Center for Environment Education and Technology

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and differences among all the living organisms. It can be expressed in 3 different levels.

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Ecosystem diversity can refer to the variety of ecosystems present in a biosphere like Desert, Forest etc. As stated above, ecosystem diversity encompasses the broad differences between ecosystem, and the diversity of the habitats and ecological processes occurring within each ecosystem type. India has very diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems ranging from ice-capped Himalayas to deserts, from arid scrub to grassland to wetlands and tropical rainforests, from coral reefs to the deep sea. Each of these comprises a great variety of habitats and interactions between and within biotic and abiotic components. Species diversity which can define as the diversity in species level and it can be measured in terms of:

Species diversity which can define as the diversity in species level and it can be measured in terms of: (a) Species richness – refers to the number of various species in a defined area. (b) Species abundance – refers to the relative numbers among species. For example, the number of species of plants, animals and microorganisms may be more in an area than that recorded in another area. (c) Taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity – refers to the genetic relationships between different groups of species.

At the global level, an estimated 1.7 million species of living organisms have been described and many more are yet to be discovered. It has been currently estimated that the total number of species may vary from 5 - 50 millions. Species diversity is not evenly distributed across the globe. The overall richness of species is concentrated in equatorial regions and tends to decrease as one move from equatorial to polar regions. In addition, biodiversity in land ecosystems generally decreases with increasing altitude. The other factors that influence biodiversity are amount of rainfall and nutrient level in soil. In marine ecosystems, species richness tends to be much higher in continental shelves.

Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. Each species, varying from bacteria to higher plants and animals, stores an immense amount of genetic information. For example, the number of genes is about 450-700 in mycoplasma, 4000 in bacteria (eg. Escherichia coli) , 13,000 in Fruit-fly (Drosophila melanogaster); 32,000 – 50,000 in rice (Oryza sativa); and 35,000 to 45,000 in human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens). This variation of genes, not only of numbers but of structure also, is of great value as it enables a population to adapt to its environment and to respond to the process of natural selection.

According to an MoEF Report (1999), India have about 49,219 plant species representing 12.5% of the world’s flora and 81,251 animal species representing 6.6%. India is also one of the eight primary centers of origin of cultivated plants. A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans. The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers (1988) and in order to consider an area as a “Hotspot”, that region must meet two strict criteria: (a) it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. These 25 hot spots are very important since they support 44% of plant and 35% terrestrial vertebrates in a very small area of about1.4% of the total land area.

India is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world and has two of the world's 18 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ located in the Western Ghats and in the Eastern Himalayas (Myers 1999). These two areas of the country are exceptionally rich in flowering plants, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies and some species of mammals. The eastern Himalayan hot spot extends to the north – eastern India and Bhutan. The Western Ghat region lies parallel to the western coast of Indian peninsula for almost 1600 km, in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

The value of biological diversity
The various benefits of biological diversity can be grouped under three categories: a) ecosystem services, b) biological resources, and c) social benefits. 

a) Ecosystem services
Living organisms provide many ecological services free of cost that are responsible for maintaining ecosystem health. Some of the important ecosystem services are as follows:

o	Protection of water resources and soil
o	Nutrient storage and cycling
o	Pollution reduction
o	Climate stability
o	Maintenance of ecological processes

b) Biological resources

o	Food, fibre, medicines, fuel wood and ornamental plants
o	Breeding material for crop improvement

b) c) Social benefits

o	Recreation
o	Cultural values

The remarkable diversity of living organisms form an inseparable and significant parts of our planet however, the ever increasing human population is posing serious threats to biodiversity. Specifically, Habitat loss and fragmentation, over-exploitation, environmental pollution, climate change and introduction of exotic species pose major threat to biodiversity. It is estimated that 14,000-40,000species are being lost every year from the tropical forests alone. This statistics makes the need of immediate action for the effective conservation of Biodiversity rich areas either by in-situ or ex-situ approaches.

