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Last week I was whining about black dirt and dirty rugs, so I was in search of something new. Well, I was out shopping with my mom the day before I ordered the ones I wanted when I stumbled upon something very similar called Mad Mats, at our local flower store, Bachman's. I was overjoyed because, #1 they were cheaper than online (by $2.00), and #2 I didn't have to pay for shipping, (#3 my mom bought them as a house warming present! THANKS MOM)!
I went with pastel runners from Mad Mats in front of two doors so the floors weren't overwhelmed with rugs.
Let me just tell you I love them. I can vacuum them or take them outside, shake and they are clean. They come with little velcro stickies you put on the floor and the back of the rug to hold it in place. I wouldn't use them on a wood floor, but we have polished concrete so there isn't much that can ruin our floor. In fact, we didn't use the stickies for the first few days, the rugs are long enough and heavy enough that they stayed in place. I'm just a perfectionist and wanted them centered on the doors!
Hopefully you've entered my giveaway for a $50 Gift Card to Stewart & Brown! It ends tomorrow at midnight!
It is that time! Time to waste a week away (no, not waste, I've found a lot of great blogs out there from this, but you know what I mean!) commenting, adding things to your wish list, and keeping your fingers and toes crossed! I know I am desperately hoping to win a blog make-over...I've been begging my husband to do it for a long time now and he is just too busy! Plus, there are some AMAZINGLY talented ladies making some great blog layouts, designs, and headers!!
OK so here we go:
I am so excited about this giveaway, my first giveaway, I can HARDLY BREATHE! Plus this is my 100th post!!
Since my site is based on all things Green and Great (and hopefully a bargain), and the learning curve involved, I had to find something eco-fabulous for this giveaway!What is it??
A $50.00 gift card to Stewart and Brown!!
Some info on Stewart and Brown-
The Roots In 2002 Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, partners in life and work, realized their destiny; They gave birth to a baby girl named Hazel Stewart Brown and a baby brand named Stewart+Brown. Design for Karen and Howard is a passion and a way of life. Their professional journey stems from a union of creativity and purpose. Karen, a trained painter and New York native, and Howard, a graphic artist and Montana native, oversee every aspect of the product and brand themselves. Each Stewart+Brown collection, at an elemental level, is a fusion of experiences and insights filtered through their creative core and rendered into their own unique and personal aesthetic. While finding inspiration in all aspects of life, their collaborations are primarily influenced by art, design, culture, travel, and nature.
Our Mission Stewart+Brown believes in optimizing their designs and lives to attain the highest standards of quality and functional style while extracting the bare minimum from Earth's precious capital.
Aspire to Inspire Stewart+Brown practices and promotes a symbiotic and harmonious relationship between business, community, and nature. They aspire to apply the wisdom of sustainability to everything they do while inspiring others, just as they have been inspired, to do the same.
Giving Back Stewart+Brown donates a minimum of 1% all sales to non-profit, non-governmental environmental and social welfare organizations.
I seriously love Stewart and Brown! Right now I LIVE in the Edge Peacock Tank. Ask my sister, who is kind enough to not mention that this is the only tank top she has seen me in all summer...
I can't wait to order the Kisser Fish Tee. It looks so comfy!!
How to WIN??
Because there is a little learning curve, I'd like to know if you already wear any eco-fabulous clothes and WHERE you bought them from!! I've got a few favorites but I'd love to find some more great stores! (And if you want you can go to Stewart and Brown and tell me what you'll spend the $50.00 on!)Have fun, Stewart and Brown is a GREAT store! You have til August 1, 11:59pm central time to get your answer in! The winner will be randomly drawn on August 2 and emailed. Please no anonymous comments. I have to be able to contact you! Good luck and have fun!
(Thanks for visiting!!- Patti)
My favorite and most hated (because I waste so much time) time of the year (ok it is quarterly) is coming up on MONDAY!
The Bloggy Carnivals!! For a week, bloggers from all OVER give away great gifts-lots of them green.
And...
I have a very very very exciting giveaway to put up on Monday. In fact it is so good, I am giddy about it and want my sister to win, but sorry Chris, family members are NOT eligible.
