Green Halloween! { #CostumeSwapDay }

It may not quite be Halloween yet, but National Costume Swap Day is right around the corner! And it’s never too early to start thinking about how to make one of the best holidays of the year more eco-friendly.

Now, I've always been one to use whatever I have around the house to make costumes. Last year, the kids went as SpongeBob and one of the characters in an episode - DoodleBob (I think that's the guy's name!) It went well, but Little Guy really hated the box thing. For the first time ever, I'm getting him a costume this year - Thomas the Train. I tried and tried to think of a way to make him one (I can't sew very well) that would be comfortable. I had the prototype, tried it on him, and he HATED it. As in, nearly had a tantrum because it was just not comfortable.

Since I'll be getting a new costume this year, I know exactly what I'll be doing with it next year. Check out the information below for National Costume Swap Day. I know that you have some kind of costumes in a box somewhere (basement, garage, etc.) that you know you'll never use again. You're holding on to them because a) you spent good money on them and will NOT throw them out, b) you don't want to toss them into the trash because you'll be adding to landfills, c) they've been in the box for so long you just forgot about them! If you don't have Halloween costumes laying around, what about out-grown dress-up clothes? You know what I mean on this one, too. Is your little girl still trying to get into that leotard that is three sizes too small? Do you little guy's fireman boots hurt his feet? Take them to the nearest Costume Swap and exchange them for some new stuff!

On October 8, people across the country will get together for costume swaps in their own cities and towns. Swaps are a great way to go green by exchanging gently used Halloween costumes for new-to-your-kids. You’ll save the money you would’ve spent on new costumes for your kids and help the environment. In fact, swapping half the costumes kids wear at Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons—about the weight of 2,500 midsize cars!


If you’ve got friends and neighbors or a school or community group for whom a costume swap would be a good project, I encourage you to host a swap yourself or join with others. It’s easy, fun and a great way to build community around this money-saving and planet-saving idea. You can learn the simple steps to hosting a swap HERE. And be sure to register your swap so everyone can find out about it. Many neighborhoods and towns have already begun planning their swaps. Find one near you, then spread the word and help make it an eek-o-fabulous success!


National Costume Swap Day is sponsored by Green Halloween, KIWI magazine, and Swap.com.

Ready to get started? Find existing swaps—plus information to help you start your own at CostumeSwapDay.com.

I CERTAINLY Wasn't Expecting This!

I love having books for my kids. I love that, by having children's books around, my kids will pick them up and read them - just because. I don't have to suggest it or make sure they read for 20 minutes every day (or whatever the newest "reading prescription" length of time is nowadays.) I love that my oldest will happen upon a new storybook, or one of his old favorites, and seek out Little Guy so they can lay in bed and read together.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the money to go buying up every neat book I hear about. I sometimes can find a good one at a yard sale or thrift store but, more times than not, there are pages missing or colored on. We hit the library pretty regularly and Little Guy's eyes light up as he darts among the stacks, bringing me every book that happens to catch his eye to take home. This is how I choose books at the library, too. It's hit-or-miss, but it's also an adventure - you never know what you're going to get! When it's time to take the books back, he carefully checks the spines to make sure the "library sticker" is on them and we don't accidentally take one of his precious books to the library.

I recently had the pleasure to read Interview with Ella Johnson, Owner of Memorable Children's Books & Gifts on Melange Of Culture's Blog. Here are some things I learned from the interview:

• She's lived in a number of places all over the world. 
• She has studied Fine Arts and Education.
• She taught Fine Arts, from preschool all the way up to secondary school.
• She worked as a civil servant for The Queen of England (!)
• When she came to the US, she went a year without finding a job. 
• She chose to start her own business, Memorable Children's Books & Gifts (go on, check it out!)

Now, I knew from her "About Me" section that Ella does a lot of giving. She gives away school supplies each year to children in August at a local Chick-Fil-A where she sells books on Family Night - 20 bags' worth last year! She also has a Back to School giveaway (ends Aug. 15, 2 winners, US) on her blog right now - one VERY luck winner is going to get the mother-lode of school supplies. Yeah, I've got my fingers AND my toes crossed. Please pick my entry, Random.org!!! Oh, and I don't want to forget to tell you about her Birthday Library Giveaway. Every year, from the ages of 2 through 5, registered children will receive a book for their birthday from Ella. Since this is being funded by Ella, along with a few donations from publishers and authors, the first year of the program has (had?) space for four children per birthday month (WOW - that's 48 free books! No, I didn't use my fingers...)

If you're a fan of my Facebook page (hey, gotta get those likes in there however I can!), you'll have noticed that I often share giveaways that other bloggers are hosting. In addition to all of the amazing free giveaways above, Ella also gives away children's books that she's reviewed to her readers. I'm puzzled by why she doesn't have a ton of entries. I've been lucky enough to have won quite a few of the giveaways on Memorable Children's Books' blog and would love to make more people aware of this great blog. (Look at me, cutting my odds of winning, sheesh!)

