Upcycle Blog Hop Today!

Today I am art of the August Upcycle Blog Hop.  If you haven't come here from Amanda's Blog, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss out on some really cool projects. We have Scrapbook Stamp Society sponsoring us today. They are giving away 3 free digi stamps. Our hostess, Shannon Leffew, will also be giving away a set of flowers from her Etsy store that you can visit here
Growing up in the seventies (and I mean being a teenager), I was on the "cutting edge" of recycling consciousness.  I and my girlfriends started our own environmental organization, cleaning up the sides of roads, carting glass and cans "way out" to Gurnee, and even publishing our own Recycling Craft Newsletter.
We Xeroxed and distributed educational brochures to any who would take them, and started writing campaigns against companies whose industrial smoke and waste were killing the environment.
Of course, this is before cities started jumping on the curbside recycling collection bandwagon, before auto emissions testing, before manufactured goods were made with recycled products.  I truly feel that I and my friends helped to push legislation that protects the environment today, all because we cared enough to educate people, blow whistles and we weren't afraid to do some clean-up ourselves...as teenagers.

So, while cruising Pinterest last month, I actually saw an upcycling project that I had written about in our "Campaign Against Pollution" newsletters "back in the old days".  I decided to choose it as my upcycling project for today's blog hop, because life, my friends, is an unending circle, and I am about to repeat myself, although it's taken almost 40 years to do so.
Pictured here are several styles and sizes of handmade notebooks I've made from pads of paper, PostIts, even a Steno pad.  They're covered with food containers made out of cardboard and cut to size to make cool covers.  Of course, I added embellishments like lace, adhesive jewels, ribbon, bows, flowers and fibers.
The nicest thing about my project is that what was "far out" in the seventies is "cool" today.  I know this because my teenage daughter had friends over last night, and when I showered them with a collection of these notebooks, they all grabbed their favorites.  One likes tea and chose the Lipton-covered notepad with the lace, while another liked the flower-embellished Rice-a-Roni notepad.
Now on to another blog, with another great idea to "Reuse, Recycle and Reduce", making trash into treasure.  Before you continue on, please take a moment to leave a little love.  Just click HERE when you're ready to hop!!
and if you get lost on the hop, come back to check out the hop order here:

• Shannon - http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com/
  Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com
  Maria - http://JoyfulStamper.blogspot.com
  Robin - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/
  Amanda - http://a-prata-design.blogspot.com/
  Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com
  Miranda - http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/
  Pam L - http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
  Mandie - http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/
  Judy Dykes -http://scrappingjudy.blogspot.com/