September 7, 2010

Homemade Belly Butter (All-Natural Pampering for Pregnant Mamas)

Homemade Belly Butter

Written by Stacy K, Contributing Writer The gift of a child is certainly a blessing and pregnancy can be a wonderful experience.  However, for many of us, the joy and privilege of carrying a new life comes with a few physical discomforts. Itchy, dry skin on our ever-expanding bellies is a common complaint. While moisturizing a mother’s tummy can bring some relief to this condition, ordinary lotion often lacks the power to soothe stretched out skin—enter belly butter.  Rich and emollient belly butter does the [...]

Filed Under: Homemade skincare and beauty, Natural living, Pregnancy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments
August 19, 2010

How to Get Set In Stains Out of (Almost) Anything

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Stephanie's note: Have you begun to notice a theme here this month? We're talking about laundry strategies, hence the posts on stain removal, one of the biggest questions that I get in regards to natural laundry care. Find charts for successful stain removal, and the trick that saves my sanity and my kid's clothes. Coming up are cloth diapering tips, a tour of our Family Closet and a mom's laundry detergent consumer panel in September! Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer Stains are a big [...]

Filed Under: Going green, Homemaking Tagged With: , , , , , , , 39 Comments
August 17, 2010

The Stain Removal Trick That Saves Kids Clothes, Money, and My Sanity

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This was a good night. A really good night. Johanna LOVES to eat. With her fingers. Exactly what we are eating. While yanking off her bib. My three year old still desperately needs a bib at mealtimes, though he fights it. My 5 1/2 year old ought to wear one permanently. Just for walking, talking and breathing. Here's her shirt from today: Again, this was a good day. Only a few small paint stains? Bravo! Hip hip hooray! For the longest time, I was just [...]

Filed Under: Going green, Natural living, Non-toxic cleaning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 59 Comments
August 10, 2010

Insomnia: How to Find Sleep Naturally

Sleeping Baby

Guest Post by Andrea Lack of sleep is common when you are raising infants. But what happens when your infants have reached their teens and you still can’t sleep? Insomnia affects millions of people but is 41% more prevalent in women than in men. For me, lack of sleep has meant I’m not capable of being the mother I want to be. I’ve found myself drifting off in the afternoons or needing to lie down and power nap – even if for just 15 minutes. [...]

Filed Under: Living healthy, Natural Remedies Tagged With: , , , , , , , 27 Comments
August 3, 2010

Charting the Way to Successful Stain Removal

hanging the laundry

Written by Sharon Kaufman, Contributing Writer A Common Thread in the Fabric of Life It's something we all do on a regular basis; one of the most common threads among women around the globe. Of course, you've guessed it by now because of the picture... LAUNDRY. The Romance of the Clothesline I've always been fascinated with laundered clothes hung out to dry when visiting other places. In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, my husband and I were treated to clotheslines beautifully bedecked with Amish clothing. Mostly black [...]

Filed Under: Going green, Homemaking, Non-toxic cleaning Tagged With: , , , , , , 19 Comments
July 7, 2010

Simplicity and Freedom

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Written by Emily McClements, Contributing Writer It’s been a little over a year that I have really been pursuing this “frugally green” lifestyle.  I still feel very new to it, there is so much I still want to learn about, changes I want to make, and areas that I want to grow in. But, in other ways, it feels like I have always been on this journey.  Now, it’s sometimes hard for me to remember what it was like to wash my hair with conventional [...]

Filed Under: Family life, Good stewardship, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , 6 Comments
July 2, 2010

Winners for 1000th Post Party Giveaways!

At long last, I'm excited to announce the winners! I'm so sorry for the delay, to all those who have been anxiously waiting to find out who won. I'm a little behind in my work. Let's just say that this is Reason #17 I shouldn't run a huge week of giveaways a week before I move to a new home! :) So here they are (drum roll, please)... Eden Sustainable Cloth Diapering Package (out of 2561 entries) Nina C (netc23@) Marie-Madeline Studio $100 Gift Certificate [...]

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June 17, 2010

1000th Post Party Giveaway: Wholesome Family Skin Care Gift Basket Giveaway ($140 Value)

GrahamGardensGiveawayPackage

I've talked many times about the importance of using natural skin care products, because the toxic chemicals used in conventional products absorb through the skin and into the blood stream. Many of you have already made the switch over to name brand companies making more natural/organic products, which is fantastic. Did you know, though, that there are many smaller companies making equally amazing (and sometimes even better!) products that are completely pure, wholesome and even luxurious? Graham Gardens is one of these diamonds in the [...]

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments