Organic Gift Guide For Health and Fitness

Photo: Etsy , AmykeDesign, green teal.

We found these great offerings on Etsy, to improve your health and fitness. Since the holidays are here, nothing like making your New Years Resolutions NOW!

Energize Yourself Naturally

Caffeinated organic green tea infused with B vitamins and Amino Acids.delicious green tea! Available at AmykeDesign for $12.95 it makes up to 24 cups. She says, "This handcrafted recipe is naturally caffeinated, helps increase your metabolism, which encourages an active healthy lifestyle and is packed full of great necessities that your body craves."

Pic: Etsy, SugarBakers Bakery, Healthy Weight Loss Bars, See Below

 Feed Your Sweets Craving With Something Good


SugarBakersBakery on Etsy  offers a once a day weight loss bar, shipped to you  priority mail and individually wrapped. This costs you $75 for a month's supply, but their bars offer Papaya. Brindle and Acai Berries, and are Freshly Baked !  Said to crave and cut hunger, the components are associated with health and weight loss.

Photo: Etsy's HippieMom333, read why you need this below

Get Plenty of Sleep and Stay Stress Free

It's a proven fact lack of sleep and stress helps you maintain your fat, get rid of it by eliminating the "I can't sleep" or "I'm stressed out" syndrome. HippieMom333 creates great tinctures, and the best part is they are alcohol free!  This stress and relaxation one is only $11. She says, "Take 20-40 drops (depending on body weight) about 30 minutes before bed. You can mix into water, tea, juice, or take under your tongue.  All organic ingredients including: Vegetable Glycerine, Valerian, Hops, Hibiscus Flowers, Chamomile & Mugwort ".  She has plenty of other natural remedies, too.

Organic cotton wraps at MommyBellyWrap on Etsy, see below

Tone Muscles With an Organic Cotton Wrap

Although the store above is geared towards postpartum and new moms, the sheer idea of the organic cotton wrap is a miraculous one. First of all, this is all natural cotton so your skin can BREATHE. In ancient days the ladies wrapped their tummies with fibers to melt away excess fat and re-tone the skin by firmly holding the muscles in place. Now it appears you can do the same.  For $38.99 at MommyBellyWrap  this is must have for someone trying to lose weight. Unlike other wraps this is ORGANIC COTTON and would be  great to wear while you are walking, working, or running to the store.  The store has 100% positive reviews. This is a best kept secret!

Etsy shop: Phalon Marie read more below

Incorporate More Exercise Per Day

If you exercise now, even just a little, or maybe not at all, you still have room to improve your health and fitness goals for 2013. If you can't afford to hire a personal trainer, or even join the gym, why not do exercises in the comfort of your own home? PhalonMarie makes it super easy with five prinatable exercise routinest that target your abs, arms and butt for just $7.50. You have to start somewhere and this is a great investment. What are you waiting for?

The Etsy Recycler's Guild Upcycles Paper!

Did you know that: Recycling 1 short ton (0.91 t) of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7 thousand US gallons (26 m3) of water, 3 cubic yards (2.3 m3) of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil (84 US gal or 320 l), and 4,100 kilowatt-hours (15 GJ) of electricity?! This is enough energy to power the average American home for six months! (Resources: "Wastes – Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials - Paper Recycling"- US EPA)

The Etsy Recyclers Guild is upcycling recycled and vintage paper and transforming it into some beautiful treasures! Please check out the treasury I created below featuring exclusively recycled paper creations all from members the Etsy Recyclers Guild; the treasury is titled "Orange Cats Love Recycled Paper".My darling sister, Andrea of Storybook Artifact, created a picture tutorial just for the Etsy Recyclers Guild instructing how to make upcycled paper confetti gift/package stuffing "curlicues". Andrea puts these upcycled decorative curlicues in all of her Etsy shop order packages...I bet her customers feel like it is their birthday when they open their packages!

