greenshanti

Green is "Being conscious of the earth's limited natural resources. Rethinking, recycling and reusing natural resources to build a more sustainable lifestyle." Shanti means "Peace, tranquility, enlightenment, the inspired path."

Knowing these definitions, I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that greenshanti offers artistic, eco-friendly products that are handcrafted from recycled, natural, and organic materials.

greenshanti is the result of the founders' travels...travels that let them to communities of artisans of less than ordinary means creating things of extraordinary beauty. They appreciated how the communities sustained themselves by pooling their local resources and directing them into creative energy. And to help these communities prosper, greenshanti offers these naturally beautiful products to the global community.

Visit greenshanti.com and you'll find a gorgeous collection of all natural handmade goods, including bags, stationery, blankets, eye masks, gift wrap, and soaps. All items are perfect for gift giving!

Private Sale Sites

I have been taking advantage of a few private sale sites lately and thought I'd pass along the savings. Many upscale and boutique brands are partnering with sale sites and offering some incredible prices on a very limited quantity of products. Many of the sites have members logged on and ready for sales to go live and within just 3 minutes, everything can be sold out. The deals are that amazing.

Here are my top five sale sites: The Mini Social, bTrendie, Zulily, HauteLook, and Gilt Groupe.

The Mini Social

The Mini Social stocks only baby, toddler and children items and is great for little ones. They have many organic clothing lines, wooden toys, and other natural products along with diaper bags and even art work. They also advertise what sales are coming up a few days ahead of time which is nice for planning. The Mini Social offers a $10 credit incentive for each friend you invite who makes a purchase.

Join now at theminisocial.com.

bTrendie

bTrendie has the following slogan: Be Mom. Be First. Be Trendy. And their offerings will help you be just that. And with products from Crane (great humidifiers), Graco, and other necessity brands, you'll get great products at great prices! They currently have shoes, clothes, Pack 'N Plays, burp cloths, clothes and other products offered. bTrendie will reward you with a $10 for each friend you get to join and make a purchase.

Join now at btrendie.com.

Zulily

Zulily is another site that offers many high-end products such as Cybex strollers, Lässig diaper bags and Tori Spelling's clothing line Little Maven. The deals are incredible and products move quickly so it's best to keep an eye on upcoming sales so you don't miss out. And Zulily will give you a $10 for each friend you recruit who makes a purchase.

Join now at zulily.com.

HauteLook

HauteLook is the site I've purchased from most regularly because they not only have products for children, but also women, men and home goods...and they're usually some of my favorite brands. Just yesterday I purchased a Jane Marvel tote for only $35! That's a HUGE savings on a bag I had been looking at for a year. I just couldn't pass it up at that price.

And a great plus to shopping with HauteLook is that if you're logged on when sales go live (which you need to be if you stand a fighting chance of getting anything), once you add it to your cart that product is on hold for 15 minutes. And if you spy an item you want that is currently on hold, you can reserve it for if and when it becomes available. HauteLook also offers a $10 credit for each friend who joins and makes a purchase.

Join now at hautelook.com.

Gilt Groupe

Gilt Groupe is a great private sale site because it offers deals for the whole family: children, women, men, and gifts. And the offerings are high end...not your everyday products. At least not in my world. There are handbags, shoes and other pieces I'd never even be able to entertain the idea of purchasing that all of a sudden are in my splurge price range.

And unlike other private sale sites that offer $10 for each friend you get to join, Gilt is generous enough to give you a $25 credit once each friend's first purchase ships. Now that's incentive to spread the word!

Join now at gilt.com.

Twsty

I just received word on Twsty...an up and coming private sale site for clothing, accessories, and toys. It looks great with upcoming sales for many brands I know and love. I've been told the sales will go live in about 4 weeks. But you can already join at twsty.com. And for each friend you get to join and make a purchase, you'll receive a $20 credit.

Crayon Hearts

We're in full Valentine's Day crafting mode here in our house. Earlier this week we spent an afternoon making these crayon hearts I found on Martha Stewart's site.

They couldn't have been easier...we sharpened different shades of red and pink crayons until they were no more, sprinkled the shavings on wax paper, topped them with another piece, ironed until melted, cut out hearts in various sizes and hung them in our window.

My mom stopped by yesterday afternoon and commented on how lovely they looked and said, "I wish I could make those." My Martha said, "You can!" And you can too...and your kids will have a great time! And the best thing is that you can hang them year after year...I'm going to keep our pressed in a book for safekeeping.

See the full instructions at marthastewart.com.

Pistachio Wreath

Two weeks ago I opened the door as our mail carrier was walking up our walkway. The first words out of her mouth were, "When are you going to hang your pistachio wreath?" She always comments on her appreciation for our holiday decorations and what happy memories they'll be for our children. To her enjoyment, the wreath is now hung, along with all of the other Valentine's Day decorations we've purchased and made over the years.

The most difficult part of making this wreath with my children two years ago was trying to find red pistachios...it's so simple! All you do is hot glue the nuts on to a heart (I simply cut ours from a substantial box we had lying around). Still, two years later ours is in great condition and is still striking against our blue door. It's sure to be enjoyed by us (and our mail carrier) for many more years to come.

Visit marthastewart.com for the step-by-step instructions.

Punxsutawney Phil Pudding Pops

I love reading Junior Society's blog. And when I saw these Punxsutawney Phil Pudding Pops today I knew I had to share. Aren't they adorable?

These would be equally as cute made with simple cupcakes too. They're easy to make and so, so cute!

Even if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and we have a longer winter here in Wisconsin, these little guys will at least make me smile.

See the complete recipe and step-by-step instructions at juniorsociety.com.