Shopping Guide – Morning Sickness & Nausea Aids

Whether you suffer from a touch of “morning” sickness or you can’t hold anything down at all, you are probably desperate for some relief. Around 80% of pregnant women experience…

Why You Should Use Menstrual Cups

I am going to get a little personal now. I love menstrual cups. They seriously changed my life. In my teenage and young adult years, I was a devoted tampon…

Shopping Guide – Menstrual Products

The vagina (or hoo-ha as my two-year-old calls it) is not a part of the body that should be ignored. In my opinion, if you are going to use a…

Shopping Guide – Swim Diapers

If you have a baby and like to go to the pool, you are probably spending a fortune on swim diapers. Even if your baby doesn’t soil them, they are…

Stopping Weeds Naturally in Existing Walkways and Borders

If your yard is anything like mine, right now it is teeming with abundant plant life – in other words, weeds. And if you are anything like me, words like…

Shopping Guide: Lubricants

Natural lubricants aren’t exactly the first thing people start shopping for when they begin purging toxins from their personal care products. But they should not be overlooked – especially if…

Should I Feel Embarrassed to Breastfeed my Toddler?

Who cares? Well, it turns out I do. Just a little bit. As my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter gets older, I’m finding myself wondering whether I should stop nursing her. If it…

Welcome to the New One Part Sunshine!

I hope you like the new look of One Part Sunshine! I decided to make some pretty big changes both to the look and the functionality of my site. I’m hoping that these changes will make the site easier to use for both you and me!

Looking for a Partner to Join Me at One Part Sunshine

I am looking for a partner for my blog at OnePartSunshine.com. If you have always wanted to start a green parenting blog, this is a great opportunity to get involved in a site that is already up and running! I really need a partner who loves to write and who is very interested in green parenting. This person would become primarily responsible for the blog while most of my efforts would focus on maintaining the overall site. If you are interested in talking with me about this opportunity, email me at cindy (at) onepartsunshine (dot) com.

Picking Fruit and Loving Nature

One of our favorite summer activities is picking fruit. The kids love filling up baskets full of fresh berries or ripe peaches. And I love seeing their purple-stained grins after they shove a handful of newly-picked blackberries in their mouths. There really is something almost magical about seeing where fruit comes from and enjoying it so freshly picked. Picking fruit is also a fantastic way to get kids excited about nature.

Do Your Kids Love Nature?

Do you want your kids to love nature? I’m working on a free ebook for our email newsletter subscribers that will help you encourage your kids to love nature. It will be full of fun activities and ideas for kids of all ages. While you are waiting, here is a little inspiration!

The Best Natural DIY Baby Shampoo and Body Wash Recipes

It’s important to choose safe and natural products when cleaning your baby. Most conventional baby care products are full of toxic chemicals that can cause skin irritation, asthma and even cancer. Babies are most at risk because their bodies are still developing. The easiest way to know what you are putting on your baby’s skin is to make these products yourself using natural ingredients. Making personal care products from scratch is definitely trial and error. I have compiled a list of the best recipes that I have found that use only natural ingredients.

7 Safe, Eco-Friendly Ways for Your Kids to Enjoy the Pool

My kids love going to the pool, but it used to fill me with anxiety. I would worry about the chlorine in the water, the PVC in the pool toys and the chemicals in the sunscreen. Fortunately, companies are making a lot of progress when it comes to offering safe alternatives to toxic pool gear. And I am discovering my own cheap and easy DIY alternatives to things like pool toys. If you want to be stress-free at the pool, read on!

Planning the Mud Kitchen: Phase One

Ever since our visit to Boxerwood Gardens in Lexington, Virginia, my kids have been begging me for a mud kitchen. They spent hours there making mud pies with mud and gravel, salads with grass and flowers, and mud milkshakes. Plus, Pinterest is full of inspiring mud kitchen ideas. So I have begun the planning phase of putting a mud kitchen in our yard.

10 Non-Toxic Men’s Colognes for a Green Father’s Day

I am a firm believer that smell is very important to a relationship. If your partner stinks, it isn’t likely that things are going to get very romantic. It isn’t surprising that I feel this way because a recent study suggests that fertile women have a heightened sense of smell when it comes to male pheromones, especially during the latter part of their menstrual cycle. So number one on my list of Father’s Day presents for my husband is a nice-smelling cologne. However, I don’t want my gift to make him sick, which is exactly what can happen with conventional colognes and perfumes.

Summer Care Tip: Natural Leave-In Hair Conditioner for Kids (with 2 DIY Recipes)

Now that I have a little girl (one with beautiful curly hair), I find myself searching for ways to keep her hair soft and tangle-free. With summer almost here, conditioning her hair has become even more important. Chlorinated pools and salty oceans usually lead to dry, damaged hair. Unfortunately, conventional hair conditioners are filled with dangerous VOCs and phthalates.

How to have a handmade, non-toxic, natural Easter

Easter is my son’s favorite holiday. Of course, he loves the candy (a tradition I couldn’t quite give up) but he also loves the thrill of the hunt. We try to hit at least two or three egg hunts every year, choosing ones that are a bit more difficult than picking eggs up in a field. “The Easter Bunny” sets up a very tricky egg hunt in our house, often camouflaging the eggs or putting them in hard to reach places. And although these hunts are challenging, what is more challenging is finding natural, non-toxic treats and gifts to fill the eggs and baskets.

How to Rescue Torn, Stained, Worn and Damaged Clothing

I have a confession to make. I spend too much money on clothing. I try to buy secondhand, but I get overwhelmed by sorting through racks of junk in order to find that gem. So when a piece of clothing gets torn, stained, or ripped, I feel like crying because it usually ends up getting thrown out or donated. With two nature-loving kids, our clothes get damaged A LOT. But now, thanks to Pinterest, I have a whole arsenal of tools for rescuing this damaged clothing.

8 Ideas for Non-Toxic Bath Play

Choosing bath toys for my kids has always been a challenge for me. I prefer that my kids’ toys are safe, non-toxic and well-made – and this usually means plastic-free. But how do you find bath toys that are plastic-free??? Here is my list of 8 ideas for non-toxic bath play.

Good Deeds to Ring in the New Year (Good Deeds #50-52)

At the end of 2012, my new year’s resolution was to accomplish 52 good deeds during 2013. And I’m happy to say I have reached my goal! I finished this last year with my final three good deeds, which are also resolutions for this new year. First, use a DIY cold frame to grow greens in the winter. Second, buy secondhand clothing. Third, pay it forward all year long.

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