How to Make Upcycled Paper Confetti Package "Curlicues":

1. Collect some magazine pages with brightly colored pages (on both sides of the page if possible). These usually consist of advertisements; however, it is okay to have a little bit of text as long as the other side has lots of color. Recycled clippings of gift wrapping paper is a wonderful choice since they have brightly colored designs and are sometimes shiny or glittery. Furthermore, it is perfectly fine to make different sizes of curlicues (short, long, thin, wide), so you can create them with ease while watching your favorite television show!2. Take the sheet of recycled paper in one hand and the your scissors in the other (sharp scissors work best) and cut off a strip of paper.3. Now take the strip (if it is uneven and not completely straight that is okay) and with the sharp end of the scissors, pull the paper from end to end with a sliding motion to create a curlicue. As shown below.Thank you Andrea of Storybook Artifact for sharing this picture tutorial with us! I encourage everyone to check out the vintage items in her shop...Remember buying vintage is recycling and reusing items from the past! I just love this vintage little leather library collection titled Victorian Literature Collection...It's made of vintage paper!
This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Update on the "Help Ron" Fundraiser : Iowa Fire Victim Progress Made

Vinyl lettering by DesignDivasGallery

I just wanted to say thank you for all the outpouring of donations and sincere concern that came forth from Etsians, our family, our friends, our readers , our fellow Etsy teams, and some Iowans during our "Help Ron" the Iowa Fire Victim who lost his home last August fundraiser launch. 

The spreadsheet proves that people care, in just a few days we hit 26% to goal. I want to remind you this is a public tally. The Donor Name Field can be edited by you at any time  and so you may wish to change your name or shop name to "ANONYMOUS" in the instance you wish to remain private or low key. Most of you added the names yourself so I assume you don't care. The spreadsheet will be up until we hit our initial goal.  It is mainly to ensure I am calculating right and haven't missed your donation.

So, I figured I'd give you an update on the progress thus far.

Reusable sandwich bag by WrapCycle, Fire Engine Style!

My original hopes were not just to raise money to assist Ron in improving his living conditions (which we are doing and I so thank you for that) but to raise awareness also. After numerous phone calls,  emails and letters, I think we made some progress.   In all of these letters and emails, I asked for clothing and shoe donations, aid to clean up his farm, aid in removing and RV that sits on his property, and neighborly support. Sadly the week his home burnt down there was a major flood, and so his house fire did not make the news as it normally does in most areas.

One reporter, kind enough to reply during her vacation, will investigate the situation and I hope that she may be able to shed light and bring exposure that Ron needs to reach fellow Iowans.

Fire Truck by NinDesign

I also found out some disturbing news. If you are a fire victim without insurance, aid usually comes first from the Red Cross, and second from any local or state non-profits that are willing to help.  If you are out of the locale of agencies in your area, or there are no agencies in your area that are set up to help fire victims, you are out of luck. The only other option is to go on state assistance and live in without a home.  Not many of us realize this until it happens to us.  I wish the Fire Departments had fundraisers to help Fire Victims, just a thought.  In this case, the kindness of strangers like us have helped in some way. (I suppose it's not too late to plea to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is it?)  

In talking to Ron, he was very appreciative of all we are doing, and did indicate that initially a debit card in the form of $250 was given to him by the Red Cross. 

Fire Engine, Large, by PoshPaints

Our Co-Leader had the ideas of approaching a lot of corporations for sponsorship.  I called a bunch inquiring, and I found out that many are willing to help people in need. However, they do not donate to private individuals for several reasons. One, they do not know the legitimacy of the individual case (thanks to many scams, they just won't do it.)  Two, they want donation and tax write offs which only come from  501-c3 Charity organization.

Etsy also advises that when donating or supporting a charity, to make sure it's a 501-3c one, so that you can rest assured that your money is not going to a scam or illegitimate cause.  A lot of special teams are formed to assist with certain charities, like "Etsy Angels" who choose a different cause each month. It is amazing to see how many charitable Etsians there are!  There are some going on right now to raise money for Japan via sending donations to the Red Cross. You can search etsy.com/teams by keyword search to find something that fits your charity needs.

So the next step with HELP RON is the hopes that the kind reporter can get a non profit to take up the cause, and have wonderful corporate sponsors come forward to help Ron rebuild his life.

First Light by MaiAutumn

Extreme Makeover required a 19 page application, most of it waivers for filming, and focuses on families in need.  Although I sent photos and information, I think that it won't make it very far.  Still, I created a Facebook page that you can "LIKE" for added exposure in hopes that someone who views it can do something. 


Thank you for continuing to spread the word and send Ron's story to any Iowa agencies or private individuals that you think may have resources to help.  If you do decide to spread the story, you can use the Facebook Community page set up for Ron as it has a synopsis of the circumstances surrounding the cause. That way they can contact Ron directly.

I have done most of what I can do from here, so far away, and will continue to send donations Ron's way as they come in.   Thank you for all your support, for bringing it to me in the first place, and thanks for restoring my faith that some people, like us, do care about strangers.

