2009 April | Inhabitots

DIY: Natural Easter Egg Dye Recipes

by Abigail Doan, 04/07/09

My childhood is full of memories of my mother saving dried onion skins and garden plants as dye for her wool and handspun yarns. Thrifty, resourceful methods like this were part of our rural farm lifestyle. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed to come across some great natural egg dyeing recipes using onion skins and other plant-based materials via craft maven, Martha Stewart. Her simple, non-toxic recipes use household ingredients such as fresh beets, pre-boiled red cabbage, spinach, coffee, and turmeric. Home-brewed concoctions like this are an eco friendly way to get just the right ‘au natural’ tint to your holiday eggs. An added tip: consider using brown eggs for an even earthier palette. Most of these ingredients are also compostable, completing the cycle of life in both home and garden.

Read on for recipes and tips on natural egg dyeing.

+ Martha Stewart

Mahar Drygoods Vintage Tie-Dye Eggs Kit

by Beth Shea, 04/07/09

This Easter, even your eggs can wear their Sunday best. The Mahar Drygoods Tie-Dye Eggs Kit will make your eggs the best dressed finds in the hunt; and it will make even the least crafty among us seem like divas of design. We’re amazed at the clever recycling of vintage ties to create these unique, egg masterpieces via the transferring of their design to the egg’s shell. Each kit has enough materials to decorate 24 eggs, and includes recycled vintage ties, fabric wrappers, twist ties and simple, kid-friendly instructions. Household items such as tongs, white vinegar, scissors and a cooking pot, round out this eco-friendly way to decorate your Easter eggs.

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Kate Quinn Organics Sale at Camilla Boutique

by Abigail Doan, 04/06/09

It’s probably no surprise that we are big fans of Kate Quinn Organics, whose eco cute designs are totally precious when it comes to sustainable style for tots. Seattle-based Kate McIntosh Quinn seems to have cornered the growing market for cuddly green separates with her onesies and jumpsuits made from 100% organic fabrics. We were really excited to come across these great Kate Quinn Organics sale items currently being offered by Camilla Boutique in Brooklyn, as they are perfect finds for winter to spring fun.

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Kozyndan Spring Cherry Blossom Bunny Poster!

by Jill Fehrenbacher, 04/06/09

It’s April, and we’ve officially entered the season of bunnies! Any parent knows that there is no lack of sickly-sweet bunny designs all over kid’s stuff – especially during this time of year – but design-duo Kozyndan takes a slightly more sophisticated approach to everyone’s favorite fuzzy lagomorphs. Spinning swirls of tiny bunnies into familiar, traditional Japanese-style illustrations, Kozyndan have managed to take a springtime cliche and give it fresh, new life. We particularly love how this Bunny Blossom poster (shown above) evocatively combines the Japanese spring iconography of cherry blossoms with the traditional European spring symbol of the rabbit.

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Bottle Rocket: Baby Formula Contains Rocket Fuel!

Toward the end of my hard plastics post I wrote that melamine was only the tip of the toxins-in-food-products iceberg. Well, a CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) government study has found that: “Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what’s considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient.”

According to AP, “No …

Lilipad Studio Sustainable Kids Furniture

Lilipad Studio is a small town furniture shop which makes brightly colored, fun and decorative children’s furniture that are as easy on the eyes as they are on the planet. The furniture studio’s use of sustainable ethics, mixed with bright colors, striking designs, and charming whimsy makes each piece of their children’s furniture a work of eco-friendly art. Lilipad Studio is nestled in the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho. With nature as their backdrop, they create amazing play tables, chairs and step stools which children are sure to find inviting and climb-worthy.

Inhabitots Link Roundup of the Day

The Toy Society wins us over with their mission to change the world one handmade toy at a time. Members of the society make toys and then “drop,” them in various locations from playgrounds to bridges, to be found by fortunate passerby who get to keep their serendipitous treasure. The Purple People Eater above is from Drop #180.

LilSugar gets in the treehugging spirit with …

Birki’s, Not Your Momma’s Birkenstocks

Birki’s are cute, eco-friendly shoes made in Germany. They look like Birkenstocks, smell like Birkenstocks, but apparently are not Birkenstocks. Founded in Germany in 1993, by Stephan Birkenstock, who remains General Manager of the young family brand today, Birki’s feature that famous cork-latex footbed. Yet besides the founder’s name, nowhere on the website can one find reference to the more well-known Birkenstock company.

ReVision Furniture: Teen Designers Turn Trash to Treasures

ReVision furniture may make you rethink your disdain for junk mail. Designed by teen artist apprentices in Boston’s Artists for Humanity mentor program, the ReVision collection is made with reclaimed junk mail and magazines. After assembly, the table’s surface is finished with a no-VOC, eco-friendly and water resistant resin. Living up to the adage that “someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure,” we’re thrilled that this up and coming generation of young designers has the future of our planet in mind.

Recycled Olive Tin Kitchen Playsets

Domestic life can be complicated these days, no matter how much we try to simplify things… but it is good to know that old-fashioned fun can still be had with an empty tin or a stovetop pot. The folks at rafinesse & tristesse have ‘refined’ the art of recycling by creating super-cute kitchen play sets for boys and girls. Crafted out of reworked olive oil tins (with no sharp edges), each kid-scaled play piece is handmade in Germany or Switzerland and serves up hours of playtime and collaborative domestic fun.

BABY ZZZs: Organic Sleep Aid For Babies

Every parent knows that sleep deprivation goes with the territory of having a baby. You may try to ‘nap when the baby naps’, or opt to let your baby ‘cry it out’ when he’s a little older, but it is pretty much a given that as a new parent you will have dark circles under your perpetually sleep-deprived, bloodshot eyes. Until now! Herbal medicinal company Cradle-2-Cradle has just released a revolutionary new product that promises to solve every new parent’s biggest woe: sleep deprivation. Their new supplement, Baby ZZZs, is an infant sleep aid that can be added to breast milk, formula, food, or simply dropped into a baby’s mouth to encourage long, deep sleep, (with no waking) for up to 10 hours at a time!

WeeHugger? How about WeCopiedInhabitots!

This morning green blog Treehugger introduced the newest ‘baby’ to their list of online properties: Weehugger. While we are usually big fans of the original, news-breaking content Treehugger delivers, we’re none too pleased with their blatant copying of the Inhabitots design and the concept for their latest venture!

We do however, fully support the notion in their new Weehugger initiative, to “keep children happy, busy and productive.” Go read all about how putting your children to work, the …