Unique ecofriendly gift ideas!

Have you guys been over to Gifts.com? Well if you haven't and you just can't decide what to give someone for their birthday, or your just looking to buy something for yourself its a great way to search for just the perfect present including finding those awesome eco-friendly kid gear!

Basicly Gifts.com is a way to find items across a ton of diffrent sites. You don't actually purchase the items from Gifts.com but they point you in the right direction. If your anything like me you can spend hours and hours browsing through endless amounts of online catalogs just to find one really exceptional gift. Well now I just log onto Gifts.com to start my search and more times than not I can do all my searching on Gifts.com and purchase just the perfect gift.

Just browsing through their eco-friendly gift selection brings an awesome assortment of great eco-friendly items all in one place. We love to share our obsession with the eco-friendly and fabulous with friends and family but finding just that perfect eco gift to give is sometimes a challenge. Actually within seconds I found just the perfect stocking stuffer for Connor's Aunt Amber, a kitty shaped crank powered flashlight. I actually gave crank powered flashlights to all the boys in the family a few years ago but the girls were just not that interested as well um.. they were ugly. I'm sorry, I have to admit I'm guilty of this but if its just not cute its not worth using. heh. Ok maybe not all the time but I know if I had the choice of a pink flashlight and a plain silver or blue flashlight you better bet I'll be grabbing for the pink one. The same idea is true when it comes to the kitty flashlights over at Gifts.com!

I think many of us consider being "green" choosing energy saving items and recycled goods.. but have you even thought about recycled goods when it comes to your children's toys. No I'm not talking about used toys, but that is a start. I'm actually talking about toys made of recycled items. Gifts.com has a listing of recycled toys including a plush doll made from recycled fabric.

Check out the awesome selection of eco-gifts and while your over there just check out all the great catagories of gifts you can browse. Gifts.com is really a great one stop shop for planning that next gift!

Trucks built for the generations

I love wooden toys, something about the texture of wood and fact that it always seems warm to the touch to me just makes them inviting. Not to mention that though sometimes wooden toys are a bit more expensive they are the most economical toy choice in the end as well built wooden toys last generations and they are timeless so there is no need to upgrade your toys with each child or buy the newest and greatest thing. I actually plan on just packing up Connor's wooden toys when I'm done having children and I will store them somewhere safe until I have my own grandkids and hopefully even my great grand kids.

The only issue with wooden toys is so many of them are made in Europe. Needless to say I was ecstatic when I discovered Maple Landmark. Not only does Maple Landmark make beautiful well built wooden toys but they are right here in the US, Vermont to be exact. Every detail of Maple Landmark toys is made here in the US from the locally grown woods, to their in house production facility, to their local recycling efforts including free sawdust to farmers (Where where they when I had horses?!). Not to mention the fact that nothing is wasted, including using cast offs from other companies as obviously many of the pieces can be made of very small pieces of wood.

I had the worst time trying to decide which of the toys over there were my favorite. In the end I settled on the Montgomery Schoolhouse line as well, we live in Montgomery and I love being able to pick from unfinished pieces and painted pieces that all work together. I ended up getting Connor a Montgomery Schoolhouse Racing Team which if your looking only to add one or two wooden pieces to your collection you get a big bang for your buck with the Racing Team. It includes the carrier truck and two racing cars so its actually three toys. The racing cars are tons of fun on their own and are great for learning to share. The people in the front of the carrier come out and Connor is still a bit too young for the peg people so on our truck I took the people out for now and I'll replace them when he is past the teething stage so no one takes any damage.

Along with the Montgomery Schoolhouse line while your over at Maple Landmark make sure you check out the name trains and the baby rattles. I absolutely love the Name Train line and I absolutely love the cars that are part of the accessory line as well as the animal cars.

Maple Landmark's toys are available for purchase directly on their website!

Maple Landmark was awesome enough to send over an extra racing car so we can share with our readers! One reader will get their own natural finish racing car of their very own!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out Maple Landmark and tell which toy or game is your favorite other than the ones we mentioned in this post!
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end September 15th at midnight!

Abstract painting for anyone...

Ok its official.. I am now totally obsessed with the Discovery Store's selection of products. Every time I go back I end up falling in love with something else.

Ive been looking high and low for some sort of "art" supply that was totally portable, did not require refills, and did not use batteries or electricity of any kind so it would be portable and well I just hate having to take my batteries and battery charger with me everywhere so when it comes to traveling toys I try to avoid batteries all together.

