Sneak Peek at "A Springing Affair" Silent Auction Items We're running our auction the old fashioned way-a silent auction with paper and pencils and for which you have to be at the event in order to participate and bring home valuable, lovely, and one-of-a-kind gifts like.... A Way to Have Your Steak and Eat it Too  Brykill Farm Organic Beef Certificate - $100 Value Time with New York's Favorite Tech Geeks Two-Hour Consultation at TekServe - $200 Year-Long Membership at New York's Secret Gardens  Wave Hill Family Membership - $75 Add a Splash of Spring to Your Home with  Whimsy Designs Table Lamp - $75    Spectacular Skraptacular Original Art Unique Upcycled Offerings from Skraptacular's Interns - Priceless                             Luxurious Beauty Treats from Premier Organic Salon and Spa  Aveda Gift Basket - Value? Clothing that Feels Good-and You Can Feel Good About Loomstate certified organic and sustainably produced clothing Gift Certificate - $100 ....and More! Get your tickets (only $30/each) to our third annual fundraiser, "A Springing Affair," on Thursday, March 27. Drink, eat, listen to live music, bid on one-of-a-kind items, honor former city councilman Robert Jackson and chief of staff Sarah Morgridge for helping get Styrofoam out of our school cafeterias and for their work on behalf of New York City Public Schools by founding the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. We'll see you there-the drinks are on ice.  Spring MELT Detox Week to Benefit Skraptacular! April 6 - 11 Now that it truly is spring-and we have finished drinking our champagne-it's time for a spring detox. The MELT method is a gentle way to bring new space and movement to your joints, improve your posture, and stimulate your organs to discharge built-up toxins.  Everyone can do it, at any age or level of fitness, in the comfort of their own home or office. Join Edya Kalev, Advanced MELT Instructor, for 6 days of MELTing your hands and feet by phone and all proceeds will benefit Skraptacular.  What a great way to detoxify, support your immune system for spring and support us as well!  There is a $40 investment in the ball kit and the minimum suggested donation is only $10.  For more information, go to Edya's website. Forward this email to friends all over the country or world; Anyone who has a computer or phone can participate at any time during the day-from the health-conscious and active who want to improve their performance in running and other fitness activities to those who would like to be more active and who are just now realizing they have to do something to decrease pain and age well.

Skraptacular Bulletin: Fête, Festival, Fun...But What Are you Giving Up?

  

Fling Your Mardis Gras Bling...and Then Upcycle It!

In the never-ending winter we hope you've managed to celebrate Mardis Gras or Carnival. Take the last opportunity to step out of the Annual February Misery Day Parade and high step it into a Mardi Gras March! Skraptacular has a soft spot for NOLA's Mardi Gras celebration; we got our start selling upcycled crafts to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims.

So if you're done with the February fling and done with the beads and bling, here's a way you can transform your Mardis Gras beads into some nifty coasters. Another option is to recycle or buy recycled Mardi Gras beads and throws from Arc and do your part to create “Green” jobs for people with intellectual disabilities.

But what if you're giving up wine and beer for Lent? You don't have to be Christian to adopt the discipline of the Lenten season in the same way you don't have to be Buddhist to learn the discipline of Zen meditation practice. Lent begins this year on Ash Wednesday, March 5th and extends for forty days until Easter.

What Are You Giving Up?

According to the experts it takes exactly 21 days in succession for you to make new behavior into a habit. If you stick to Lent guidelines, you've got almost twice that time to make helpful behaviors a part of your life or get rid of harmful ones. At Skraptacular we have some suggestions (don't we always?)

What if you...

1. Give up taking plastic bags at the grocery store?

2. Weave the plastic bags you have into plarn-plastic bag yarn-creations?

3. Compost your veggies every Sunday through GrowNYC ?

4. Own a corner of the city and clean-up litter?

5. Stop buying bottled water?

6. Make clothing purchases from ethical fashion brands such as, RepurposingNOLA andLoomstate

Skraptacular's Work with United Palace is Habit Forming 

  

We're starting our own new habits. Rather than visiting the underserved children who come to the  United Palace Cathedral's after school program every other week, we're going every week, bringing our Skrappy interns who are full of enthusiasm for every project we embark upon. This week we made bottle cap refrigerator magnets, some of which we'll be giving out as party favors at our Springing Affair fundraiser. In addition to the unalloyed happiness of using their hands making crafts, our young charges learn to wed the concepts of creativity and conservation. It's a win/win situation.