Green Cupboards

It seems I have been slacking on my hunting down green businesses. I have been a bad beagle! I didn’t want to continue to disappoint so I have found GreenCupboards.com. I have written a few articles on items I have found at their store. GreenCupboards.com offers a wide variety of items such as toys, grocery items, outdoor, office and even electronics. I know many green retailers may sell green products but their values are lacking. GreenCupboards.comgoes out of their way to assure their customers that they are as legitimate as their products.

About GreenCupboards.com: Green Cupboards is a leading online retailer of eco-friendly products for homes and businesses. Based in Spokane, Washington, the company was the winner of a regional university business plan competition and was subsequently co-founded in 2008 by Gonzaga University graduates Josh Neblett, Sarah Wollnick and their Adjunct Professor, Tom Simpson.
Struck by the lack of one-stop shopping alternatives for eco-friendly merchandise, the co-founders set out to create a customer-centric brand and streamline the way people buy green. Greencupboards targets consumers who strive to do the right things to sustain the planet, yet are challenged to find a broad selection of eco-friendly products that work and cost about the same as a their non-green counterparts.
GreenCupboards offers the vastest array of thoroughly vetted eco-friendly products of any e-retailer in our market. We currently provide approximately 15,000 unique items from over 600 suppliers. Critical to our mission, we endeavor to provide an easy, fun and educational shopping experience, over-the-top customer service and competitive prices. To date, we have satisfied the purchasing needs of over 100,000 consumers.
GreenCupboards employs over 50 youthful, zany and eco-friendly minds. Our culture is as dynamic as the shopping experience we deliver.

Made By Me Box Set

Less assembly than model cars but way more fun!! A child can learn how to create, build and have fun. The Made By Me Box Set allows children the chance to make relatively simple vehicles and then decorate them anyway they like. Better than a preassembled toy in my book. The Made By Me Boxed Set is also one parents don’t really need to help with. I like toys that show children how learning and creating is fun and exciting. Who know’s this might be the spark your child needs to figure out what he or she will want to be when they grow up.

Product Description: The Made By Me Set Details:
Get 4 original vehicle kits in one box. Includes the blank bodies for a train, tugboat, tractor, and truck plus wheels and axles for each. The Made By Me series allows children 3 and up to have a good creative and constructive time! The assembly instructions are enclosed. All you need is some glue, a hammer, and paints, crayons, stickers or anything you want use for designing your vehicles.

Made in the USA.

Eco-friendly toys and games are becoming easier to find these days so why not get in on the fun! I found some amazingly green fun for kids and the family at one of my favorite green stores Green Retail and Wholesale, LLC. You can stock up on summer fun all in one place for the entire family.

Head1Liners

Head1Liners is a total family fun game! You can get everyone involved! Adults would probably get a kick out of it even if kinds aren’t around to play. Description: A hilarious party game in which you literally write the news! Players are given 1 of 386 curious “front page” photographs and write a news headlines for it. Creativity, satire, or straightforward journalism attempts will all fare well in this inclusive, social game about our diverse perspectives. Expect absurd headlines that leave you in stitches laughing!

Xeko Mission Games

Xeko Mission Games are almost like a modern day Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. I like it! This is not only educational but really fun! Description: Xeko combines two things kids love: collectible cards and animals. Play tested across the USA and the verdict is in – having fun is only natural! Ancient Xeko forces are joining together to defend the most fascinating and most threatened places on Earth. The search is on for the next generation of Xeko Masters. Are you ready for the awesome animals, globe-trotting fun, eye-popping art, and brain-stimulating strategy?

idbids

idbids are kind of really cool! They are an exceptionally fun interactive toy that really teaches kids how to protect the environment. Description: Lovingly handcrafted using 100% organic Egyptian cotton which has been colored with natural organic dyes. No two are alike, just like children! With the purchase of each kit, a child can enter a code online that will help protect the habitats of animal friends through The Nature Conservancy’s Plant A Billion Trees campaign, Adopt an Acre, or Rescue the Reef programs.

