Inhabitots

Paper Wings Organic Clothing Elevates Kids’ Eco-Fashion to New Heights

The artistic visionaries behind Australian children’s clothing label Paper Wings are a creative dream team who capture the fantastical spirit of children in every thread of their collection. Designers Jason Gibaud and Michelle Fallon combine their background in costume design (credits include: Moulin Rouge, Star Wars and Peter Pan) with their experience in architecture and interior design — not to mention their knowledge as parents — to produce an organic clothing collection for girls in which every piece is a theatrical show-stopper, certain to make each wearer a star in her own right.

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ANNOUNCING the Winners of the Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest!

DRUMROLL PLEASE….
And now… the moment you’ve all been waiting for! We’re pleased to announce the winners of Inhabitots Green Halloween contest! We had a great time reviewing all of the fabulous, creative, eco-friendly costume entries we received this year, and we thank you all for your participation in livening up this friendly competition by casting many hundreds of votes for our fifteen finalists! Here are the winners of Inhabitots 2009 Green Halloween contest!

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GREEN HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST: Vote For Your Favorite!

We’re thrilled to announce the top 15 finalists of Inhabitots Green Halloween contest! Our esteemed team of judges was thoroughly impressed by the cuteness, creativity and craftiness of each of the DIY costumes that were submitted this year. Our favorite picks include baby creatures from land and sea, beloved fictional characters, some …

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TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER! Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest

Halloween has come and gone, but the fun is just beginning here on Inhabitots — and we still have tons of treats to give out! You certainly captured many great snapshots of your little green trick or treaters last night — and now is the time to upload your best photo here to Inhabitots Green Halloween contest to win …

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Inhabitots Link Roundup of the Week: Last Minute Halloween Fun!

Instructables helps you brush up on your photography skills by telling you how to photograph Halloween costumes. The sweet little frog above is an entry to Inhabitots Green Halloween contest — follow suit and upload your favorite snapshot of your child to …

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3 DAYS LEFT to Enter Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest!

Halloween is tomorrow! Before or after all the tricks have been pulled and the treats have been collected, take a photograph of your kids in their fantastic, eco-friendly, DIY costumes and submit them to Inhabitots Green Halloween contest to win a slew of fabulous prizes! We know you’ll be taking tons of photos anyway, so simply upload your best …

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ENTER TODAY! Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest!

Halloween is lurking right around the corner — and it’s time to capture photographs of your little ones in their green costumes and upload their spooky or sweet, getups to our Green Halloween contest! There are many spooktacular prizes to be awarded to the greenest of them all! Prizes include a solar-powered BoGolight flashlight, a $100 gift certificate to …

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Beware of Lead and other Toxins in Face Paints this Halloween

The last thing that should frightening this Halloween is the toxicity level of any aspect of your child’s costume. But recent findings by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics with regard to the toxins found in children’s face paints are downright chilling. 10 out of 10 of the face paint products the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent to independent labs for testing contained low levels of the dreaded and extremely damaging neurotoxin lead (there is no safe level of lead exposure for children), and 6 out of 10 of the face paints tested included nickel, cobalt and chromium, all of which may cause lifelong skin sensitization. Scarier still, one of the products was labeled non-toxic and hypoallergenic, but actually contained some of the highest levels of lead, nickel and cobalt. Read on for safer face paint alternatives.

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REMINDER! Enter Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest!

Halloween is this Saturday! We know you and your green ghouls and boys are gearing up for the big day, and you can get a jumpstart on the celebration by getting all suited up and entering the Inhabitots Green Halloween contest! Have your kids do a dress rehearsal in their clever, homemade Halloween costumes, snap some photos and upload …

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Homemade Green Halloween Costumes for Babies

Now that we’ve announced our Green Halloween contest, it’s time to whip up a super cute, eco-friendly costume for your baby! Craft Apparent blogger and crafting mommy extraordinaire Vickie Howell offers four clever costume ideas for babies, all designed with white snapsuits (onesies) as the base. Shown from left …

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ANNOUNCING THE INHABITOTS GREEN HALLOWEEN CONTEST!

