Category: earth day

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Nine Awesome Earth Day Giveaways!

The NaturalKids Team is devoted to protecting the earth and it’s natural resources; it is a critical part of what our team represents.  We strive to encourage sustainability and the use of natural, renewable, recyclable, compostable and biodegradable materials throughout the year.  Earth Day, however, provides us a perfect opportunity to go “all out” and really celebrate the choices we make.  Please join us in our celebration by participating in, and sharing, the amazing giveaways from member shops you will find below.

 

 

 1.  Birchleaf Designs – 2 Playsilks in your choice of colors.  Winner – Angela Vullo (comment #99)

“We like use playsilks when we Celebrate! Here are some ways to use silk rather than paper or balloons: 1. Wrap up a gift to give and include the silk as part of the gift;  2. Hang colorful silks around instead of using balloons;  3. Have a basket full of silks for everyone to dress up for the occassion.” 

2.  Mosey Handmade – 12 Hand-painted Wooden Counting Mushrooms.  Winner – Tracey (comment #55)

“My best tip for celebrating is get your kids involved!  They love to see things grow and I think it’s a great day to get out in the garden, plant or transfer those seedlings and dig!”  Check out this article on planting with children for more!

3.  Woolies – Earth Pony of winner’s choice.  Winner – SidewalkGoddess (comment #98)

“Earth Day is a special reminder to the world to honor our Mother Earth. I always spend this day planting, or taking care of our garden. I’ll also make sure to play with our horses, they love Earth Day too!”

4. Long Mountain Art – Organic Cotton Recycle Tee.  Winner – MamaAshGrove (comment #29)

“I teach art so I love to do projects that reuses artwork that my students dont want to take with them. I also find my own kids have an abundance of  doodles that I just hate throwing away!  This is a link for rolled paper bowls. You can use almost any paper but I prefer to reuse artwork that I am not attached to.  You can make coasters or placemats or whatever comes to mind!”

5. Willodel – Set of 3 Cottontail Rabbits (*open to US and Canada only)  Winner – Mel (comment #76)

“The celebration of Earth Day & the welcoming of Spring with it’s burst of new life all around us make April a very special month. At the Willodel shop you will find carefully hand made items out of natural materials full of inspiration and love for the natural world. These qualities are passed onto our children through the toys and sets that they hold and play with. This goal is always a part of everything found in the shop. Celebrating Nature everyday is the very best way to learn from and love the Earth that is our home and be the keepers of it.”
Here is wonderful link to learn about caring for wild life, and two blog links to look at too:  Garden Toad Watch and Willodel

6. MudHollow – Mushroom Bowling, Wonderland Edition with Soy Paints  Winner – Michelle (comment #47)

“Earth Day is a great reminder to get out and have a great time enjoying this amazing planet.  You could make a video for a chance to win a seat at a NASA Rocket Launch, have a Picnic for the Planet or work on creating a Certified Backyard Habitat.  There are so many activities happening around the world, and so many possibilities for projects at home too!  You can start a compost bin, plant a garden using native seeds (desert southwest for me), or find an activity  from our site!”

7.  This Cosy Life – Blossom Mama and her Petal Baby.  Winner – Carissa (comment #80)

“I make all of my own houshold cleaners. A little vinegar, baking soda, and sweet smelling essential oils go a long way toward a cleaner house! And without the toxic cleaners my little ones are happy to scrub right along side me.”

8.  Gypsy Forest – Winner’s Choice of Linen Bag.  Winner – Jenny P (comment #84)

I carry chico bags made from recycled plastic in my purse. I love the kind that fold into their own pouch. AND I love the look on the cashier’s face when I pull out my stash of bags to bag my own groceries.

9.  Armadillo Dreams – Spring Tulips Wooden Flower Toy.  Winner – Dandyrae (comment #18)

Earth Day is a great day to get outside and explore nature with your children. A little walk/hike is always fun. Geocaching is also a great way to explore and appreciate the outdoors.

*10. In case you missed it, The Enchanted Cupboard is also giving away a wooden playset!

Make sure you leave a comment if you haven’t already!

Giveaway is now closed!  The winners are shown next to each item above.  Winning comment numbers chosen using Random.org’s random number generator.  Winners may
Contact Us to claim prizes if they have not been contacted.

Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment on this post. Don’t forget to leave us a way of contacting you.

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don’t, they count as one)

  • Follow teamNaturalKids on Twitter AND Tweet this (include @teamNaturalKids in your tweet)
  • Like Natural Kids on Facebook AND share the giveaway on Facebook (include @NaturalKids)
  • Blog this giveaway and post the link
  • Follow NaturalKids on Pinterest AND Pin your favorite photo from this post (include @NaturalKids)
  • Visit all nine participating shops, and add them to your favorites on Etsy (nine shops = 1 entry)

Giveaway is open worldwide (exceptions noted above). Natural Kids team members are not allowed to enter.