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference ends with non-legally binding agreement The much expected climate change conference in Copenhagen ended with a non-legally binding agreement which the parties said “politically important”.

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Scientists discover new life in the Antarctic deep seaScientists have found hundreds of new marine creatures in the vast, dark deep-sea surrounding Antarctica. Carnivorous sponges, free-swimming worms, crustaceans, and molluscs living in the Weddell Sea provide new insights into the evolution of ocean life.

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DefinitionThe simplest definition can be the “diversity of all life forms within an ecosystem”. This follows the meaning that biodiversity is the variety of plants and animals and other living things in a particular area or region.

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Deforestation: A great concern12 million hectares of forests are cleared annually. Most of the deforestation occurs in the moist forests and open woodlands of the tropics. At this rate all moist tropical forest could be lost by the year 2050. Some countries such as Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka are likely to lose all their tropical forests by the year 2010 if no conservation steps are taken.

For further details log on website :
http://www.ceetindia.org/biodiversity.html

According to the Energy Information Administration, “renewable energy refers to resources that are replenished in a relatively short period of time.” Renewable energy sources include hydropower, wood biomass (used to generate heat and electricity), alternative biomass fuels (such as ethanol and biodiesel), waste, geothermal, wind, and solar.

The use of renewable fuels dates to Neolithic times, when cave dwellers made fire from wood and other biomass for cooking and heating. For thousands of years thereafter, renewable energy was all humans used. The small amounts of energy accessible to humans through traditional dispersed renewable energy sources meant that for millennia, human lives remained unchanged. Today, many are seeking to use technology made possible by modern, concentrated energy forms to capture and harness dispersed renewable energy potential into concentrated forms. Renewable energy relies upon the natural forces at work upon the earth, including the internal heat represented by geothermal, the pull of lunar gravity as it affects the potential for tidal power, and solar radiation such as that stored through photosynthesis in biomass.

Renewable Energy in the US

About 9.9 percent of all energy consumed in the United States in 2015 was from renewable sources[i], and they account for about 13.4 percent of the nation’s total electricity production[ii].

While a relatively small fraction of our overall energy supply in 2012 (the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration), the United States was the world’s largest consumer of renewable energy from geothermal, solar, wood, wind, and waste for electric power generation producing 22% of the world’s total. In 2015, the distribution of U.S. renewable consumption by source was [iii]:

• Hydropower 25%
• Biomass Wood 21%
• Biomass Waste 5%
• Biomass Biofuels 22%
• Wind 19%
• Geothermal 2%
• Solar 5%

While hydropower is the biggest source of renewable energy in the United States, geothermal power is the smallest, accounting for about 0.4 percent of the net electricity produced in the United States in 2015[iv]. Globally, the use of hydroelectricity and other grid-connected renewable energy sources is expected to grow slowly over the next couple of decades, increasing at a rate of 2.5 percent per year until 2040, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)[v]. Most of that growth will come from the construction of new hydropower and wind generating facilities. The renewable share of total world energy consumption is expected to rise from 10.6 percent in 2009 to 14.5 percent in 2040[vi].

Renewable Obstacles

One of the most significant obstacles to making most renewable energy sources competitive with more widely adopted energy sources is that they are relatively dilute. In fact, some of today’s more promising processes for tapping biomass energy involve using chemical or thermal conversion in an attempt to mimic the results of a process that, through immense pressure and over geologic time scales, created energy-rich fossil fuels from biomass. Despite such developing technologies, the amount of energy in a given amount of raw biomass tends to be significantly less than that contained in an equal amount of its concentrated cousin, fossil energy. In the United States, demand for all sources of energy is expected to rise between now and 2040 to keep pace with growth in the economy, population and standard of living. Renewable sources are anticipated to participate more broadly in this growth being spurred by State and Federal legislation, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

