When five friends got together, they were on a roll!
It just so happened that there were five friends creating together and five giant rolls just waiting to be made. All it took was one friend to spark the inspiration with her elephant tube and just like that, the ideas flourished in a wild fit of creativity.
All the tubes became characters with different back stories but the best part was the way the process unfolded as their afternoon wove together in conversation, connection and creativity. It was a great example of how fun can flourish when time and space stand still long enough to let kids be. They inspired each other as they created and told the stories of who they were making. They were loving it. Just watching them, I felt like a kid again myself, caught up in the play that only imagination can coax.
At the end of their time they took their tube characters home. I imagine that now, when they look at them standing in the corners ofd their rooms, they are transported back to their crafty afternoon together. They created memories in their fun.

Our donators just get it.
While I strive at the studio to connect kids and adults to the value of reuse for it’s own “perfectly cool to create with” sake, I work to infuse the importance of it’s practice for our planet too. Oftentimes kids see the materials we have for them to use as just another material source to create with without the burden of why.
Our donators know the burden of why. They know the impact that everyone’s stuff has on our landfills and recycling centers and that there is no such things as “away”. They are relieved by the idea that their things can be used again. That feels so much better than sending things to their end by recycling or even throwing them away . Though they may not be interested in the act of creating, they see that everything has potential for reuse. They are the hero’s in our eco efforts. I am grateful that thanks to their contributions we can all be a part of the solution for our planet. In that way, everyday is Earth Day for us.
Learn about the history of Earth Day and more by visiting earthday.org

I am so excited to kick off April with our new CReATing at home Coloring page! You can download it here.
It’s just in time for Earth month. I have compiled 30+ idea sparks for easy creations kids and adults can make at home with everyday items found around the house! It’s right in line with our ongoing CReATing at home page and social media shares to inspire families to think about the things they recycle or throw away. I want to inspire fun new ways that instill new reuse habits and ways of viewing the packaging and parts that move through our homes, often be thought of as trash.
The coloring page itself is meant to be colored and doodled square by square to bring each creation image to life. When I was younger, I loved to make xerox copies of photographs then color them with colored pencils my own colorful way. I am sharing that inspiration here. I just love the way the artistic combination looks. Try it at home with the page when you print it. While Global Warming and Environmental Impact are huge issues to address we can all be a part of the change we need to see in the impact itself. By rethinking the often single use things you have around the house and using them in playful new ways you are doing something powerful to reduce the impact on our planet, one creation at a time.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ” Nothing in nature is exhausted in it’s first use. When a thing has served an end to the uttermost, it is wholly new for an ulterior service.” I deeply believe in what Emerson had said. I have felt inspired to enter into my studio’s reuse odyssey to make the process of “uttermost use” inspiring and accessible for everyone through creativity. Come along in your own creative way.