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What I am doing with my scraps

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I've got loads of scrap material (I was going to write tonnes, but then would be exaggerating it a bit, although my hubby has labelled me a "hoarder"!).  My last reconstruction didn't go too well. The top was not working out well as it ended too pink and I didn't have any white fabric to balance it out.  Anyway, I cut it up and, with my son's birthday party coming up, I decided to make party packs and cute hair clips for the gals! It's his party this Wed and I'm taking leave Tues afternoon and Wed! :-)


My stack of scrap material
From the top: jeans, T-shirt, freebie from Japan and material from my kid's bedsheet

Now, onto the clips that I made. I bought a hot glue gun for this. I used to use craft glue, but once I discovered the hot glue gun I went crazy!! I bought mine at Art House at Ngee Ann City. The black clips were purchased at the "pasar malam".











The full set! Hope the gals will be happy - sorry boys, couldn't think of any manly items for the party packs :-)

CASE - nearly 1/2 toys tested are toxic!

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CASE purchased 50 toys randomly from shops in Singapore and tested them for pthalates and lead. The toys selected for the test included the following:


 
  1. Bright and/or colourful paint on the toy (indication of possible presence of excessive lead contents)
  2. Plastic toys that are soft and pliable in texture (indication of possible presence of excessive phthalates)

 

Note to self:  Think we had better be aware of these 2 points when we buy toys for our kids.

 
According to CASE, out of the 23 toys that failed chemical tests, 16 exceeded the limit for phthalates, 3 exceeded the limit for lead, while 4 exceeded the limit for both phthalates and lead.

Here are the toys (photos from CASE):













































Food waste

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We all love food.  I bet a lot of us have enjoyed sumptuous meals and buffets and are guilty of gluttony. And, of course, have you ever ordered one dish too many? Chinese traditionally order A LOT of dishes to impress their guests with the wealth they have, and the guest, out of politeness always finishes everything in his rice bowl and will agree to seconds (btw, I don't know where on earth HSBC got the idea that its rude for guests to finish everything at a Chinese meal. I was definitely not taught that by my family). Anyway, you can imagine how much would go to waste.  Usually, we would "da bau" or "lik jau" ie. doggy bag it, but if you're not with family, it's difficult to do that unless you're thick skinned.

In Singapore, we produced about 0.6 tonnes of food waste in 2008 (source: zerowaste) and we also have our share of volunteers who distribute unsold food to the needy.  Food from the Heart, and Food for All are two of the most active ones. This is very meaningful.

IKEA Singapore does food waste recycling. Apparently, it sends its food waste to one of Singapore's food waste recycling facility IUT. The waste cooking oil is recycled at Alpha Biofuels into biofuel. I wonder what our supermarkets do? I know Cold Storage will always have a clear out section of food that's nearing it's sell by or use by dates.  Hmmm.... do you get confused by these dates?  In the UK, they are going to scrap them as they think that they mislead us folks into think that the food is not edible.

Are you musical?

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Deadline for eco song submission is 29 Aug 2010.

Henna

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Well, I'm still in search of a natural hair solution.  I've tried the baking soda and vinegar.  After awhile my hair gets brittle, and even the organic/natural shampoos only work for a while and then my oily scalp comes back.


Soak a Pu'er teabag in 9 oz of boiling water and seep for 30 mins 
Update: I added the 1tsp coffee granules to the Pu'er
Take 100 g of henna powder and add the Pu'er to it (sans tea bag!)

Mix in juice of half a lemon

Add 1 tsp of coffee granules (not the ones from the 3-in-1 mixes!) and 1 egg.
Update: Oops! Sorry, actually, I added the 1 tsp coffee granules to the Pu'er tea.


After mixing you shld get this gooey and smelly mud-like mixture.  Then let it sit for at least 3 hours for the ingredients to react with one another.  I just put mine in the fridge.  I have shoulder length hair and it gave me up to 3 applications.

Then when it's done, here's what you do with your hair:
a) wash your hair to get rid of any residue
b) let your hair dry for a while so that it's slightly damp and not dripping with water
c) remember to wear an old T-shirt or have an old towel draped over your shoulders. Oh, and wear gloves as well. 
d) massage in lots of the henna mixture into your hair (don't go over your hair line!) and then put everything under a hair cap.  Add another towel if you want to try and "steam" it.
e) Leave in hair for 3 hours (at least!)
f) Wash out thoroughly!!

OK, my hair's black, so the result I got was shiney and easily manageable black hair with hints of dark brown in the sunlight.  I'm not really sure what would happen to other hair colours but it would be good to test it out on a few strands first!   Although the smell was unbearable during the application, my hair ended up smelling okay after washing out everything. :-)
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