Aladdin

I was introducted to Aladdin, a food storage company, when I attended the International Gift Fair in New York in August. I was impressed with their products and couldn't wait to try them. I've had the opportunity to this past week and have to say, I'm so happy I've discovered them!

I have many stainless steel products to tote food, but none of them are truly leak-proof, even if they say they are. I learned this the hard way this past summer when I attempted to take a caprese salad to the beach...I got there only to discover olive oil and red wine vinaigrette covering the inside of my lunch bag. I am happy to report I will no longer have that problem.

Aladdin has some amazing food jars in both stainless steel and BPA-free plastic. The tops securely screw on and there is no leakage whatsoever! It's perfect for salads with dressings and even soup!

My other favorite products of theirs is the Recycled & Recyclable Snack Container. It's BPA-free and is made from, you guessed it, 100% recycled food grade polypropylene...and it can be recycled when you no longer use it. The top opens two ways for both small and large snacks and the hard shell of the container keeps them from getting smashed in your bag.

Aladdin's travel mugs are sturdy and obviously high quality...and I love a built-to-last product! There are collections for children, luxe collections with great designs for stylish parents and some in between...although for me, the line is blurred on them all. I didn't see anything that not everyone in my family would be happy to use.

Visit aladdin-pmi.com for more information and to shop their online store.

The Leakey Collection

Every holiday, my husband takes our children to a shop in town that carries all natural, handmade, and fair trade products and lets them pick things out for me. I usually receive a piece of jewelry or small trinket and a paper flower to add to my growing bouquet. Some of my favorite pieces of jewelry Martha has picked out for me have been from The Leakey Collection.

The Leakey Collection is a fair trade company that designs and manufactures hand-made jewelry and decor products. Each piece is handcrafted by Maasai women and men in Kenya. The pieces I have are from their Zulugrass collection.

This environmentally sustainable harvested grass is cut by hand into beads and then dyed using textile dyes. Each small bead is a deep vibrant earthy color that is perfect for layering. I love wearing a group of necklaces together or wrapping one or two a few times around my wrist as a bracelet.

The Leakey Collection is available online at leakeycollection.com and in many brick and mortar stores in over 20 countries worldwide. In addition to their Zulugrass collection there are wood and glass pieces as well. Visit their website to see them all.

DIY Crayons

I've been trying to do some fall cleaning the past few weeks and have been getting creative with putting it off. This project is one such way. I noticed my kid's crayons were mostly broken so we made them into new, multi-colored crayons with the help of a mini muffin tin I never use and the oven. Here's how:

1. Remove all of the wrappers from crayons (my kids loved doing this part) and break them into small pieces.
2. Preheat your over to 200 degrees.
   
3. Place your crayon bits into a muffin tin or other heat-proof mold. Fun candy molds in different shapes would be great!
4. Place the tray into the oven and watch the crayons melt and swirl together. The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes.
   
5. Remove them from the oven and let them cool until completely hard. I put ours in the fridge because the kids were excited to use them...they cooled in about 45 minutes.
6. Draw to your heart's content.

One improvement I'd make next time I try melting crayons would be to sort them into different colors...put the red and orange together, the yellow and green, the blue and purple, and so on. Just an idea.

FEED Trick-or-Treat Bag

I am LOVING this trick or treat sack from FEED! What an amazing bag, not only for your children to use as they go door-to-door wearing their Halloween costume, but also for us parents to tote around this month!

Each FEED Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF bag will generate funding to help UNICEF provide one child in the developing world with an entire year’s worth of micronutrient powder. Children can easily sprinkle the powder over their food, making this a revolutionary way to help children receive the vitamins and minerals they need. Isn't that just wonderful?!

This FEED Trick-or-Treat bag is available exclusively at HSN.com for only $13.20. And for each FEED Trick-or-Treat bag purchased, HSN will donate $3.50 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to help support UNICEF’s nutrition programs.