​This is an effective way to recycle materials that otherwise would go to fill our land fields. Again, a simple empty bottle of wine, rum, whiskey or anything else you may have around your home. For this project I used an empty bottle that a friend gave me.
 
These are the bottle materials: Total Cost ($1.15)
1 empty Parrot Bay bottle (0)
3 to 4 tall grass flowers?? Smile, from yours or your neighbor’s garden. (0)
Assortment of sea shells (these ones came from Sarasota FL beaches) (0)
1 starfish or sea star ($1.00)
 Hot glue or regular glue for attached the shells and starfish (.15)


Directions

• Get the empty bottle, wash it well inside and remove the labels. I keep the label dry and pour super-hot water, allow it to sit few minutes and then start to peel the label. If that doesn’t work, then submerge the bottle in hot water and let it sit for a while to detach it from the bottle. Allow it to dry completely, inside and out.
• Glue the shells to the bottle and allow to dry.
• Place the tall grasses stems inside the bottle and BOOM, you made a pretty bottle for $1.15 cents and Mother Nature will be happy.

 

​This is my second recycled-repurposed bottle post for this series.  Remember, the whole idea of this series is to help a bit in keeping these bottles out of our land fields.
For today’s project I used an empty bottle of whiskey. The whole cost to make it was 75 cents. Would look nice in a home bar as decoration, don’t you think?
  
These are the bottle materials: Total Cost (.75)
1 empty whiskey bottle (0)
½ yard of beige ribbon, no craft wire was needed for the bow, as I used my husband’s 2 fingers like back in the day to make it! ha-ha! (.60)
1 handful of acorns (there are plenty on your streets now, free! (0)
Hot glue or regular glue for attached the acorns and the ribbon (.15)


Directions

• Get the empty bottle, wash it well inside and remove the labels. I keep the label dry and pour super-hot water, allow it to sit few minutes and then start to peel the label. If that doesn’t work, then submerge the bottle in hot water and let it sit for a while to detach it from the bottle. Allow it to dry completely, inside and out.
• Measure, cut and attach the ribbon using hot glue.
• Make a bow and attach it to the bottle neck with hot glue.
• Glue the acorns to the bottle and allow to dry. You made a pretty bottle for .70 cents.

​This is my first recycled-repurposed wine bottle post for this series, to help a bit in keeping them out of our land fields. Most of you have wine bottles at home and if you don’t, I am sure that you have plenty of empty glass bottles that you can use to explore your artistic side and make them look pretty.
 
What would you do with them? Well, you can keep them or give them away to friends.
 
These are the bottle materials: Total ($2.00)
1 empty wine bottle (0)
1 craft color paint plus 1 small brush or craft roller (.50)
½ yard of green ribbon and 10” of thin craft wire (.50)
1 bunch of silk flowers ($1.50)
 
Directions

• Get the empty wine bottle, wash it well inside and remove the labels. I keep the label dry and pour super-hot water, allow it to sit few minutes and then start to peel the label. If that doesn’t work, then submerge the bottle in hot water and let it sit for a while to detach it from the bottle. Allow it to dry completely, inside and out.
• Place masking tape from top to bottom, or if you want, horizontally.
• Press the edges really well to prevent the paint from bleeding into the area you want to keep clear.
• Paint the bottle several times to your like, allow to dry for 1 day. No perfection needed.
• Make a bow and secure it with the piece of wire. Then use the leftover wire to attach the bow to the bottle neck.
• Put the silk flower inside and boom, you have an arrangement for $2.00.

I learned something when I was raising my twins. I was the kind of mother that bough 2 sets of everything to dress them exactly the same. I also cut their hair and put it together exactly the same.

At one point before they became teens, they decided that they wanted to have their own individual things not exactly like the other sister. At that point, I woke up to realize that they needed to grow up as 2 different independent individuals, even though they looked exactly the same.

So now with that history in mind, I made her birthday set totally different from her sister Suzy, however, I used one set of the same beads to keep them always connected no matter where they are or how different these two souls are, smile.

I simply adore my identical twin daughters. So, I decided to make them bracelet-earring sets for their recent birthday. Love them!