We will choose 9 winners randomly on April 30th, 2012. (Please, make sure we have a way to contact you!)

In addition to the giveaways above, several shops are running Earth Day sales or other promotions!

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Helping Garden Friends For Earth Day

The celebration of Earth Day and the gift of Spring it is a wonderful time to focus on what I call “garden friends” with family and friends. These are the creatures that Mother Nature created to keep balance, health & harmony in our garden and yards and beyond. Learning about them and being aware of them fosters understanding and compassion towards the Earth we are all a part of.

Wild life such as the common songbirds, that can even be found in urban areas, and native toads found in more rural areas are tremendously helpful to all yards and gardens. And on the smaller side, lady bugs, praying mantis & dragon flies do their part in consuming harmful bugs and garden pests as well. Honey bees, native bees & butterflies pollinate our crops for us. It is always nice for children to learn about how helpful insects can be and to respect them and care for them. The experience of watching a pair of House Wrens build a nest, sit on the next and feed their young until they leave the nest is something they will always remember. They can watch how busy mother and father wren are, collecting insects to feed the young. When children learn about these creatures at an early age, to love and respect them and think of them as friends, it establishes a life long relationship with nature and a sense of being apart of this greater family.

To help establish this awareness and care, there are simple things families can do to participate in the support and longevity of these creatures. It is very important to find a balance of this kind of activity so that human intervention does not create a co-dependency of wild life on mankind, but rather encourages them to care for themselves naturally by supporting and protecting a healthy wild life habitat. A simple example of this would be feeding the birds. It is better to plant flowers and vegetables that are favored by the birds, such sunflowers, coneflowers, rudbeckias and elderberries instead of putting out commercial birdseed regularly. I only put out birdseed in deep winter when there is snow on the ground. Sometimes birds that should have migrated south & do not, like robins, need our help to get through the winter. Over all want to make wild life strong, but not dependent on us. We want to protect and create ideal habitat for them so they can prosper. Human development of homes and commercialization of land is one of the main problems for loss of natural habitat. Many common birds are what are called “cavity dwelling “ birds and their natural habitat is a hollow tree. As one can imagine, there are fewer and fewer hollow trees. We can help remedy this situation by putting up birdhouses, often called “ nesting boxes” or “bird boxes”, all being the same idea. This is a tremendous help to native bird populations and has helped bring back our native bluebird populations. The important note here is that the bird house is of the right dimension and design and mounted in the proper way. This information is readily available on line and in books. In a similar vein, nesting boxes can be put up for native bees, which are also called solitary bees. They are great pollinators and are very non-aggressive and do not live in hives. A native bee house can be hung in an orchard to great benefit of all. Houses and water can also be put out for our native toad population. Often referred to as the “the gardeners greatest friend” the common toad, harmless to all but the bugs— will consume literally thousands of bug a month. Native toads were once everywhere, have diminished from disease The toads diet includes all of our gardens greatest pests, such as earwigs, snails, slugs, squash and rose beetles, flies and many more!They feed mostly at night and only need a small water source for soaking in, such as a pot tray or crockery dish. Toads respond to human kindness in amazing ways, even learning to come when called for a bit to eat. They live 35 yrs or more in the same place and always come back to it after winter hibernation. To help toads we can create habitats for them with a water source, a house or place for them to dwell and lots of plants for them to find food around. My experience has always been that when I created a toad habitat, with water, vegetation, shady places, etc. toads would always come! Imagine the the excitement!

I will be going into more detail of how to create habitats for these garden friends in future postings! Please feel free to contact me with questions.

 

For further learning you can go here: Garden Toad Watch.

 

 

 

Lucinda Macy has been making delightful, functional & eco friendly homes out of found wood and recycled materials for many years…….time tested and loved by all. To learn more please visit her websites;

http://gardentoadwatch.blogspot.com/

http://elucinda.com/

http://willodel.blogspot.com

 

 

 

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Earth Day Giveaway From The Enchanted Cupboard

Comments on this giveaway are now closed. The winner is…

 

Carrie @ Crafty Moms Share

 

I’ve already contacted you, Carrie, and you have through 4/28/2012 to respond before a new winner is drawn.

 

Our giveaway this week is coming from Beccijo of The Enchanted Cupboard. I’ll let her tell you more about it.

Earth Day is really important to me, it reminds me of why I started my business. I wanted to make child-friendly/earth-friendly toys! I wanted to use sustainable supplies and make toys that would be cherished for generations.
It was also very important that I reflected all children and all families. When I first started there was not much diversity in similar toys being offered and I wanted to fill in the gaps. I offer a range of skin tone and have worked with many different combinations of family. It is so rewarding to hear parents say how happy they were to find my shop because they could not find dolls that represented their family!