I'll give you a hint, it is very green (No, TOTALLY green) and some of my favorite "things" have come from here!
Yes, I've been whining about black dirt lately. But I literally vacuum our entry rugs twice a day and trust me, they need a good shampoo too. I say entry rugs because in our great room/kitchen I have 5 doors, all of which the kids, dog, hubby, and I use to go in and out! (Three sliding doors to the patio and outside, a garage entry door, and the front door double entrance).
Because my rugs are becoming black far too quickly, I have been looking into getting new rugs. Since I have to buy 5, I want something non-expensive, green, and of course, they must look good.
Believe or not, I found it, and I found it fairly quickly. Viva Terra has a great line of Eco-Friendly rugs.
This is the one I'm getting: (Well 5 of them!) A Reclaimed Oriental Rug - Flowering Vine
These indoor-outdoor rugs are made from recycled plastic bottles and packing materials. Their tubular threads absorb no stains, can be easily cleaned with a sponge or garden hose, and won't trap water or mildew. Carefree for you and beneficial for all of us who live in a world of diminishing resources.
I'm sure it is not a cushy as our current entry rugs, but the only thing laying on those rugs is the dog, and he has a very nice bed he can go to! I can't wait to get these!!
This is the kids playing outside yesterday...on our one patch of semi-lush lawn.
We have about 1 acre of yard, the rest is field, swamp, and woods. My husband and I agreed NOT to get sod-too many chemicals used to make it so green. Instead, we started with a mix of organic grass seed and laid down a phosphate-free organic fertilizer. Think manure and some nitrogen.
It grew great in the shade, unfortunately we don't have much shade. It is patchy at best in the rest of the yard. On top of that our black dirt must have come with some sort of nasty fast growing weed that I have been painstakingly pulling out every day. The milkweed from the surrounding field is coming in fast, and there is crab grass everywhere. Since we started so pure I HATE the idea of putting down weed killer, but an acre of lawn is almost impossible to weed fully...
Short of re-tilling and starting over, does anyone have any organic lawn care tips!
THANKS! Two kids, a white dog, and black dirt do not mix! We need a lawn soon!
We've been enjoying our house for two weeks now. The kids are doing great, but they were always helping during the building stage so they were already very used to the house. We still have a LOT of work to do-trim the windows!- but we are so comfortable here!
As I mentioned we did as much as possible to make the house as green as possible. There were areas that we just couldn't make it work, but where we could, we did.
One of the biggest decisions we made was to have a Greenwood furnace installed. (I can't believe I am talking about a furnace in summer). Ours in the garage with its own room, and we have it heating our in-floor heat, force air heat, and hot water (and I am so tempted to have it heat the sidewalks-NO MORE SHOVELING!). Now, this furnace is not for everyone. We are lucky enough to live on a family plot of land with more than enough wood and down trees to last for the rest of our lives and well beyond, so we will NOT be buying cords of wood- Just using a chain saw and ax very carefully.
Here is why the Greenwood is so green!
• Clean Burning. Greenwood furnaces burn their fuel completely, leaving few particles to create smoke, creosote or ash.
• Energy Efficient. Greenwood boilers approach 85 percent thermal efficiency. This means most of the heat released by burning wood is captured to heat your home.
• Economical. Greenwood boilers reduce your overall heating costs. A study by the Canadian government found that wood fuel can cut home heating costs by up to 70 percent.
• Certified Safe. Greenwood biomass and wood boilers meet strict UL and CSA standards for INDOOR operation. They are as safe to operate as a home water heater.
• Environmentally Sound. Greenwood furnaces release no incremental emissions into the environment. Unlike fossil fuels, biomass fuels, such as wood, are a home grown and a fully renewable source of energy.
• Easy Maintenance. Since Greenwood hydronic furnaces are clean burning, they do not need to be cleaned as often as wood stoves or inefficient outdoor wood boilers.
Seriously, I love this furnace. My favorite thing about it-it only needs to be filled once or twice a day!! (We had an old wood furnace in our last house and I was literally filling it once every two hours...) I'm not a technical person so I can't explain everything about this furnace but their FAQ page does a great job!
I get my wi-fi back on Friday, then we'll talk...!
See you then!
