of this, or use it as a decoration. Did you know that glasses like this are actually sold online!? They’re priced at £12.95 each (in the U.K.) and come in different beer brands. Imagine if you made a bunch of these and sold them as a fundraiser! They are extremely cheap to make so even if you sold it for only $3 each you could make a HUGE profit! Personally, if I saw this being sold, I would get one to give to my brother. He would get an artistic recycled kick out of it.