In 2015, hydropower accounted for 2.39 quadrillion Btu of energy [vii], a figure the EIA expects to grow slightly through 2040[viii]. All other sources of renewable fuels accounted for 7.29 quadrillion Btu in 2015[ix]and are anticipated to increase to 9.71 quadrillion Btu by 2040[x]. The increase is due to the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard, mandating the use of ethanol in transportation fuels, state Renewable Portfolio Standards, mandating the use of renewable generating technologies in the electric sector of 30 states and the District of Columbia, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 among other legislation. Of the 105.7 quadrillion Btu the U.S. is expected to consume in 2040[xi], renewable sources are projected to account for 12.52 quadrillion Btu, or 11.8 percent [xii].

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[i] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March, Table 1.3, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1_7.pdf .

[ii] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March 2016, Table 7.2a, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec7_5.pdf .

[iii] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March 2016, Table 10.1, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec10_3.pdf .

[iv] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March 2016, Table 7.2a, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec7_5.pdf .

[v] Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2013, Table A9, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/archive/ieo13/  .

[vi] Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2013, Tables A1 and A9, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/archive/ieo13/ .

[vii] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March 2016, Table
1.3, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1_7.pdf .

[viii] Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015, Table A1, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/pdf/tbla1.pdf

[ix] Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, March 2016, Table 1.3, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1_7.pdf  .

[x] Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015, Tables A1 and A17, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/pdf/tbla17.pdf

[xi] Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015, Table A1, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/pdf/tbla1.pdf

[xii]Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015, Table A17, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/pdf/tbla17.pdf

For further details log on website :

http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/topics/encyclopedia/renewable-energy/

Environmental Effects of Wood Bur

The Pros and Cons of Wood as Fuel

Many people worry about the environmental effects of wood burning. The concerns fall into a couple of categories. 

Some have to do with the effects of harvesting trees to provide fuel. People with these concerns picture clear-cut forests.

Others point out that burning wood is still burning and a source of air pollution.

The fact is, done poorly wood burning can have a negative environmental impact. 

But done well, it can be part of an environmentally sound mix. 

Wood Burning and Carbon Footprint

You hear a lot about carbon footprint these days, meaning how much carbon a given activity adds or subtracts from the atmosphere. 

The effect of burning wood is close to neutral with regards to carbon. 

As they grow, trees remove carbon from the atmosphere. That carbon is released into the atmosphere when we burn a log. 

But trees are a renewable resource. The trees growing to replace the tree we burned will reclaim the carbon from the air.

Besides, we can’t avoid the carbon being released into the atmosphere. Even if the tree is left to grow old, die and rot in the forest, the carbon in it will be released as it decomposes. 

Burning in a fireplace is a rapid form of oxidation. Rotting on a forest floor is also oxidation, just slower. 

Because oil and gas are used to harvest the wood, the carbon footprint isn’t entirely neutral, but it’s pretty small.

Particulate matter released into the atmosphere is another concern. However a contemporary, well maintained fireplace or wood stove reduces this dramatically.

The picture at left from the EPA makes the point that a contemporary EPA-certified wood burning stove is not only more efficient in terms of heat produced, it also burns wood much more cleanly.

Burning properly dried wood also minimizes the particulate output from a fire.

These factors are very much under our control we can minimize the environmental effect of wood burning to a very acceptable level.

Wood Burning and Forests

The other concern people have is the effect on forests from harvesting wood to burn. 

While it is true that some short-sighted people might clear cut a woodlot for a quick short term profit, that’s not standard practice. 

Most people responsible for wood lots manage them for the long term. An actively managed forest can actually be a more vibrant and attractive ecosystem than one left alone.

For example, three trees may be growing too close together for all of them to do well as mature trees. When a forester selects the weakest appearing two to harvest for firewood, the remaining tree thrives and the forest is healthier for it.

The motivation for this isn’t altruistic. The remaining tree will be more valuable for lumber in the future.

Not all firewood is harvested specifically to be burned. Trees taken down by maintenance crews and tree surgeons are used as firewood. Much of this would wind up in a landfill if not used as firewood.

