Fabulous Noshpockets! A Product Review and Give-Away!

Summer is almost here and that means the kids and I are out and about as much as possible. After our ridiculously long winter and being cooped up in the house, staying home is not on our list of things to do these days!

As a mom of three, the one thing I have found is that if you are leaving the house for any length of time, you need to have a steady supply of healthy snacks. Otherwise if you're like me, you'll find yourself with cranky kids that are quickly able to convince you to hit a drive through -  if anything just to bring the volume down while you wait in rush hour traffic to get home!

A few weeks back when I was shopping at my local Planet Organic here in Calgary I happened to come across Noshpockets and I have absolutely fallen in love with them!

I love that they are of course plastic free, easy to store, easily portable, easy for little fingers to open, super easy to clean (just toss in the washing machine if needed) and last but certainly not least, Noshpockets are made right here in Calgary! So when I buy them I am also supporting a local business! Win, win, win!

(For all our friends out there who don't live in Calgary, don't despair! No matter where in the world you live, you too can have your own stash of Noshpockets because you can order them online!)

In fact, Noshpockets are so popular here that they have been nominated for a Calgary Choice Award under the Best in Eco Friendly Product or Service! If you ask me, Noshpockets definitely deserve to win so if you like to support local home based businesses, especially those that make eco friendly alternatives to plastic then simply click here to vote and show your support! :D

Now, I am so happy with my little Noshpockets and completely impressed with how well they are made that I was bursting to share the love with our readers! I let Terry (the sweet, wonderful creator and founder of Noshpockets) know how much I loved them and we've teamed up together to host a give away for these cute little 'pockets!

That's right my friends, you have a chance to win a set of two Noshpockets, but you have to act fast because the contest closes on June 17th! That is one Noshpocket that is sandwich sized (7.5 x 6.25 inches) AND one Noshpocket that is snack sized (6 x 4.75 inches)!

How to enter the contest...

Entering is super easy and you have more than one chance to win! Oh and this contest is open to our readers around the world! As Canadians, Heather and I know know how super annoying it is to be left out of fabulous contests that are only open to residents of a specific country. So, we try our best to have give-aways that are inclusive to everyone. We have wonderful readers from around the world and we appreciate you all! :o)

To be entered in the contest you simply need to head on over to the Noshpockets product page (<--- just click that link there) and check out all the great patterns and fabrics Terry has for these cute and totally eco friendly alternatives to ziplock baggies and plastic sandwich bags! Decide which two designs are your favourites!

Once you've decided which Noshpockets designs are your faves, simply do just one of the following (or all of them for more chances) to win:

♥ Leave a comment here on our blog letting us know which designs you will choose if you win!

♥ Leave a comment on the Facebook page of Noshpockets letting Miss Terry know which fabric designs are your favourites! She's just getting started with social media so make sure you show her some Facebook love! :D

♥ Leave a comment on our Significantly Simple Facebook page telling us which fabric designs are your favourites!

♥ Tweet us your Noshpocket favourites using the hashtag #noshpockets. Our Twitter ID is @EcoDivasCanada

♥ Tweet the contest on Twitter with a link to this post (so people know what to do to win!) and also use the hastag #noshpockets so we can count your entry!

♥ Spread the word on your own Facebook page or personal account (or both!) letting others know about this awesome hand made eco friendly product and the contest we have going on! Make sure you use the Facebook tag @Noshpockets or @SignificantlySimple so we know! If you don't tag at least one of our Facebook pages then we won't know and you don't want to lose out on an extra couple of chances to be entered right? And yes if you mention it on your page and your personal account that will count as two entries. :o)

♥ If you have a blog simply mention this post and this Noshpockets contest on your site for another chance to win!

That is up to EIGHT chances to win a fabulously adorable eco friendly set of Noshpockets!

And because it's summer time, we've made this contest run a little longer. Instead of our normal weeklong contest, this giveaway will run for 10 days until 8am MDT on June 17th. Our contest winner will be announced on our Friday Finds post for June 17th. The winner will have until the following Monday (June 20th ) to respond to us via email (SignificantlySimple @gmail.com) letting us know their address to send the Noshpockets to and of course letting us know their fabric design choices! If we don't hear from the winner by June 20th then a new winner will be chosen. The winner is chosen via Random.org.

Have a fabulous week everyone!

Better and better,

SafeMama's 2011 Sunscreen Cheat Sheet and Why You Need to Read It!

Hmmm...apparently Summer is on the way although you wouldn't know it in these parts with all the rain we've been getting! It's so dreary in Calgary it reminds me of those overcast drizzly winter days I grew up with on the West Coast. It's certainly not the kind of weather that reminds me I need to be getting prepared for summer once the clouds clear away, that's for sure!

