DIY | Eco-Mothering

December’s Top 5 Eco Crafts

By Donna DeForbes | December 6, 2013 - 5:00 am | Arts and Crafts

Welcome to the fourth installment of my monthly eco-friendly arts and craft projects gathered from around the Internet. While some projects require adult supervision, they are a fun, educational and green hobby for your kids. This month’s collection includes several Winter Holiday-themed crafts. It’s pretty amazing what you can create just by repurposing everyday items. Enjoy! Snowflake Coasters from Washers Make Your Own Snow Globe Jar Ring Tree Ornaments Junk Mail Snowflake Lanterns Bottle Cap Magnets Got tons of toilet paper rolls? Here’s a whole list of holiday-themed craft ideas from those ubiquitous objects. Happy crafting! This post is featured on Simple Lives Thursday, Simply Natural Saturdays, Natural Living Monday, Tuned In Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday and Healthy, Happy Green Party Hop.

November’s Top 5 Eco Crafts

By Donna DeForbes | November 1, 2013 - 5:00 am | Arts and Crafts

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Eco-Friendly Crafts for Thanksgiving | Eco-Mothering.com

Welcome to the third installment of my monthly eco-friendly arts and craft projects gathered from around the Internet. While some projects require adult supervision, they are a fun, educational and green hobby for your kids. This month’s collection includes five Thanksgiving-themed crafts. It’s pretty amazing what you can create just by repurposing everyday items. Enjoy! Pinecone Turkeys Junk Mail Turkey Place Cards Wine Cork Turkey Place Cards Candlelit Fall Leaf Centerpiece Mayflower Crayon Holder This post is featured on Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Works for Me Wednesday and Natural Living Monday.

Creative DIY Halloween Costumes

By Donna DeForbes | October 28, 2013 - 5:49 am | Holidays and Celebrations

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Creative Halloween Costumes | Eco-Mothering.com

This is a guest post by Sara Crawford. Halloween is this week, and there may be some procrastinators out there who need some quick ideas! The best Halloween costumes are the ones that are creative and memorable. There are many ways to recycle materials into DIY costumes, which is not only a greener option but a way to save some money. Anyone can take an old pillow case and turn it into a spooky ghost, but here are a few ways you can think outside the box and get a little creative. Cardboard Creations There are a million costumes you can make with some cardboard and paint. You could easily fashion a robot or Transformer costume. Your child could be a box of crayons, his favorite cereal or a box of popcorn. These costumes are always memorable and unique, and there are many different things you can do with cardboard. Does … Continue reading →

October’s Top 5 Eco Crafts

By Donna DeForbes | October 4, 2013 - 5:30 am | Arts and Crafts

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Eco-Friendly Crafts for Halloween | Eco-Mothering.com

This is the second installment of my monthly eco-friendly arts and craft projects gathered from around the Internet. While most projects require adult supervision, they are a fun, educational and green hobby for your kids. This month’s collection includes two awesome Halloween crafts. It’s pretty amazing what you can create just by repurposing everyday items. Enjoy! Recycled Bottle Skull Lights Toddler-sized Cardboard Cars Milk Jug Fairy Houses Nature Weaving Loom Papier Mâché Trick-or-Treat Pumpkin This post is featured on Natural Living Monday, Thank Goodness It’s Monday, Party Wave Wednesday, Small Footprint Friday and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.

September’s Top 5 Eco Crafts

By Donna DeForbes | September 6, 2013 - 5:30 am | Arts and Crafts

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Since so many of my readers love crafty DIY projects, I’m starting a new subset of Top 5 Fridays. Once a month, I’ll feature several eco-friendly arts and craft projects that I’ve gathered from around the Internet. While some projects require adult supervision, they are a fun, educational and green hobby for your kids. It’s pretty amazing what you can create just by repurposing everyday items — ENJOY! Cardboard Dollhouse (with working elevator!) Recycled Jet Pack Butterfly Feeder DIY Paintbrushes Flower Pot Birdbath This post is featured on Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Tuned-In Tuesdays and Thank Goodness It’s Monday.

Green Your Baby Shower

By Donna DeForbes | July 9, 2013 - 5:30 am | Holidays and Celebrations, Pregnancy and Birth

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With celebrity pregnancies getting so much attention lately, my mind has turned to baby showers. Baby registries are big business, and the celebrations often center around light-hearted disposability. However, going green doesn’t have to take the fun out of baby showers. Here are some tips for making more eco-conscious decisions. Choose a few or try them all. Go Electronic. This is easier to do than ever. Whether you use Evite, Pingg or design your own PDF, send the invitations via email. People get it right away, they’re likely to respond faster and most online services automatically track RSVPs. Oh yeah, and you’re saving trees. Make sure to include on the invitation a line that sets the tone for your green shower, such as: “Join us for an earth-friendly baby celebration.” Paper gets a dose of green with seeded paper invitations (and thank-you cards) that guests can plant as wildflowers afterwards. Shower Activity Idea: … Continue reading →

How to Build a DIY Fairy Garden

By Donna DeForbes | June 11, 2013 - 5:30 am | Arts and Crafts, Nature

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This is a guest post from Jessica Nattamai. Gardens are more than a place to grow food and flowers. They can become an imaginative space for kids to take part in creative play while enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Furthermore, digging in the earth allows children to be in immediate contact with diverse life forms: worms, plants and cocoons can all be discovered. Luckily, most children aren’t hesitant to get their hands dirty. All they really need is a little inspiration. Creating a fairy garden is the perfect project to inspire imagination for the whole family. Simply adding stones, small plants or homes turns an ordinary garden into a place of magic! Here are a few tips on making a fairy garden. Collect Your Materials A garden, natural space or a container with a drainage hole (A wine barrel, tin basin, planter or even a salad bowl will work … Continue reading →

Top 5 Family Alternatives to Watching TV

By Donna DeForbes | May 10, 2013 - 5:30 am | Beyond Childbirth

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Spring is most definitely here (even in New England), yet I am still stuck in my winter habit of after-dinner TV watching. Blame it on the current season of The Voice or our recent acquisition of HGTV. It all seemed harmless until, when asked for her opinion on how to organize our basement, my six-year-old daughter says, “Let’s ask designer Hillary.” Hmmm… Might have to tear myself away from addictive design shows. Time to lead my daughter into alternative activities that don’t find us blob-like on the sofa every evening. Outdoor Games As a kid, we played hide-n-seek, freeze tag and Kick the Can until it got dark and our parents hollered for us to come inside. While there are quite a few kids on our current block, the atmosphere just isn’t the same. When we take neighborhood walks, we often see closed doors and the blue flicker of the … Continue reading →