Sweet Greens

Farm to school is a program that connects local school and farms with the main objective of serving healthy meals in schools while improving children’s nutrition, supporting local farmers and introducing children to agricultural and environmental opportunities. There are many schools throughout the country that already participate in a Farm to School program. You can see if there is a school in your area here.

You can also start a Farm to School Program at your child’s school on your own — with the help of the school, community and student families. It’s an amazing program that when implemented correctly can have a huge impact on the school, environment, and community. All the while teaching children the importance of properly caring for the environment, eating healthy whole foods, and learning to be an eco-conscious adult. Jump over to Inhabitots to learn 8 ways to start a farm to school program at your child’s school.

photo credit Phil Roeder via Inhabitots

When we moved into our new small space, I was a little disappointed when I realized that our media center simply wouldn’t fit. I knew that I didn’t want to purchase a new media center simply to fit into the space. So, our media center went into storage and I started to consider all of the pieces of furniture that we owned, thinking of how I could repurpose it into a media center. (this turned into a theme, I had to be really creative in this small space – starting with Eben closet makeover!)

After careful consideration, I decided to repurpseo our Mexican rustic wooden 8-drawer dresser that we used in our master bedroom. I figured I could find another dresser solution for our bedroom. I knew this was the right piece of furniture because it would defintely be large enough – the top could easily hold our television and sound bar and there are plenty of drawers to house video games, movies, games and books. I just needed to figure out how to house the Blu-Ray player, Roku box, Wii and other media components.

One important tip I want to give you early in any furniture repurposing project: Look after your own health when creating heavy loads. First of all, if you are working with real wood furniture, you need to make sure you don’t lift it improperly. Did you know that the wrong posture when lifting something heavy could lead to a case of hernia? Could your back pain be one of the symptoms of hernia? Be careful if you don’t want unnecessary surgery!

THE BEFORE:

Here is what I came up with – I removed the top two drawers of the dresser and put them in storage. I then measured the space where the drawers use to be and hit Home Depot to have pieces of wood cut for shelves. I knew that they would have pieces of leftover wood and that I may be able to find something that would fit. After talking with a super nice man who worked there, we found a piece of wood that would work. He cut it into two smaller pieces and I headed home. I ran upstairs to see if the shelves would fit – they were a 1/4 inch too long, so I took them back to Home Depot the next day to have them cut down some more. Then, I sanded the edges and used some leftover stain to get them to match the existing pieces. This part I wasn’t sure about, I thought they may not match – however when they dried and I put the pieces in place, they worked perfectly.

THE AFTER:

I then drilled a hole in the back of the dresser for the component cords, plugged in all of the components and used the other shelf to house some of our favorite cookbooks. I think the project turned out fantastic and the best part – when we move again and I want my dresser back, I can remove the wood (it is just sitting inside) and replace the drawers and no one will ever see the hole in the back since the drawers cover it!

Have you repurposed any of your furniture lately? How? I would love to hear about it – please leave a comment below!

Again, another major issue in our new small space – is just that – space. There isn’t a lot of it, in fact – there are only two closets! Two! I knew that I wanted to store our luggage and extra computers in the house – but with the only two closets completely utilized, they got placed on the ugly shelving above the washer and dryer. Ugh. I hated the laundry room – now there really wasn’t any space! Where was I going to put all of my cleaning supplies, linens and household tools?

THE BEFORE:

I decided to leave the luggage and computers above the washer and dryer, but I needed to hide it – it would drive me nuts to see it all of the time. We had a leftover shower curtain rod, since this home only has one tub – I figured it would fit in the space above the shelving (I was right!) I took some leftover fabric that I had from another project and made a hanging shade to fit on to the rod. I love the way that it turned out and all of the junk above the washer and dryer are hidden.

THE AFTER:

Then, I took an old dresser, stained it and repurposed it on the other wall in the laundry room. We use it to hold all of our linens, swimsuits, household tools (it holds a ton!) and the three linen bins on top hold all of our cleaning supplies and winter hats, mittens and scarves. In the future, I want to find new (thrifted) knobs for the dresser.

Have you found a thrifty way to get more space in your tiny laundry room? I would love to hear – please leave you comments below!

Have you heard about the Cronut Craze? A Cronut is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut. Yum! What could be better than pairing these two delectable pastries? These delicious concoctions are definitely a treat that you will want to make with your kids!

While these delicious desserts are the perfect combination of a sweet fried doughnut and a flaky croissant, they are a little time intensive. You will want to make sure you have a day when you will be close to home to whip up a batch of these goodies. These would be perfect for your upcoming fall holiday parties and you can make them vegan too! Jump over to Inhabitots to get started making vegan cronuts!