When I started making my toys there was very little educational item on etsy. I developed and work on a collection of fun and educational toys to spark a child’s imagination. Recently a new customer came to me with a new need they were a Family Therapist and need simple dolls of many skin tones. This again I saw as something that would also work in a school setting.

In celebration of Earth Day I would like to offer, Dolls of The World and Earth Box.

These simply painted dolls are part of my Educational Toys. These are great for learning about the different shades of humankind and teaching children to appreciate their beauty. They are nicely stored in a hand painted Earth Box. You get 8 dolls in different shades of skin tones. The Earth box can be painted with any Continent as the main one .

 

Beccijo is also offering a discount code to everyone. Simply type in NATURALKIDSTEAM during checkout in her Etsy shop to receive 10% off your order. Good through 4/28/2012.

 

 

Here’s how to enter;
Leave a comment on this post. Don’t forget to leave us a way of contacting you.

For additional entries;

(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don’t, they count as one)

Tweet this (include @NK_Store in your tweet)

Share on Facebook

Blog this giveaway

Follow the NaturalKids blog

Like Natural Kids on Facebook

Like The Enchanted Cupboard on Facebook

Add the Enchanted Cupboard to your Etsy favorites

Follow Beccijo’s blog

 

Giveaway is open worldwide. Natural Kids team members are not allowed to enter.

We will choose a winner randomly on April 26th, 2012. (Please, make sure we have a way to contact you!)

 

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Never Ending Onion Dip

This is one of our families New Favorite recipes. It is very simple, 3 ingredients, and super yum! It is also a great treat to serve on Earth Day. We love this with raw veggies but it is also good on chips.

 

Never Ending Onion Dip

 

1 Bunch of Green Onions ( tops only)

2 cups of sour cream

Sea Salt to taste

 

Finely chop green onions. Mix in sour cream. Salt to taste

Simple…

 

Now here is the never ending part. Take the onion bottoms and add then to a recycled jar ( we used jelly jars ) half filled with marbles, find out about my Marble Relocation Program here. Fill water only to the top of the marble level. Place jar in a sunny window and the green tops will keep growing back!! We have several jars going at the same time and just cut off what we need with scissors.

What could be more EARTHY on Earth day, we recycled and reused!! ENJOY!

 

 

Article written by Beccijo. Find her creations at The Enchanted Cupboard and blogging here.

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happy earth day, today and every day

From all of us on the NaturalKids team on Etsy… may today be a day of connecting and reconnecting to nature and celebrating our earth as we protect it for generations and generations to come.

(photo above by Fairyfolk)

We’ve tried to make it a little easier for families to choose all-natural, eco friendly gear for their kids and homes by having a gigantic 56-shop-wide sale, so please check our shops out for all the details or search on Etsy for “naturalkids team earth day”.

And you can receive a free e-book filled with tutorials, kids crafts how-tos, ideas on connecting to nature and fantastic, wholesome recipes… just by finding a drawn gnome hidden in the listings of so many of our shops.

Happy EARTH DAY!

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the greening of a family


Today’s post about Earth Day and raising eco consciousness in our families is from Amy Turn Sharp of Little Alouette – you can visit their lovely shop of heirloom wooden rattles and toys here.

(photo above from Little Alouette)

Earth Day 2010 celebrates the 40th anniversary of a wonderful movement started by Senator Gaylord Nelson. He had a great idea and kept working at spreading the word in a grassroots way, starting with a Scholastic Magazine article that the schools across America read and shared. It seemed that everyone began working together to focus on starting this special day. It started small but has grown into a promise by many of us to protect and nurture Mother Earth.

photo via Flickr

I love the story of the movement being started by the small ones! Yay for wee ones and educators! You can start today to make life a bit greener in your home in simple and affordable ways. The greening of a family can start slowly with simple deliberate actions.


photo via Flickr

Here are some ideas for raising eco consciousness in your family:

• Make your own household items like detergents and cleaners. I made laundry detergent last year and have fallen in love with the economical and greener clean I get from the mix. Check out our blog here to find out how!

• I like to use vinegar for most of my cleaning. You can dilute it and add water and presto you have a perfect cleaner that is very inexpensive. Baking soda is perfect all-purpose scrub and won’t harm little ones. I love using natural products and I find that adding essential oils can give you a fresher scent and mood lift while cleaning.

• If you can give up a paper towel addiction turn to washable cloths and kitchen towels. I love micro fiber cloths!

• Teach your children well! Talk about recycling and head to a local landfill and recycling center for a field trip. Have a simple recycling center in your home and let even the youngest place items in the bins. Label bins with pictures and word and encourage your children to recycle each day. Try out backyard or kitchen composting. For a load of fun and science try vermicomposting! WORMS! (We do it and it is a blast!)

Art for kiddos- talk to kids about thinking first about the supplies we have in the home for art. The recycling bin is a perfect place to check first.