Suzy is somewhat a fashionista just like her sister. Her level of organization of her jewelry pieces is off the hook, something that anyone would be supper happy to have it at home, (like me, smile.)
​
(Oh, are you are asking where is my other twin jewelry set? Answer: Next Monday friends, smile.)

 I found these interesting beads the other day at the beads store. They are not only interesting in the design the artist chose, but also, in the color combination that he/she used. So, I decided to purchase them, pick some small red beads I had at home and get busy crafting.

No, these beads are not red, they are bright orange, smile. I was playing match maker and found these odd blue-purple-pinkish kind of beads that interestingly enough, when I gather them all together in my beads tray, they matched perfectly.
​
Who would have though? Never in a million years, pink, blue and orange????

​Plumbago plants are shrubs with branches that resemble vines. They have blue phlox-like flowers produced for extended periods of time. They will grow as an evergreen shrub and makes excellent foundation plants.
 
Plant Stats:
 
Perennial: Grows year-round in the southernmost parts of Texas and Florida.
Deer Resistant: Yes
Full Sun:  Yes
Partial Sun:  Yes
Shade: Not Recommended
Bloom Time: All year-long
Color: North Carolina Blue
Size:  Can grow 6 to 10 feet (1-3 m.) tall with a spread of 8 to 10 feet (2-3 m.)
Water Needs: Very forgiving, drought tolerant

During one of my morning walks, (and that day I just happened to be in Florida’s west coast), I came across a tree so dear to my heart. Why dear to my heart? Simply, because I grew up in Ponce, P.R., where from my childhood to adulthood, I enjoyed seeing these trees flowered everywhere, making the tropical landscapes look spectacular.
 
The Flamboyán tree (also called Flamboyant and Royal Poinciana), is often rated in the top 5 most beautiful flowering trees in the world.
 
 It is native to Madagascar and grows in tropical/sub-tropical regions in zones 10 to 12. The Flamboyán tree is commonly grown in the Caribbean, Africa and Northern Australia and of course, I saw this one in Florida, smile.
 
These trees will always remind me of my hometown, my tropical Puerto Rican island and the roots that defines who I am and where I came from. 

​There’s only ONE positive that COVID-19 brought with it and that was FAMILY UNITY.
 
I am not saying that before COVID we were disconnected or detached from each other. To explain it further, I would like to say that the life that we were living before COVID-19 was extremely complicated, fast, intense and so massive that left us exhausted with minimal or not enough time to mingle and share significant time with our families and friends.
 
This is a good example: Both parents are employed, (some with odd daily hours) and with children; either toddlers, and/or teens. After work they get home to pay bills, cook, or order take out, answer texts, emails, do house chores, etc. Before they know it, is 9:00 PM and they still have to make sure the kids did their homework and go to bed on time.
 
If my description fits you, you may have few minutes to take a deep breath and hope that you can still stay awake to watch the late night news, so that you are not detached from what’s happening in our country and the world.  The whole fife CHANGED!
 
Now thank God, we have THE NEW NORMAL and it looks like this:

1. You work remotely, from home, ALL DAY.
2. Your children are enrolled in virtual schooling at home working on tasks to complete daily.
3. Your wife, husband, significant other are experiencing the same home thing.
4. You finally have time to play with your children, go out biking with them, (incidentally, because the quarantine, bicycles sales have been record high like never before,) take long family walks with the dog(s), play sports in front of your home; sit down in front of your home or driveway or even inside the garage to chill out and watch the neighbors do the same thing that you are doing and still do your remote work, smile.
5. The best part is that now you enjoy watching the kids using their inherited artistic skill to write beautiful loving messages with chalk throughout the whole street.

 
Isn’t this new normal awesome? Families finally have the time that was taken from them many years ago, when technology got off the hook and the iPhone came out. Now we all can plant the veggies gardens, enjoy our family like our parents and grandparents did and bake homemade bread! Boom!
 
Therefore, friends, please enjoy THE NEW NORMAL while it last and let’s all pray that this positive trend stays with us forever!