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Hot summer nights call for cool pj’s!  The Garden Kids Organic Cotton Short Johns sold by KidBean are perfect for the heat of summer.  My son has been sleeping in his darling lime stripes, and he’s been sleeping quite comfortably.  These pajamas that run in sizes 2T to 12 have short sleeves and short leggings so kids can stay cool through the night.  The breathable cotton is quite stretchy, which in our case works nicely - my son has been attempting to dress himself so the extra stretch ensures he can drag that top off his head with enough toddler effort!

KidBean carries a large selection of vegan, organic baby and kid products - everything from cloth diapers to kid’s furniture, and they have the Green America seal of approval. KidBean’s bedding section includes organic kid’s pillows, something I’ve found is a little difficult to find at a lower price range.  I’ve seen toddler pillows, for instance, listed over $70 online!  But KidBean’s start at about $27.  Since natural bedding is so extremely important, this may be a page to bookmark.

One thing I really like about the site is the wide range of kids’ ages they cover.  For instance you can purchase organic cotton baby blankets for your newborn or even organic cotton t-shirts for your teen!  Overall it’s an easy site to navigate and something that if you only have a few moments to shop you can.  Or if you’ve got a lot of shopping to do, you’ll have a good chance of finding everything in one place.

KidBean is giving away one pair of their Garden Kids Organic Cotton Short John’s to one dkMommy Spot reader!  The winner will get to choose any size, from 2T - 12 ($36 - $40 retail) and any color (cocoa, lime, pink, or lavender).  

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit KidBean and tell me what other item you like and why. (You may enter once a day.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, and/or Subscribe! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  Just leave a separate comment for each, giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re a subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all four to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Friday, July 17, 2009, to enter.

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Watching video of knowledgeable herbalists discussing plants as they locate them in the wild is a great way to learn more about searching for your own medicinal plants.  There’s lots of great video online that you can easily access for yourself, including some of my favorites from HerbTV.  You can watch short clips like the one I linked here from YouTube, or you can watch most of HerbTV’s full length videos at Veoh.com.  

This one is by herbalist Jessie Conaway.  All the video and interviews are done by David La Lucerne.

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I love a business with a good cause.  I love a business that recycles stuff.  I love jewelry.  And music - did I mention music?  If you grab all these elements and crank them through the creativity machine, what will you end up with?  You may just get yourself something like Wear Your Music, one of the more unique fundraising/recycling organizations I’ve come across.  Wear Your Music takes guitar strings from famous guitar players - really famous guitar players - turns them into bracelets, sells them, and donates funds to the charities each guitar player most cares about.  Here’s an example:  Let’s say you love Carlos Santana (who doesn’t?).  Carlos himself has been playing his guitar and needs to change those strings as guitar players must do.  He gives the used strings to Wear Your Music.  If you choose to order the bracelet, WearYourMusic.org custom makes it and send it to you for $200, and 100% of the profits go to Carlos Santana’s charity of choice, Milagro Foundation.  And you get Santana’s guitar strings.  The bracelet is stamped with the artist’s initials and you can even choose extras like a silver clasp, precious jewels, etc.  The end result is a one-of-a-kind bracelet with a cause.  

Right now there are over 200 artists to choose from, all from every imaginable musical genre: country, hard rock, reggae, jazz, good ol’ rock ‘n roll.  But if you don’t have the dough to purchase the guitar strings of a famous artist, you can still get yourself a really cool bracelet made of guitar strings, while supporting a great cause too.  The Fashion Bracelet category offers bracelets ranging in price from $7.99 to $9.99 - totally affordable.  Since they’re completely adjustable and wrap comfortably around the wrist, they’re great for men or women.  Mine is silver like the one to the right, and I love the unique look and the way it fits.  It’s constructed well, holds its shape, and definitely looks worth more than $9.99.  Hey, it is worth more than that!  Since a portion of the proceeds from the fashion bracelets go to charity as well, these bracelets are worth a whole lot to a long list of worthy organizations.

Wear Your Music is giving away one of their Fashion Bracelets ($9.99 retail) to a lucky dkMommy Spot reader!  I’m really excited to introduce you to Wear Your Music and their cause, so make sure to stop by their site and take a look around.  I can’t imagine a cooler Birthday or Christmas gift for a music lover either!  So are you ready to enter?  Let’s get going!

