Happy American Thanksgiving = Happy November Giveaway!

Remember the time D'Angelo sent me a shot of her awesome handmade paper pens? Well pencils are unfortunately a little harder to make since it's not so easy to pick up pencil lead to make 'em with. Enter Earthzone Recycled Pencils!

Last month Earthzone kindly offered to send me some pencils not just to test out but to giveaway!

Being my first official review-giveaway, I couldn't wait! But when they didn't show, I started to think they'd accidentally gotten lost in the mail. Turns out we have a new mailman, who's been putting our mail in a wooden box on our porch instead of our mail slot... Oops!

However, as usual, I digress... I excitedly took these eco-pencils for a jot, and I gotta say I was impressed! They without a doubt live up to their "World's Most Environmentally Friendly Pencil" claim...

• Made from 100% recycled newspaper and graphite core.
• No toxic chemicals

In fact, just like D'Angelo's paper pens, "old, whole newspaper sheets are flattened and cute into pieces. A coat of water-based glue is applied to the newspaper to tightly wrap the graphite." As shown below:

But my two fave things about these pencils...?

The Special Edition pencils keep their newspaper lookin' charm AND they make the perfect ecoCompanion to my ecojot journals, notebooks and sketchbooks!

Therefore, it only made sense for my November Giveaway to be both a 12 pack of Earthzone Special Edition Pencils and a handy 9x12" ecoKids Sketchbook... Perfect for some holiday sketching!

Contest will run till November 30th. I'll announce the winner on December 1st.

As it's American Thanksgiving today, how about you tell me what you're most thankful today as a comment entry? Such as the fact, that I am very thankful for your visit to my blog.... Thank you!

Am off to Connecticut to eat some turkey, and my Uncle M's super awesome mash potatoes... Happy American Thanksgiving!

See you back here on the 1st ;)

xo,

ej

PS- Just 'cause, how about an extra entry for helping me advertise "my first official review-giveaway" if you tweet about this post or share it on Facebook profile? ;D Simply mention if you did as a separate comment!

A How to Friday Plus Green Dorms and Green-Lemonade

D'Angelo was kind enough to send me a "How To Make Paper Bangles..." via email Thank you D'Angelo :)

The paper pens and pencils look pretty straight forward, here's what you'll need to make the bangles...

Assorted Used Paper, such as
-old poems/snippets of stories, journals
-colourful flyers
-old wrapping paper
--other roughly 2-D material. Emily pressed a WEED ;D

Some HARD, Flexible paper
-maybe from packaging (cereal boxes)
-Your old, awe-inspiring poster paper
-Toilet Paper rolls

Liquid GLUE & Water. Just approximate a mixture; you don't need that much glue.

HOT GLUE GUN to glue ends of paper together, OR LIQUID GLUE and a CLOTHESPIN

A DISH to put that glue in, and a BRUSH/old Toothbrush/Finger to brush the glue on.

What you need to do:
1. Cut out a strip of the hard paper, proably about 4 cm wide, depending on how wide you want your bangle. Wrap it around your hand it see if it will slide off/fit nicely.
2. Now, if you have a glue gun, glue the TWO ENDS TOGETHER
3. Decorate the bangle with wet-glued pieces of paper. It looks more elegant if you cover the front and back, all areas.
4. Let dry.
5. If you don't have a glue gun, use liquid glue to glue to ends together, and clamp with clothespin to let dry.
6. Wear it!!

I agree with D'Angelo, "Handmade is way better than machine made!! :)"

Speaking of making things greener... Have you heard of "Teens Turning Green?" Ecojot is sponsoring them this fall as they kick off their Project Green Dorm initiative. More information to come soon, but in the meantime check out their website for some great ideas on how to become greener at any age really ;)

And finally speaking of green... How about some "Green-Lemonade?" I got a pleasant surprise this morning when I received an email from Rhaya, co-founder of Green-Lemonade.com letting me know that yours truly was featured as a "Friday Fave" today! How cool is that?
Well as I happen to actually be on a detox this week... It's been quite the week to say the least since I've never done one before. I am realizing that I do want to stick to eating healthier even after the detox is done (on Sunday... YAY!!!!) So I am so happy to have discovered Green-Lemonade.com... Thank you Rhaya!

That's it for now... Happy Friday and Bon Weekend!

xo,
ej