In sum, the environmental effect of wood burning depends very much on how it’s done. Sustainably harvested wood burned in modern fireplaces and stoves can be a positive addition to our energy mix.

And no other way of heating your home adds as much beauty and comfort on a cold winter night as a wood burning fire.

For further information log on website :
http://www.alternativeenergyprimer.com/Environmental-effects-of-wood-burning.html

Alternative Energy Primer – Your Source For

Welcome to Alternative Energy Primer!

Out goal on this site is to give you reliable information on all forms of alternative energy. 

Naturally we’ll talk about obvious sources such as solar power and wind power, but I think you’ll discover some more unusual energy sources here as well.

Our emphasis will be on small scale energy production. We want home owners to actually be able to produce their own energy from whatever source they have available. 

We’ll provide how-it-works descriptions, background information, pros and cons and some sources for more information if you do want to begin generating power yourself.

You’ll also find information here about larger scale non-traditional energy production. Some of these techniques (such as tidal energy) aren’t practical for home energy production but may be viable as commercial renewable energy sources. Knowing about them adds to your overall energy awareness. Plus, I just like writing and thinking about them.

Others, such as solar power generation, use the same principles as home energy producers do on a larger scale.

I suspect you’re as enthusiast as we are about the potential for clean, renewable alternative energy sources to provide our power while protecting our environment. Saving money while saving the environment helps everyone.

Burning fossil fuel was fine in its day, but now the cost in terms of money, the environment and even wars has become too high to continue to pay. At this site, we want to be part of the solution.

We’ll probably be stuck burning oil to some degree in the short term, but the sooner we move to alternatives the better. Our hope is to speed the process.

Fortunately, energy sources other than oil are becoming more practical, efficient and creative all the time. Every bit of power produced from an alternative source now is one less bit of oil that gets burned.

So again, welcome. Click on any of the links to get more information in any area you’re interested in. 

Let’s hope the day comes soon when what’s now “alternative energy” becomes mainstream.

All the Best,

Jake Reynolds

For further information log on website :
http://www.alternativeenergyprimer.com/

Wood Burning

I have to admit a fondness for wood burning as an alternative energy source. Nothing seems quite as cozy as sitting by a fire with your family on a winter night. 

I know, I know, it’s still burning and produces carbon. Some people have environmental concerns about burning wood for heat. I address these concerns on another page: Environmental Effects of Wood Burning The bottom line is that wood is a practical, widely available renewable source of energy. Done properly, it’s environmentally sound. We need to consider wood burning in our alternative energy mix.

Besides, I just like fireplaces. 

Fireplaces aren’t necessarily the most efficient wood burning devices (although some can be pretty darn efficient), but they sure add ambiance to a home. 

Other ways of burning wood for home heat are:

Fireplaces

Masonry Heaters

Wood Stoves

Wood burning furnaces and boilers

Here's a way not to do it:

Rumford Fireplaces

On this page I’m going to discuss a few principles associated with using wood as fuel.

Principles Of Wood Burning

In parts of the country wood is readily available it’s a renewable resource. In fact a properly managed woodlot can be a healthier ecosystem than an untended lot. 

Proper woodlot management culls trees to produce fuel for home heating while trees suitable for lumber and other use are left to grow. 

An old rule of thumb is that a managed wood lot can produce at least ½ full cord of firewood per season. That's a very rough rule - the sustainability varies greatly with the species. 

Some people heat their home exclusively by burning wood. Others use wood as a supplemental source of heat. 

I'm with the latter group.

What’s Burning When We Burn Wood

When we burn wood, we're burning both resins impregnated in the wood and the carbon structure of the wood, which is charcoal. 

The visible flames in a fire are the volatile resins combusting. The glowing embers are the charcoal burning. Several different resins in the wood ignite at different temperatures. If the fire is slow burning, the temperature might not be hot enough to ignite all of the resins. There are a couple of problems with this.