BUZZ FREE ZONE

The summer is coming quickly and the one thing I absolutely despised about it was bug bites! Most repellents are super gross but not miessense! Description: Every single ingredient in miessence certified organics line of products is beneficial to your skins health. Not only is every ingredient safe (in fact, edible) but every ingredient does something great for your skin right down to the preservatives and antioxidants. These products use only certified organic cold-pressed and unrefined oils and therapeutic grade herb and flower extracts. Products are also cold-formulated so precious oils are never exposed to damaging heat.

DIY Bath Fizzies

I love taking baths and relaxing! Even more I love to make the elements that make my bath so relaxing. I know most people probably wouldn’t enjoy it because it is time consuming but there is nothing better than being able to customize the product to your specific liking. You also know what is going into the product and if it is really safe or not. If you are like me and enjoy making your own beauty products here is how you can make your own DIY Organic Bath Fizzies:

Ingredients:
•1/2 cup citric acid
•1 cup organic baking soda
•3/4 cup organiccornstarch
•1/4 cup organic cane sugar
•About 6 drops organic food coloring
•10 to 15 drops organic essential oil(s
•Spray bottle
•Silicone ice-cube tray (any fun shape you have)
•Storage jar (preferable something recycled you can always decorate it anyway you want)

Directions:
1.Stir together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch in a measuring cup.
2.Pass mixture through a fine sieve or a flour sifter into a mixing bowl.
3.Stir in sugar.
4.Fill spray bottle with water, and add food coloring.
5.Spritz mixture lightly (it should be damp and not wet enough to start fizzing) until you can pack mixture with your hands.
6.Add oil using a dropper, 1 drop at a time, until strength of scent is to your liking.
7. Use a metal spoon or your hands to mix ingredients until color is even throughout (mixture may begin to dry out if this happens, spritz until packable again).
8.Spoon into ice-cube tray & pressing firmly.
9. Let dry at room temperature overnight.
10. Pop out of tray gently and transfer to decorative jars.

**As usual you can add your own fun to this by using edible glitter, eco-paint to decorate the fizzies after they have dried! Be creative. It’s fun!

Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys!

I have been seeing tons of green science projects and green toys in commercial stores lately. This is something I haven’t seen before. Usually when shopping for gifts I have to do it online at green stores because they are the only ones who carry them but over the weekend while looking for some gifts I saw this My Toy Factory – Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys!
set and I was excited! I got a few of them to give to some kids that I knew would love them.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to start teaching children at a young age the importance of our environment and being eco-friendly.  This is something that will stick with them throughout their whole lives. Click here if you want to get My Toy Factory – Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys! of your own.

Product Description:
My Toy Factory is an entertaining and eco-friendly concept where children MAKE their own play area and play environment using everyday material like straws, ice-cream sticks and newspapers etc and then BREAK these toys to understand how they work. Children open the kit and get an appointment letter to become workers in their own Toy Factory. They make tickly whistles out of ice cream sticks, swooshing jet cars from bottles & balloons along with ten more exciting toys using their toy kit. A perfect gift to engage the creative gene pool of your kid!

I never like to get rid of glass bottles and jars at home because I know they could be used for something else. Last night I was going through and organizing all of my crafting supplies and thought why not decorate some of them for funzies. I have been looking to do more crafting and send some gifts out anyway so this is a great way to reuse things I have around the house. This is also an excellent way to make a dent in my glass collection sitting in my basement. I used some ribbon, buttons, paper flowers and hot glue to attach everything and I think it looks pretty cute! If you don’t have a craft collection at home or don’t stock pile odds and ends like i do you want to decorate your own below are some links to where I got some of the stuff you see on my bottle:

Old broken or unused jewelry and hair accessories
Rags that are clean
Wrapping Paper or paper you have at home
Paper Flower Assortment
Buttons
Old Pins and Brooches
Bottle Caps
Ribbon
Glitter
Die cuts

The possibilities are endless! This is a great party craft for kids or scouting. You can even go natural and get leaves, twigs rocks, sea shells, sand anything! The Shabby Chic bottles make for great gifts or even something new to spruce up your house!

