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How to Green Your Thanksgiving this Year
Thanksgiving is a time for family, delicious food, and enjoying time spent together. However, the average Thanksgiving dinner we all know and love has some dirty laundry. It causes extra pollution, waste, and is harmful to the environment and possibly even our health. We can avoid this by making a few small changes to create an eco-friendly Thanksgiving! These Thanksgiving tips will help get you started. Here are my tips for a Green Thanksgiving Just say no to plastic water bottles For starters, pass by the individual plastic water bottles in the grocery store. There may be tempting sales on cases of bottled water. It may seem easier to buy a…
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Four Intangible Gifts to Give this Holiday Season
It is the season of giving again! The holidays come with a lot of hustle and bustle. We head in and out of shopping malls, we go to plays, pageants, and concerts, and we make a ton of plans. There is so much pressure on us to give and receive items, go to parties, and events and rush, rush rush. But let’s also take a step back and think about some of the other giving we can do during this season. It isn’t all about gifts, it is also about taking the time to give thanks for the people in our lives. While we are so focused on giving tangible…
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6 Natural Ways to Make Your Home Smell Like Christmas
The holiday season is filled with all types of Christmas scents that bring the warmth of the holiday season to our homes. From warm cinnamon to crisp pine, there are so many options when it comes to Christmas smells. And it’s even more exciting that most of these lovely smells are natural! Scent is one of the strongest senses tied to memory so it’s no surprise that we enjoy when our house smells like Christmas. The smell of cookies baking or a live Christmas tree can transport you back to holidays of childhood. So, this Christmas make your house smell like Christmas with these natural Christmas scents. You may find that…
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Sharing the Joy of a Slow and Simple Christmas with Kids
The joy of a simple Christmas is something that often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Many of us dislike all of the commercialism that surrounds the holidays. It makes us lose sight of what the holidays are all about. And it seems to just get worse every year. The never-ending barrage of commercials (especially the ones aimed at our littles). The gift lists that become longer and more expensive each year. The fact that Christmas decorations are sometimes out before Halloween and Christmas music in the stores and on the radio before Thanksgiving. The list could go on and on. Yet, despite our…
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12 Wooden Toys You’re Baby Will Love
There are so many wonderful reasons to buy wooden baby toys for your baby. In addition to being more durable than plastic toys, natural wooden toys also encourage children to play more creatively. They can also be a safer alternative to traditional plastic toys because they are typically harder to break and are more environmentally friendly toys than their plastic counterparts. Not to mention that wooden toys are often a more beautiful addition to your home. You might think that wood toys are more expensive but they often aren’t and, when you consider their longer life, are a much better addition to your toy box! For this year’s gifts, consider…
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Holiday Hygge: The Joys of a Simple Holiday
Have you heard of Hygge yet? Hygge is the Danish and Norwegian culture of simplicity, coziness, and finding joy in being together. Hygge is becoming a more familiar idea and popular philosophy because in our busy lives we are all in need of peace, comfort, and good experiences with each other. We’re looking for experiences that leave us feeling connected with others, especially those closest to us. Experiences that fill our cup rather than leaving us feeling drained, exhausted, and frazzled. Connection, comfort, and the art of cozy is so often lacking in our day-to-day lives. We spend money we can’t afford to and waste our time with other people…
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How to Downsize Toys
I’d been putting off downsizing our toys and children’s books for awhile…ok, if I’m honest, I’de been putting it off for at least a year. But as I looked around at all the toy clutter in all of the living areas as well as in my daughters room – I’d had enough! It was time to downsize the toys Easier said than done. I looked around at the baby toys and books and felt my stomach twist…this was going to be an emotional journey. Sure, I’d put away a lot of the baby gear and toys already but trying to put away the last of them was more than I…
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Dealing with Unwanted Kids Gifts
Unwanted gifts – we’ve all received them, we’ve all probably given them! When it comes to our kids, we often end up with gifts we wouldn’t choose. Quite often these come from kind and well-meaning family members and friends. Making the situation even harder. When you’re trying to simplify your home, declutter, and keep the toys at a reasonable level it can be completely maddening to see more stuff coming through the door. And let’s be real – Christmas and birthdays as well as other gift giving events happen EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. How to deal with unwanted gifts given to our kids can be a tricky situation.
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5 ways to have an Eco-Friendly Halloween
Creating an eco-friendly and lower toxin Halloween may seem like a pipe dream, but it’s definitely possible to celebrate in a healthy and eco-friendly way! Halloween is easily one of the most wasteful holidays of the entire year. Costumes are made from terrible materials that will never break down, that are cheaply made, and full of chemicals. The same can be said for the infamous orange pumpkin candy bucket. The candy wrappers and decorations are often made of cheap materials and end up in landfills. There is a better way to enjoy this fun holiday while feeling good about the products you buy, decorations you use, and decrease the waste…
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Choosing Slow Living and the Fear of Missing Out
One of the biggest struggles I face with slowing my home and slow living in general is FOMO (or Fear Of Missing Out). I don’t know about you, but there are so many amazing activities, playdates, and events happening that making the decision to say no can be really hard. But I also know how important the word no is. Because protecting our peace at home is infinitely more important than what most of those distractions can give. Are there some really great things happening that we’ll participate in? Sure. But I’m going to be extremely selective of which ones.
