Darn Good Yarn One of a Kind Sari Scarf Review

Disclaimer: I received complimentary product through the Apogee Agency in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Darn Good Yarn is an online yarn store that is dedicated to supporting women's economic empowerment, fair trade practices, and principles of environmental sustainability. Not only do they sell many reclaimed and sustainable fibers and lovely yarn, but they also sell project kits, patterns, notions and tools, clothing, accessories, home goods, etc. This is a treasure trove of rare and special items to those who love to knit, crochet, do crafts, or just have something as unique as them.

The One of a Kind Sari Scarves are very distinctive They are great for summer because these scarves are light and airy. Made with 100% recycled materials from reclaimed saris by partner artisans in India and Nepal. No two are alike and these can be worn many different ways. These are a great gift to help give back.

 

 

My Thoughts:

I received a One of a Kind Sari Scarf. This one was a gorgeous bright color of red, neon green, and pink with cream as well. It has a leafy heart pattern on it. This particular pattern would be great for Valentine's day. The only problem with this scarf is that when I opened it up and examined it I noticed that it already had a small snag in it before I got to wear it. This flaw was a bummer, but it still is a lovely scarf. I love how they are recycled and made ethically and sustainably. This particular scarf is hand made in India. It is eye-catching and a great piece to frame an outfit with and I love that it has good coverage for more modesty.

This scarf is so versatile! You can wear it as a sarong, headband, hair/head covering or wrap or tie, belt, shawl, neckerchief, or scarf. You can also decorate your home with it, cover a small table, use it as a wall covering/art, tie back curtains with them, or use it as a purse or tote bag accent.

I would recommend these scarves. While you probably won't get this particular scarf I am confident that you will love the one you do get. These scarves make the outfit fun with a splash of color and pattern and would be a great unique gift.

 

I noticed a small snag in the fabric when I took it out of the packaging (this is quite zoomed in).

 

Here is a video about them...

 

It can be worn different ways as you can see...

One of a Kind Sari Scarf worn as a shawl.

One of a Kind Sari Scarf worn as a head covering.

One of a Kind Sari Scarf worn as a sarong (albeit a bit messy one).

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You can purchase the Darn Good Yarn One of a Kind Sari Scarf here. Add 2 Scarves to your cart and use code SUNFUN to save! Code expires 7/5/21.

My Preparedness Calling

Brian and I have a new shared calling in our church. We have been wanting to do this ever since we were first married, but I guess the Lord had different plans for us then. We have been given the preparedness calling of the church. We can have an open curriculum. My husband and I are gearing up for teaching classes, disseminating helpful information, and planning ways to get our ward members more involved in the community to get people more prepared in case of any emergency that comes our way.

My church, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints (LDS/Mormon Church), have been very vocal about how being prepared is so very important. We as members of the LDS church have been counseled to have a year's supply of food supply and life's necessities for every family member, just in case. On May 21st of this year, before we were called to this calling, there was a Preparedness Fair at our church. I attended, but didn't demo anything because I wanted to see what would be offered and be a student instead. We were taught about Canning Beans & Potatoes, Smoking Meats, Food Storage, Preserving/Sprouting Foods; Water Filtering, Storing, & Alternative Sources; Ham Radio, Alternative Heating Sources, Sanitation, Fires & Alternative Ways to Start Them, Alternative Methods and Sources for Cooking, Sources and Storage for Fuel. They also had displays for a 72-Hour and Basic First Aid Kit. I hoped that we would have had more come from the community, non-members and members alike, but we still had a good turnout. I brought home a packet of information and some notes I wrote. These were helpful demonstrations for the novice beginner and even I learned some things while I was there.

