A Wild Tonic Vintage

Now that Christmas (and other non-Christian-gift-giving-holidays) is over, Martha Stewart offers some creative and adorable ways to be extra green during the red and green season: Quick and Easy Ways to Recycle Wrapping Paper . Shredding it is my favorite idea. I think I'll shred some wrapping paper to store all my family's Christmas tree ornaments safely until next winter.

I've just recently stumbled upon Re-Nest , which is a sub-blog of Apartment Therapy (which also rules), and I saw this article last night and have fallen in love. A High-Tech & Green Traditional New England Home . Though I've never been to Rhode Island, I do love me some New England, and I can picture myself in a house similar to this one in Maine or Connecticut. Things I'm particularly obsessed with: the dark wood floors (swoon), the clawfoot bathtub (double swoon), their use of green technology (triple swoon), and this entire room: Look at that view! Love those huge open windows and (again) the dark wood flooring. Beautiful, beautiful design.

Probably one of my favorite videos in the history of Youtube.

Has anyone ever tried this? Because I definitely will, this looks delicious. (Read the original article here !) What to Do With Leftover Wine Use those dribs and drabs left after a party: Try these recipes for boozy syrup you can serve over waffles, ice cream, and more. Leftover Red Wine Syrup Hands-on time: 5 minutes Total time: 2 hours (includes cooling time) Makes: 1 cup 1 orange 1 bottle red wine (or 3½ cups assorted red wines) 1 cup sugar 6 cloves 1 cinnamon stick Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of orange zest from the orange. In a large saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick, and orange zest. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the wine mixture is thickened and reduced to 1 cup, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and orange zest. Let cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate until chilled (the syrup will thicken as it cools). Serve with: ice cream, yogurt, ricotta, pound cake, waffles, pancakes, or fruit. Leftover Whi

This is my Christmas card display for the season. I hope I get some more this week to fill it up! I just used some twine, scotch tape, and ideal clamps. The tape is a little too visible, so I might try another route. Maybe clear thumb tacks? Regardless, I dig it's simplicity.  

I seriously loved this chick. No words for how bummed I am.

Note: I wrote this post a few MONTHS ago, and for some reason never posted it. Going to post it now and pretend I'm not a dummy. Last Sunday, Frank and I ventured up to Warwick, NY for the 21st Annual Warwick Applefest . We walked around for a few hours in the beautiful sunshine, and I tried my hardest to NOT buy so many cool things. I got a delicious pulled pork sandwich for lunch. During the walk back to the car, we were accompanied by this excellent sky. After the Fest, we drove to Pacem in Terris which was so beautiful and relaxing after a long day of walking around. All in all, it was a lovely Sunday.

So A Wild Tonic is back! Just as I was getting the ball rolling with projects and building up my Twitter and Etsy accounts, I got a full-time job at a photography lab. I know there are thousands of bloggers with full-time jobs, but let me tell you, the school photo season (early September through mid-December) is literally, unbelievably mind-blowingly busy. I'm as shocked as you are. However, I decided that although I'm busy working and getting ready for the holidays, I can still find time to keep up with the blog. So HOORAY for the end of the Autumn Hiatus! :)

Night sky in Honesdale, PA. Click for higher res. Prints for sale; contact me via the comments section.

I saw tons of how-to's on Instructables and other websites for this awesome way to store books. I altered it a bit for my own purposes, but I think it looks pretty much the same, and I didn't have to destroy a book (which all the how-to's I've read had suggested). What you need: -A hardcover book that you don't care about too much (I used one of my dad's old French text books and a book I bought at my local library sale for two dollars called "Cat Watching"..hilarious!) -Other books to be put on the shelf (obviously) -Stud finder -One U-bracket per invisible shelf (found these in my garage) -Heavy duty screw -Electric drill -A few butterfly clips -Elmer's glue My soundtrack: CCR Greatest Hits (I cannot get enough!) Step 001 Find a stud where you want to set up the shelves. Mark where you want the U-brackets to be. Pre-drill holes. Step 002 I opted to use a basic screwdriver to install the U-brackets by hand. Make sure they'r

Please check out the Story of Stuff . From the website: What is the Story of Stuff? From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. Watching this was like watching "Super Size Me." After watching that movie, I didn't eat fast food for about five weeks. Granted it didn't turn me into a vegetarian, and I still partake in the occasional Big Mac, "Super Size Me" taught me important lessons about fast food and America's consump

Looking for inspiration? Look no further. Can do.

Okay, so HOW COOL IS THIS? I don't even have an iPhone, but I might try to make one of these for my iPod, or maybe make something similar and sell them. I know a few friends who would definitely love something like this. Because honestly, who doesn't love dinos? No one, that's who. Read more href="http://lifehacker.com/5335467/">here at Lifehacker!

My sister was so happy that I finally got my blog up and running, she bought me a present! Her support is really important to me, and she's always willing to help me out with something (specifically sewing-related issues). Anyway, yesterday she went out shopping and brought me home a present--my first set of my very own pins. They're so cute, and I'm so thankful. I still haven't used them because the packaging is too sweet and I don't want to mess it up, but how great will they look in my Tomato Pincushion? Mad love to Little E.

I found this on Craftzine.com today, and am SO JEALOUS. This station is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had enough space for something like this. Read more here .

Since it's Discovery Channel's SHARK WEEK, and I was in the mood for dessert, I decided to make some Jaws-esque cupcakes. Aren't they absolutely terrifying? I cheated a bit and used boxed cake mix and frosting because i was in a hurry, but I plan on making some from scratch for a pool party next weekend. What you need: -boxed cake mix and subsequent ingredients -frosting and food coloring -cupcake tins and wrappers -blue paper -scissors My soundtrack: The 7/26 episode of "True Blood" Step 001 Prepare the cake as per the instructions and dye the frosting to a nice, oceanic blue. I used about seven drops of blue and one of green for a regular-sized container of frosting. Bake the cupcakes and let cool. Step 002 Frost the cupcakes. Cut shark fins out of the blue paper and stick them into the "water." Serve and enjoy! I made these cupcakes a little bigger than normal so they're a bit more like muffins. Tip--I recommend putting the fros

I got this idea from Ms. Martha Stewart (see original link here) and am absolutely in love with how it turned out. I crafted with my sister (we each made one tomato--so far), and not only did we make adorable pincushions, we had a really fun time. What you need: -a bit of fabric, in either red, yellow, or green (or in any pattern or color you'd like, really) -felt or another small piece of fabric for the leaf -batting -needle and thread -scissors Our soundtrack: Bat for Lashes-Two Suns Step 01 After choosing your fabric, cut into a circle. As a template, we used a paint tray with a 7 1/2" diameter. Step 02 With the pattern face down, sew a running stitch around the border of the fabric. As you sew, carefully gather the fabric so it starts to form a pouch. Then, begin to stuff with batting. Step 03 After you stitch up the opening of the tomato, cut the green fabric into a six-sided star and sew onto the top. For my leaf, I doubled up some thin green fabri

Hello and Happy Rainy Sunday! My name is Lu and this is my blog. I'm a recent college grad who's obsessed with organization. I've been spending far too much time on Martha Stewart and HGTV lately, trying to craft as much as I can with resources I already have. I try to limit my projects to things that are functional to my life, and I'm also trying to "reduce my carbon footprint" by recycling things I own into new and awesome creations. I'm going to update as often as possible. Please feel free to leave comments and to spread the word of A Wild Tonic! Also, A Wild Tonic is on Twitter! Follow at A Wild Tonic! Thanks for reading! -Lu