The Colora by Hape toys solves all those problems in one fail swoop and its eco friendly to boot! Made with diffrent shaped Bamboo "blocks" with a magnetic board you just arrange the blocks any way you see fit to make new pictures, textures, or even beautiful abstract works of art. Each of the blocks are slightly curved in one direction which adds a whole new 3D element to the arrangements as well. The best part is its fairly small a little less than 10 x 10 so its the perfect lap toy for long car trips. Personally I find them addicting and they are are great for older preschoolers (4+) up to adults!

The Colora is part of the Bamboo collection of eco-friendly toys sold at the Discovery Store. The Discovery Store actually lets you search their store for eco friendly toys and goods and gives them logos as to how they are eco-friendly. The Bamboo Collection is rated as renewable as Bamboo is fast growing (grows back in 3 years!) and the Colora is made with water based stains!

Go check out the Discovery Store's eco-friendly department!

Super Rug.. seriously

Ever dream of having a rug that can withstand baby spit up, dog pee, finger paints.. whatever on earth your family can dream up (aka mess up!).

Flor makes quite possibly the most family friend carpeting and rugs a mom could ask for... If you have a stain that just wont come clean.. no matter what you throw at it, well never fear you can just replace that bit of carpet or rug. Seriously..

Call FLOR the "block" version of carpet, you just put these little carpet squares together in whatever pattern/shape/color combo you choose and you have not only a custom designed rug, but they will truely fit any room or design you can dream up. I was really concerned that once they were put down you would not be able to vacuum your rug as with seven dogs in the house and Connor, vacuuming is really a daily reality. To my pleasant surprise not only can you vacuum the tiles once they are down, if one gets soiled you can also pick it up and wash it (actually wash it!!) in the sink. Oh what I would give to have my bedrooms done in FLOR .. I can only imagine how awesome it must be to be able to just wash your carpet especially once you enter those potty training years (babies or dogs) and someone has an accident. Mind you FLOR recommends that you use clean them using cool water and a non solvent cleaner if necessary. I found just a nice rinse does the trick in most situations. Though I am not sure I would recommend tons of repeated washings for longevity's sake.. but a good rinse after an "uh oh" would certainly be better than the alternative.

You know I think from the standpoint of in previous years I have moved quite a bit, the thing I regret most about not investing in a FLOR rug sooner was that all this time I didn't want to spend the money on a rug as I never knew what size I might need at the next "place". Well with FLOR you can just put as many or a little together that you need and size is never an issue.

All FLOR carpet tiles are made with some recycled fibers as well as are recyclable themselves.. so once your totally done with your FLOR no need to send it to the landfill. Just call FLOR and they will provide you a location that accepts them for recycling. Check out what FLOR is doing to go green.

FLOR has so many color options and patterns to choose from.. its a bit dizzying.. With a tile calculator and design ideas available right on the FLOR website your bound to find something to tickle your fancy!

You can buy FLOR directly from their website as well as at a local retailer.

Baby Care : Mei Mei Baby

Talk about a product showing up at the right time and at the right place. We got a sample of Mei Mei Laundry Concentrate a few weeks ago and I had no idea at the time I found out it was coming exactly the sort of review scenario I'd have.. but I put this stain cleaner to some serious tests.

Connor, myself, and my mom all go the flu shortly after the Mei Mei laundry concentrate arrived and though Connor's illness was very short lived he did continue on to have diarrhea for a full TWO weeks afterwards.. and I am not talking about mushy stuff we are talking about full running down the leg water (yes i know thats gross). Along with violently yacking all over my clothes and his the first few days after he got sick.

Needless to say we had ALOT of laundry.. most of which had some pretty serious stains... even worst is I really did not feel like doing laundry when I had a 104 fever myself so many of his sleepers sat in the sink with the laundry concentrate on it and not that I doubted the ability of Mei Mei I certainly did not think anything could prevent the sort of stains Connor was inflicting on his wardrobe. I actually had a really depressed moment thinking I was going to have to go out and buy Connor all new clothes and on my budget that would have been rough.

Needless to say when we finally did get around to washing all the laundry I really was scared to take it out of the dryer.. I actually stood by the trash can ready to throw away the poo stained clothing, and I almost fained when I actually took the clothes out of the basket and they looked the same as they had previous to Connor getting sick. I seriously did a happy dance.. and please do not ask me to repeat it!

Now that I'm done ranting about poo stains.. I can tell you not only does Mei Mei Laundry Concentrate work obvious wonders on stains, but it does not contain any any petrochemicals, parabens or SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfates). Which actually floors me as the ingredients are all natural and it still worked wonderfully!

Mei Mei also had a great line of baby care products including the Mei Mei Liquid Baby Powder which of all the products I've sampled other than the Laundry Concentrate was my favorite. I'm a huge fan of baby powder and I know it can be dangerous to little lungs but the liquid baby powder gave me my baby powder fix without the danger. Not to mention it smells fabulous!