Our background: 
Brian and I are both Master Gardeners. We have been to Soil School taught by Oregon State University (OSU) and other mini courses taught by the local extension service. I have also taken a course in Permaculture, sustainable landscape design also taught by OSU. I am currently in study about wilderness foraging, organic gardening, cool season gardening, gardening year round, companion crops, herbal/natural medicine, etc. I have been volunteering at the Rainier Oregon Community Garden, Hope Gardens, to give food back to those that are in need of it. Brian is learning about aquaponics, a system where you raise fish or other aquaculture (aquatic animals) and the waste produced by them supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically (in water) that in turn purify the water. We are placing a aquaponics system at our farm. We are also preparing our farm to be more self-sufficient as well so we can showcase ways of doing so. I will be posting more about preparedness and updates on our farm as well. In the meantime, please see my post on Planting a Fruit/Nut Orchard and Edible Garden with Food Stamps (SNAP EBT).

Some other helpful links:

• Provident Living - Self-Reliance and Welfare Resources
• Prepared LDS Family - A blog on Practical Food Storage and Preparedness Ideas (not just for LDS/Mormon)
• Emergency Preparedness - LDS page about how you can prepare both spiritually and temporally for an emergency.
• 32 Preparedness Quotes from LDS Church Leaders - from the Purpose Driven Motherhood blog
• Emergency Preparedness Family Home Evening Lesson - from LDS Daily
• If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear - October 2005 Talk by Gordon B. Hinkley
• LDS Preparedness Manual - a collection of information from different authors compiled by Another Voice of Warning

Free Online Intro to Permaculture Course from OSU

Intro to Permaculture is a free, four-week course provided online by Open Oregon State University that teaches the process, ethics and principles of permaculture (sustainable landscape design). This course is taught by Andrew Millison who brings more than 20 years of experience in permaculture design and has a M.A. in Horticultural Preservation, and B.A. in Ecological Design and Sustainability.

Starts: Monday, May 2, 2016
Ends: Monday, May 30, 2016
Cost: Free


I have signed up myself and am going to be taking this free course. I am also going to try my hand at getting the badge that is offered for completion by doing and handing in all assignments. The course is launching Monday, but you can register anytime through this Friday, May 5!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post because I thought you might be interested in knowing this information and taking part of this free course. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for doing this post.

Disney Mickey & Friends Go Green! Book Review

I received the book, Disney Mickey & Friends Go Green!, free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Go Green is the first in a series of books by Disney that motivates families to live sustainably and more eco-friendly. This book is filled with fun projects that families can do together while teaching about making good choices to help save the planet and live a healthy life. It often made us pause to connect with the outdoors, ourselves and others. Mickey & Friends educate kids about what they can do to make a difference one step at a time.

Nature Mandalas

This book is a wonderful wealth of information for younger children. It is also a great homeschool tool and a wonderful book for Earth Day! My girls who are 4 and 7 loved looking through the book and doing the activities with me. Their favorite activity from the book was on page 67, making mandalas. If you don't know, a mandala is a symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism representing the universe. The word comes from Sanskrit meaning "circle". Nature Mandalas are fun to make with found objects in nature. Teela and Zari loved finding and then arranging the flowers, pine cones, small rocks, seeds, sticks, walnut shells, acorns, leaves, etc. in a circular pattern on our sidewalk in front of our house. If you live near the ocean you could also do this after you combed the beach for treasures like: driftwood, sea glass, shells, seaweed, etc. This repurposes natural things to become a beautiful work of art. I loved that the book also talks about the three R's - reduce, reuse/repurpose, and recycle, planting a garden and composting too. I believe that the secret to good nutrition and other good habits is to start teaching children good things at a young age. The Disney Mickey & Friends Go Green! book is a great start to get your child thinking about how to make the world a better place.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this book for free to review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this review. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Stand With Moby To #SaveOurBees #HollywoodFoodVoices

Center For Food Safety provided me with this promotional information and media to share with my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else.

I remember when we lived in Ohio and my now 12 year old son Jaedan was just a wee little baby. My husband and I dropped off our son Delbin at a sitter on Friday July 19th, 2002 and went to a Moby concert on the grass at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (LC Pavilion). We put down a blanket to sit on and huddled close together under another blanket. We watched and listened to Moby belt it out on stage as it down-pored on us. Jaedan was content, warm and happy snuggled next to me as I nursed him. My husband and I walked away after the concert drenched, but very happy. We went out and bought his albums Play and 18. The concert is something I will never forget. The music was fantastic! The electronic ambient sounds and rain made it seem a bit dreamlike.

