crayon making

Make new crayons from recycled ones!

Yes, you and the kiddies can make crayons. Too easy. Take the wrappers off your broken crayons, place them in greased muffin tins. Place in a 275 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Pour into lightly oiled (they pop out easier) candy molds or into cookie cutters placed on a foil lined cookie sheet. Then put them in the freezer for another 10 minutes.  Instant fun and crazy colored crayons.  Great inexpensive recycled Christmas gifts.

Eco-friendly orange days

Here's are four ways to make your Halloscream a little greener...
1. Borrow a costume or buy a gently used one.

2. Hand out organic candy (yep it exists) or pencils, stickers, etc
3. Instead of buying a trick or treat bag to collect the lute, make one or use an eco-friendly shopping bag.
4. Carve the pumpkin and cook those fiber rich seeds with a lil butter and salt for about 40 min at 400.  Yum.

Free bowling

Oh... free feels so good. This summer kids + bowling = free. Sign up at http://www.kidsbowlfree.com, find your nearest lane, print your coupon, take the kids to local bowling arena, and throw some balls for nada.  Gotta love this.  Have an old bowling ball that you want to re-purpose?  Check out this cool way to spice up your garden. 

barrettes

The girls and I just made some fab little hair barrettes.  All you need are:  feathers, a piece of felt, a hot glue gun, an alligator pinch clip, silk flowers, and beads.  You can buy all of this at Michael's.  Here's the skinny - cut a small square piece of felt and hot glue around the barrette so it covers all sides.  Then hot glue the feathers one at a time onto the felt and finish with a flower.  Or you can stuff a few beads through a feather, then glue gun to the felt on the barrette.  Here's an eco-barrette made with organic cotton.  Kinda pretty and super easy.

we fly

We got back from "the land" last week and the girls flew for the first time.  Here are seven fly tips to ease your trip with the kiddies.  1.  Bring snacks like trail mix and fruit.  Or you could buy an airplane meal for $10.  2. Huh?  I said, ear plugs work.  They will slowly equalize pressure against the eardrum. Try Flents ear stopples eco-friendly ones.  3.  Stuff an extra shirt in your purse.  Your baby could throw up from the turbulence.  4.  Save money and stow your kid's luggage on the plane.  5.  Pass out the gum or sip water.  Swallowing and yawning as the plane is pressurized opens the ear-to-throat connection. 6.  Pack a small blanket for plane naps. 7.  Bring crayons, pencils and workbooks to pass the time.  The kiddies will love to pull the seat table to play.  Have fun!

earth friendly snack bags on sale

In honor of Earth Day, Mama Luvs is having a sale!  Get 30% off your entire purchase with free shipping on all orders through the month of April!  Use code "SMDF Earth Day" to nab this exclusive savings.  Mama Luvs snack bags have new springtime fabrics. These are perfect for summer camps and packing meals for daytime adventures at the parks and beaches this spring and summer! - Taken from http://www.seattlemomsdealfinder.com

springing forward

Bye bye winter.  Hello daylight at 8pm.  So hard to put the girls to bed when it's flippin' bright out.  Enter Eclipse Thermaweave curtains. I bought mine at Target for about $25 for two panels.  And they work great!  Not only do these triple weave construction window coverings help keep your babies napping and slobbering longer, you will save 25% on your home heating and cooling costs.  Gotta love saving a lil cheddar.  Read more at www.eclipsecurtains.com. 

tasty glue

Edible Glue.  You might refer to it as Ranch Dressing either delightedly or with distaste.  I'm going with the latter.  But the girls love dipping their veggies in it. And I am all for my babies getting their veggie fix on. I refuse to buy the bottles at room temp because the artificial smell of glue really shines on these.  Here's my workaround - O Organics refrigerated Buttermilk Ranch or any buy cold organic version.  You could also make your own!  And not the MSG laden powdered kind where you add mayo.  Weelicious has a recipe with the following that I made, that's not so bad. Here it is: Ranch Dip- 1/4 Cup Yogurt (I use Greek Yogurt), 2 Tbsp Vegansaise or Mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp Fresh Chives, chopped, 1 Tsp Lemon Juice, 1 Tsp Dijon Mustard, 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder, 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder, Salt to taste.  Makes 1/3 Cup.  Happy dipping.

