More Creatively Green Crafts

A toilet paper roll turned into a bejeweled gift card holder.

Soap boxes transformed into crafty gift boxes and gift card boxes.

More toilet paper roll transformations.

Paint sample chips make great gift tags.

Creatively Green Penguins

These cute little penguins were made from yogurt cups, small smoothie bottles, paint and craft foam. I love them. I spent last weekend making a bunch of green Christmas crafts and these were some that I created.

I think they are the babies to the penguin couple below.

These two crafty penguins were made from a laundry detergent bottle and a coffee creamer bottle, some paint, craft foam, and google eyes. Along with a few snowmen accessories I found in my Christmas craft box.

See what a little creatively green thinking can create.

Sarah Pinto's 2009 Weekly Planners

I am a paper junkie, no matter how green I am, I can never go completely paperless. My love affair with paper will never end, the touch, the look, the feel of it in my hands...

Even though I have electronic gadgets all my daily stuff gets written down. If it is not on my calendar or my official to do list it doesn't get done.

That's why I have fallen in love with Sarah Pinto's very green weekly planner books.

"Sarah Pinto's 2009 Weekly Planners are a simple, functional and fun organizational solution. These durable planners measure 5” by 7” and are made with high-quality recycled paper, soy-based ink and they are printed and bound in San Francisco, California. With five unique cover designs, Sarah Pinto’s 2009 Weekly Planners are a stylish, eco-friendly answer to your busy everyday schedule."

Partial proceeds from the sale of the pink tapestry planners (pictured here) are donated to the California Pacific Medical Center Pediatric Cardiology, a place very near and dear to her heart, and that of her son Charlie, who was born with a heart defect at CPMC.

If you are a hand writing, paper loving, eco-conscious person like me these planners should go on your Christmas list.

I am just old fashioned when it comes to writing everything down. It took me along time to actually write through a computer without handwriting everything first, but when it comes to important things it helps me remember it all if I write it down.

I am glad someone came up with an eco-friendly solution to the regular paper planner.

Green Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are creeping up fast and even though “green” is the thing; you may still have to search to find everything on your list in an eco-friendly version.

Here’s a quick Holiday Guide for the basics you’ll need this green holiday season -from a green Christmas guide book to help you green the holidays to eco-friendly cleaning supplies for quick cleanups before parties.

Holiday Cards

One of the biggest expenses and biggest source of holiday waste is greeting cards. If you still want to send physical greeting cards opt for those made from recycled paper or tree free content.

Smock Paper has some very unique letterpress greeting cards made on recycled paper, as does Oblations Papers.

If you are looking for a great place to make photo greeting cards but worried about the carbon footprint left behind, have no fear -My Good Greetings offers a great variety of custom made photo greeting cards printed on recycled paper. It’s about time someone offered an eco-friendly way to print photo greetings. Use My Good Greetings to create photo memories and send them only to close family and friends that will cherish them.

Save energy and resources by sending a majority of people on your list electronic greetings.

Books Make Great Gifts

There’s no argument that book lovers always love to receive books as gifts.

Do you have a few eco-stragglers on your shopping list. There are tons of green books available that can help those not so hip on the green thing yet to learn about being green and that will help them go green.

There are also two fabulous books that can help you make the holidays a shade greener.

Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season is the guide book to help you get through the holidays in green without seeing red. From decorating to shopping for gifts, to throwing holiday parties this wonderful little book will help any eco-minded mama streamline the holidays. Make this season more meaningful for your family and the environment with the help of Green Christmas, and if you want to help others have a more eco-holiday season this book will make a great gift.

Celebrate Green: Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family is another great book that can help you make all of your holidays and celebrations green. Not only will it help you get through the holiday season it also makes a fabulous gift.

Eco-Friendly Clothing

Do you have eco-fashionistas on your list? Fashion and Earth has stylish and very green clothing. Ladies check out the Grandview Gathered Neck Top in Cranberry. It is a bamboo and organic cotton blend. Comfortable enough to wear any time but stylish enough it can be matched with fancy slacks or a skirt and decked out with the right accessories for holiday parties.

For the teens on your list Mission Playground is a great choice. They are an environmentally conscious clothing company with purpose and style. Their funky designs deliver a message while being stylish and trendy. This cool eco-company offers organic cotton T-shirts and hoodies that even your style and brand conscious teen will love.

General Gifts and Things for the Home

Time Well Spent Gifts is an online store that carries a wide variety of fabulous items including an entire section of green products like stylish and sustainable Rubberwood bowls and other Rubberwood serving ware, plates made from recycled glass, votive candles made from recycled glass, soy candles, even organic baby clothing. Time Well Spent Gifts has many great green gifts along with fun items made by Toronto artisans.

