Saturday, November 7, 2009

Brittanie’s Thyme: Spa Quality Products With a Handmade Feel





I have fallen in love with a couple products from Brittanie’s Thyme.



The organic oatmeal facial scrub, the French green clay facial mask with white tea and the organic acne treatment oil are all amazing spa quality products with that nostalgic touch that gives them a handmade feel. Like you just walked into a little shop where a lady is mixing the formulas right there behind the counter.


Friday, November 6, 2009

Motherboard Gifts for the Tech Geek On Your Holiday List


Now here’s what a little creativity can come up with; Motherboard Gifts is a company that utilizes old motherboards and computer parts to make reclaimed gifts like money clips, picture frames, clocks, coasters, jewelry, bookmarks, binders, business card cases and even Christmas ornaments.


These are eco-friendly gifts even the most tech savvy, computer geek may love.

The Best New Green Cleaning Products


Green cleaning products are popping up all over the place. Even mainstream companies are going green. It’s great, but how do you know what’s really green and what really works?


I’ve tried several of the newer brands of cleaning products and compared them against the original green cleaners that I’ve used for years like Seventh Generation and Bi-O-Kleen products. And I must say many of the new cleaners hold their own fantastically.

Bottled Up Designs: Stylish Jewelry Made from Vintage Glass




I love vintage glass. I have a few hoarded bottles and unique finds that are currently stashed away so my kids don’t break them. Eventually I will have all my antiques displayed around my home and not stuffed in boxes…after the kids have grown up.



If I displayed everything now it would just get broken. But broken glass pieces don’t always get wasted. There are many artists who have found creative ways to turn broken glass into works of art. Some make mosaics, others make new bottles, glasses or tumblers, and some, like Laura Bergman of Bottled Up Designs , make pretty pieces of jewelry.




Laura Bergman is a Reclaim Artist. She finds old pieces of glass and turns them into beautiful, wearable art. She takes found glass and transforms it into jewelry… and the results truly are works of art.



Who would have thought that pieces of broken glass could be turned into eco-elegant jewelry.
I love unique finds and when I came across Bottled Up Designs I was fascinated.




Thursday, November 5, 2009

Junk Beautiful Books: The Ultimate in Repurposed Inspiration




If you have not gotten your hands on one of the Junk Beautiful books you are totally missing out.
Sue Whitney is the ultimate when it comes to taking a piece of whatever and re-purposing it into awesome decor. Examples: an old grate becomes the centerpiece of a magnificent winter wreath, washboards and a printer’s drawer become a stylish outdoor patio table, a tire and drum become a side table, a vintage wooden milk crate becomes a garden cart, dominoes become a soap dish, an old urinal becomes a planter…and that’s just ideas from the Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition.


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

HappyMais Eco Kids Crafts From PeekaGreen.com


PeekaGreen.com sent me this box of awesome HappyMais for my kids to try out.


HappyMais building blocks are made by Ecotoys in Italy and sold through PeekaGreen.com. The building blocks are made from Mater-Bi, a GM-free certified cornstarch dyed with non-toxic food coloring.


Building blocks made from cornstarch, how cool is that?

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My Daughter and I Won the Love Earth Always Green Halloween Costume Contest


Check it out- my daughter and I won this cool Green Halloween Costume Contest put on by Love Earth Always.


Here's her costume:



This is how we made a green costume:
My daughter wanted a unique vampire costume this year-and I didn't want to deal with any store bought stuff and nothing that I needed to sew either ( because I have yet to learn how to use a sewing machine)

So my daughter and I raided my closet and found some old clothes in the back that I don't wear anymore -a black lace top (that was made to go over a tank top, tank top long gone), a 3/4 length sleeved red t-shirt top to go under the lace which we turned inside out so the rose screen print didn't show through, a long red and black skirt, and lace up witch type boots.

We put everything together for a gothy vampire look.

My daughter already had some old fangs and I bought a used velvet cape on ebay for $1 when they are selling at the store for over $20.

With a little white rice powder makeup, some eyeliner and red and black lipstick- a vampire was born.

It's great the only thing purchased for this costume was the velvet cape (and that was used) everything else we had in the closet and in the makeup bag.

A great green Halloween costume.

And my little guy wanted to wear his sissy's old kitty costume (which she wore for like 3 years in a row and now he's got it, so that's pretty green, too).
Here they are together:

Rosie Hippo: Earth Friendly, Unique and Handmade Toys



Rosie Hippo offers parents a place to shop for unique, handmade, organic, fair trade and eco-friendly toys.


They have toys made of wood, made of fair trade materials, they have stuffed animals, pretend play toys, and everything you need to spark your child’s imagination and give them something safe to play with.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Cleaning Green with Eco Mist Solutions Carpet and Upholstery Spray


If you have kids you probably have stains…all over the place. Or maybe my kids are just extremely messy.

Part of that is my fault for buying a light colored silver/cream sofa and love seat. But my carpet is dark colored and that gets stained too. I have well water which always leave cellulosic browning spots when I try to clean up a mess with water but Eco Mist’s carpet and upholstery cleaning spray works wonders without leaving any brown spots.

Click to Continue Reading

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Clementine Art Offers Safe Art and Craft Supplies for Kids


I worry about the art and craft supplies my kids use much more than what I use, even though I try to keep my own supplies as safe as possible. But when it comes to my kids I want to know their stuff isn’t full of toxins.Clementine Art feels the same way that’s why they have created a line of safe art and craft products with kids in mind.


Clementine Art has safe markers, natural glue, natural soy crayon rocks, soy crayons (that are shaped for little hands to hold), really safe finger paints, and natural modeling dough.

Eco-Friendly Photo Printing From Lifephoto

Most of my photos get stored on the computer, on flash drives and DVDs. I sometimes get creative and make some photo books or do a little digital scrapbooking. However the grandparents always want photos…and they aren’t as digital savvy as some other family members. Email about does them in, don’t ask them to download, upload or do anything else technically advanced. That means I have to make prints. I found a site that offers eco-friendly printing options, Lifephoto.com.

Click to Continue Reading