dirty candy

I forgot Valentine's day is like Halloween.  All that darn candy.  I have a friend who lets her kids eat as much as they can stand on the first day and then the bag disappears.  Our bag is still around and the girls have it on their mind as soon as their tired eyes pop open.  Here's an eco-friendly trick to get rid of the love day treats - compost them!  If you don't have a compost bin, you could just place them deep in your house plants or outdoor plant soil.  Or you could take them to work and let your co-workers gobble them up.  Here's some more tips from my eco-buddy over at Green Halloween http://greenhalloween.org/blog/?tag=how-to-compost-candy

cold mice

Ice cream good.  Mice bad.  An ice cream mouse...tasty.  We made these the other night at pre-school family night.  Here's what you do - place a scoop of ice-cream or frozen yogurt into a cupcake liner and then let the kiddies decorate it to make a mouse.  Use vanilla wafers or mini cookies for the ears, craisins or jelly beans for the mouth and eyes and a pretzel stick for the tail.  Make it organic by using - Julie's Organic Ice Cream and Newman's Own baked pretzels.

manners baby

We actually started the "Can I be excused from the table?" a month or so ago.  Had to.  Here's a taste of what they were doing - sitting and eating children, 4 minutes in, getting up, walking, running, playing, food in mouth, food on floor, mess.  I was done.  Tonight we sat down to eat dinner.  TV was off. I had the girls tell me things they could do to show good manners.  Eat with your mouth close.  No talking while eating. Saying excuse me when someone is talking or you walk in front of them.  They sat the whole time.  Talking.  In his weekly blog, Rosemond says - "We will spend at least as much time helping our children develop good manners as do helping them get good grades in school, which means we will cut back significantly on the time helping with the latter (in consideration of the fact that good manners, which are expressions of respect for others, will take one further in life than will good grades)."  Read more at www.rosemond.com

Happy resolutions.  

smencils

Need an original fundraiser or stocking stuffer?  How about a gourmet pencil that smells like watermelon or chocolate? 100% recycled newspaper smencils and smens come in fruit, holiday and valentine scents. To maintain the tasty scent, they come in individual corn-based biodegradable freshness tubes. The verdict - The pencils write well but use a really good pencil sharpener. 

poppie tarts

Confession.  I haven't made these yet but I will tomorrow. You ate them, your kids some how have tasted them either because you bought them or someone gave 'em one.  I blame my girls' pop tart intro on daycare.  They love them.  I refuse to take a nibble.  So I googled a "healthier" version minus the trans fat, artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup:  2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tblspn sugar, 1 stick cold unsalted butter, 1 egg, 1/3 cup ice cold water,
jam or preserves (such as Smucker’s Simply Fruit or Polaner All Fruit), and 1 cup confectioner’s sugar. Heat oven to 375 and check the rest of the recipe and frosting out here,  Let me know how yours tastes!

welcome to crayon town

My good friend Darlene has a crayon town. In her carport.  The little area is all recyclable refrigerator boxes which you can snag from Home Depot for FREE.  Then grab scissors for the windows and doors, crayons, and a little shipping tape to create tunnels and help the town stay standing.  Let the kiddies play, crawl, and draw while you sit and reeee-lax.  Check out these soy crayons or eco-friendly recycled star crayons.  Happy coloring.

