Being a parent is rarely regarded as a creative, entrepreneurial job, but it darn well should be! Raising a child, especially in a healthy, eco-friendly atmosphere, can be one of the more challenging tasks an adult can take on. Don’t believe me? Consider asking your parents living at your local Brookdale assisted living center what the hardest job they ever had was. A good number of them will say raising their kids. Make things easier on yourself, your wallet, and the environment by reusing household items. Here are some of the more obscure examples:

T-shirts—Most households have attics and basements full of old clothes. You can always donate these clothes to Good Will. Or you could reuse the old t-shirts for a variety of applications. Cut out square patterns to create a blanket, sew certain shapes onto jackets, or use them as cleaning rags.

Egg cartons—One of the best uses for egg cartons is as portable seed sprouters. The little oval shapes are the perfect containers for a bit of soil and some seeds. Get your kids involved in this project. You’re teaching them two valuable lessons at once: how to reuse household items and how to sprout seeds, which are very healthy and delicious on salads.

Greeting cards—You probably have hundreds of all greeting cards laying around—birthdays, holidays, get-well-soon’s. Since you can’t really reuse these in the traditional way, cut them up, reappropriate them and create your own new greeting cards. Or, if your kid is into arts and crafts, use the pictures and textures as the raw material for a mobile or a collage.

Coffee Grounds—After making a pot of coffee you’re stuck with a turgid black-as-night mess that you would normally toss in the trash. Not so fast, though. Coffee grounds makes for a great fertilizer for your garden or compost.

Glass bottles—Start collecting multi-colored glass bottles and create your own fun and creative lamps. Any shape, any hue will do—all you need is a light bulb fixture.

Toilet paper roll—You’re thinking, what on Earth could this possibly be reused for? The answer is wires. The average living room or home office has dozens of pesky wires connecting various appliances to various outlets. Use toilet paper rolls to bundle them together.

There are hundreds more examples of how every household items can be given a second life. Collectively, if we all started reusing many of the objects laying around our houses instead of throwing them away, we would save more money for our families and protect the environment too.

An Uncommon Thread hosts many such giveaways, and every company featured on the site works hard for the greater good. I love clothes, but I really love knowing where they come from and how they got to me.

It’s nice to know where your clothing budget ends up after you’ve made your purchase. But this time around, you might not even have to dip into that budget. Check out An Uncommon Thread and get signed up to win the Rococo Tee – you may just add to your wardrobe for free!

We all have our favorite pair of earrings, a great bracelet, or a ring that we love to wear, and often do. However, regular wear and use can cause jewelery to tarnish or simply become more dull. But traditional jewelry cleaners contain harsh chemicals that generally aren’t environmentally friendly, and can be harsh on your skin. To clean your jewelry using more natural methods consider giving one of the following options a try:

White Toothpaste

For smaller pieces of jewelry, such as diamond rings or silver earrings, you can simply use white toothpaste to clean the tarnish. Simply place a small dab on the tarnish and rub it in. Once you have rubbed it in, usually no longer than 30 seconds, rinse with water and be sure to thoroughly dry.

Baking Soda – No Heat

Baking soda can do wonders when it comes to cleaning around the house, and one of the best ways to remove tarnish from larger pieces of silver jewelry is using baking soda and water. Simply mix some baking soda with a little bit of water to create a paste, and apply the paste to your tarnished jewelry. Rub the paste into your jewelry piece with a damp sponge. Once adequately rubbed in and covered, rinse the piece of jewelry with hot water and dry with a clean, soft cloth.

Baking Soda – With Heat

If you like to purchase jewelry at thrift or vintage stores, there is a good chance that the pieces you purchase will be heavily tarnished. For these types of pieces, a bit more effort may be needed in order to clean the piece. First, you will need baking soda, a piece of aluminum foil, a deep saucepan, and the piece of jewelry you wish to clean.

Before you begin the tarnish removal process, clean the jewelry piece of any dust or grime using soap and water. Then line your deep saucepan with a piece of foil, and fill the saucepan with enough water to submerge the piece of jewelry you wish to clean. Then add a few teaspoons of baking soda. For one piece of jewelry, two to three teaspoons should be enough; however, for larger or multiple pieces add a few extra teaspoons. Bring the water to a boil.

As soon as the water begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat source, and drop the jewelry in the water. Make sure that the jewelry is touching the foil. Let the jewelry sit in the water, occasionally moving it to increase better contact with the foil piece. Once the jewelry appears clean, remove it from the water, and dry with a soft cloth.

When it comes to cleaning jewelry, there is no need to purchase expensive or chemical jewelry cleaners. These are not only not friendly for the environment, but they can be harmful to your household in general. Instead of wasting money on these types of products, simply create your own.

This is NOT a heavily publicized giveaway, so your chances of winning will be much higher than usual. This is geared towards you, the readers of dkMommy Spot and my Twitter followers.

To Enter: All you have to do to enter for one of 20 free copies is to swing by Hair Gone Wild’s Amazon page and see if it looks like something you might enjoy owning. If you like what you see, please click the bright orange “LIKED” button to the right of the cover image. Then come back here and leave me a comment with your email address and let me know you’d like a copy. On March 22, 2012, I’ll select 20 people to receive one. Winners will be contacted by email.

First stop on the herbal train is – you guessed it – echinacea. This is not only the easiest to get in commerce, it’s one of the safest. You can take echinacea tincture for months on end without side effects, and it won’t wear out on you. Echinacea assists the body in building up its own defenses. In other words, it’s like a drill sergeant. He doesn’t fight for them – he teaches them to fight for themselves.

