Happy almost Spring! I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of warmer weather and more time outside, especially with Easter this Sunday. While the weather is still chilly, why not reenergize your kids with new, eco-friendly cards and coloring fun! I’ve written about Stubby Pencil Studio for Valentine’s Day, and I asked Kate Rosenthal, Stubby Pencil’s creator, to make party invitations for my daughter’s third birthday party. What a hit! I am so loving this paper company, I thought it was time to share with all of you. Stubby Pencil Studio’s “Green to the Letter” Stationery basket includes:

• 4 packs of Color ‘n Kids cards (winner’s choice of styles) - click the categories under “multi-pack sets” to see the styles
• Set of 10 Smencil pencils
• NEW! Set of 10 Colored Smencil pencils
• Box of 24 Soy Crayons
• One ’spring top’ pencil sharpener (winner’s choice of style)

This is an artsy kid’s dream! My girls love these cards, and it’s a great feeling to have them handy and not have to run to a card store for every holiday or occasion. The cards also have letter tracing and fun, unique, kid-centric designs.

You know the rules - leave a comment here with an answer to the following: what’s your favorite Color ‘n Kids pack? You have until Thursday, March 27th at midnight PST to enter. Good luck!

This contest is closed!  Congrats to Donna! 

Nothing says love like cards from kids - my grandmother used to frame her favorite cards from her grandchildren, and I’m already following in her footsteps. My girls love to make pictures and give them out as birthday cards, thank yous, or just to say ‘I love you’. How thrilled was I when I found Stubby Pencil Studio’s eco-friendly stationery and art supplies for kids! Check out these adorable Valentine’s Day ‘color ‘n kids’ 12 pack of cards - perfect for sending to family and BFFs!

Stubby Pencil Studio’s cards and envelopes are both made from 100% post-consumer recycled card stock, and right now are the only eco-stationery line exclusively for kids. Pair them with a set of soy crayons or other eco-friendly supplies and you have yourself a true green Valentine’s that you can keep forever. No need for recycling - a card from the heart is a true gift!

Ever break a plate and wonder what to do with the pieces? Kids knocked over your favorite vase and can’t bear to throw it away? New mom and crafter extraordinaire Juliet has taken reincarnating dinnerware it to a new, super-crafty level. An all-around crafter (she was the brains behind the Junk Mail Love project), Juliet and her alter ego, fittingly called The Broken Plate, takes everything from vintage and antique finds to trendy Anthropologie plates and breaks them to make beautiful pendants, rings, and brooches. After a bit of smoothing and soldering magic, Juliet’s pendants are transformed into a work of broken-art. She’ll even take broken wedding plates or other custom work (family china, anyone?) and give them new life as jewelry!

This Valentine’s day, two winners can accessorize with their own Broken Plate Pendant necklace! Juliet has graciously created a classic Valentine’s day red and pink leaf pattern plate pendant, as well as a vibrant turquoise Japanese plate pendant. Please leave a comment here with an answer to the following question - which is your favorite Broken Plate Pendant? It’s a tough call, but take your time - it’s worth a look (and planning which necklace will go with which outfit!) You have until Valentine’s Day, Thursday February 14th at midnight PST. Good luck!

This contest is now closed.  Thanks SO MUCH to everyone for entering!  Congrats to Vida and Laura S for winning! 

Stuck at home? The weather has been horrible in many parts of the country this week, so I’ve been searching for good crafting sites for some old fashioned, arts and crafts fun with the kids. Here are a couple of the most inventive, user-friendly places out there…

If you want to take a trip down crafty memory lane, head over to scrumdilly-do! Kid-craft maven Jessica Wilson has simple yet totally fun projects kids of any age can accomplish - no altering the project for little ones. I remember making these black scratchboards when I was in sleepaway camp - they’re gooey, colorful, and like magic for kids! A great project for using the nubs of crayons, or utilizing funky, recycled ones you can make at home as well…

Speaking of recycled crayons, the diy network has a great post on recycling crayons using muffin tins or molds. We’ve only made round, flat crayons at home, but how fun would it be to make letters?

Crafting a Green World is a new crafting website from model/environmentalist/overall green maven Victoria E. The newest site in the Green Options family of websites, CAGW focuses on everything from knitting to notebooks. My favorite post so far is called Junk Mail Love - if you’re like me and have magazines laying around from, well, forever ago, try this instead of recycling the old-fashioned way. CAGW shows you how to many super cool beads (see above) from junk mail to old issues of Nick Jr. Make them as chunky or delicate as you like - great for working on fine motor skills as well as green-fashionista training!