First, it’s inefficient. If the resins don’t burn, you’ve lost the heat they could have produced.

Secondly, it's dirty and dangerous.

The resins are solid or semi-liquid at room temperature (think pine pitch). When we ignite a piece of wood, we’re raising the temperature enough to vaporize an ignite some of the more volatile resins. 

Some resins vaporize but don’t burn if the temperature isn’t hot enough. Aside from the lost heat there are another problems – air pollution and chimney fires.

If the resins exit the chimney, they become air pollution. Sometimes they cool enough as they rise in the chimney to condense back into a solid form on the sides of the chimney. 

This residue is called creosote.

If the temperature in the chimney rises to the ignition point of the resins some time in the future, the creosote may ignite causing a chimney fire. A chimney fire is extremely dangerous and could lead to the entire home catching fire. Modern wood stoves minimize these risks.

First, they’re designed to burn efficiently, extracting as much of the potential heat as possible from the wood. 

Some of the design features that accomplish this are secondary combustion chambers that burn the escaping resins or catalytic grates that allow the resins to ignite at lower temperatures.

The bottom line is, almost no resins exit the chimney to become either air pollution or creosote.

Still, chimneys and flues should be regularly inspected and maintained to keep them safe.

Measuring Wood 

We measure and buy wood by the cord. A full cord is a pile 4’x4’x8’. 

Often you’ll see wood sold buy the “face cord”. A face cord is 4’ high and 8’ feet long, but the firewood has been cut to “stove length” which can be whatever the sawyer makes it. It’s usually 14”- 22’ or so. 

This means a face cord has about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of wood as in a full cord.

Wood should be air-dried under cover (a tarp will do, but leave the side open so air can circulate) for at least six months after it is cut. Dry wood burns more efficiently and with less smoke. There are different ways to stack wood that I may write about elsewhere. 

Sometimes, a wood pile can be art, as Alistair Heseltine of Canada proves here:

How much wood you need depends on factors like the harshness of the winter, how well insulated your home is and the efficiency of your stove.

As an estimate, a modern air-tight wood stove can heat a well insulated home all winter with 11/2-2 cords of wood (full cords). I use wood as a supplemental heat source and burn slightly less than a cord each winter.

We have a zero clearance fireplace that we added when we remodeled and a fireplace insert that we had custom made for the original hearth.

Both use convection of air around the firebox to improve their efficiency, but they aren't nearly as efficient as an wood stove would be.

As I mentioned at the top of the page, you have a few options to use wood burning to heat your home. Click on the links below to find out more about some of them.

For further information log on website :
http://www.alternativeenergyprimer.com/wood-burning.html

Sources of Tidal Power

It’s impossible to spend any amount of time along an ocean shoreline and fail to be impressed by the ebb and flow of the tide and its power. But what are the sources of tidal power? What drives the twice daily motion of all that water? Tidal energy is unique in that it derives from the gravitational pull of the moon and, to a much lesser extent, the sun. This is unique because virtually all other forms of energy on planet earth derive ultimately radiation energy from the sun. (Nuclear energy is the only other exception I can think of at the moment.) If you question that, remember that hydro power requires the sun’s energy for the hydrologic cycle to continue (essentially, the sun evaporates water from the ocean to form clouds, it condenses and falls as rain and snow on the mountains and runs back to the sea as streams and rivers from which the energy can be captured.

Biomass depends on photosynthesis driven by the sun to grow the biomass. 

Coal and oil derive from ancient biomass. 

Wind derives from weather patterns and temperature differentials caused by the sun.

But tidal power is different. Tides derive from the pull of gravity. As the earth revolves on its axis and the moon orbits around the earth, different parts of the earth are closest to the moon. Gravitational force changes with the square of the distance between two objects (two object 1 mile apart will experience 16 time the gravitational attraction then they would if they were 4 miles apart), so the part of the earth closest to the moon experiences a much stronger gravitational force. As you’re no doubt aware, ¾ of the surface of the earth is covered with water. Water, of course, is fluid so it responds fluidly to the gravitational pull. 