The next herb we’ll look at is balsam root. Similar to echinacea in the way it works, balsam root is an especially good choice for those of us who tend to be immuno-deficient. You know, someone who seems to catch everything that comes around. If you’re one of those and you often feel cold and clammy, balsam root is your herb. It’s got a way of warming you up while it stimulates the immune system. A good combination, if you ask me!

For either of these herbs, I’d recommend going with a tincture. You’ll get a lot more out of the plants that way. If you can’t find tincture, tea is your next best bet. While you may be missing some constituents, as long as the tea is fresh, you’ll still be reaping many benefits. And while we’re talking tea, getting bulk herb is often better quality and much cheaper than getting tea bags.

Don’t forget to eat healthy foods to boost that immune system, either. Yes, dark green leafy veggies are ideal. Don’t feel like munching on a pound of raw kale? Green smoothies make it much easier to get plenty of vegetables in your diet.

Taking these ideas into consideration, you can make it through the rest of the winter “grunge” season with fewer concerns. And fewer antibiotics. For more ideas on how to boost your immune system naturally, as well as helpful info on fighting colds and flu with herbs, subscribe to this blog or check out my ebook Herbs Gone Wild!

Included in the ebook are recipes and easy tips for skin care, hair care, natural hygiene, even homemade perfumes. You’ll learn how to make my favorite moisturizer and the lip balms formerly sold on The Giving Essence. Recipes are included for making your own tooth powders, deodorants, hairspray, perfume solids, astringents, and more.

So grab your copy of Beauty Gone Wild! while the e-ink is still wet…

We all worry about our skin from time to time – especially as we age. Whether any woman wants to admit it or not, we are all prone to the effects of aging and those sun spots, dry skin, and wrinkles are bound to creep up on us at some point. However, in a world obsessed with looking young, you don’t have to commit to some age-defying procedure to get great looking skin. Simply switching to natural skincare products can do the trick.

While most women stick to high end traditional skin care products to care for their faces, many are unaware of the damage these types of products can actually do. Traditional skin care products contain large amounts of parabens and other chemicals which can actually further irritate your skin, leading to dry or red patches or even further break outs. The additional dryness these products can cause can actually increase the signs of aging at a more rapid rate.

So if you are looking for a better way to care for your face, consider purchasing natural skincare products. There are a wide variety of lines, including those from major recognizable brands to more natural and independent lines such as Nude Skincare, and these products don’t have any of the harmful additives found in traditional products. Because they are packed with vitamins and minerals, your face also gets an extra boost that can help with reducing age spots and increasing firmness.

In addition to not having any agitating chemicals, natural skincare products are just all around better for the environment. Most natural skin care products come in a biodegradable packaging that is plant-based so you don’t have to worry about the environmental impact, and they are also not tested on animals. So for those of us looking to further reduce our footprint, buying natural skincare products allows us to do so with one easy switch.

Those interested in natural skincare products should note, however, that they can be as evenly priced or even more expensive than some traditional brands. While the effects on your skin and environment make it worth the few additional bucks you spend, you are going to want to shop around for the best deals. There are several retailers online which offer great natural products at an affordable price.

So, how the heck do you  use it? If you’re purchasing it commercially, go with the organic stuff. Horsetail likes to grow near water on wet sand, and if the herb is harvested near contaminated water, it’s not something you want to be using. I recently purchased a batch from Frontier Co-op, and I’m quite pleased with it. Prepare a decoction by boiling a tablespoon of the herb in a cup of water for 15 – 20 minutes. (A simple tea-like infusion isn’t enough for it.)  Allow it to cool, then strain it.  When you’re done washing your hair, pour the decoction over your head and allow it to stay on up to 15 minutes before rinsing it back out. Try this once or twice a week, and see how horsetail works for giving you strong and shiny hair.

So snag your copy now, while it’s hot. And did I mention FREE?

Herbs Gone Wild – Ancient Remedies Turned Loose FREE on 01/06/12 only, through 12 midnight, PST.

Water is crucial to our survival, and something that most of us don’t get enough of each day. In our attempts to be more healthy and drink more water, several of us spend thousands of dollars a year on bottled water and other pricey filtration systems. Another growing trend to give ourselves the best water possible is the installation of a water softener.

Many people believe that hard water, which is generally full of certain minerals such as calcium and magnesium, is bad for them. They want better tasting water that will also give them a much more rich lather when they shower. While a water softener will definitely provide a homeowner with a better lather, they should really weigh the pros and cons before choosing to install one. They may find that a rich lather isn’t worth the additional costs at both your health’s and wallet’s expense.

The Health Factor

While many believe that soft water tastes better, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is better for you. In fact, soft water is often stripped of many beneficial minerals including calcium and magnesium, which your body needs to function naturally. However, this isn’t the worst of it.

Water that is processed using traditional water softeners must be run through iodized salt in order to make it softer. That iodized salt often increases the amount of sodium in your water, which ultimately increases your sodium intake. While a bit of salt is good for you, too much can lead to other conditions such as hypertension and high blood pressure.

The Costs

In addition to lacking minerals and extra salt, traditional water softeners also lead to pipe corrosion due to the large amounts of salt they use. So not only will you have to pay for regular maintenance and salt, but you can expect to have to replace your plumbing as well – which isn’t exactly cheap.

We all want great tasting and healthy water, but that doesn’t mean that you should have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Sometimes the best water can come right from your tap. However, if you find that your water really is too hard and is causing build up in your pipes or leading to poor tasting water, consider installing a salt-free water softener. These types of devices require very little maintenance and don’t require you to pour pounds upon pounds of salt into your water regularly. They will soften your water, but without giving you the detriment of a diet high in sodium.