Books on a Budget

To put it mildly- I love books. I mean I really love books. The problem is that I really love to not only read, but carry, touch and OWN books. I even have a library in my house, (my husband calls it the bedroom) stacked floor to ceiling. But now when I look at my books I think of the trees (and the amount of money spent on those stacks) and know I need to find a better way. So I renew my library card and plan my Saturday mornings at the library instead of the Barnes and Noble and I search for some online alternatives, too.

At Paperbackswap.com you can trade books with other users, print your postage online and get updates on newly available titles (they also carry hardcovers and the beloved audiobooks I love to listen to while I craft).

Bookmoooch.com (my favorite name) allows you to post books and earn points when one of its 100,000 moochers requests your book and you ship it out. You only pay for postage and media mail is still pretty cheap.

Bookswim.com is for the more serious reader. It lets you organize a pool of titles (like your Netflix) and receive a couple of them at a time. You pay a monthly fee of $20- $40.00 and shipping is free. And you can purchase the book if you decide to keep it.

If you seriously must have that book in your hot little hands Betterworld.com offers bargain prices, donates a portion of revenues to Books for Africa, has free U.S. shipping and offsets its carbon footprint with carbonfund.org. So there are some serious choices out there for bibliophiles to go green right now!

1. Drink In Words earrings from rhymeswithmagic
(artist Heather IS a librarian)
2. I Read Banned Books cork necklace from uncorked
3. I Read Banned Books recycled magnetic locket set from polarity
4. Turn off Your TV and Read pins from barrelofmonkeys
5. Mister Donkey brooch from yaelfran

Win Your Favorite XENOTEE! She Puts the T in Etsy!

And the winner is: (do you see your name?) Marbella Designs - I hope you enjoy your Xenotee!!



Noelle of Xenotees is one of my most favorite Etsy people. She is funny, clever and gorgeous and makes a great t-shirt! Her designs are totally unique and clip-art free and will make your friends totally jealous!

Noelle donates $1 from every t-shirt sale to the Flat Iron Wildcats of Philadelphia. There is a huge stray cat population in Philadelphia & she is dedicated to making sure that there are less unhappy animals in this world (and more creatively decorated people!).

WHAT YOU GET:
One lucky winner will get one awesome Xenotees t-shirt of their choice (under $22.00)!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Xenotees Etsy Shop and check it out. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite.


For additional entries:

(5) Blog about this linking to this post and to Xenotees.
(5) Twitter this post
(5)Follow My Blog (I am very lonely)

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries.

DRAWING:
A winner will be chosen at random on March 9th! Good Luck!

Xenotees is also offering a 15% discount on any purchase through March 31st- simply place an order and write 'uncorked' or 'polarity' in the comments to seller section!

Olive is SO jealous!

My Next House Will Be An INVISIBLE TREEHOUSE

I always wanted a treehouse (so did my daughter) and this invisibile one would be just perfect for us! Using the old architecture trick of mirrored glass the Swedish firm Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter have designed this amazing way to get lost in the woods!

This Week's New UNCORKED Listings

This week's new items in my Uncorked Etsy shop which offer free shipping through next weekend are my EQUESTRIAN RIDER piece 'heels down' - which is dedicated to all the girls out there who got their horses and those of us who didn't (remember when we really, really wanted a horse!) and my FOXY piece which is dedicated to all those Foxy mamas out there and wannabe Foxy mamas. I am thinking the FOX is about to be the next big thing! Both are now available in my Uncorked shop with free shipping.

Buy Your Wine With CORK Stoppers

About a year ago we organized a cancer benefit at the infamous Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ for a wonderful 27 year old man and great family friend. The Stone Pony people were amazing with us and if you grow up in New Jersey you most likely will have some great memories of the place. They are now going to recycle their corks through me and I am very excited about it! Most wine cork stoppers come from Portugal, one of the oldest countries in Europe. It is a huge part of their economy (and that of the other 6 Mediterranean cork-producing countries) and a vital source of rural employment. The forests support a fragile, bio-diverse ecosystem. The cork oaks in Portugal alone offset 10 million tons of carbon every year and are also important producers of oxygen.

The producers of plastic tops and metal screw caps are working hard (and using higher non-renewable energy consumption and producing more toxic chemicals) to increase their market share within the wine industry. Uncorking a wine bottle can be a bit of a hassle at times (I know I always have to hunt for my corkscrew) but what would your party be like if you just get to unscrew the top of your wine like a bottle of diet pepsi - without that energizing cork pop sound to get the party started!

If you really must buy your wine with plastic caps - remember they will end up in landfills even when recycled unless there is a specific program in your area to recycle them. Aveda, the beauty supply company, offers a program to recycle plastic caps. Send them by mail to ACA Waste Services, 40 Eads Street, West Babylon, NY 11704

I am hoping everyone will continue to support the 300 year old cork industry by buying your wine with cork stoppers! They are biodegradable (toss in your compost pile- chop them up and they will degrade faster) or can be sent to me for recycling (I collect them from many of my local bars and restaurants for a great program called ReCork America) - if you send me some I also promise to make you something very cool and send it to you!

LOVIN' WATER 4 ELEPHANTS

This weekend's special in my Polarity shop is my new vintage circus locket set. This piece was inspired by Sara Gruen's wonderful book Water For Elephants about Jacob Jankowski's experiences with a traveling depression era circus. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. The locket is available for a limited time with 5 interchangeable lids (this is like getting 5 lockets for $16.00 - what a great way to do more with less and save some green while spending green) and FREE SHIPPING. The locket is made from a little recycled auto part and the locket lids are guaranteed to stay on perfectly with a very strong magnet! The perfect locket for that special little picture. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. I love this little set and am hoping you will, too!