Wild Dill is one of my fave green shops for kids! You can get clothes, toys and gifts all in one spot. I appreciate a store that is really dedicated to the green cause instead of just claiming to be. I would also like to add that this is another company with awesome customer service. That is one of the most important things to me when shopping anywhere. Now on to the fun stuff!

Uncle Goose Antics Ant Blocks

Wild Dill Uncle Goose Antics Ant Blocks – Images of ant hills, a queen with her eggs and an enemy spider, Non-toxic, child safe inks, 16 blocks, Made in Michigan.

Yellow Label Kids Organic Bird Rattles

Wild Dill Yellow Label Kids Organic Bird Rattles -Set of three rattles: one bird and two owls,Fair Trade, made by groups of artisans spanning the globe from Chile to Nepal,100% organic bamboo yarn.

Roy Toy Earth Friendly Tree House

Wild Dill Roy Toy Earth Friendly Tree House – 71 pieces,Pieces tumbled for a smooth finish,Natural color with no dyes,Building instructions included,Packaged in a cotton bag,Made in USA

Zubels Organic Crinkle and Rattle Giraffe

Wild Dill Zubels Organic Crinkle and Rattle Giraffe- Hand knit,Low impact dyes,Arms span 13″ making them perfect for tying onto strollers, cribs and car seats,Fairly made in the Philippines, 100% Organic Cotton Yarn

I was perusing some of my fave stores to find some gifts I would like to receive on this day of our love Feb, 14,2012 and I think I found some super awesome stuff! Don’t forget you can show your love while shopping responsibly! Love your Valentine and our Planet!!

Aromatherapy Gift Set Candles

Set the mood for your romantic evening with these super cute beeswax candles!The gift sets scents are Harmony (Lavender & Geranium), Rapture (Patchouli & Cassia) and Sensuality (Palmarosa & Geranium). Talk about great combo right! Beeswax is a renewable resource that cleans the air by emitting purifying negative ions. Who knew right? BuyGreen.com – Your Trusted Source for great Valentine’s Gifts

Gerbera Daisies

I’m not a fan of roses but Organic Bouquet offers a wide array of beautiful bouquets to choose from. You can never go wrong with flowers on this awesome holiday. Organic Bouquet is the place to go if you do go the flower route. They harvest their flowers sustainably and even ship them greenly. Eco-Elegant Valentines Day Flowers & Gifts Starting At $29.95- OrganicBouquet.com!

Valentine's Ganache

Is there any better way to tell someone you love them then by giving them chocolate? I am pretty sure not! These beautifully hand panted chocolates are filled with super delish cherry puree, made from organic ingredients. Organic Bouquet never goes wrong with great eco-gifts!Free Gourmet Chocolates with Purchase of One Dozen Sweet Romance Roses! OrganicBouquet.com!

Organic Truffles & Sangria Lovebird

Ok jewelry and chocolate that is probably the winningest combo for a V-day gift ever! From War to Peace has packed up their amazing Peace Jewelry and combined it with organic truffles! Omg to die I say to die!! Get yours fast before the day of love is over!

 You must know I love body scrubs because I write about exfoliating all of the time! I generally like to make my own but sometimes you don’t have time for a fresh beauty treatment so you must go to the next best thing! If you have to purchase a cosmetic or beauty product make sure you are choosing a responsible one. Remember whatever ingredients are in the product are going in and on your body. I know the words are difficult to sometimes understand on the back of the bottle but that should be the first clue that maybe you should rethink using that product. Cocoon Apothecary has a wide variety of skin care products that are perfect for the green beauty inside all of us.  You can see for yourself in their ingredient listings.  Nothing crazy in there.  You can pronounce all of the ingredients and probably have seen most of them in nature. I am actually drawn to the site simply because I think it is pretty. It is simple and almost elegant much like their products. No flashy designs or adds to confuse the customer, their products speak for themselves which speaks volumes about the kind of business Cocoon Apothecary really is.