And, because I share these giveaways so often, guess what? I was surprised over the weekend with this:

Alicia McCrenshaw – 

Best Supporter of the Month

She is a lover of nature

and science

It's right there on her sidebar, for all to see! Go over and look at it, this really means a lot to me. For all that she does for others, here she is giving ME a "Good Job" for merely sharing her giveaways with others. My favorite part is her description of me - no one has ever said it about me before. I never really thought about it, but nature and science really are two of my passions. 

So, thank you, Ella. For the giveaways, for helping parents and children learn how important reading is, and for the surprising and wonderful honor of being named your Best Supporter of the Month!

**Right now, Ella is giving away a 4-pack of books for the Summer Giveaway Hop. It ends Aug. 7 and is open to US.

**Oh, and I didn't get to mention another thing I love about her blog - she posts many author interviews. I like getting to know the writers of the books she reviews and their motivations for their works. She even has a Meet the Author Facebook page!

Where Are My Random Acts of Kindness Posts??? {March of Kindness 3/5 - 3/17}

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"So, what happened to your March of Kindness project?"

Well, it's like this. After my last posing for this meme about being kind to myself, everything fell apart. My computer crashed (again), my little guy had a round of the Terrible Twos that was deafening, dinner was burnt, my oldest came home with a note from his teachers sayiong that he hadn't turned in one bit of homework for a minth, and my husband decided he needed to take a nap in the midst of it all! I went to bed that night wishing I had skipped my little bit of luxury - it wasn't worth what came after! Guess karma had it out for me that day.

Things slowly got worse for a few days, then got better. I wanted to jump back into the March of Kindness, but I feel like a hypocrite. I look at the great list of ideas posted on Code Name: Mama's site and feel as if these are things I should strive to do everyday, anyway. A few years ago, I had a complete change occurr within myself. I no longer looked out fo me and only me. I regained the empathy and compassion I had back when I was a child. It was around that time that I decided to try to be "good" to others at all times. I began trying to look for little ways to make others' lives easier, whether it was helping someone carry heavy bags of groceries to their car or finding that lost dog's home.

I feel weird posting about these little things that I do every day. It's like tooting my own horn and that's not me at all. I get embarrassed about it. I don't want to feel proud when I do these things, I just want them to be a part of who I am. So, if I don't post every day about these thing, now you know why. When I do post, it will be to share an experience that, perhaps, one of my readers may be inspired to try out, too.

With that said, here is one thing I did last week that helped me, my family, some homeless in my area, the local library, and some pregnant teens and their little ones.

I have a huge collection of books. I love browsing our local used bookstore's shelves for interesting titles and very old first editions. When these books are only a dime a dozen - literally! - I end up coming home with stacks each time I visit the store. Most of these books are the kind that I intend to read but just don't have the time. The rest are books that I think I may need someday. They line all of my walls. They collect big, thick layers of dust. About 90% of them have never been opened by me or anyone else in my family. So, I decided to swallow big and get rid of all but the essentials. It was a huge job. Since there was so much dust, and I'm highly allergic, I had to carefully remove each book from its place, vacuum it off, then wipe it with a wet rag. I made four piles: Keepers, Donate to Salvation Army's Homeless Shelter, Donate to Teen Pregnancy Charity, Donate to Library.

We live a block away from a Salvation Army homeless shelter. This is a refuge for families who have been evicted. The shelter offers private rooms for each family, meals, and help finding jobs. I put all of my "how to save money" and "how to fix your home" books into that pile along with all of my novels and the children's books my kids don't read anymore. Those kids have lost everything. And, when you're being evicted and have no place to keep your stuff, the last thing most people are going to pack up and take along are their book - they're heavy and take up a lot of space!

I have a ton of natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and attachment parenting books. I don't need them anymore. I'm not having anymore children, I'm a pro at breastfeeding and little guy is close to self-weaning, and I really don't need to study attachment parenting - I'm living it! I don't think that teen mothers are prepared for any of these things. They are told how to eat right. They might be taught how to make formula and change a diaper. That's it. What they learn is about from friend is how to ask for epidurals to make the "excruciating" pain of labor disappear, and that breastfeeding is "gross", and they're often on their own when it comes to caring for their little ones. So, hopefully I will be able to help educate some new moms and make their lives a little easier.

Finally, all of the random books I had that didn't fit the other two categories went to our public library. They have a book shelf in their foyer that hold donated books. You can buy anything you want for whatever you think it's worth. The money goes to fund after school programs in that particular library. We live in a poor area of town and our library always gets the short end of the stick when they're handing out the funds each year. It's nice to know that my books will be used to help the librarians buy craft supplies, etc. to use for their after school programs!

The few books that I kept are either used often or special to me. I managed to give away a whopping 300 books and kept about 75! My house is dust-free (for now) and I have all of this extra shelf space. So, if oyu're looking to get rid of a few books, keep local charities in mind - they don't often get book donations because it's not something we think of giving.

Want to Donate to Japan, But Don't Know Who to Trust?

Lyn, from Gustosa Giveaways, has compiled a list of reputable charities who are sending food, medicine, and people to Japan to help out after this terrible disaster. If you want to help, but just don't know which charities to trust or how to get in touch, this list is what you need!