Way to send the message home right? I love it. Also, it’s made with organic aloe vera juice so your bubbles will be just as ethical as your actions.

Get some Save Water Soap at Plum Party Supplies.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Today we have a special DIY homemade eco chic soap guest post from Anne-Marie, founder of Bramble Berry Inc.…

More and more families are growing increasingly concerned about their ecological footprint. In addition to taking less trips, recycling and planting more trees, there is an easy thing you can to help save the environment, improve your family’s health and save money in the process. Making your own soap is a great way to control the ingredients that go into your bath tub, onto your child and down your drain. And, bonus! It’s a fraction of the cost of store bought soap.

Eco Chic soap is the next big thing in personal care. What is Eco Chic soap? This category of personal care is all about creating yourself, controlling the ingredients and reusing common household goods. Rather than throwing away single use plastic containers, give them a new lease on life and use them as soap molds.

Making soap is an ideal creative outlet for the entire family. When you make your own soap, you choose the ingredients so you can use all natural colorants (like cocoa powder or charcoal) to color your soap and all natural essential oils to fragrance it, creating a soap bar that is naturally derived and cleans effectively.

Here’s an easy recipe to follow (hint: it’s perfect to make with children ages 4 and up with parental supervision):

You’ll need:

• Herbs, oatmeal, coffee, spirulina, clay, or food-grade charcoal
• 1 pound (16 ounces)Bramble Berry melt and pour soap, organic base
• 1 ounce essential oil (we used lavender, orange and eucalyptus)
• “Soap mold” (a clean, used plastic food dish, like an empty yogurt
• container)
• Rubbing Alcohol

How to make your soap:

1. Prep your herbs and make sure they are the right size for exfoliating gently. Sharp herbs may be too abrasive on the skin. I love using charcoal. It helps to remove toxins and impurities, similar to clay. Plus, it gives the soap a nice black hue.

2. Cut the organic melt and pour blocks into 1 x 1″ cubes.

3. Melt the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.

4. Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of essential oil. Remember, if you use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look less clear and look more yellow/orange.

5. Mix in your herbs or additives. Stir until the herbs seem mostly suspended.

6. Pour your scented and herb’ed soap into the make-shift mold
7. Tip: Don’t fill your make-shift soap mold all the way up. It helps for easy release to fill 85% of the way to the top and not the entire way.
8. Do one finishing touch of rubbing alcohol to finish off your soap and give it a nice smooth surface

Last steps: Wait for the soap to harden, get the soap out, wrap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the compliments you get on your innovative way to help save the earth, improve your household’s carbon footprint and help save the family budget this holiday season.

For more information on how to make your own soap, head to www.soapqueen.com and to buy supplies, including essential oils and the organic soap base, go to www.brambleberry.com

Some of the lovely soaps you can learn to make:

Coffee soap

Layer soap

Spirulina soap

A word from Jennifer:

First off, thanks so much to Anne-Marie for the excellent post. This is a fun holiday gift idea for sure, especially because everyone loves a good eco soap. Secondly, I visited the Bramble Berry site, and it’s amazing – well worth a visit (a long one). Not only do they carry everything you need to make delicious eco-friendly soaps, but they offer loads of tips and recipe ideas as well. This is not just a shop site, but an excellent resource if eco chic soap is your thing (of course it is!).

If you need a merry holiday reason to visit – check out this adorable Christmas tree centerpiece made of soap!

Learn about how to make this and many other beautiful soap creations at Bramble Berry.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

There are a few places online that are still taking last minute holiday orders. Shipping may cost you but it’s possible to still save because you aren’t in your gas drinking car driving around frantically. If you’re going with online solutions check the fine print of the shop’s shipping policy carefully.

Here are a few online ideas:

Dirt Candles: First off, these candles are soot free (yippee). The perks just go up from there. Each candle is made from organically grown American soybeans and natural essential oils. Recycled glass and papers are used for packaging. Plus a portion of profit from each candle goes to a select charitable cause. Also they come in crazy fun scents:

• Bah Humbug: bayberries and cranberries with a top note of fresh crushed cinnamon bark and a hint of orange.
• Catch 22: patchouli, sandalwood, spice and fresh Spanish moss
• Slow Poke: fresh lavender and vanilla
• Old School: begins with old-fashioned notes of natural bergamot, galbanum, lemon, petitgrain and lime, leading to a sweet-spicy middle of amber, vanilla, nutmeg, and clove, with rich bottom notes of ambergris, balsam peru and sandalwood (WOW; can someone send me Old School!)
• And many, many, more.

Soaptopia: Eco friendly, delicious scents, and as they say, “100% junk-free” body products that come in a seriously large array of selections. Also, they’ve got some killer holiday sales and shipping deals going on. Just look what you can find:

• Build a MACHO Gift: Fun for the guys; choose from various eco -friendly and manly bath products.
  
• Festival of Lights: Shea Massage Candle, 50/50 Body Balm, 2 Soap Bars, Allota Bubbles, Salt Soak and Remi Mitt.
• Way more soaps than you can believe (on sale – $5 for $25) in cool slices like: Candy Cane, Blue Pearl Jam, Soap. Revolt!, Tequila Sunrise, Lean Mean Tangerine, Staying A-Lime (shown to the side), and more. Go look because the real fun is seeing these soaps; each one a work of art. Amazing shades and textures.
  

Soaptopia also offers lovely eco-gift wrap. Free!

And in super easy chocolate gift giving is the Endangered Species Chocolate of the Month Club. Almost everyone will love this gift. And bonus, no wrapping. Just send. This gift includes a 3-pack of 3oz. all-natural chocolate bars and a 3-pack of 1.4oz. organic chocolate bars each month. You can choose between dark chocolate only or a mix of milk and dark chocolate. Available in both 3 and 6 month gifts.

Next up some green gift solutions you can find right in your own town — for the brave few waiting until this next weekend to shop.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family