If you are a parent you know that the one thing you need to have in your child's summertime tool box is sunscreen. If you are like me though, you are nit picky about sunscreen and would rather not slather your children in the toxic brews that tempt you from the store shelves and promise ultimate protection under the beguiling façade of safety. It seems the debate starts around the playgrounds and splash parks every year around this time on what brand of sunscreen is actually safe, followed by a few comments that they all must be safe or they wouldn't be sold (which is sadly not the case and even sadder is many people don't want to hear that fact) or that any sunscreen, no matter how toxic the ingredients, is better than nothing.

What's a parent to do? It is an incredibly confusing product to figure out sometimes and yet it's equally important that you do. Skin cancer is, of course, a clear risk from running around in the bright afternoon without sun protection and at the same time our bodies need the sun to help us synthesize Vitamin D. You can watch the clock when it comes to outdoor time and cover yourself in protective clothing, but that isn't always the most feasible option, so you end up turning to sunscreen.

Do your research simply because many companies are counting on you NOT to...

These are chemicals that are being put on your child's skin countless times over the next few months (and for many of you, possibly year round) and will be absorbed into their sensitive little bodies. Please, please stop being complacent and research your ingredients.  In this case you don't even need to search that hard because I am going to link you up some of the best resources I have found when it comes to the safety of your children. All you have to do is click and read. Easy peasy! ♥

Know that most sunscreens on the mainstream marketplace contain incredibly toxic ingredients like Oxybenzone, and retinyl palmitate (which has, ironically, been linked to skin tumors and if that wasn't bad enough, it's also believed to speed up the formation of cancerous cells. I'm serious folks, I couldn't make this up if I tried). Not only that, your SPF 50 that you put on your little bean this summer might only be SPF 10. You literally might end up paying more for an SPF 50+ that is full of carcinogenic, hormone disrupting ingredients and isn't even doing what you paid for. I don't know about you, but I would be royally ticked off if that was the case.

Do you have sunscreen in the house? Then click the bold green link to read the Environmental Working Group/Skin Deep's 2011 Sunscreen Hall of Shame to learn more about the ingredients listed. It will certainly be eye opening if nothing else!

Which sunscreen should you buy then, you ask?

I personally am partial to Badger and Green Beaver products. I love them and they work. Plus it just gives you that warm squishy feeling inside when you buy one of them and know you are getting an awesome product that is produced either 'locally' (as in here in Canada for you fellow Canucks) or by a family run business like the Badger products are in New Hampshire.

I realize though not all chemically safe sunscreens are available in all places, so I present to you 

drumroll please...... 

THE Queen Bee of the blog-o-sphere when it comes to product safety for children and families,

a fellow Mama Bear,

someone whom we would proudly place in our Eco Diva Hall of Fame (if we had one, which on second thought I'm going to make one, because us Eco Divas need to band together right?!?),

  

the one and only,

 SafeMama and her 2011 Sunscreen Cheat Sheet!  

I love SafeMama, and her dedication to child safety and non toxic products. She makes me feel less neurotic totally normal that I am concerned about this stuff and research all these topics. Plus, she sums everything up so beautifully in easy to understand language that doesn't require a chemistry degree to understand.

Needless to say I was thrilled to see my beloved Badger Sunscreen on her list! She has listed over 25 different sun protection products that are safe for you and your family - it is one of the best resources I have found when it comes to sun/skin care and it is most definitely a list worth looking at. 

Everything you need to know about sunscreen ingredients including the good, the bad and the ugly, can be found over at SafeMama. Do yourself and your family a favour and click on over and take a read through! ♥

I hope you are having a great week so far! 

The Family Dinner and Winner of the Butterfly June Giveaway

Let's start with the winner of this gorgeous butterfly necklace from Butterfly June.  Danielle B-K will receive the Purple Hairstreak Butterfly necklace, as shown below!

Are you a family that dines together on a regular basis, or do you come and go at different times for soccer, ball, dance, art lessons, and everything else that is squeezed into your schedule?  I am happy to say that we have always eaten dinner together - sure, there is the odd day it doesn't work, but it's rare.  DH is home around 5:30 which allows us time to eat together before heading out to various activities.  On the days we have to leave before he gets home, the kids and I eat together and leave him a plate.  It works well for us.

If you're a family who has a hard time sitting down together for dinner, I highly recommend this book:

A Book Review and a Give-away All You Fellow Bloggers Out There Will LOVE!