Over the oceans, this results in a small “bulge” of water toward the moon that moves across the water’s surface in concert with the motion of the celestial bodies. When this bulge reaches shore, it creates high tide. As it passes, the waters ebb.

On average, the height of this bulge in open ocean is about 3 feet. However local conditions along a coastline influence the tidal effect dramatically. In some regions the difference between high tide and low tide may only be a few inches. In other costal areas it may be as much as 40 or 50 feet!

Most tidal ranges obviously fall somewhere in between. The motion of that much water represents a tremendous amount of energy. Humans have harvested it to some extent for millennia, but haven’t tried to apply contemporary technology to it until recently. Current energy concerns have us looking once again at the tides as a power source. You can read more about the history of harnessing tidal power as well as current projects at other pages on this site.

For further information log on website :
http://www.alternativeenergyprimer.com/Sources-of-Tidal-Power.html

Easy Do It Yourself Wood Pallet Signs

If you stroll through any craft  or home decor store lately, I know you’ve eyed the beautiful typography and wood signs that line the aisles. I just love them and have picked up quite a few myself over the years,  but what if you want something truly personalized?

Creating your own one of a kind, do it yourself sign is so much easier than you think and the learning curve process might just be the creative outlet you grow to love.

I stopped at my husband’s office the other day and saw their dumpster.  My heart fluttered widely. It was filled with wood pallets and I gasped, “What do they do with those? Can I have some?”

I think he was tentative to answer because his mind was filled with all the projects that also made my heart pitter patter that are still waiting patiently to be completed.

“Yes.”

That was all I needed to hear. Free. Wood. Pallets.

My  mind raced to this easy tutorial that a sweet reader sent me, and after seeing all her gorgeous painted signs, I knew you would love doing it too.

Often, we just make projects harder than they really are and we assume we need  beautiful freestyle hand writing. NOT AT ALL! We just need to try (with the help of great computer fonts, of course.) It might take a few attempts to get it to where you love it, but since we got the wood for free, this is an inexpensive way to learn.

So many of my friends have started their own businesses selling reclaimed pallet wood signs, and I am SO excited for them. Granted, their signs are MUCH nicer than my attempts, but Jamie, from Mom School , shared how she makes hers if we want to give it a try. She now has her own business. (Check out more of her beautiful creations at her Sweet Southern Salvage facebook page.)   Yay for mom entrepreneurs!!

If you want to be even more inspired, check out all the DIY Wood Pallet Projects that I’ve showcased!! I just can’t get over how creative they all are.

I love having words of truth hanging throughout throughout our home and this easy tutorial is the perfect way to personalize it. 

8K+

 Do It Yourself Pallet Wood Sign (or any piece of wood :))

List of Necessary Supplies:
1. deconstructed pallet
2. sand paper
3. carbon paper
4. acrylic paint
5. paint brush
6. ball point pen
7. computer/printer

1. Once pallet is cleaned and sanded,  paint or “wash” (mix paint and water equal parts) your sign in color of your choice.
2. While drying, go to computer and type out the word or quote that you desire to put on the wood
and then print it in the font of choice (*see note below.)
3. For lighter colored boards, take that printed sheet and put carbon paper between it and the
board. Use a ball point pen to trace around the outside of the letters on the printed paper and this transfers a perfect “stencil” for painting. On very dark paints, the carbon won’t show. In those times, I don’t use carbon paper, but I will color with white chalk on the back of my computer paper print out (color the inverted letters), and then place that down on my board and lightly trace over. It will copy/transfer a white chalk line on your board. Works perfect for the dark colors.
4. Paint the outlined letters on the board.
5. Put hanger of your choice on the board  and Enjoy!!

* A sweet reader just left a wonderful suggestion that will help save on printer ink.