Want to try out Mei Mei for yourself?
Visit Mei Mei and check out their entire line of baby products as well as their laundry items.

Toy Review : Anamalz + Giveaway!!

Welcome to my new addiction! Anamalz are a new wooden toy distributed here in the US by Hape International.

Anamalz are designed in Australia and meets or exceeds American and European safety standards. All of the materials used are nontoxic including the glue! They are made from polished maple wood giving each Anamalz their own unique look so no two are identical which I love as every child gets their own special looking Anamalz, the character of the grain of the wood in my opinion gives the Anamalz a unique organic quality thats beautiful as well as a character all their own.

Currently available in 26 diffrent animals from farm to safari with more in the works they offer a large variety for play as well as a collectible aspect that appeals to me! Personally we would LOVE to have one of each.. (hey Connor's birthday is coming up!)

One thing I should mention, Anamalz takes care of Animals!! A percentage of each Anamalz purchased goes towards wildlife charities around the world.

Anamalz have their own music and theme song too.. I warn you now its addicting and I find myself singing it way too often. LOL Listen at your own risk (it may just get stuck in your head too).


Want them?
Ive started seeing Anamalz pop up at major retailers which is great news as I think finally people are starting to catch on to environmentally friendly and SAFE toys.. Ive also added the entire line to my storefront. You can also pick them up at Amazon!

Win them!
I have TWO Anamalz to give away to one lucky reader! One reader will receive a Crocodile and a Hippo!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Visit the Anamalz collection and tell me which Anamalz is your favorite. No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
  
• Please US entries only.
  
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  
• This contest will end Feb 25th at midnight!

Feeding Review : Safe Sippy

Made by KidBasix the Safe Sippy is a great option if your looking for a sippy cup that is free from Bisphenol A, phthalates and DEHA (They are certified!). Priced at about $14.95 its not awful on the wallet either.

Made from Stainless Steel and polypropylene this cup sports a thermoplastic soft rubber cover that protects it from dents, scratches and well just makes it look prettier. Connor actually prefers holding on to the soft plastic shell vs the cold stainless steel.

The handles are removable and rotate able (even with the cup is screwed closed) which is great for adjusting it for Connor, who currently is just beginning to use sippy cups and sometimes needs a little help. I had heard some parents did not like the angled sippy spout but we found it much easier to use and manipulate than a traditional strait flat spout. Connor picked the cup up and could use it within seconds without any help or direction from me, which is fabulous. For a stainless steel cup it is light and easy to hold which is great for the little ones.

On the leak factor I give this cup a 4 out of 5 stars.. its not 100% leak proof but it is spill proof. To get this cup to leak we had to turn it upside down and shake it and it would slowly drip.. not enough to bother me especially with our hardwood floors I find that more than acceptable. Connor has thrown this cup across the room in more than more occasion and we only suffered a few drops of milk on the floor.

Though you can wash this in the top rack of the dishwasher it is not recommend that you do so with stainless steel cups. We did one pass in the dishwasher and the cup was not worst for wear... but we plan on hand washing it under most circumstances. Unless you forget and leave the cup to get all funky just a quick rinse and soap should be all you need (not a huge sacrifice to keep your baby from digesting anymore harmful chemicals than possible!!)

Want one?
Visit Safe Sippy and check out their store locater for a list of online stores as well as local stores that carry their products!

Baby Food Review : Jack's Harvest

These beautiful little hearts were Connor's dinner earlier this week. They look too pretty to eat almost! Connor on the other hand did not think so, he devoured them in record time.

If your worried about what goes into your babies stomach, Jack's Harvest will make even the pickiest mom feel good. Made from 100% organic ingredients in a certified organic kitchen by a Chef who is a mom herself all of their foods are a great option.

Their food selection varies per season as since all of their foods are organic the selection of foods depends on what is in season. Seeing as all of the veggies and fruits used are hand selected by the Jack's Harvest moms at their local farmer's market you can be sure only the best and freshest foods are used. My favorite part is there are NO fillers, preservatives, or sugar and salt added to any of their baby foods.

All of their foods arrive at your doorstep frozen in these beautiful little heart shaped cubes ready to defrost and serve. Connor recieved a pacakge of More Peas Please, Lip Smacking Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash-ed Apples, Peek-a-boo pumpkin pear, and a Veg out Potatoes and Broccoli. What shown is the Lip Smacking Sweet Potatoes and More Peas Please, I tried both of them and honestly I wish I could bring Heather home with me to make some of these sweet potatoes in an adult version (they are SOO yummy!!).

