These cute magnets look just like heart candies! At $2.50 they're healthier for you and will last longer than candy. Buy: craftesania.etsy.com
Creamy pink SOY candles in salvaged cans! Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! 10% goes to Friends of the West End Park! Buy: craftesania.etsy.com
Cute alternative to traditional classroom Valentine's! Buy: craftesania.etsy.com
Xochitl Bervera and I invite you to join us for our first holiday handmade craft celebration & sale. Come support local artisans at Yomara’s house!
We’ll have a swap table for gently used goods (in great condition). Please consider bringing an item to share with others for free or to swap out for something else.
The afternoon will be a wonderful fusion of celebration, catching up with friends, meeting new people and promoting local/alternative economies.
We’ll have:
-Handcrafted gifts for sale
-Swap/barter table to encourage REUSING/PRECYCLING
-First 10 people will receive free gift bag!
-Some artist may choose to donate a % of their earnings to a cause of their choice. (Yomara will be donating 10% to Friends of the West End Park to help with projects at the park).
***INTERESTED IN SELLING YOUR ART/CRAFTS + FOR MORE INFORMATION (location)…contact Yomara (yomara@yahoo.com).
We look forward to seeing you on the 20th!
Picture from: http://www.enviromom.com/projects/
Recently, I went on Michael’s website (http://www.michaels.com) and signed up to receive their newsletter via email. As a thank you gift, they emailed me a 50% discount coupon on any regularly priced item. This is a great way to purchase a higher ticket item at a great price! In addition to the first coupon, they just sent me other coupon for 20%. This is great for back-to-school shopping or to simply nurture the artist within. I hope it’s helpful for those of you who didn’t know about it!
Borders also has a wonderful rewards program: when you spend $50, you receive a $5 gift certificate. We also get 40% coupons for birthdays and other holidays like Father’s Day. This is an awesome way to save on “in-store” books. Of course we want to support small, independent book stores such as Charis (http://charis.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp) but when money gets tight, a rewards program such as this one may be a good alternative. On another hand, Charis Books offers awesome mini-workshops, authors signings, talks and you can always give them a donation while you’re there. They also have a wonderful selection of children’s books and an awesome bargain cart.
Don’t fall into advertisers hype on back-to-school shopping. The ads lead children and parents to believe that they need SO MUCH more stuff and therefore it only feels like your ready (or satisfied) when you’ve spent $$ and time at stores in preparation for the first day of school. First shop at home, go through your closet and take inventory of what you actually have, most students don’t need new backpacks or lunch boxes because nowadays these can last years (and still be in good shape). These are teachable moments for our children, where they can feel empowered to recycle and consume less. Instead of feeling embarrassed because they have the same backpack from last year, they should feel wise and great about the fact that they use what they have and are conscious of how much they consume. They can add buttons w/ positive messages about the environment or patches to be creative and help raise awareness.
Also, many of the summer clothes that you just bought a few months ago are still relatively new. They work just fine for the first few weeks of school so don’t disregard your recent investment. Sweatshirts and long sleeve t-shirts can extend the use of summer t-shirts by layering during the cooler fall evenings. Right now, Old Navy has jeans for $10 bucks and tops 2 for $10 plus tons of shorts on their sale rack. This is a great way to build your child’s basic wardrobe w/o spending tons of $$$-add to this a couple of thrift shop items and if you have a picky teen a couple of higher tag items that provide a unique touch to their wardrobe. Some of these items can be found for considerably less, check online, TJMAX, Filene’s Basement or Plato’s Closet. I would definitely limit those items to 2-3 key things that can be worn frequently such as a jacket, hats, shoes, etc. Talking about Plato’s Closet, this unique thrift shop provides teens cash for gently worn designer/trendy clothes that may no longer fit or isn’t getting used. In return, teens can shop for clothes and find some really good deals. Here’s their website: http://www.platosclosetatlanta.com. Save your money and in the process be good to the environment by producing less trash and raising strong and intelligent children.
Love those legs! I was so excited to find this cute little corner desk-we've been needing a desk forever! (From GOODWILL)
WOW-check out this porch swing-I couldn't believe the price!