Hollywood Food Voices is a video series by Center For Food Safety (CFS) engaging the voices of informed celebrities with a passion for food and environmental health and justice. The CFS is a national non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy organization working to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. The goal of the Hollywood Food Voices series is to help bring greater awareness to the critical importance of the growing food movement. The first video in this series features musician and DJ Moby talking about the importance of bees and how we can help save them.

We all should be advocates for the honey bees! They are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. Sadly, our bees are being wiped out by the indiscriminate use of bee-toxic pesticides called neonicotinoids.

Moby is passionate about pollinators. He has over 30,000 bees that dwell on his four-acre home atop the Hollywood Hills. He has planted a bee friendly garden there that is free from pesticides and contaminants that would otherwise harm them.

Watch the new video:

Please sign the petition and join Moby and CFS in taking action to save the bees.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:  Center For Food Safety provided me with this promotional information and media to share with my readers. I chose on my own to post about this and share with my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I didn't receive any compensation for posting about this.

Planting a Fruit/Nut Orchard and Edible Garden with Food Stamps (SNAP EBT)

My daughters and our homemade raised beds.

A while back we made 2 raised beds for a garden (the third in this picture never got finished) out of used lumber we had lying around. Back then we didn't know how we were going to furnish the soil or plants because we didn't have the means or the money to that we knew of. We just knew we wanted a garden and that we loved the idea of a raised bed garden to tide us over until our greenhouse was built and the aquaponics system was put in.

Then we got on Food Stamps (SNAP EBT) because my husband, Brian, has been out of work because of a disability (an orthostatic intolerance). We, like many other people on food stamps, did not know at first that we could buy food bearing/producing plants and seeds with our food stamps at the stores that accept them. We found out through a friend, that bought a salsa garden for himself with food stamps, that it was possible.

Our fruit orchard is taking shape.

We decided to test the system out and see if we could get larger food bearing/producing plants like trees and large bushes. We came home from Fred Meyer with three gorgeous Earliblue High Bush Blueberry Bushes, their last ones in stock. We also went to both local Walmarts subsequent days afterward and picked up 8 Heritage Red Raspberry plants, 4 thorn-less Sawtooth Blackberry plants, 3 Sweet Cherry trees, 1 Profusion Flowering Crab Apple tree, 2 Granny Smith Apple trees, 1 Honey Crisp Apple tree, and 1 Bartlett Pear tree all with our food stamps! My neighbor also gave us 2 Desert King Fig trees that are going in the ground soon.

Thorn-less Sawtooth Blackberry plants: we planted these in the kids area where the large trampoline is.

Blueberry bushes and raspberries.

We have ran into a few snags when using food stamps, unfortunately though. Some of the plants had been marked down and were in the discounted section. The tags showing the discount didn't ring up the plants as a food producer and so the checkout person had to find the original tag to the plant and then take the discount off manually. We also tried to buy two beautiful Semi-Dwarf Eureka Lemon trees (the common supermarket lemon variety) from Fred Meyer, but even though it is without a shadow of a doubt edible and was even growing fruit on both trees when we showed it to them we couldn't get them because the tag didn't indicate anywhere on it that it was an edible. Instead, it called the tree a "patio plant", indicating ornamental. We are still fighting this one. We also found that at the time we found out about this program it was a bit late in the season and a lot of the Spring stock of plants were picked over and already taken. Very few places that take food stamps also carry food bearing/producing plants. We wish more gardens with nurseries and farms that sell their plants would take EBT. We did find one in the area that wasn't a large chain store, called Pikku Farm in Woodland Washington, but we haven't been able to get a hold of them by phone yet.

The cashier at Fred Meyer cut the tops off large paper sacks and stuck the folded top into the bottom of the sack for transport.

