Art supplies are wonderful and versatile. What other items offer fun play, creative expression, and learning all in one…for very inexpensive prices?

With art supplies children have the world at their fingertips. There is so much that can be done, be made, be transformed…but with toxic ingredients like lead showing up in kids’ products you want to be sure that the creative supplies are not only fun but safe for the little ones.

Stubby Pencil Studio offers the biggest selection around that I have found, of eco-friendly, non-toxic art supplies and old fashioned games and toys.

Perfect items to stuff in Easter baskets. I have a crafty family. All of us are DIY handmade type people, so craft supplies are always on hand; however because we are so crafty we tend to go through them pretty fast. Or they mysteriously disappear.

That is either thanks to my budding magician toddler whose disappearing sippy cup act beats anything Copperfield could offer, or it could be the invisible troll that also loves socks, not sure.

Anyway, we always need new crayons, paints and sketchbooks that rapidly get filled with wonderful ideas and beautiful works of art. (continue reading…)

ELAVA Botanik believes that what goes on the body should be as pure as what goes in the body. With that thought in mind they created the the first 100% natural, certified organic fruit pulp hair care products. Each product is marked with a “fresh until” date just like grocery products.

“ELAVA” is Finnish for “living.” Their ingredients demonstrate their standards of purity with non-allergenic, non-toxic, paraben-free, sulfate-free formulas completely without glutens, silicones, or synthetic fragrance. They are set apart from other brands even further by the use of whole organic foods and not botanical extracts. (continue reading…)

ⓒ iStockPhoto - cstar55

Gift wrapping is one of the biggest problems greenies encounter during the holidays. It’s hard to find eco-friendly gift wrap options in local stores.

A large majority of the gift wrap we use ends up in landfills. According to Gift Bags Gone Green every year Americans alone spend more than $5 billion dollars on gift wrap, bags, and tissue paper.

So what can we do to make a difference? (continue reading…)

ⓒ iStockPhoto - diane555

When I think of winter and the holidays I envision roaring fires, evergreen trees, snow flakes and cups of cocoa. I try not to think of hectic shopping, gift giving stress and plastic garbage.

I love old fashioned things and times when life was simpler. I have always encouraged my children to make handmade cards, ornaments and gifts every year. In fact we have family traditions that include our annual card making night and our annual cookie making night. The tree decorating is always done as a family. Tradition is an important part of the holidays.

If you are looking for ways to incorporate tradition, old fashioned ways of holiday celebrating while going green here are three green holiday books that offer a wealth of information on celebrating the holidays in green style. They offer ideas for food, decorating, DIY projects, handmade gifts, even green gift ideas. (continue reading…)

©iStockphoto.com - tacojim

Over the past couple of years a lot of eco-friendly cleaning products have hit the market. I’ve had the chance to try some of them. Some of them are okay, some are alright and others don’t work at all.

Here’s a list of some of the products that did work and worked really well. Products that I absolutely love and feel safe using. They are eco and they work. As an added bonus, some of them even smell good. (continue reading…)

Where did July go? I can’t believe summer is flying by so fast. It is August- which means back to school time.

You know this always happens to me. The 4th of July comes along then all the sudden I realize summer is almost over. I know there’s still August, which means a whole month before school starts here in Michigan but it is always so busy with doctor and dentist appointments and still trying to squeeze as much fun out of summer before it’s gone and we’re left with a long, cold, never-ending winter.

One thing I always dread is back to school shopping. And wouldn’t you know it- the stores are already doing their sales. My daughter needs a new backpacks (among other things) since hers has fallen apart. I’ve cleaned it and sewed it for the past year and a half but I think it’s on its last leg finally. So I’ve been researching eco-friendly backpacks.

So far here’s what I have found. (continue reading…)

Rosie Hippo is a fabulous online store where you can shop for handmade, organic, fair trade, ethical and eco-friendly toys. All that are high quality unique toys your kids will love.

They have toys made of ethically sourced and eco-friendly wood, toys made from fair trade materials, they have stuffed animals, pretend play toys…anything and everything that can  spark your child’s imagination while giving them something safe to play with.

I call my youngest child my little monkey and monkey man because he loves monkeys, absolutely adores them. Plus he hops around and climbs everything like a little monkey. (continue reading…)