It still has a tag on it! Those of you who know me, know I've been wanting a porch swing for years but refused to pay Lowe/Hope Depot's price tag. SWEET!!!
Okay–so I made it a point to get out of the house and go support all the lovely vendors at SWOOM. I pulled out my little spending money, created a budget for myself and headed south on Cascade. For some reason, I thought the market was in the West End + I was super excited that our neighborhood organized a summer/fall outdoor festival. I quickly realized that the market is right outside the neighborhood so keep going on Cascade + you’ll see it on your right. The people there were super NICE. There was a diverse group of vendors: a couple options for baked goods, amazing soaps & bath products, handmade jewelry, paintings, hand-crafted cards and fresh veggies. There were about 8-10 vendors. I bought a bundle of fresh lettuce, radishes, inscence, bath oil and handmade all natural soap. The market is still picking up but it’s definitely worth a visit. Support handmade + local vendors!
In the spirit of supporting our local economy, I love sharing neighborhood resources and ecouraging neighbors to consume locally.
Shani is a certified masseuse that works at an expensive intown spa but you can enjoy the comforts of her services w/o leaving your home (and YES she lives in the West End so she’s minutes away).
PRICE LIST:
Mommy Special: $50 for an hour massage.
“Viva the West End” Neighbor Special: $65 for an hour massage.
Regular rate: $85 for an hour massage.
Call Shani today to schedule your massage: 678-973-5542!
Diego LOVES gardening. He enjoys watering the plants, helping dig holes in the dirt, placing seeds and watching plants grow.
Luckily, the Historic West End of Atlanta is buzzing with lots of Urban Farming. We have several community gardens and a wonderful CSA. So, as we prepare to continue to garden, I came across this Easy Children’s Garden Plan on the Better Homes website. They even have a program that allows you to plan you’re own garden (measurements and all). In the coming months, we hope to do some gardening at the park. Here’s one of the plans from the Better Homes website:
Plant List
A 1 pkt. Pumpkin, ‘Baby Boo’. Tall vines with white mini pumpkins;
plant seeds foot apart.
B 1 pkt. Pumpkin, ‘Jack-be-little’. Tall vines with orange mini pumpkins;
plant seeds foot apart.
C 1 pkt. Morning glory, ‘Heavenly Blue’. Eight-foot vines with large,
sky blue single flowers.
D 1 pkt. Sunflower, ‘Russian Mammoth’ or ‘California Greystripe’.
Tall plants grow to 8 feet; one 10-inch flower head per plant.
E 1 pkt. Radish, ‘Easter Egg’. Sweet red, white, and purple radishes.
F 16 Strawberry, ‘Tristar’ or ‘Ozark Beauty’. Clumping plants with runners.
G 1 Tomato, ‘Sungold’. Six-foot vines with long sprays of deep-gold
cherry tomatoes.
H 16 Marigolds, Sophia mix. Two-inch orange, red-orange, and
yellow double flowers on 8-inch dwarf plants.
There’s plenty of local neighbors with a wealth of knowledge. Under my ‘blog roll’ you can click on the Rose Circle Garden to see what’s happening with our ‘West End’ urban agriculture. I also plan to visit Truly Living Well w/ Diego in East Point. Thanks to Debbie for sharing the website: www.trulylivingwell.com. Another website that I find very inspirational is Pathway to Freedom, an urban homestead in California (www.pathtofreedom.com ). Be inspired + grow food!
Friends of the West End Park is calling out all local artists for a craft fair. If you’re interested in planning or participating. Please email me at yomaravelez@yahoo.com.
Local neighbors Mark & Evelyn Washington kick-off a new business venture…
HOMEMADE JOY.
fresh. honest. good.
These are by far the best cookies I’ve ever had, you must email them today at homemadejoy.cookies@gmail.com or stop by the Grounds Coffee House to taste these wonderful treats. These cookies are made w/ natural and organic products. Absolutely, scrumptious!
Again, let’s support local business. If you’re having a holiday party or office gathering consider bringing Homemade Joy cookies.
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Friends of the West End Park 
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