Whew! What a week! I don't know about you, but things have been crazy, crazy, crazy around here the last few days and Friday just seemed to sneak right up on me. :D

I apologize this post is a little delayed today, my Dad got into town last night for a visit, so we've all been hanging out drinking coffee and having fun with the kids. It's been a bit of a gong show around here to say the least, in a good way of course! ♥

I love Friday's and how our Friday Finds have morphed into not only great give aways for our fans, but that at the same time we are able to support and promote talented artisans, fellow WAHM's, authors who pen great books and more!

Speaking of fabulous and successful WAHM's with that entrepreneurial and generous spirit - we are so excited to announce our winner from our contest last week courtesy of Bummers! Congrats go out to Julie M, we know she'll love her new set of the KangaSac Litterless Lunch System!

If this is your first time here well let me fill you in on Julie's great prize and what exactly she won from Bummers...

The Kanga Sac Litterless Lunch System contains one each of the following:

1 KangaSac Reusable Lunch Bag (size 11.4" x 14" - plenty of room in there for all your goodies!)

1 Kanga Sac Reusable Sandwich Bag (size 7" x 7")

1 Kanga Sac Reusable Snack Bag (size 4" x 7")

The best part about the Kanga Sacs, in addition to being totally easy to fold up and store away, and eco-friendly to boot, is that you can pop them in the washing machine and dryer. Yes, that's right, if your little one puts their half eaten yogurt back in the bag without the lid for example (like my kids always do!) and it sits in there for the rest of the day, all is not lost because these can be washed! I LOVE that!

For those of you who are after a set of these handy machine washable and totally affordable re-usable lunch bags Bummers is also an online store in addition to a local cloth diaper service and they offer fantastic rates for shipping. I know this first hand as I just placed an order with them this week! So make sure you head over to Bummers and snap these Kanga Sacs up. We know you'll be glad to you did!

What is this weeks give away you ask?

Well read on to find out because we are very excited to be able to share with our fans a fabulous book by the multi talented self published author, Chad Lafarge!



I don't know about you, but I am a wanna be techie. Having blogged and been online for years I've always been fascinated on how the whole concept of search engine optimization works. Whether you have a personal blog so you can share your journey through the adoption process, a place to share your favourite recipes or a web site set up to sell and share your creative endeavours, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must for you when it comes to generating more relevant traffic and readers to your site.

Why is SEO so important?

Well, I'll paint you a little picture to hopefully give you a better visual... :o)

We are in the midst of a federal election campaign here in Canada. So let's say you have a blog dedicated to talking politics and sharing information on the current campaign and upcoming election, which for us is May 2, 2011. Search engine optimization is the process that sends the readers looking for election information and tid bits on the various political parties to your site and the people say, looking for cheap airfare and holiday information for the month of May 2011 to the travel sites. Make sense? Awesome!

No matter what your purpose on line is, SEO is important to your site whether you realize it or not.

Unless your blog is set to private, chances are you would be thrilled to have more traffic coming to your site to 'meet' up with others who share your views, who are interested in what you have to say, and well, in the most simplest of terms, enjoy your blog. I mean think about it, where is the first place you go online when you are looking for something....anything? Even if it is just a recipe? You go to a search engine, most likely Google, Bing or Yahoo. If you have a blog dedicated to your favourite recipes and kitchen tips, SEO is what makes your website stand out from the rest and show up in the search results.

I've realized that SEO doesn't have to be boring! Who knew?! :D

I don't know about you, but the thing I have found over the years when browsing and looking for information on blogging, website design and (anything else that falls into that "techie category") is that soooooo many sites and books claiming to be the 'go to experts', are well, quite frankly overwhelming, hard to read and often ridiculously long. They could very well be the 'go to experts' on blogging and SEO, but for this busy homeschooling mama with ADHD and 3 crazy kidlets roaming around to keep me on my toes, a huge book or busy site with a lot of fluffy information completely turns me off. 

Like many of you, I don't have the time to flip through 300 pages of a book or dig around a massively cluttered up website to find the information that I need. And then of course the kicker is, because I was (still am) learning about all this, I don't know what it is I need to know! In the past I would never finish a book or go back to a website because I hated that overwhelming, information overloaded feeling so many of them left me with - I couldn't figure out what was relevant and what was fluff and it annoyed me.

Does Heaven have Angels for techie wanna be's like me? Yes, I think they do!

A few weeks ago however, it's like a cluster of Techie Angels heard my pleas for information that I could actually absorb and put to good use. Just like that, I found "What You Need NOW for Search Engine Optimization - None of the fluff, none of the bull: only the details that matter to get the job done." by Chad Lafarge.

