How to Make Sure Trash is NOT What's for Christmas This Year

This holiday season give our beautiful planet the gift of wrapping green - think recycle and reuse.

I love having amazingly wrapped presents under my Christmas tree, but cannot stand the thought of that same beautiful wrap still sitting in a landfill when my great-great grandchildren are opening their presents! Forty percent of our trash comes from paper products and over 900,000,000 trees are destroyed annually to provide the United States with this paper. When we send paper to a landfill it is typically compacted and sealed into an airtight hole in the ground where it is unable to decompose and becomes perfectly preserved. Decreasing the amount of trash we have this holiday season, even a little bit, can have a dramatic impact. It is always up to you if you want to add to the problem or add to the solution!

The most important thing you can do is to be conscious of what you are buying and its packaging. Purchase products with minimal packaging. When choosing between two similar items, go for the one with less packaging. Choose gifts that replace disposable products. Cloth napkins, .
crocheted dish scrubbers (Curly Girl Crochet) and electric razors all reduce the consumption of throwaway products. Use less wrapping paper. You can reuse old posters, maps and newspapers. Say no to the metallic paper that cannot be recycled- stick to recyclable paper. There are also sites that sell amazing hemp paper with soy based inks that decompose very quickly. A great idea for kids is to buy a large kraft paper roll at the office supply store and have them decorate it - I did this with my daughter a little bit each night between Thanksgiving and Christmas- then set the roll out for Santa to use on Christmas Eve (then toss the paper into the recycle bin instead of the garbage bin on Christmas morning). Give gift bags that can be used again and again. This year put your gift in one of those very inexpensive store brand shopping bags or canvas bags and nixing the tissue paper for recyclable comics give the gift they will use again and again. There is a talented seller on Etsy named ZJayne who makes reusable shopping bags out of t-shirts that would make amazing gift bags! You can make your own bags from your extra material and yarn just like Fisheye's! shown here. Her shop is filled with amazing upcycled handbags and more!

Also think reuse- and you will wrap green and save some green in your wallet at the same time. Why buy shirt boxes when your house is probably full of boxes right now. Cereal boxes are the perfect size to wrap lots of goodies. I like to use the boxes sans wrap, but if you must wrap the box think recyclable paper again. Mark all your gifts PLEASE RECYCLE ME (I print this on the back of my gift tag). You can get creative with this and use a cereal box for slippers, a dog food box for a dog sweater, etc, but the main idea is to reuse what we already have, so we are not wasting our planet's precious raw materials creating more throw away products.

Send out your holiday cards electronically (I can't bring myself to do this because I love to send and receive cards too much!). Use last year's holiday cards for this year's crafts including your gift tags, postcards throughout the year (cut off the backs), press them between 2 sheets of contact paper for holiday placemats or hang them on this year's tree. NestaUSA has some amazing cards this holiday season. I send my old cards to a wonderful St. Jude's program where children at St. Jude's Hospital earn money by creating new holiday cards from old cards. You mail your cards to St. Jude's Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, NV 89006 - mail them USPS bound printed matter and they will be inexpensive to ship. And since it is the time of year when our mailboxes are stuffed with paper almost daily - get yourself taken off catalog mailing lists that you do not use. Call the Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service at 1-212-768-7277.

If we each make it our goal to eliminate that trash bag full of gift wrap this season - just imagine how this effect will snowball. Let's give the gift of an empty space in that landfill where our trash would have been!

Tips for Photographing Jewelry from the Amazing Kella MacPhee

Today I asked my favorite Jersey Girl Photographer Kella MacPhee - check her out and prepare to be blown away - for some quick tips to better jewelry photographs. Kella says - Interesting + FAKE IT LIKE A PRO photos can be achieved in 3 steps! #1 Light. Turn that blinding automatic flash off! The built in flash on a camera is a photographer's worst enemy and will ruin any shot. Your best bet is to invest in a lightbox, they are not too much money and will ensure that you get even light and the proper white balance every time! {www.bhphotovideo.com} This will eliminate the need to fuss with camera settings before photographing your products each time. If you're saying to yourself, hey I'm a starving artist here, I don't have money for a fancy lightbox, but still want great photos try cheap, however unpredictable sunlight! Not as practical as the lightbox, but beautiful none the less. Some examples would be the soft and diffused light of a window {try setting up a table with your art next to a window} another option is venturing outdoors. Two rules to keep in mind: first you stay out of that midday sun- your photos will have harsh shadows and be blown out! {even your jewelry does not like to look pasty} {early morning and late afternoon are best} and 2. when shooting outside in light other than those great early morning hours and the "magic hour" before sunset, look for even shade, there is nothing worse than mottled light. Using light properly will ensure you have clean, evenly lit, pro looking pics!
#2. Angle. Change your angle. Eye catching photos are created by thinking outside the box. Long gone are the days when photos need to be shot straight on.. so 1992 and so boring! Try setting your camera down and shooting at the same level as the product. Another technique is to shoot up at the product... creating some drama. Shooting straight down and I mean straight down, get your butt up on that chair can also be interesting and modern. Play around and have fun, look at some of your favorite sellers and see what it is about them that is catching your eye.
#3. Composition. Think outside the center. Centered images are boring! Negative space is king! Try placing your product on the left side and leaving the right side empty. Interesting photos are not always achieved by filling up space. Leaving room for your products to breathe can create these artistic + pro images you're after. Check out these beautiful photos by lilfishstudios and tqbdesigns.Another method is layering, now this is where it gets technical, for all you point and shooters out there cover your eyes. Gosh darn it control that depth of field if using a manual camera, think larger apertures like 2.8 or 4 {I know these seem like small #'s, but they really are large and let in more light, creating only a small portion of the image in focus.. yada, yada} by using a shallower depth of field and being in control over what you decide you want in focus, you will instantly have more professional pics. So show a variety of pics on your page, but maybe one can have a the pendant of your necklace in focus while the chain is not. Some of the most interesting photos are only parts of subjects, leaving the viewer intrigued or an interesting composition allowing your eye to move around the image.REMEMBER you are artists appealing to creative buyers .. this is not ebay.. the first thing people see is the photos.. be creative and HAVE FUN!