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit Wear Your Music and tell me what artists’ guitar strings you dream of having, and which charity that artist supports. (You may enter once a day.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, and/or Subscribe! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  Just leave a separate comment for each, giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re a subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all four to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, to enter.

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Go Ahead - Make My 'Doo

It’s been nearly five weeks with no shampoo.  What’s happening to my head?  Well, I’m still really impressed with baking soda’s ability to keep my hair and scalp clean, and the vinegar rinse is really shining things up.  Between all the scalp massaging and rosemary oil, I’ve actually had to cut my bangs about once a week!  My hair grows fast anyway, but there’s a noticeable increase in long bangedness, if there can be such a word.  I’ve never had to cut them this often - over 1/4 inch of growth in a week!  (Yes, I measured.) 

Problem is, my hair is starting to seem a little dry.  I still don’t have tangles or snarls which is still a great surprise to me, but I’m feeling a wee bit frizzy.  I’ve read around, and it seems many no ‘pooers still use an occasional conditioner. I did try a light leave-in conditioner a few times earlier on in the experiment, but I stopped because at the time I didn’t feel the need for it.  Sometimes for frizz control I’ve also used a little hair oil, but the last few days it doesn’t seem to do the trick anymore . 

I also tried the egg trick - smeared an egg yolk in my hair, let it sit for about 10 - 15 minutes, and rinsed it out.  And gagged at the smell, rewashed with baking soda, rerinsed with cider vinegar and cold water, reapplied the rosemary oil.  And gagged at the smell. Gee, I had shiny hair that day.  But egads, the smell!  No thanks.

So now I’m back to trying to find the best solution for my hair.  I know most no ‘pooers had to get through a transition of one month to two, even three.  I think I’m hitting a bump in the road, but I’ll stick it out because one of the reasons I started this whole thing in the first place was that my  hair had started to misbehave in strange and mysterious ways (most likely having something to do with age and the bizarre weather patterns of the Great Lakes).  So I’ve nothing to lose.  

Many of you have been such a great cheering section for me; yes, you no ‘poo readers who’ve been at this much longer than 5 weeks have given me tips and encouragement, and your enthusiasm never fails to rub off on me.  I’d love to hear more from you guys on this one.  I’m also getting a great response from those of you who’d like to try it but aren’t sure if it will work for your hair type, etc.  With that, I have a request:  If you are a no ‘pooer, and if you’re willing to answer a few of my questions, please let me know by either commenting here or emailing me at themommyspot (at) gmail (dot) com.  OR if you’d like to go no ‘poo but you’ve got questions, please email them to me, or leave a comment here with your questions so I know what to ask our no ‘poo readers.  I’ll try and pull something together we can all learn from.

In the meantime I’ll keep going; I think I’ll try a different leave-in conditioner, perhaps use the hair dryer again on a low cold setting instead of letting it air dry.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated - unless it has something to do with a raw egg.

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Turning lead into gold - that’s the medieval science of alchemy.  And just like those metallurgical wizards of old, Alchemy Goods is hard at work turning the useless into something useful.  Perusing places like bike shops and junk yards for the materials of their craft, Alchemy Goods conjures up some pretty interesting items, like this super sized Queen Anne wallet made from used bicycle inner tubes. The end result are one-of-a-kind items that make recycling a rather fashionable endeavor.

I replaced my old wallet with a Queen Anne wallet, and what struck me most the first time I looked it over was how well constructed it is.  The exterior, made of the recycled bicycle inner tubes, looks sort of like distressed leather.  The interior is put together with the care you’d expect if purchasing a pricey designer wallet or handbag.  Lots of pockets and slots, a pen holder, id window, cash pocket, and oodles of eco-coolness have made the Queen Anne a quick favorite of mine.  Whenever it’s time to get my wallet from my purse, I’m always hoping for an excuse to tell someone “It’s made of recycled inner tubes!”  

Want to win your own Queen Anne wallet from Alchemy Goods?  Here’s your chance!  The Queen Anne retails for $58, and we’re giving one away to one of you!  Just read through the rules below and get entered to win.

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit Alchemy Goods and tell me something else you liked or learned there.  (You may enter once a day.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, and/or Subscribe! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  Just leave a separate comment for each, giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re a subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all four to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Monday, July 13, 2009, to enter.

