A Trip to the Sugarloaf Wool Carding Mill

Last week we took a little road trip to visit the Sugarloaf Wool Carding Mill in Hall, Montana. It was so fascinating to tour the small family run business and see how they process wool into roving, batting and even sew wool pillows they sell in their online shop! 

We’ve been searching for months to find local wool to make the dryer balls we sell in our Etsy shop since the wool we bought from the local fiber shop in town was imported from New Zealand. I was thrilled when we discovered Sugarloaf Wool Carding Mill. 

The wool we purchased at Sugarloaf to make our dryer balls was from locally raised sheep and processed in their mill. It is wonderful to know that our wool purchase is directly supporting the family, Sue and Ed James, who own the wool mill. 

To get to the mill, you head west out of the tiny town of Hall, Montana through beautiful ranch land. Luckily it was a beautiful, blue sky day when we visited Sugarloaf!

A Haircut With a Cause: Donating to Locks of Love

I first heard of Locks of Love when I was 18 and joined the volunteer service. I had long hair down to my lower back but was moving to sweltering south Texas so I decided to cut it all off. I made a donation of a nice sized ponytail to be turned into a wig for a child in need. Today I decided to make another donation.

How to Regrow Green Onions Year Round

Green onions are one of those things that always used to be on my grocery list. At 99 cents a bunch it may not sound like a lot of money but over a month it would add up to a few dollars. Being able to grow green onions year round in Montana helps us save money over time. Plus it is always fun to have a mini-garden indoors while it dumps snow outside in the winter!

Gratitude Sunday

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

Thank you for joining us today for Gratitude Sunday, my favorite time of the week. It is such a wonderful experience to sit down with a cup of tea, look over my journal of gratitudes for the last week and pick some to share with you all. Here are some highlights of my gratitudes from the last week:

Simply Natural Saturdays 2-23-13

Our Favorite Nature Themed Board Books for Babies and Toddlers

Since I’m a nature loving book worm, it’s not surprising that our 18 month old daughter already has an extensive library of nature themed books. I began reading to her at a young age in hopes of instilling in her a love of reading. Remember this post? It's the one where I confess I'm such a nerdy bird loving mama that I started reading my daughter the bird identification book when she was about two months old!

Our little book worm and her stack of animal identification books

While our children’s book collection has grown, it has not cost us a lot of money. Why? Because I have a thing for thrift shops and yard sales so I’m always on the look out for more books to add to our collection. We've also been able to find a few used ones online through Amazon.

Here are our top five favorite nature themed board books for babies and toddlers:

Coping With Sleep Issues as a Co-Sleeping Family

 

Welcome to the February 2013 Natural Living Blog Carnival: Addressing Sleep Challenges. This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Natural Living Blog Carnival hosted by Happy Mothering and The Pistachio Project through the Green Moms Network. This month our members have written posts about how they address sleep challenges in their homes.

When I was pregnant, I knew we would be a co-sleeping family at least for the first few months. I just couldn’t imagine putting our baby down to sleep in a separate room down the hallway. Some friends gave use their Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper they were done with and we set it up next to the bed on my side. I had happy visions of our baby sleeping there while I curled up next to her to sleep, a safe distance away yet close enough to nurse.

Etsy Shop Anniversary Giveaway: Fall in Love With Fluff

I mentioned in this post that this week is the 1 year anniversary of our Etsy Shop! Since we started out selling mainly just cloth diapers in our shop, I thought doing a giveaway for a cloth diaper would be the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. We also currently have all of our cloth diapers on sale so we can make way for new prints and styles so be sure to check them out here.

 

For this giveaway event, we joined in the Fall in Love with Fluff Giveaway hosted by the GreenPath Baby Cloth Diapering Store, GreenPath Baby Blog and Happy Mothering. Whether you're new to cloth diapers and just starting your fluff addiction or a veteran cloth diapering parent, this giveaway is a fun way to win some more fluff to add to your stash! 
 
   


What will you have a chance to win?

1 Year Etsy Shop Anniversary

One year ago today, I took a giant leap of faith and opened our Etsy shop. I resigned from my full time job so I could be a stay at home/work from home mama and raise our daughter. Our small business has grown more than I ever dreamed over the last year.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have supported us, whether by purchasing a creation, subscribing to our blog or following us on social media.You all have helped us grow to what we are today and we hope to continue to grow: more creations in our Etsy shop, more local vending events, more wholesale accounts. 

Gratitude Sunday

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.}

-Scoring an amazing deal on Craigslist for a bunch of canning jars! I met a woman in town to buy a dozen she had listed and she ended up bringing along six boxes, most of them brand new. I was running low on the jars I use to make the mason jar solar lanterns we sell locally so it is just amazing how this all worked out. So grateful!

-Fresh eggs from some friends down the road.

Simply Natural Saturdays 2-16-2013

5 Reasons Why Cloth Diapers are Better Than Disposables

I always knew that I would be a cloth diapering mama. Why? Because I’m an earth conscious consumer and because I was a cloth diapered baby. It just seems like the “normal” thing to do in my mind. 

If you’re considering cloth diapers and not sure if they are for you, here are 5 Reasons why you should choose cloth diapers over disposables:

1. Environmental impact. Of course this had to be number one on my list since according to the US National Park Service it takes 450 years for a disposable diaper to decompose in the landfill!


2. Money savings. Our daughter is currently 18 months old and we have spent less than $200 on cloth diapers for her and she has been cloth diapered since she was a newborn. I know some families who spend that amount on disposables for one month so the cost savings aren’t too hard to compare. Add in $15 every few months for special cloth diaper soap and some electricity costs for running the washing machine but that still does not even compare to purchasing disposables.

Gratitude Sunday

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

We have much to be grateful for this last week! Here are a few of the highlights:

-A much needed long hike up the ridge of the mountain behind our house on a beautiful sunny day. We hiked up the south facing ridge and were thrilled to see small green shoots of perennial wildflower leaves pushing up out of the ground!

Simply Natural Saturdays 2-9-2013

Using Oregano Oil for Sinus Congestion

Oregano Oil is a powerful, natural antibacterial remedy that has helped me battle the toughest cold and sinus congestion this last week. I could feel my sinuses start to clear less than 24 hours after I took my first dose!

This last month I've been battling major sinus congestion. I was using my neti pot to help clear out some gunk, but because I wasn't resting enough my body was not able to fight off this cold very well. I was getting pretty frustrated because everyone else in the family was feeling better but me. Plus I was getting SO far behind in creating for our Etsy shop and blogging because I was feeling so yucky.

Gratitude Sunday

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.}

A few of our gratitudes from the last week:

-Discovering oregano oil! I was still quite sick this last week because I did not allow myself to rest enough so someone recommended I take oregano oil for my sinus congestion. It works wonders!

-My husband getting a call from Fish Wildlife and Parks because he was selected to participate in a special elk hunt next week in an area that is over populated and did not have enough elk harvested during the fall hunting season. Fingers crossed that he is able to harvest an elk next week!

Simply Natural Saturdays 2-2-2013