Eco-Artware is “your one stop gift shop for all things beautiful, well made and environmentally friendly.” They offer a huge selection of handcrafted, green, and recycled artwork. Just a sampling of some of the cool things they offer: coasters made from old vinyl records, cuff links and jewelry made from old typewriter keys, bowls made from old records, purses made from scraps and juice containers.. The selections are amazing, fun, and very eco-hip. Your sure to find something just about anyone on your list at Eco-Artware. They even have toys for little ones.

Gifts for Kids

Maggie’s Organics adorable sock monkeys are cute, organic sock monkeys that are a must have for any kids on your list. My little guy received one months ago and it is still his favorite toy. He goes to bed with it at night and wakes up wanting it in the morning and usually carries it around everywhere with him. It is made from organic materials and filled with recycled poly fill. Very green and safe for your little ones.

Scout organic clothing for kids is a fun and funky line of organic clothing for your little ones. Scout’s organic cotton collection of “functional fashion” is cute, soft, and great for little ones on the move. With vibrant colors and super soft organic fabrics your little ones can be stylin’ green this season. The clothes in this line will make perfect gifts for little greenies.

Disney’s Tinker Bell DVD- I don’t know how green Disney is, but this bunch of nature loving fairies are all about saving the beauty of nature and deliver conservation messages that may inspire little girls everywhere to be more in tune with nature. Download the Fairyminders and print them on high quality recycled paper and let your little girls be inspired by Fairies.

CGKidz stainless steel water bottles I got two of these bottles, one for each of the younger kids, and they still fight over them (they are different bottles, not identical). I think I have to add more of these to my shopping list. The bottles are stainless steel and fabulously reusable, what a great way to carry around water or juice.

Make the Holidays Easier and Greener

Need to feed hungry little ones during the busy holiday season? Plum Organics microwave dinners are eco-friendly frozen dinners are great for eco-mamas on the go. The packaging is biodegradable and the food is organic so you don’t have to worry so much about what you’re feeding your little ones. Perfect for a quick lunch or meal during the hectic holiday season when you’re shopping, decorating, cleaning or wrapping presents and the kids need to eat something quick but nutritious.

Want something other than plastic to put all your holiday goodies in? ChicoBags are great reusable bags that can be balled up and carried in their own little pouch and hooked to your belt loop or purse strap. This way you can always have a shopping bag on you, no need for plastic. Get a couple to carry with you for the holidays or stock up since they make great stocking stuffers.

Need to clean? Almost every eco-mama is going to be doing a lot of cleaning this holiday season, better clean green. EcoDiscoveries is one of the newest all natural, eco-friendly cleaners on the market and they don’t disappoint. Reasonably priced, EcoDiscoveries products are safe, convenient and very easy to use. Perfect for quick clean ups or extreme cleaning before holiday gatherings.

Be on the lookout for more holiday recommendations throughout the season.

DIY Eco-Chic Soap from Bramble Berry

Eco Chic Soap:
Learn How to Make Your Own “Green” Suds
With Bramble Berry

Using your leftover soymilk and tofu cartons was never this fun! The environmentally conscious can now recycle in a new, creative way with Bramble Berry Inc., a provider of the highest quality ingredients for making personalized soaps.

When deciding what to add to your soap, think green! Herbs, oatmeal, coffee, spirulina, clay and charcoal each add a specific enhancement to the skin through their naturally occurring properties. With easy-to-follow recipes, Bramble Berry ’s eco chic soap can transform even the most novice crafters into “green” mini-Marthas.

These green soaps will make fabulous hand made presents. Supplies available at BrambleBerry.com.

Ingredients Needed:

Herbs

oatmeal

coffee grounds

spirulina

clay or charcoal

1 pound (16 ounces)Bramble Berry 'melt and pour' soap organic base

1 ounce essential oil (we used lavender and eucalyptus)
Soap mold (or Tupperware, or anything you find like an empty yogurtcontainer, old tofu container, empty soy milk container, etc.)

Rubbing Alcohol

Directions:

1. Prep your herbs and make sure they are the right size for gentle exfoliation. Sharp herbs may be too abrasive on the skin.

2. Cut the 'melt and pour' soap into 1 x 1" cubes.

3. Using your microwave, heat the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.

4. Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of essential oil. Remember, ifyou use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look lessclear and look more yellow/orange.

5. Mix in your herbs or additives. Stir until the herbs seem mostly suspended.

6. Pour your scented and herb'ed soap into the make-shift mold.
7. Tip: Don't fill your make-shift soap mold all the way up. It helps for easy release to fill 85% of the way to the top and not the entire way.

8. Do one finishing touch of rubbing alcohol to finish off your soap and give it a nice smooth surface

Wait for the soap to harden, pop or unwrap the soap out of the mold, wrap soap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the compliments you get.