We also picked up some Sage (Common, 2 Pineapple, and Blue), 2 plants of Basil, 6 Brussels Sprout plants, 6 Broccoli plants, 6 Rainbow Swiss Chard plants. These we planted in our raised beds full of aged manure and soil. Our friend gave us some beets from her garden to eat and some she pulled out with the large ones were too small and so we put them back into the ground in our raised beds along with a bunch of scallions that had the roots on them still. We already had a cherry tomato plant in the corner growing.

Raised bed gardens with the blueberries and raspberries in the background.

My daughters with the raised beds and the compost pile in the background.

I love that all this planting and growing our own food will help us never go hungry. We also are teaching our kids where food comes from and how to grow and harvest it. Soon we will have a sustainable orchard and garden all thanks to the SNAP Gardens: Food Stamps Grow Gardens program.

People Towels are Perfect for Back To School and Eco-Lunchboxes Review and #Giveaway

This is a sponsored post, promotion, and giveaway.

People Towels are Perfect for Back-to-School and Eco-Lunchboxes!

Back to school is quickly approaching in my neck of the woods. Regardless of whether it is still approaching or already here for you, we as parents want our kids to be prepared. With all the school supplies one needs for school, sometimes there are things that are overlooked. I am glad to know there are Eco-friendly alternatives out there for Back to school items. I love to find things that will help in the classroom or at home if you homeschool and also are better for the environment as well.

People Towels are an on-the-go or at home alternative to paper towels. We use them here in my home and on-the-go because I homeschool. We end up using them a lot and we love to have them on hand to clean up small spills or wipe up messes. They are great for sticky fingers and messy faces and hold up better than a regular paper towel. They are also Earth friendly because they can be used over and over again.

They come in so many different designs that are printed with eco-friendly dyes. You can also create your own custom design. They also have convenient hang tags that let you attach them to loops or clips on your backpack, bag, belt buckle or purse. They are made of 100% certified organic Fair Trade cotton. The light-weight fabric is absorbent, yet dries quickly. They are machine washable and will last for years. They do fade slightly and soften after repeated washings.

People Towels are great for packing for car rides or trips and are especially nice to have with a packed lunch or picnic. If you send your kids to public school and pack lunches for them these are wonderful to use instead of a napkin or paper towel. These personal hand towels are reusable and save trees, reduce landfill waste, cut CO2 emissions and conserve water. 

 So make a sustainable lifestyle change and reduce your carbon footprint with PeopleTowels!

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Now through August 30, 2013 you can get a 25% discount on all PeopleTowels purchased online for Back-To-School. Use promo code: BTS13

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Prize: One lucky winner will win a free 3-pack of PeopleTowels! Open to US and Canada.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I am a People4PeopleTowels Ambassador and since I spread the word about the promotion I am going to be sent a free 7-pack of PeopleTowels. I also have the opportunity to give a free 3-pack of PeopleTowels away to my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting about this promotion and giveaway.

Conscious Box Giveaway

Conscious Box is offering a free month for this giveaway to one lucky reader. This post is also an affiliate post. Thank you for supporting my blog. I will also be given a month free to review later myself for posting about them.

Conscious Box is a subscription to a monthly delivery service that ships out natural, healthy, earth-friendly and sustainable products in a box to your front door so you can try them out and find new favorites. They carefully pick the products that go into the boxes and the businesses that make the products. These businesses are all trying to make the earth a better place to live on, have ethical practices and have pure and sustainable products. Each box is packed with 10-20 products from these companies. The products range from natural beauty to health food to non-toxic home goods. Monthly subscriptions cost $19.95 per box.

After subscribing and finding new favorites you can leave reviews and ratings so businesses can improve their product, packaging, and business as a whole. You will also be earning points along the way to apply savings to your favorite products.

WIN IT
Prize: 1 entrant will win a free month of Conscious Box.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Conscious Box is providing the giveaway prize free of charge for a lucky reader of this blog. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this giveaway. The links in this post are affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my blog!