Keep your plastic bags from the supermarket for a second use but the best is to choose to refuse. Think about it, you use these bags to carry your groceries to your car or to walk home with. A task that is so short, it can just as easily be solved by using a recycled tote bag from your closet or a bayong. Plastic bags are used in such a large volume and they take one of the longest 100 years to decompose in a landfill and the majority of plastics are made with the use of oil, a very valuable commodity right now.

Sorting

Sort your garbage. Set up a system that everyone can follow first. You should have a bin for food waste, which, if you have a small garden, you can start composting, you can visit recyclenow.com for instructions and details. Have three other bins, one for plastics, tin, and glass, rinse these before you throw them out, that way they can store a longer time without smelling. You can re-use these things yourself or sell it to the men who push the wooden carts in your neighborhood, looking to buy used newspaper and bottles.

As Herb Pots

Some herbs can survive in water anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. You can cut some herbs from your herb garden and place them in your kitchen for easier access for everyday cooking. Cut the tops off of these water bottles and they provide the perfect size and support for your herbs.

Princess Party

Every girl loves to be a princess for the day, think pastel pink, lace, pearls, delicate dresses, and tiaras.

An easy project is a plastic pink plate laced with pearls. Just hot glue a string of pearls to the perimeter of the plate for a pretty touch.

A Pirate Party

Mimic a pirate ship on your table, complete with a pirate flag. Use a wooden table and wooden plates, canteen utensils and black bandanas for napkins. Fill your table with pirate props like swords and pirate booty, like gold coins, strands of gold and pearls.

A Lady Bug Party

A ladybug party is the perfect theme for a little girl, giving her an opportunity to wear cute ladybug wings. Decorate your table in red and black, accenting with Astroturf and colorful flower cut outs planted in pots filled with candy.

A ZOOper Party!

Assemble your stuffed animals from all over the house and get them ready for a zoo party! Pull out some colorful plastic kids tables and chairs and set your table with neon colored plastic plates, cups and utensils. Top your tables with tiny stuffed animal centerpieces and paper-made animal faces. We cut up a balikbayan box and painted it to make the fence and mounted it to the wall with masking tape.

A Chinese Lunch

I found these cute reproductions of Chinese girl cigarette posters during my last trip to Bangkok and I loved them so much, I find any excuse to use them. A casual Chinese-inspired girls-only lunch seemed like the perfect occasion to use these posters as a backdrop. I have a red guest room in my house that hardly gets used as such, so I pulled out the guest bed and replaced it with a long wood table, some comfortable chairs, hung my favorite Chinese posters on the walls, put on some relaxing Chinese instrumental music, cooked quick and simple Chinese favorites and, in few hours, I’m ready for a casual Chinese lunch.

The 1-hour Prep Dinner Party

A cozy trellis of climbing vines and flowers, some lovely crystal goblets and candles, gorgeous flea market finds and freshly picked flowers from around the garden, is all you need for an instant and elegant dinner party. Serve a few simple courses, starting with a steaming mussel stew, followed by a refreshing pear and blue cheese salad, completing your dinner with a simple country-roasted chicken and finish off with an easy favorite, strawberries with streusel topping.

In one hour, you can put together a dinner party that will wow your guests, pick a simple menu and serve everything hot and straight out of the kitchen. Set your table with white linens, white flower-patterned plates. At the last minute, play some music, scatter some freshly picked flowers and light your candles as the sun goes down and the mood turns romantic.

Country Tea in the Big City

Don’t you ever want to get away from it all but don’t have the time to plan an elaborate country vacation, don’t want to spend the money on an expensive spa or restaurant where you can hang out for hours without ordering. Create your own little country oasis in the middle of this cosmopolitan city of ours.
Invite your closest girlfriends and have a quaint afternoon tea against the Makati skyline, in the middle of it all yet an island of all at the same time. Start the afternoon with a refreshing glass of iced tea to go with greetings and giddy conversation. Sit under a canopy of white cotton, at a table of fine linen and china, while you slowly work your way through scrumptious tea sandwiches. Sip away at a mellow Darjeeling tea as you look up into the sky and rediscover that clouds do still exist in this great city of ours.