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After pushing my 3-year-old’s legs back onto her toddler bed in the middle of night too many nights in a row, I decided it was time to move up to a big girl bed. This was a big milestone for both of us. She would get to sleep in it and I would get to dress it up. For me, of course, that meant organic bedding. I priced out a couple of organic mattresses, but they were too pricey for our budget. I then spent weeks trying to find a used bed in good condition, to no avail. Craigslist doesn’t have as much to offer when you’re in a small town. I finally settled on a new, antimicrobial mattress set.

Have you ever come across a person who simply inspires you? If you haven’t, you need to change the people you’re spending time and networking with. There are a few people who inspire me who can also serve as an inspiration to all of my readers. Jennifer Ramos of MadeByGirl is one of those people.

It’s been a while since I have posted about something with a bird motif. Too long, if you ask me. I can’t help it — I am just drawn to the little critters by some unknown force. Thankfully for me, there’s no shortage of eco-friendly art featuring friendly birdies. These Bird Collages by Petite Flaneur would be welcome in my home any day. Just don’t tell my husband that. He’s not quite as fond of the birdies as I am.

One thing that I absolutely love about the sustainability movement is the ingenuity it breeds. Once you become conscious of the fact that everything you buy and use will eventually reach the end of its life cycle and have to be either discarded or recycled, you start thinking of ways to reuse and reinvent everyday items. Take this daisy vase, for example. It is a brilliant reuse of a simple, disposable Bic pen case.

Making pillows is one of the easiest craft projects you can do. Take it from me — I’m no seamstress or crafter, and even I can do it. For me, the tougher challenge has been finding eco-friendly pillow inserts. There’s always the option of using your existing throw pillows as inserts, if you have them available. The added benefit of doing that is you don’t have to find a place to store your old pillows. But if, for some reason, you need new inserts (ie. you don’t have any old pillows to use, you’re making the pillow as a gift, or some other reason), you’ll want to try finding eco-friendly fiber fill or a green insert.

One of the things I have learned to appreciate since I began my green journey is products that are handmade. There’s none of the waste or emmense energy use created by a factory, and often, handmade items are one of a kind. While mass-produced products might offer a little bit of a convenience, when you buy handmade, you know you are getting an item than the artist took time and care in creating, and that kind of attention to detail is priceless. So when I started looking for a clock for my daughter’s newly decorated room (more on that later, including photos), the first place I looked was Etsy.com. Although the clocks aren’t necessarily the style I am looking for, the handmade clocks from Infinity Arts are beautiful pieces of art.

There are a couple of people in my family who are pretty tough to buy for. They also tend to be the types who will say “nothing” or “I don’t know” when asked what they want for Christmas. Since I’ve turned over a new leaf this year and plan on doing little to no shopping for the holiday, that’s not as much of an issue. But I imagine it is hard for some of my wonderful readers. So here’s my suggestion: Think about what that person likes to do rather than what they would want. If they like to cook at all, they will appreciate this beautiful set of kitchen knives and utensils from Bambu.

My husband loves incense and uses it all the time, in every room and even in the car. I’m not quite as partial to the musky fragrance, but I know he loves it. The problem is that the ashes end up everywhere, particularly because he has a habit of putting the incense sticks in random nooks and crannies, like the window frame or the air vents in the car. Ashes end up everywhere and I’m never happy about it. So one of the things I wanted to do this year is get him a unique incense holder that would catch the ashes and look great when its displayed.

I will readily admit that when I was little, I hated getting practical Christmas gifts. You know the kind: towels, sheets, socks, underwear…Not exactly exciting for a child. But now that I’m an adult (at least I act like one sometimes ) I can appreciate the practicality of those kinds of gifts. When my husband and I moved into our first apartment, we would have been in heaven if someone had given us some beautiful towels or a slipcover for our old, worn sofa.

As much fun as I have recycling everything in my home from plastic food packaging to cereal boxes and glass bottles, I can’t help thinking I could probably find ways to reuse those items before I recycle. Unfortunately, my imagination often doesn’t take me much further than that. Thankfully, there are many, many people and companies out there that are more creative than I am. The ReMake It! Glass Bottle Lamp is a functional solution.