Want some of your own? Visit Jack's Harvest and browse through their great selections.

The best part! Connie & Heather are offering one reader a Jack's Pack of your choice!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go visit Jack's Harvest and tell me which of their current offerings sound yummy to you. No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com)
• Please US entries only.
  
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  
• This contest will end Feb 16th at midnight!

Organization Review : Lobotome + Giveaway!

Lobotome offers some great organization goods that are mom friendly and eco friendly (all are made of recycled paper)!


The MomMe weekly planner is great for those of you that prefer a desktop pad compared to a journal type planner. Each page is organized by week and have a place for several schedules, errands that need to be done, personal stuff, dinner plans, exercise tracker, a weekly shopping list, and a household to do list. Once you have your schedule written out you can just rip off that page and stick it in your purse or diaper bag!

Along with weekly planners Lobotome sells the cutest notepads in a variety of topics. My personal favorite is the weekly to do list as I always have a ton of stuff to do each week and without fail I always end up forgetting something.
Want one? Visit Lobotome and check out their great products. You can purchase them right off their web page!

I'm giving away a MomMe Planner and a HelpMe Honey Do List to one winner. Enter below.

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go visit Lobotome and tell me which of their products would best suit you and why. No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com)
• Please US entries only.
  
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  
• This contest will end Feb 14th at midnight!

Cleaning Review : Dropps Laundry Detergent

Ok, I admit I hate doing laundry.. its just annoying and with a baby it comes in large quantities. I cannot even tell you how many loads one tiny person makes in a week but lets just say I do three loads of his vrs one of mine and his clothes are SOO much tinier. Not to mention having 7 dogs... I'm lucky if my washing machine ever stops running.

When I got the chance to try Dropps I was pretty excited, not only for the environmental benefits but just a pure time saver as well.

Dropps come in a tiny package, holding enough of these little guys to do 20 loads. When I say tiny I'm serious, the package is smaller than a 8oz cereal box. If your worried about the enviorment, which I most certainly am, you can feel good that Dropps is totally biodegradable, phosphate-free, and enzyme-free. It does not sud so its safe for your HE washers. Along with all of that, Dropps are totally safe to use on any of your laundry loads including baby laundry (no enzymes.. no irritation!)!

So with all these promises we decided to put them to the test. We conducted a laundry experiment over several weeks testing everything from towels, dog laundry, my delicates, and the baby laundry. Here's what we found :

Dropps claims that each little packet does one load of laundry and no fabric softener is needed. So unless noted we used ONE Dropps packet per load and no stain treatment or fabric softener.

• Towels - though I was hesitant to wash my towels without any sort of fabric softener, Dropps claims you do not need fabric softener with their product so we followed their lead. I can happily tell you that my towels were clean, soft, and though I did miss the fabric softener smell, Dropps performed as promised.
• Delicates - As with the towels I missed that fabric softener smell but it the "Fresh Sent" did leave a nice though faint smell. There were no signs of "detergent streaking" which I sometimes see especially on the delicates where the detergent didn't totally get washed off and it leaves darker areas.
• Baby Laundry - I did not pre-treat Connor's laundry with stain treater to see just how well Dropps would perform against Connor's best arsenal of stains. They actually did get out 90% of the stains without any extra help. Thats pretty impressive without any enzymes! I did go back and treat just a few of the articles and rewash them (again in Dropps) and we were stain free.
• Dog Laundry - Ok this is not exactly a fair test for any laundry detergent as my dogs can conjure up some laundry issues that are difficult to manage. I first tried their laundry with only one Dropp per load and it did a fairly good job but still some doggy odor (though faint), the second time around I used two Dropps per load and it actually cut out 99% of the smells which is amazing as normally I use several laundry additives along with my regular detergent to try to cut through the Dog Funk.

So the ruling? Dropps did all they claimed to do, plus my favorite part about them is they take up very little room on my laundry shelf. My laundry room is about the size of a small closet so I really appreciate the fact that I can store a large amount of them in a very tight space. Plus not having to pick up that super heavy container to do laundry is fabulous! I will note I tried the Fresh Sent and the Free & Clear on Connor's laundry and he had no reaction to either variety.

You can buy Dropps on their webpage as well as on Amazon!

So here is the best part!! Dropps has agreed to give one of my readers a whole years supply!! A WHOLE YEAR, can you imagine.. not having to buy any laundry detergent for a year?!?! (I'm soo jealous of whoever wins this one!!)

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go visit Dropps and tell me what is most attractive to you about them! No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com)
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• This contest will end Feb 4st at midnight!