Lafarge had me at the Introduction:

"This handbook describes the tasks related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for a new or existing website. The need addressed by this book is: You have an SEO project, have zero experience and don't have time to read 200 pages of fluff mixed with fact. You may have time for closer to 30 pages of fact and some useful tables. I've made an effort to be as thorough as possible and to provide a solid foundation on which you can build your own SEO successes without burdening you with stacks of padding."

From the personal blogs to the talented WAHM's who want to make a difference in this world with their creations and thus have the need for a retail website, this book is everything and more when it comes to search engine and web site optimization. Don't let the fact that it is less than 40 pages fool you, Lafarge titled his book perfectly because this book is exactly what you need NOW when it comes to your blog/web site and making SEO work in your favour.

Lafarge walks his readers through the whole process by ensuring that his advice is straight to the point. He has brilliantly written it so that it is easy to understand and follow (even for this relatively scatterbrained ADHD mom), and also most importantly, he's designed the book so that it is easy to learn from - the tables and worksheets are some of the best parts of the book in my opinion. The fact that he has a knack for actually making it all interesting is a bonus too (which if you have read any books on technological information and internet algorithms, you'll know that this is no small feat in and of itself because most of them are 300 some odd pages of dry boring information).

We love supporting other writers, especially self published ones so we were very excited that we would be able to let you know about Chad LaFarge's book this week!

I know we have a lot of fellow bloggers and website owners as fans here at SignificantlySimple.com who would absolutely benefit from this book and the golden nuggets of information inside it. Even if you don't have a website now, but plan to in the future, even if it is just a blog to document an upcoming trip, or life event, this book can benefit everyone.

Not only do we highly recommend "What You Need NOW for Search Engine Optimization", but we are also giving a copy away next week to one lucky winner!

Contest entry is easy peasy. Simply reply in the comments here or on our Facebook page with the phrase:

"I wanna know SEO!"

If you are a fellow website owner, then we have a great bonus for you!

If you blog about or mention Chad LaFarge's book, "What You Need NOW for Search Engine Optimization" and the contest we have going on this week, we will give you:

• 4 extra entries to win,
• a link back next week in our next Friday Finds Post and 
• 30 days of free advertising on our site (under "Visit Our Sponsors on the right or left column) 

Like I said, Heather and I love to support those with the talent and the fortitude to create their own path and we truly feel this author is worthy of that support. If you read the book, we know you'll feel the same!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! ♥


 

 

 

KangaSac Product Review and Giveaway

I'm really excited about today's Friday Find! 

Our latest find is the  KangaSac Litterless Lunch System, which is a fantastic, fantastic product!  The lunch bags are made of 100% Polyester with Water Resistant Polyurethane Laminate Coating, making them a great alternative to plastic bags.  They can be washed in a washer, spot washed by hand, or cleaned in the dishwasher - how fantastic is that?!

Photo Credit:  Bummers

KangaSacs come in 3 sizes - the small one is perfect for snacks like nuts, crackers, and cookies.  The medium is the perfect size for a large sandwich, while the large sac fits your entire lunch.  The sacs close with high quality zippers, making them a better alternative than velcro, in my humble opinion - AND, the large lunch bag can be attached to a backpack!

Another thing I really love about them, is that they fold nice and small - I can fit them all into a drawer for easy storage - no more large lunchboxes on the counter - yay! I love it!  :)

But the best is yet to come!

Enter:  Bummers Diaper Service!

"Bummers is owned and operated by Amber, a Work-at-Home-Mom. Bummers was created out of love for all of our children and our environment. As a parent and an environmentalist I thought it was only natural to help other parents provide the best for their babies and the environment and make to the best accessible to everyone, no matter their financial standing."

Bummers carries a variety of cloth diapers, swim diapers, training pants, diaper pails, wet bag and pail liners, leggies and accents, detergent, and KangaSacs. If you have a little one in diapers and would like to try cloth, or kids at school who take lunches, you need to head on over to Bummers to check out their stock.  You won't be sorry!

Amber is giving away a set of  all three KangaSacs to one lucky reader! A winner will be selected next Thursday (Apr 14) and the winner will announced on Friday Finds (Apr 15).

You have 3 chances to win:

1. Leave a comment here.
2. Head over to Amber's Facebook Group and leave the comment:  @Significantly Simple Giveaway!
3. Head over to our Facebook Page and leave the comment:  @Bummers Giveaway!

Oh, and if you know of anyone who needs cloth diapers or a fantastic litterless lunch system, share this post with them!  :D

Note:  Contest open to residents of Canada and US.