Shout Out from ANYTHING INDIE

A Great Big Thank You to Andrea from One of My fave Blogs Anything Indie!

Make a RECYCLED JEWELRY CASE

These are the instructions to make one of my jewelry cases from old frames. This will be featured on a new how-to blog - if anyone making one of these would like a free test tube with cork and hardware (just pay $2.00 shipping) drop me an email cat@olivebites.com - enjoy!

Is your jewelry all knotted together in the bottom of a drawer? Are you always looking for a piece that you know “is in there somewhere” – well, this is the perfect solution to begin to untangle your messy life ….


Stuff You Will Need



2 picture frames of the same size (the deeper the better with square edges)
2 hinges with hardware
1 latch with hardware
foam board (cut to fit inside one of the frames)
fabric (dense weaves are best)
a piece of glass to fit one of the frames
silicone sealant (clear for kitchen and bath)
staple gun
glazier points
hanging hardware (saw tooth hanger)
drill or dremel
clamps
screwdriver

Step 1 - Line Up Your Frames

Marry your frames – stand them up on a table and make sure they fit together perfectly (place interiors together). Mine are square and sometimes I have to turn one in a different direction to get the perfect line up. Check your corners and sides. If your frames are out of line – give them a quickie divorce and get yourself two frames that want to live happily ever after together… skip this step at your own risk…..

Clamp your frames together –wrap cardboard to protect your wood and then clamp your two sides together (interiors facing each other)



Step 2 – The Hinges


Line up the top of the hinge with the top of the interior frame cutout and repeat for the bottom, set your hinges in place, mark screw holes with an awl or pencil (I actually use jewelry tweezers), remove hinges, pre-drill holes for hinges, secure hinge hardware with a screwdriver

Step 3 – The Latch

Determine which frame will be the front of your jewelry case. Measure to find the center (unless you are an off-center kind of girl), lay out your latch so that it opens toward the frame you would like to be the front of your case, mark screw holes with an awl, pre-drill holes for latch hardware, secure latch hardware with a screwdriver. Blow out any sawdust from the frames and wipe clean.

Step 4 – The Glass

Clean your glass; I know you are just going to get it dirty again, but you need it clean for a good seal and you want to check for any scratches or mars. Open your case. Lay your glass into the front frame. Gently hold a slight pressure down on your glass as you apply a continuous ¼” (approx) bead of clear silicone along the entire inside edge of the front frame; applying the silicone to the location where the glass meets the frame. This will hold the glass in place. Allow this to dry for 24 hours.

Step 5 – The Big Finish

Lay your foam, which you have cut to fit inside the back frame (I cut my foam with a mat-cutter but you can use a razor knife), on top of the fabric you will be using as a backdrop for your jewelry. Cut the fabric about 2” larger than the foam all the way around (you may want to iron your fabric at this point). Fold the fabric around the foam
(with the outside of your fabric facing away from the foam) and secure it with a staple gun. I use 6mm staples so they will not poke out the other side. Staple one side and then the opposite side pulling tightly until all four sides are secured. Fold your corners like you are wrapping a birthday present and staple. Cut away excess fabric.

Cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the foam (usually something you can use will come with the frame) – lay the cardboard into the back frame and lay your fabric covered foam panel on top of the cardboard.

Use a screwdriver to push 8 glazier points into the frame on top of the fabric panel (two points on each side).

Add your hanging hardware to the back by measuring to find the center and then nailing in the hardware. Use a long saw tooth hanger so the case can be adjusted for weight when hanging.

Using corsage pins (available at craft stores, florists, etc) you can hang your jewelry in style!

You can also make 2 fabric panel frames; attach them with the frame outsides facing together (opposite of above) and create an amazing display for your dresser!