CALLING ALL GREEN BABY BOYS AND GHOULS!
This Halloween, instead of tricking yourself into thinking that a store-bought getup for your tot is the way to go, why not treat your little one to the fun and creativity that comes with making your very own costume together? Transforming old knick knacks that you have around your house into the perfect costume …

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Last-Minute Halloween Costumes Via Wacky Baby Knits by Alison Jenkins

Halloween revelers… rev up your knitting needles! Even though the Great Pumpkin is due to rise up from his pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks, you still have time to whip up a homemade costume with only a pair of sticks and some yarn. Grab a copy of Wacky Baby Knits by Alison Jenkins for 20 knitted designs that can double as Halloween costumes for tots—as well as cute and cozy winter apparel all season long.

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Jack on Black Reusable, Personalized Halloween Bucket

In my day, an eco-friendly trick or treat bag was a pillowcase from the linen closet. Lucky for this generation, an adorable, stylish, green spin on the candy catcher is up for grabs in the handmade, 100% cotton canvas Jack on Black Halloween Bucket! This black and white fabric bucket features an orange felt jack-o-lantern on the front, and a black felt bat lurks on the inside. A bright orange candy-corn striped lining completes the festive look of the bucket, which may be reused year after year for candy collecting!

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Oeuf’s Animal Hats & Booties Show Us Where the Wild Things Are

We now know where the wild things are — they live among us — the diminutive dwellers in our households, underfoot in Oeuf’s gorgeously crafted 100% Alpaca Animal Hat & matching Booties Collection. The green dragon, the black wolf and the snowy white bear will keeps kids toasty, festive and spooky for Halloween and for this Friday’s premiere of ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’ Babies and children can suit up for the year’s most anticipated children’s film by donning any creature set from this new, seasonal collection from Oeuf.

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Oeuf’s Bat Hats are Halloween’s Coziest Accessories

From sweet winged baby angel slippers to warm and fuzzy mittens and sweaters, green kids furniture and clothing maker Oeuf (which means “egg” in French) is always coming up with unique products that show us how fun being eco-friendly can be! Their cozy new Bat Boy and Bat Girl hats are no exception. Perfect for Halloween shenanigans, this knit beanie comes in both “bat eyes” and “mask” styles and can be worn atop your little Trick or Treater’s head or over their eyes, Hamburgler style. In fact, you could easily build costumes right around the Bat Hat, and since your child will continue wearing it throughout the winter, it’s a great alternative to a cheap polyester throwaway costume from a big box retailer.

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Inhabitots Link Roundup of the Week: Gearing Up for Halloween!

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Eco-Friendly Halloween Costumes from Tom Arma Signature Collection

Not all parents have time to whip up crafty, homemade eco-friendly Halloween costumes for their kids. But that doesn’t mean parents have to sacrifice being green by purchasing a ready-made Halloween costume. The Tom Arma Signature Costume Collection offers a large array of super cute Halloween styles for tots — from creatures such as frogs, ladybugs, elephants, dinos and white tigers, to classic holiday inspired costumes including gingerbread tots, pumpkins, and snow babies. Most importantly, Tom Arma costumes feature many eco-friendly attributes that most store bought Halloween costumes lack. Read on for the green details!

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Inhabitots Link Roundup of the Week

Minor Details unveils the modern indoor treehouse she designed for one lucky NYC tot. That indoor swing and slide will certainly come in handy during the winter! We want to schedule a playdate at this pad.

Babyccino gives us the heads-up about art classes for wee ones at the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan.

LilSugar …

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Paper Animal Masks from Zid Zid Kids

What will your child be today? Intriguing Lion, Demure Bluebird, Clever Giraffe, or Lucky Elephant? With Zid Zid Kids’ opulently illustrated animal masks, the animal kingdom is his or hers to command. Quick and easy props for pretend play, the masks are made from recycled paperboard, but are sturdy enough for monkeying …

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READER’S CHOICE Top Ten Stories of 2008

THE VOTES ARE IN! Yesterday we listed the most popular Inhabitots stories of 2008 (according to traffic and comments), and asked you to weigh in and vote for your favorite story. Well, the votes are rolling in and a clear winner seems to have emerged. With 18 votes and a sizable lead over all the other stories listed, our post on Matthew Carden’s food photography is clearly the winner in terms of reader’s choice. We’re not sure if this is due to the controversy in the comments over the origins of his work, or if this just means that you guys are a bunch of art lovers, but either way Matthew Carden takes the cake. Read on to find out which stories Inhabitots readers found most scintillating in 2008….