*****

Photo Credit - Rae of Light Photography

And last but not least, the winner of the 4x6 giveaway from Rae of Light Photography is Kristin!  She has chosen the photo to the left.

You can find Kristen at Sew Technicolor where she writes about books (who doesn't love books?!) and at her Etsy Shop with the same name - she has fabulous stuff!

What have you found this week that you want to share?

Friday Finds for Dec 3!

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Did I ever find something last weekend when Heather and I were out shopping at the new Cross Iron Mills Mall here in Calgary!

Have you ever heard of Lush? OMG people, you MUST TRY LUSH! They are all handmade soaps, lotions, potions and skincare and everything I have tried so far is d.i.v.i.n.e!!!!

I had actually heard of Lush before and I thought "meh, sounds like another Body Shop" but boy was I wrong!

The Godiva Shampoo Bar. Photo Courtesy of Lush Cosmetics

For so long I have been allergic to sooooo many different shampoos/conditioners etc, so I tried their Godiva Shampoo Bar and I think I actually got one step closer to heaven - it is amazing! My head/scalp isn't itchy, my hair smells like jasmine and looks even better if I do say so myself! I was so shocked that this little itty bitty round disc shaped thingy even worked, let alone is so rock solid it feels like it will last forever. I followed it up with their Jungle Solid Conditioner (which is a bar by the way, not a bottle of conditioner - who knew?!) which actually tamed my thick and wild locks (I'm not bragging either, my hair is thick and crazy and drives me to the brink some days...) All in all $80 later between their shampoo, conditioner, skin cleansers and bubble bars I've been smelling purty all week!

The Jungle Solid Conditioner. Photo Courtesy of Lush Cosmetics

What I also love about Lush, is their lack of packaging. If I buy a bar of shampoo or a bubble bar for example, it is handmade in Vancouver, BC Canada AND it doesn't come in any unnecessary plastic packaging!! WOOOT! I love that. A few of their products need packaging but I love that only the products that *really* need it are in plastic bottles or tubs.

You have to try it out, you will be sooooooooooooooo glad you did!

'Pop In The Bath' Bubble Bar. Photo Courtesy of Lush Cosmetics

For our Canadian friends simply go to http://www.lush.ca/, for our American friends pop on over to http://www.lushusa.com/ and all our other international friends you can click your way to http://www.lush.com/ and they will help you get to the right place.

Moving right along...  :o)

I have also become a HUGE fan of Laurette Lynn aka The Unplugged Mom. I dream, no actually I drool over the thought of becoming an unplugged house (which will never happen because my husband is a sports and HDTV addict - *sigh*), so I live a lot of the time, vicariously through her. She has a truly informative and inspiring blog radio show as well every Sunday night at 10pm Central (thats 8pm PST, 9pm MST and 11pm EST). Laurette has a fabulous blog and radio show and I think you should go and check her out! For more information about Laurette's show just click here!

Speaking of fabulous ideas and wonderful blogs, I found this little gem on Spearmint Baby and fell in love!

Photo courtesy of Spearmint Baby

They are fabric alphabet fridge magnets! I was always nervous of the little plastic fridge magnets so I never kept them in the house. But these are great and I can't wait to make some for my little Noah this month and tuck them under the tree! :D

Now I found this on Spearmint Baby, but this is what I love about blogging - we all share the love! Spearmint Baby found this on the Daily B. So going to either site will give you the instructions on how to make these wonderful little letters.



What have you found this week that you want to share? Make sure to comment and let us know!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! ♥

With love and light,



Product Review: Crocodile Creek Backpacks, Lunchboxes, Water Bottles

Last year I bought our daughter a character backpack from a big box store, and by Halloween it was falling apart. The zipper broke, a strap was coming unstitched, and the bottom had holes in it.

This time around I splurged a bit and bought beautiful matching backpacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles from Crocodile Creek.

Our daughter is obsessed with horses, and I found this great matching set:

Our son loves dinosaurs, so he has this set:

One of the great things about Crocodile Creek is that their products meet both US and European standards. The quality of these backpacks is shining through - the zippers are heavy duty and the stitching isn't showing the slightest bit of weakness. The lining in the lunchboxes is free of PVCs, phthalates, vinyl, and BPA, not to mention how strong it is. I've put the lunch boxes through the dishwasher a number of times, and the lining is still as strong and sturdy as it was when we got it. I love that the water bottles are made of eco-friendly stainless steel that handwash beautifully. The only thing I wish for, would be larger water bottles.

I would definately recommend these products, as I give them two thumbs up!

Have a Product? We'll Review It!

Our Product Review Page will be up and running shortly.

If you have a product that you would like us to review, please email us at significantlysimple@gmail.com