Archive | HOME AND GARDEN

25 Days Of Free Music For You

Here is something fun! 25 Days of FREE holiday music just for you. Everyday through Christmas, Amazon is unveiling a new holiday song that you can download for free. Fantastic.

Green Your Holidays: 6 Eco Friendly Holiday Tree Alternatives

For many families the start of the holiday season is marked with choosing a holiday tree. Each holiday season more than 25 million coniferous trees are cut and sold as holiday decorations. Although, the holiday tree is an important symbol of the holidays, it can be a hard choose to make when considering the environment.

It can take up to 15 years to grow a holiday tree that will be used for about a month. Many holiday tree farms use large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers which pollute the waterways, land and poison wildlife. Then after the holiday season, these trees usually disposed of in our local landfills.
You do have options when it comes to choosing a holiday tree and many of those choices can be friendly to the environment – and beautiful in your home too. Jump over to Cascadian Farm for my top 6 favorite holiday tree alternatives.

Green Holiday Gift Idea For Kids: Your Vintage Toys

I was one of those children who took really good care of my toys. In fact – most of the toys that I had as a child that were super important to me, I still have to this day. I always wondered if my own children would be interested in the toys that I saved all of these years. So each year, I try to remember to pick one think from my trunk that I think Eben would treasure too and give it to his as a holiday gift.

Last year, the mister and I introduced Eben to Gremlins, he loved it – especially Gizmo. That is when I remembered the huge trunk in our guest room, full of toys from my past. Among the treasures a mint 1984 Gizmo. I decided to add it to Eben’s holiday gifts – and to my surprise it was the one thing that he was still carrying around several weeks later. He kept asking me, “How old is this Gizmo again, Mom?” Ha.

Do you have treasures from your past that you dig out to give to your children?
Do you find that sharing these prized possessions brings you closer to your child?
If not, do you buy gifts for your children that remind you of your childhood?

P.S. This years gift from my trunk is going to be my large collection of PEZ dispensers!

Earth Friendly Etsy: Chakra Pennywhistle Giveaway

This week’s Earth friendly Etsy shop is owned by Rikkianne from Chakra Pennywhistle. Rikkianne uses organic and recycled materials to make the most fabulous textile items. Chakra Pennywhistle is a way for Rikkianne to make something new out of something old. Her collection features a style that is raw, modern and simple with a natural look. All of her items are handmade with care – everything from her fabulous organic pillows with hand drawn designs to her simple and sweet save the day patches. She transforms vintage moneybags into stylish cushions and wallets and her circle the date patches are perfect for commemorating a special day and look adorable sewn on a baby onesie, t-shirt, pillow, or dishtowel.

Rikkianne from Chakra Pennywhistle is offering ONE of my fabulous readers a custom circle the date patch. You could sew it on a pillow to commemorate your anniversary or sew it on a onesie or tee to celebrate the birth date of your child!

To ENTER:

Visit Chakra Pennywhistle’s Etsy Shop and leave me a note telling me which item you absolutely love and then do one of the following:

You can enter for each of the above things that you do, just leave me a separate note for each and a way to contact you.

Contest ends April 29th at 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced the following day.

Enjoy.

* Update: Winner:: Katharine. Congratulations.

#9 – Holiday Giveaway Week: MiYim Simply Organic Cat in the Hat Doll

Giveaway number nine is sure to please anyone on your holiday list – especially children who love Dr. Seuss. MiYim: Simply Organic is giving one lucky reader their very own organic Cat in the Hat Doll. Wow! Can you imagine the places your child will go with this gift?

MiYim’s Dr. Seuss collection is as sweet as the books – made with unbleached cotton and chemical-free dyes, how could they not be perfect? Your child will spend many hours snuggled up with their favorite Dr. Seuss books and their very own Cat in the Hat.

Dr. Seuss not your thing? That’s alright, miYim has a fantastic collection of Fairytale, Jane Goodall, Sleepytime, Storybook and Petite dolls to choose from. I love the classic look and feel of these toys – perfect to give as an heirloom gift.
Skip over to miYim: simply organic and choose something sweet for someone sweet on your holiday list, and leave a comment below. You have 1 week to enter – tell your friends and family so they don’t miss out on the fun!

The winner is Kathleen. Thanks for playing everyone!