Product Description:

This gentle exfoliating cleanser combines the purifying powers of lavender and geranium with spherical jojoba beads to remove dead skin cells and keep pores clean and clear. This facial cleanser is for all skin types so don’t be afraid to give it a try.

BENEFITS:

•Promotes skin-cell turnover, a process that slows down with aging.
•Keeps skin pimple-free by keeping pores clear and unclogged.
•A gentle formula that can be used daily as a scrub and a cleanser.

KEY INGREDIENTS:

•Jojoba Beads Non-abrasive beads that gently exfoliate skin.
•Lavender Essential Oil Anti-bacterial, healing, combats acne.
•Geranium Essential Oil Astringent, balancing.

GOOD STUFF:

•Biodegradable with eco-friendly beads
•Cruelty-free and vegan
•Made with certified organics
•Rated 0 on the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetic Database
•Amber glass bottle, corn label, pre-cycled pump and cap

INGREDIENTS:

Distilled water, certified organic sweet almond oil, jojoba beads, certified organic virgin coconut oil, cetearyl alcohol, stearic acid, vegetable glycerin, certified organic geranium essential oil, certified organic lavender essential oil, sodium anisate, sodium levulinate, sodium cetearyl sulfate, rosemary leaf extract.

Make Your Old Candles New

While un-Christmas-ing our house last weekend I realized we have a bunch of candles that we can’t use anymore but I didn’t want to throw them out because there was still plenty of wick, wax and perfectly good jars for some left over. I have many a glass container sitting in our basement waiting for some good use and it struck me, I can make new candles out of these. I always struggle with our tea lights as well that can’t burn anymore but there is still wax left over. I did some online research and making old candles new really isn’t that difficult.

1. Separate your colored, scented and plain candle wax from each other. In the articles I have read mixing colors generally turns the wax brown so trying to mix may not always be that good of an idea. The same goes for scented wax. The idea of mixing scents sounds fun but they may not mix as pleasantly as you might think.

2. If you have wax in glass containers you can remove the wax by boiling water in a pot. Once the water is boiling put the glass containers in the water and let sit until wax is melted enough to pour out of the container.

3. While you are waiting for the water to boil/wax to melt get your new containers or molds ready.  Make sure to clean the containers first and that they are dry before pouring wax in.  Also make sure the glass is at room temperature before pouring the wax in.  You don’t want them to crack.

4. If you want to add color or scents to plain candles while the wax is melted add some food coloring, or your favorite scented oils. You can also add dried fruit or herbs if you want to get fancy. Make sure to stir thoroughly.

5. Once the was is ready you can pour into the container, mold or cookie sheet. If you are pouring directly into a container make sure to put a straw in the center of the candle while the wax is still hot so you can put the wick in it. Once you have the wick where you want it slowly remove the straw from the middle. I wouldn’t pull the straw completely out so you can make sure the wick doesn’t fall into the hot wax and melt back into the candle. If you are using a cookie sheet/mold and intend to cut out shapes let the wax harden a little before cutting the shapes follow the same instructions for adding the wick as in the container except you may have to hold the straw up if the mold isn’t tall enough to keep the straw from falling over while the wax is still hot.

6. Once the wax has dried a little and is ready to cut, do so carefully with a cookie cutter or knife. Remove the mold or cookie cutter quickly so the wax doesn’t stick to it but also make sure the shape holds. If it doesn’t the wax is too soft.

7. Once the wax is set and hard you have brand new candles without spending any money! You can give them away as gifts or keep them for yourself.

8. If you want to layer colors or scents you can use a oj or milk carton as a mold.  Pour the first layer in the mold and wait for it to set, then the next and so on until you have the layers you want.  You can follow the same directions with the straw as above for adding the wick.