40 ways

There are 40 ways to skin a cat and a few ways to have a pet hamster. Here's one. Janae turned 5 last week and received a pet hamster. I am not a fan of furry small creatures. This one works though because it has 4 wheels, a cute pink piggy nose, and it comes with a name. Jilly. A Zhu Zhu pet. Battery operated at $8 each. All the rage with the kiddies. It even squeaks and of course you can buy scarves, hats and blankets for it, a hamster tunnel, sleeping dome,and other absolutely unnecessary but cute items. To be eco-friendly you could for go the plastic accessories and use shoe boxes for tunnels and sleeping areas for your child's new pet. If your crafty, you could even sew clothes and blankets for it out of left over fabrics or unwearable, ill-fitting play clothes. Peep these at Target, Toy R Us, and any other toy laden dynasty that makes your kiddies run wild.

Flying Fruit - Kid Tips

"Mommie, I'm hungry. I want a snack please." I hear this alot. Like, everyday. More and more, the choices are fruit and veggies. Do you want a banana, peach, cantaloupe or some celery with peanut butter? I ask. I rarely buy fruit roll ups, fish crackers and other easy, processed, cheap options. And with the delicious, nutritional, expensive fruit (sometimes organic), comes the fruit flies. I hate it. Here's how you kill em. Pour 3 parts apple cider vinegar and 1 part dish detergent into a shallow flat dish. Talk about building it and they will come! They love the sweet scent, dive in and die. To mask the scent of the vinegar and to memorialize their quick passing, I usually light a soy candle. Nectarine, anyone?

Frightful Swap

The last thing I want is another landfill kiddie Halloween costume. That's why I have made a commitment to always buy a gently worn one or snag a freebie. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned through my Facebook friend Cory of Green Halloween that there's now a National Costume Swap Day to encourage eco-mommies to organize or swap out their kid's costumes. Here's more details. Back to planning mine...

slinging your junk

We had a g-sale a few weeks ago. I had the girls pick 10 toys to sell and they got to have a lemonade stand. I made eco-friendly sale signs from used cardboard boxes. When I have a sale, I price everything like it's 4pm and I want to go inside. Think dirty cheap. Most of my junk was a buck and the kid's clothes were 3 for $1. My tips on g-selling - Sell when your neighborhood has their annual sale, have your friend, siblings, parents bring their stuff over so you have a nice selection, spread your junk out so people don't have to dig, price it to sell, and buy a dozen donuts to sell for breakfast. I held my sale from 8am-2pm and then gave the rest to charity. Do not bring your cast-offs back into your casa. Here are some more tips on having a fabulous sale.

Reading babies - kid tips

I'll admit it. I was curious when I saw some infomercials with 13 month old babies reading. I mean really! So I whipped out my library card and checked out (gotta heart free) How to Teach your Baby to Read. The book explains for example, a 3 year old who is missing part of his brain who learns how to crawl, then walk, then read! When he enters 1st grade he is reading at a 7th grade level. Our kids have so much potential and we wait so long to give them the opportunity to learn! So never one to not pursue some kiddie opps, I am officially teaching my toddlers how to read.

Here's the skinny on step 1: create 100 flash cards of words your child loves, show them in sets of five, one at a time, 3 x a day for a week. Each day add another set of five cards. You show them for one second each, don't test them, just say the word and move to the next. Keep it fun, painless and make sure you give them mad props with a big hug after wards and let them know how proud you are! Step 2 info is coming. Too tired to make the cards? Order some here.

Peeing at Daycare - Kid Tips

I thought I would never say this but I am still potty training. Sigh. Daycare and mommie separation have regressed my little Belle to wetting her undies. Frequently. She holds her pee and waits until the last moment to go. Most times she makes it. So to assist her in falling in love with the toilet again, I have introduced a bathroom bunny that she fondly named Mommie. She takes Mommie with her every time she goes potty. This worked for five days but quickly lost it's luster. So today we went shopping. I let her pick out an electronic princess game. Here are the rules: She can only play with this toy at daycare and in the ladies room. Let's see if this works. Here are some eco-friendly potty training products. Por favor share your potty training tips in the comments section.