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Physiology has me Dancing in a Field of Clover

So glad you asked!  Like I mentioned in my first Herb School Update, I’ve looked at several distance learning programs for herbalism.  The Southwest School of Botanical Medicine is almost entirely on DVD which appealed greatly to me.  I wanted the classroom experience, I wanted to have someone hold up herbs and say, “Here’s the taproot on this one.  And that’s what it looks like in full bloom.  This is how we process it.”  I also wanted something of a classroom experience, which I feel like I’m getting through the SWSBM courses.  

I’m taking both of the SWSBM courses simultaneously, the best way to approach this system. The courses are “Materia Medica” and “Herbal Therapeutics and Constitutional Evaluation“.  The first class installment came in a box that contains DVD’s for each course, a total of 12 DVD’s; a couple of booklets, and a CD containing massive amounts of research articles, charts, books etc. (kind of a bonus item if you will, and in my opinion quite valuable).  Each DVD lasts somewhere around 2 hours, and while it’s recommended that you try to finish one of these boxes a month, you can go at your own pace as needed.  I try to watch a DVD a day, alternating between the Materia Medica DVD’s and the Herbal Therapeutics ones.  

As with any new venture, it took me a little while to get my rhythm going.  My initial thought was since I would own the DVD’s forever, I could watch them whenever I wanted; hence note-taking seemed redundant. As more and more valuable information was discussed,  I quickly changed my tune and now I have a Word document open next to the DVD screen so I can type up anything I may want to brush up on later.  This is really helping get the massive doses of info to stick to my brain.  And massive doses they are!  So far I’ve been learning some basic physiology, chemistry, and of course herb identification and usage.  I’m even working my way through a Physiology Coloring Book.  (Laugh if you will, dear friends, but never in my life have I dealt with such complicated coloring!  Quite a challenge but I love it.)

Teaching the physiology and chemistry basics is the very energetic Howie Brounstein who makes you want to jump headfirst into the subjects.  (My three-year-old adores Howie and explained to a complete stranger yesterday how “Mommy watches a class and there’s a man with long hair and arms that do ‘this’ ” - picture gesticulating - “and has a long beard”.)  And of course nothing compares to learning from the master himself, Michael Moore, who peppered all his teachings with fascinating anecdotes, fast-paced jokes, and more herbal info than you can shake a rain stick at.

So far I’m working hard and having the time of my life doing it.  Even after a very long day of the usual work-at-home thing, the cooking, cleaning, mothering, and general chaos, I’ve still felt enthusiastic about popping in a DVD and learning something.  I’ve had some tiring, hectic days that still end in feeling a little more complete about my direction.  And if nothing else, I can sit down with my son, crack out the physiology coloring book, and show him what a phospholipid really looks like.

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Vivesana Solar to Polar Baby - Natural Skin Protection that Works!

A good natural sunscreen is important for the youngest to the oldest member of your family.  But it’s hard to find healthy, chemical-free sunscreens that don’t turn your skin a freakish white tint, don’t smell funny, don’t act oily, and aren’t hard to apply.  Believe me, I’ve tried numerous brands and spent plenty of hard earned dough on tubes of natural sunscreen that I didn’t like.  Precious few do it for me, so I completely understand why so many people give up and reach for the unnatural sunscreens that eventually float on the lake and get in my hair like an oil slick.  So happy was I when, after trying Vivesana’s Solar to Polar Baby Sunscreen, I discovered it met all my really tough standards.  

Vivesana’s Solar to Polar comes in a 40 SPF and a higher 42 SPF, which is perfect for babies, and frankly for anyone who wants to keep their skin free of the harmful rays of the summer sun.  Their 42 SPF formula provides the highest non-synthetic protection available, and since there are no chemicals and it’s non-drying, Vivesana is a great choice for even baby’s sensitive skin.  And since it’s easy to apply and seems to go further on the skin than many sunscreens I’ve tried, you can get your kid protected with a lot less effort - which is very appreciated both on the part of this mom and her wiggly little 3-year-old who’d rather be making sandcastles than waiting to be slathered in sunscreen.

What I really love about Vivesana is their overall effort to be “green”.  They’ve made sure even the tube the suscreen comes in is eco-friendly.  In their words, the tube is “safe, sustainable, domestic and BPA-free.”  The sunscreen itself is 70% organic and contains no water which provides more effective skin protection.  While Vivesana is more expensive than the synthetic brands, the product goes further than most, is safer than most, and in my opinion, is worth the extra money.   