For kids who love making figures, try Paper Critters, the online paper toy creator. Get your post-consumer recycled paper out for hours of critter creating - choose from an almost endless database of cute and creepy characters!

There’s lots more out there - send me your favorite crafting websites, and I may just make this a weekly post! Hope everyone stays warm and dry this weekend…happy crafting!

Photos courtesy of Junk Mail Gems.  Thanks so much!

I love all things Zid Zid - my dream is to completely redo my daughter’s room to resemble a kiddie-sized Moroccan souk, complete with poufs, low table, a brilliant blue ceiling, and all the lovely accessories Zid Zid has. We’ll walk around in silver slippers and drink mint tea from gilt tea glasses all day…(can you tell I’ve thought about this a lot?) Seriously, many of Zid Zid’s products feature recycled cotton and cotton fill, vintage fabrics, natural materials, and all products are made in Morocco under fair wage conditions. But it’s the handmade-ness of the pillows and products that brings me back for more…Something I’m going to stock up on for gifts this year are the Zid Zid “Color Me” cushions, animal pillows ready for kids to design to their own style. I made the mistake of showing this to my older daughter, who is in full Chanukah mode…guess what just got added to her list? These cushions can be painted on, sewed on, glued, colored. Go ahead, they can take what your kids give it - and they’ll be best friends in the end.Speaking of giving, my new friend Jennifer, owner of the simply amazing Hazel Wood Children shop, is graciously offering not one but two of these lovely Color Me cushions for this week’s giveaway. Two winners can choose either the elephant or horse cushion. Please note, the pillows come without all the glittery art supplies you see above, but we’re sure you have plenty of crafty goods ready to cover these babies…This week, because of Thanksgiving, the giveaway will be open until Wednesday night at midnight, PST. Please leave a comment with an answer to this - what is your favorite Zid Zid colored animal cushion? (Hint: click on “More Photos” under the hippo to see them all!) Thanks, and good luck!This giveaway is now closed!  Congrats to Jessica and Marcie, winners of the Zid Zid ‘Color Me’ cushions! 

If you’re in the Chicago area at all now through September, check out the “CoolGlobes - Hot Ideas For a Cooler Planet” project. CoolGlobes consists of 124 sculpted globes, five feet in diameter, designed by artists, organizations, children, and others, each with a message on how to help the planet. They’re on display along Chicago’s waterfront on Lake Michigan (here’s the map of where to find them). Take the time to read about the project - Chicago has taken many steps to help become a green city, including using hybrid buses, building green libraries and schools, and encouraging bike riding as transportation. There are even great paper mache recipes to make your own globe!

The globes are the coolest. The one you see here is globe #77, titled “Take Simple Steps,” created by a grassroots organization in Chicago called teeniegreenie.org (and no, I didn’t know about them when I named teensy! Yes, I already emailed them!) I think for me, and so many others, this motto is a great mantra. Take the time to look at all the globes - they are true works of art and are truly inspiring!

As summer winds down, so do ideas to keep kids busy.  Tie dyeing, however, never goes out of style.  I just bought this Tie Dye Kit from the San Francisco MoMA store for my niece and nephew, and I think they’ve already torn through it.  The kit uses squirt bottles, so you can tie dye the old “soak everything in a bucket with 100 rubberbands” way, or try a new method.  And, it can dye up to 15 shirts!  Get your American Apparel, sweatshop-free, organic cotton long sleeve shirts to perk up your kid’s fall wardrobe!  Or socks, headbands, anything white and cottony!  Groovy!

via Tangled and True

I just found these and had to post…Readymechs are free, printable, awesome little funky paper sculptures for your kids (ok, and moms and dads too, we were hooked after just one).  Pop in your favorite post-consumer recyclable paper, get your double-sided tape ready, and hit ‘Print’!  There are monsters, spaceships, pirates…you could have a family of these and use them for your kid’s latest movie tie-in obsessions.  Did we mention free?

 Put that crayon box away.  Renowned Dutch arts and crafts products maker, Stockmar, have these amazing modelling beeswax kits for your kids to bend, twist, smoosh, and mold into anything their imagination creates.  Stockmar only uses the highest quality materials to make their products, and they test rigorously to make sure no heavy metals, PCBs, or pesticides come into your home.  The best part is the beeswax.  Beeswax adds a purity that makes the colors brighter, and unlike clay, it’s soft enough for small children to squish over and over.  It’s nontoxic, hygenic, won’t bleed on clothes, and also smells amazing! 

Be sure to check out Stockmar’s wax flowers how-to for inspiration.  Find it at Hazelnut Kids.