First, take a square piece of paper and fold it in half. I usually just start cutting out the spider freehand, but if you prefer, draw the spider on the paper first, like this: Then cut out everything surrounding the spider’s body and legs, leaving a border around the edge. Open it up and there you have it: A creepy paper spider to hang up for Halloween. Tip: If you want the spider to be a black widow, cut a diamond shape out of the abdo…

Last year I dazzled you with my Paper Spider. (Not to brag or anything, but this easy Halloween craft was showcased on the French website Bulbinblue earlier this month!) What crafty goodness do I have in store for you this year? Another, different paper spider. A creepier, crawlier paper spider: Here’s how you do it: 1. Fold a white, square piece of paper in half, making a triangle 2. Fold it in half again 3. Fold that in thirds 4. Cu…

This post originally ran in 2009. I’m re-running it today because it has remained one of our most popular Halloween posts! First, take a square piece of paper and fold it in half. I usually just start cutting out the spider freehand, but if you prefer, draw the spider on the paper first, like this: Then cut out everything surrounding the spider’s body and legs, leaving a border around the edge. Open it up and there you have it: A c…

It’s October–officially time to start thinking about Halloween! What costumes have you created in the past? Do you have any DIY costume ideas for yourself, your baby, or your kids? What about homemade maternity Halloween costumes? Let us know in the comments and we’ll highlight our favorites in a future post. Stay tuned! The ever-popular bandit and swimming bear!…

Last week we heard your eco-confessions. This week we want to know your justifications for all of that appalling behavior! If you know it’s good for the environment . . . what’s holding you back? They look like they’re having a good time . . . so why don’t I do it? I’ll start. I know that hanging laundry to dry saves a lot of energy. I’ve written several posts about it and admonished others for it. Yet . . . I often dry my clothes…

If you were lucky enough to read last week’s Green Spotlight, you know that Eileen Spillman has become one of our eco-heroines.  She doesn’t weave her own homegrown linen or knit her children booties out of repurposed shoelaces.  In our opinion, raising two young children as a single parent while working full time and making green choices is just about as honorable as it gets.  Read on to see just how she started. What green choices seem to wo…

You could spend hundreds of dollars on an organic free-trade toxin-free biodegradable Halloween costume–or you could just make one yourself.  Do-it-yourself Halloween costumes (formerly called “last-minute Halloween costumes” or “lazy parents’ Halloween costumes”) may seem like the latest thing in green parenting, but really they’ve been around for years.  Keep in mind that I’m not talking about a…

We asked our readers what their favorite DIY Halloween costume ideas were, and they delivered!  How will they outfit those trick-or-treaters this year? Pair of dice. Cut head and arm holes in boxes. Paint them or wrap them in white paper, add some black dots. (Thanks, Brittany!) The world. Use old boxes to make a sandwich board that fits over the shoulders. Paint it. Attach planets, the sun, and the moon made from cardboard scraps onto a headba…