Handmade Bliss by the Etsy Recyclers Guild team

Wastenot Treasury by Lake Erie Beach Glass

'Springy Frrrresh!' by lakeeriebeachglass

Fun springy items to boost your spirits and to make you smile from people who love to use recycled items.

Spring Mushroom Garden in a ... WanderingLydia $30.00	Spring Peep Family cherspassion $18.00
Groovy Guitar Sandwich Sak -... WasteNotSaks $	Strawberry Jellybean Easter ... FeltedWoolies $12.00
Toddler Girl's Pink Lime... Brokenghostcou... $52.00	Real Sea Glass - Emerald Gre... westcoastseagl... $12.00
Jewelry Container Robot- He ... leuckit $115.00	Vintage Apple Pattern Storag... luvvinjewels $5.00
Bright Citrus Bloom Mixed Me... rekindleme $14.99	3/4 Inch Bright Yellow earri... AnBlathPaipeir $22.50
Happy Mushrooms Upcycled Sho... loveismyreligi... $25.00	Cool CrAZy Dude Orig Palm Fr... IntoTheTrees $50.00
Vintage Southern Belle Table... loveismyreligi... $15.00	PDF Crochet Pattern - WEAR I... Crochooley $3.50
Mad About Saffron-Green Broo... Retreauxgirl $45.00	Typewriter Key Pendant Neckl... busterandboo $18.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

12 Finalists Announced and Await Judging by Tim Adams of Handmadeology

We are anxiously awaiting to know....

Our ERG "Links" contest is officially over, and entries have been reviewed. These are the lucky folks who have made it to the final round.  Judging will begin and winner will be announced sometime between February 18-21st.  These have met the following qualifications:

• They have posted articles on someone on the ERG's shop,
• Linked to those shops in the article.
• And linked/mentioned the Etsy Recyclers Guild in these posts!

Now they will be forwarded to our Judge...drum roll please............Tim of Handmadeology--aka the Master of Social Networking! 

Tim is our guest judge!

Someone will win THE GRAND PRIZE PACK of goodies and advertising valued at $200.  What's not to love for a few moments of your time?  Not to mention, I'm linking them, they are linking us, we link and link and link. Read why this is important with this great article on Backlinking on Handmadeology.

QUALIFYING FINALISTS (in order received):

#1  Texas Vintage Things
This finalist blogged about---> RetreauxGirl   ENTRY #1 READ IT!

#2  Texas Vintage Things 
 This finalist blogged about --> RetroChalet  ENTRY #2 READ IT!

#3 Galla15  

This finalist blogged about--->  RetroChalet ENTRY #3 READ IT!

#4 PetiteHermine

This finalist blogged about--> BeatUpCreations ENTRY #4 READ IT!

#5 SeaFlowerStudios  

This finalist blogged about --> NobleUpcycling ENTRY #5 READ IT!

#6 Serendipit
This finalist blogged about-->  SweetandDirtys  ENTRY #6 READ IT!

#7 HarvestMoonbyHand
This finalist blogged about--> WanderingLydia    ENTRY#7 READ IT!

#8 Felted Woolies  
This finalist blogged about --> Noble Upcycling    ENTRY #8 READ IT!

#9 Retreaux Girl  
This finalist blogged about --> TexasVintage/MattieReid    ENTRY #9 READ IT!

#10 RetroBabs
This finalist blogged about --> AdrienArt  ENTRY #10 READ IT!

#11 IntoTheTrees
This finalist blogged about --> RetroChalet   ENTRY #11 READ IT

#12  CerenaLeigh
This finalist blogged about --> AlpenglowVintage  ENTRY #12 READ IT !

NON-QUALIFIERS  (Thanks for trying)

ME:  Call this ironic! I wrote a post on our member Eco Friendly Freckles READ MY DISQUALIFIED POST HERE  but forgot to enter it on the contest entries WOOPSIE!
 
OHZIE:  Ohzie nominated her best friend BELIZ's shop.but her friend is not on the ERG... I hope you all will visit Ohzie's friend's shop as it's super cool. 


THANK YOU to everyone who participated. 

• SPECIAL THANKS for those of you who featured my shop. 

• VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Tim for guest judging. 

•  SUPER VERY SPECIAL THANKS to  Janet of Into the Trees who took this contest opportunity as a time to learn to blog, and start her own blog and work on it.  I am so very proud of her, check out her blog now and send her some love!