“In most word processing programs, you can make the font a “stencil” where just the letters are outlined, rather than entire filled in letters. This saves a ton of ink for your printer! Once you’ve created your text, highlight it (control/A in Word), then open up your “font” menu – in Word 2007 & up, there’s a little teeny arrow at the bottom right corner of the font area when you’re on your “home” tab. When the font menu opens up, look for the “effects” section. Check the box that’s marked “outline” & it makes it a stencil. You can also make it bold, which gives it a heavier line.”

Using the idea of carbon paper is such an easy alternative. I love that tip. You can buy  Pattern Transfer Paper for Wood on Amazon or pick it up at any Hobby Lobby or Michael’s craft store.

There are sign inspirations everywhere. Stroll through your favorite stores and just look around. You can believe that my next signs will have pops of turquoise, yellow and green. 

My sweet friend, Angie from Country Chic Cottage, shared how she did a dry brush technique. She put down her vinyl letters and painted over it, and then removed the letters to have the wood show through. I love that option.

See what I mean about inspiration every where? This is such a perfect display for all of our patriotic holidays.

This is a bit more time consuming, but how gorgeous. Head over to see this DIY Reclaimed Wood American Flag from Lilbluebook.

Personalized Pallet Sign for outdoor space from DIY playbook

See the detailed directions for this gorgeous sign using Vinyl Lettering at The Thinking Closet

Aren’t these just beautiful? Are you excited to give it a try?
What other creative uses are there for all these pallets?
I’d love to have you help me brainstorm.

For further information log on website :
http://beautyandbedlam.com/do-it-yourself-sign/

DIY Wood Crate Bookcase #LowesCreator

When the New Year began, we had one huge to-do left over from 2013: Get organized! We moved in October 2012 and have slowly been adding furniture and our own touches to our apartment. Our daughter’s room, however, no matter what we did, seemed to always look like it was hit by a tornado. Tornado Sofia, that is.  Over time, we have added things to make it easier to keep it clean except for one BIG need that we kept putting off. A bookcase.

Sofia is a first grader who has loved books since she was an itty bitty baby. One of us reading to her has been part of the bedtime ritual since she was just weeks old. She loves it and, to be honest, so do we but we have built up quite the collection.

So we needed something. The problem I found was everything was too big or too small or way way way over priced. She wanted something that matched her and we wanted something that worked. I went to clean up our garage and saw some wood crates I had forgotten a friend had given me, and I immediately knew what I would do. Time to build her a bookcase!

DIY Wood Crate Bookcase

• 3-4 Wood Crates
• Valspar Paint (I used Raspberry Tart)
• Liquid Nails
• Caulking Gun
• Polycrylic Seal Spray
• Sandpaper
• Paintbrushes
• Dropcloth

Directions

1. Lay down a drop cloth or plastic. Sand down the wood crates so that it is smooth all over. 
2. Wipe down crates so sawdust is off.
3. Paint your crates and let dry. I used 2 layers of paint to get a nice coat all around. 
4. Take outdoors and spray Polycrylic seal. Let dry for about an hour.
5. When dry, apply Liquid Nails and layer your crates on top of each other. 
6. I wanted a good hold, so I used 2 lines of Liquid Nails per wood section 
7. Clamp the front of each level and apply weight/pressure on top layer. Clamps would be good if you had clamps long enough, but I didn’t. Let dry about 1-2 hours. 
8. Sand down excess Liquid Nails, and using a small paint brush, paint wherever you could see dry liquid nails. Let dry.
9. Add books and done!

We may add a plywood reinforcement to the back and just nail it in, but this method is pretty sturdy and good for school age kids rooms. I may go with something stronger for climbing age toddlers….let me tell ya, I don’t miss that stage!

For more great ideas follow  Lowe’s on Facebook  and sign up for their FREE Creative Ideas Magazine with TONS of great DIY ideas and projects!

For further information log on website :
http://sassymamainla.com/2014/01/diy-wood-crate-bookcase-lowescreator/.html