Want to win your own tube of Vivesana Solar to Polar Baby Organic Sunscreen? Vivesana would like to give one full sized tube to one of you!  (Retail $32).

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit Vivisana and tell me something else you liked or learned ther.  (You may enter once a day.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, and/or Subscribe! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  Just leave a separate comment for each, giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re a subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all four to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, to enter.

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St. John's Wort is Blooming! Don't You Feel Better Already?

Perhaps “journey” is an exaggeration for my little excursion.  Sunday afternoon my husband, son and I traveled a whopping two miles away so I could search for and harvest some St. John’s Wort blossoms from a nearby area.  About 5 years ago, a large amount of forest near our home was mowed down in anticipation for home developments etc.  Alas, the once heavily wooded acreage still sits undeveloped.  Where trees once stood are now acres of fields.  Fortunately much of the wooded area must remain as-is since there’s a lovely ravine running through, totally unsuited to the developers’ needs.  And fortunately, the once wooded land is now abundant with plants and wildlife.  St. John’s Wort happily prospers here!

St. John’s Wort gets its name from the fact that it starts blossoming around St. John’s Day, which is on or near June 24th.  I was happy to harvest on a cool dry June 28th.  As you can see by the above photo I took, the blossoms looked wonderful!  I was able to gather a large amount - the top 3 or 4 inches of blooming plant, which took a good hour and a half to pick through after returning home, a chore I thoroughly enjoyed!  I removed some interesting little bugs who were sent outdoors, and picked off dead leaves and blooms. Some of the flowering tops went into a clean dry glass jar and were covered with olive oil.  I’ll let those sit a few weeks, and I’ll be trying it out as a natural sunscreen.  (Not a 45 SPF, mind you, but I’m told it’s rather effective if used in the region it was gathered, so I’ll give it a go.)  The remainder of the herb is drying in a basket for later use in tea.  In a few more days I’ll go to another area, collect more flowering tops, and prepare a tincture.  

You can learn more about St. John’s Wort from my previous post “All About St. John’s Wort and its Uses“.

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Thou Mayest Have Tresses Like Unto Mine

So this is what happened:  We decided on a trip to the beach last week on a sweltering day.  Seems everyone else did too, because the beach was crowded and so was the water.  Imagine hundreds of people coated in non-biodegradable sunscreen filing in and out of the lake all day long. I didn’t notice it at first, but at the right angle you could see what looked like a mini Exxon Valdez oil spill floating on the surface of the water. I didn’t notice it until after I’d submerged my head in the goo.  When we realized we were all feeling a bit slippery for a dip in a freshwater lake, I knew my hair would need a serious scrubbing.  So when we got home I decided to try the baking soda scrub followed by a cider vinegar final rinse.

Oh my GOSH.

You know I don’t type in all caps, but…

OH MY GOSH!

Now I know what makes the whole “No ‘Poo” thing such a big deal.  What I assumed would turn my hair into a tangled dry mess, what I assumed would be an unpleasant gritty experience, actually turned out to be the best-kept natural beauty secret I’ve ever blabbed on the internet.  Yes, the baking soda scrub is gritty as all get out, and yes it feels a little weird initially, but it rinses out very well.  And if I just put the recommended tablespoon or two of cider vinegar in a mug of cold water, dump in on my head at the very end without rinsing it back out, I have the most amazing hair of my life.  No, I don’t smell like Thousand Island dressing, but the shine is about blinding.

I’ve been doing this treatment every day for about a week now and my hair improves by the day.  At first I lost some of the new curl I’d gained, but it has returned and in a much shinier version.  Still no tangles to contend with, no need for conditioners.  My hair has become softer with some natural highlights coming into play.  Cider vinegar does give you reddish highlights over the long term which actually works well for me, so I’m happy.  

I see now why some super models and famous hair stylists recommend no ‘poo.  I get it.  I really get it now.  I don’t know how the adjustment would have been if I’d started out with baking soda and vinegar rinses right from the start, but I have a feeling it would have made things a little easier.  People who have done this treatment much longer than I have say there’s still an adjustment period of one to three months, even longer sometimes.  But now I can say with confidence, and in all caps, IT’S WORTH IT!!!

Read all my articles on my No ‘Poo Personal Challenge here.