Check out the Crafty Crow for amazing recycled art activities!
I found this amazing Springtime fun on the site this week….


boats from cork!

Save those corks!

Another fun activity for Earth Day and beyond is stamp making in the recycling bin

You can start small and teach your children that tiny steps in the right direction will help us all and truly honor Mother Earth.

Thanks! Amy Turn Sharp of Little Alouette xo

Be sure to check out Little Alouette’s beautiful teething trees, made from Ohio maple wood (and much love), and all the other beautiful handmade pieces in their shop.

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Earth Day how-to :: make an upcycled shipping envelope {and another GIVEAWAY!}

Earth Day is just around the corner, and the NaturalKids team here on Etsy is having a huge (56 shops!) sale and promotion to celebrate. With the Earth as our muse, today’s tutorial is timely and fabulously functional. It’s by Kat from katsinthebelfry, her lovely shop full of gnomes, toys, kits, crowns and more.

Oh, and you can enter another beautiful GIVEAWAY of natural kids toys and more over at the beautiful blog, NaturalSuburbia

(a beautiful playsilk from PolkadotDragon, a felted snail from MuddyFeet and a wooden iron from PrettyDreamer)

Now onto the tutorial….
New (upcycled) shipping envelopes – the tutorial, by Kat

People have been emailing, asking about the envelopes I talked about recently. Since I needed to make a few the other day, I thought I’d photograph the process for you.

*prepare the bag: carefully remove the handles, & toss them into your recycling bin. Next you’ll need to cut the bag open; do this by cutting down one corner seam, then around the base. now your bag should lie flat.

* place your item on the bag, & measure 2 inches around. you can either cut out 2 of of this size, or fold your bag over, then cut once. i did the latter here. definitely fold if your item is bulky.

*with your machine set to zig zag, stitch around three sides. leave a bit of a seam allowance, & don’t forget to back stitch.

*slip your item in. make sure you ease it to the bottom of your envelope, so you don’t accidentally sew through it. for a bit of padding you can first wrap your item in some of the tissue you saved from your birthday prezzies.

*sew the fourth side closed, back stitching once more to avoid ravelling.

*if your bag has a fancy design, as does mine, add a label for the address.

*a reminder to recycle your envelope would be a lovely addition. perhaps i should have gone with a color not in the bag’s design.

*make more! my bag made 1 small, & 1 large envelope.

these are fun to make, & take very little time. happy envelope-making!
~peace.

Here’s something lovely from Kat’s shop!

Sunee, a Shakespearian wooden doll, clothed in Shakespeare’s writing, and sweet as can be!

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Happy Earth Day!

April 22 is Earth Day and the Natural Kids Team is celebrating in a big way. 55 member shops are having sales, promotions or giveaways. Check out the complete list of shops here.

To help you celebrate, many participating shops have generously donated several of their earth friendly items to be given away to a lucky winner. There are a total of five Natural Kids Team giveaways this month and one in May, including one on our own Natural Kids Blog.

This Earth Day giveaway features terrific earth friendly items from Knitting Momma, Curly Monkey, Muddy Feet and Elemental Handcrafts. These items are all crafted using natural materials and are a beautiful way to connect your child to the earth, naturally.

Knitting Momma has donated a hand knit ball. This hand knit woolen ball will provide lots of fun for toddlers and preschool age children. This ball is knit with wool and stuffed with natural stuffing.

Curly Monkey has provided an organic onesie, silk screened with a sweet eco print, using non toxic ( lead and phthalates free) soft water based inks.

Muddy Feet is donating a tiny felt snail. Perfect for a pocket or to add to a playset, the snail is hand sewn using plant-dyed wool felt (70% wool, 30% rayon) for the body, hand felted wool for the shell, and cotton thread. They measures a whopping 1.5 inches long (well, just over), and are about 3/4 to an inch inch at the widest and tallest.

Elemental Handcrafts is providing a gift certificate for a personalized wooden baby spoon.

To enter is simple, you must be a follower of the Natural Kids blog. Leave a comment stating that you are a follower and leave a contact email.

For additional entries:
~ become a fan of Natural Kids Team on Facebook
~ tweet about the contest (maximum once per day)
~ visit Knitting Momma, Curly Monkey, Muddy Feet and Elemental Handcrafts and leave us a comment telling us your favourite item(s) from each shop

Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry and remember to please include your contact info. Contest is open until April 22, 2010 at midnight. A winner will be announced on April 23, 2010. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be drawn.

There is another Earth Day giveaway on one of our member’s blogs, featuring more of our talented members’ items: visit the Magic Onion’s blog for more details. Stay tuned for details on our other upcoming Earth Day giveaways. To find other earth friendly items from the Natural Kids Team, search “Naturalkids team earth day” on Etsy. Happy Earth Day!