Sustainable Holiday Cards from Pear Tree Greetings

Pear Tree Greetings

Have you ordered your holiday cards yet? I plan to take a ton of family photos while we are on our Thanksgiving trip to Sanibel Island this weekend. When I get home, I plan to spend some time getting my cards ordered from Pear Tree Greetings. Pear Tree Greetings is a fabulous, eco-friendly and sustainable source of festive greeting cards, invitations, gift & decor, stationary, and more!

pear tree

Pear Tree Greetings is made up of a small team who brings you exclusive, award-winning designs, premium products all at about 40% less than their competitors!

I am trying to decide if I want to do vintage cards, photo cards or a modern card this year! There are so many beautiful options – how will I choose!

 

Full Disclosure: I reviewed Pear Tree Greetings holiday cards for this review.

Thanksgiving Planning: Island Edition

castaway beach

Most years we host Thanksgiving dinner at our home – however, this year we don’t have family coming into town to visit so we decided to travel for Thanksgiving. We booked a week at a fun, red cottage on Sanibel Island. We are meeting the mister’s uncle and aunt there for a little fun in the sun!

On our way there, we plan to pick up Thanksgiving dinner from Whole Foods and of course, we will pack our favorite wine too! Our week will be spent outside beach combing (Sanibel is known as the best place to shell in the country!), biking the island (you don’t need a car!), checking out the local shops and eateries, and taking long walks with Noodles and Olive. We are super excited! While I love hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I think it will be nice to sleep in late on the big day (no housecleaning or cooking!) and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner outside next to the ocean.

How about you – do you have an unconventional Thanksgiving planned? Are you traveling? Where are you off to?

Snack Happy this Holiday Season with Goodies from Snikiddy

Snikiddy

If you are like our family, you look for the healthiest products when grocery shopping! I like my family to eat a very healthy and balanced diet, and I admit we still have our snacks from time to time! When picking out snacks for road trips or impromptu trip to the beach, we try to be more conscientious in picking ones that are free from GMO’s, artificial colors, preservatives, refined sugars, MSG and hydogenated oils. And with the holidays right around the corner, we usually have some snacks on hand for friends and family who stop by. So when Snikiddy asked if we would like to try some of their snacks, we jumped on the chance. Snikiddy currently offers three product lines: Baked Fries, Cheese Puffs, and Eat Your Vegetables. We really enjoyed these healthier versions of some of our favorite snacks and think you will too! Read on to learn more about them:

1. Baked Fries
These are perfect for all you potato chip addicts out there, especially if you desire a healthier option. Baked Fries come in Cheddar Cheese, Sea Salt, Barbeque, Original Seasoning, Bold Buffalo, and Hot & Spicy, each of which boasts a profile with 50% less fat than regular potato chips, no gluten, no GMO’s, no MSG, and no cholesterol. To top it off, they’re kosher, as well as vegetarian, with one vegan friendly option. I am not a chip fan – but Eben and his friends enjoyed this one!

2. Cheese Puffs
The two flavors of Cheese Puffs are Grilled Cheese and Mac ’n Cheese. They are gluten free and non-GMO, contain no trans fats or MSG, and they’re low in saturated fat too. MSG is called an excitotoxin because it can overexcite you body’s cells to the point of serious damage. It’s also been shown to destroy neurons in an area of the brain that leads to obesity. Snikiddy seems to understand these dangers, and excludes MSG from its ingredients list entirely. We all enjoyed these ones – they reminded me of the cheese puffs that my grandma always had on hand – but without all of the junk.

3. Eat Your Vegetables
These are veggie chips, each a combination of different vegetables: carrot, kale, konjac, spinach, broccoli, tomato, beet, and shitake mushroom. Each bag is low in sodium, weighing in between 140mg and 150mg per serving. Eat Your Vegetables come in five flavors: Salt & Lime, Sea Salt, Sour Cream & Onion, Jalapeno Ranch, and Italian Herb & Olive Oil. These were the mister’s favorite – he loves tortilla chips.

If you are looking for some great snacks that are healthier too – give Snikiddy Snacks a try!

 

Full Disclosure: We received samples of Snikiddy snacks – and would have shared them with you regardless because they are good-for-you yummy!

 

 

Give the Sustainable Gift of Cork this Holiday Season with Pelcor Handbags

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I love Pelcor and their amazing chic handbags and accessories made from sustainable cork! I have their Sunshine Tote in turquoise which I love to use in the summertime and their Color Tote that I am using right now! Both are remarkably beautiful and have exquisite craftsmanship.

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Pelcor’s products are touted as an environmentally friendly approach to fashion. This is because cork oak trees can only be harvested after nine years for their material, and by ‘harvesting’, we don’t mean that they are chopped down – only the usable material is taken from the trees, which they will then regenerate over the course of the next nine years. The processing method employed by Pelcor is remarkable sustainable too – the cork is dried under the sun and boiled in water to make it more workable.

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In addition to its meticulous design and eco-friendly nature, the Pelcor Tote line is imminently functional with metal closures and an internal removable pouch. Since each cork skin differs in appearance, each of Pelcor’s pieces is unique.

If you are looking for a great sustainable fit for the gal in your life – give Pelcor a look. They have everything from beautiful bags to accessories that would make amazing stocking stuffers too!

 

Full Disclosure: I received a color tote to review – however, I would have shared Pelcor with you anyway (and I have before!), because I absolutely adore the company and their products!

How to Get an Organic Makeup Look in Under Five Minutes

Products
The other day I was browsing through my local drugstore and as always I stopped at the makeup section. I got to the end of the aisle and saw that Physician’s Formula came out with new organic makeup products! So I couldn’t resist and went ahead and purchased the two products, Natural CC Color + Correction Cream and Natural Fake-Out Mascara. As soon as I got home, I tried them out! Here are the steps I followed:
Step 1: Cleanse skin to get rid of any trace of make up and dirt.
Step 2: Squeeze some of the Organic Wear Tinted Moisturizer on the top of your hand and use your index / middle finger to apply this evenly all over your face (make sure to blend this down a bit below your jaw line so that it is evenly applied).
Step 3: Apply a few coats of mascara to your top and bottom lashes. 
Check out the finished look!
before and after
Do you have any organic makeup products that you cannot live without? Please share in the comments!