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TOP TEN MOST POPULAR STORIES OF 2008

2008 has been a good year for Inhabitots. After all, it’s the year this bouncing eco baby blog was born! Inhabitots is still very new, but in the five months we’ve been around, we have covered a lot of territory in the world of eco design for kids. From maternity wear to monster dolls, diapers to bike seats – if the environment and kids were involved, we were there. Here were the most popular Inhabitots stories …

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ANNOUNCING…The Green Halloween Winners

Drumroll please…. And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the announcement of the winners of our Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest! We had a ton of really great creative entries this year. From crafty home decor made from old aluminum cans, to awesome costumes, to clever Halloween treats – the ingenuity of our readers was on full display in this contest. Because the entries were so varied, we’re going to give out a number of different types of prizes instead of just a traditional 1st – 5th place. Without further ado, here are the winners of the Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest…

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VOTE on Green Halloween Costume Winners!

We hope you had a fun Halloween, and we want to say thanks to all of our crafty readers who sent in images of their cute home-made kids costumes. We were overwhelmed with great entries and were really impressed with everyone who took the time to send us something. We’ve narrowed the costumes down to our ten favorites, but we are having a hard time deciding our top three. Will you guys help us pick our winners? Please vote for your favorite costume below – you can vote for up to 3 submissions. And if you want to see more of the clever costumes that were submitted to us, check out our Green Halloween Gallery here >

Vote below >

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Inhabitots Green Halloween Contest!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!If you were reading the site last week you might have spotted our Green Halloween Contest. We’re giving away a slew of great prizes to the best Green Halloween costume, best Green Halloween treat and most creative ideas overall for making Halloween clean and green.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!

Entries have been rolling in and already we’re starting to publish the best ones we’ve received so far in our Green Halloween photo gallery.

Read on to see some of our best entries so far and to learn more about the competition >

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Halloween Keepsakes: Cuddly, Lovable, Recycled Monster Dolls

Halloween has officially arrived! No doubt, children will be a bit crestfallen come Saturday morning, when all of the spook-filled, costumed festivities have ended. But, these adorable recycled monster friends from Junker Jane’s Shop at Etsy will give them something to hold on to throughout the year, as a creature comfort that keeps on giving.

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GREEN HALLOWEEN IDEA: Green Gum and Organic Lollipops

When trick or treaters come knocking on your door this Halloween, you may feel a sharp pang of guilt handing out the usual holiday fare, which is loaded with unhealthy ingredients, artificial colors, and flavors. We’re here to help you find some more green Halloween delights to really treat those cute little costumed greeters. Glee Gum and YummyEarth lollipops are true treats for the taste buds and the earth; and what little kid won’t think he hit the jackpot when he receives gum and lollipops after yelling “Trick or Treat?”

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COSTUME STUDIO: Buy a Costume, Save a Life

For the past couple weeks, we’ve been encouraging you all to get creative and DIY with your Halloween costumes this year. However, we recognize that many people don’t have the time to sit down and make costumes by hand. Happily, we’ve just spotted a great solution for those of you who plan to get store-bought outfits this year. CostumeStudio is a website carrying one of the world’s largest selections of Halloween costumes, and they support children in need around the world with donations to charity. This Halloween, Costume Studio is teaming up with StumbleUpon, MySpace Music, and Invisible Children to donate 100% of profits to help children in war-torn regions of Uganda.

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ANNOUNCING… Inhabitots Baby Tees!

$20.00 – Organic Owl Baby Tee (3-6 mos) $20.00 – Organic Owl Baby Tee (6-12 mos) $20.00 – Organic Owl Baby Tee (12-18 mos) $20.00 – Organic Owl Baby Tee (18-24 mos)

Drumroll please…. We are thrilled to announce our new line of Inhabitots organic baby tees and onesies. Featuring ‘Habby’, our owly mascot, these adorable baby tees are made from 100% organic cotton and are hand-printed with eco-friendly, water-based inks. The tagline (with some fond nostalgia for the 70’s US Forest Service Campaign), reads ‘I give a hoot’. Show your support for Inhabitots and eco design by ordering one today – proceeds go to support Inhabitots and Inhabitat.

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Have an Earth-Friendly, Etsy Halloween

The Halloween theme is currently in full swing at Etsy; and this favorite online shopping destination which showcases the wares of freelance artisans, is bursting with adorable, eco-friendly Halloween goodies to scoop up for your tots. Now is the perfect time to look for a wonderful handmade ‘treat,’ or ‘trick’ if you’re so inclined.

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GREEN HALLOWEEN IDEA: Oeuf Angel Wing Sweater

Whether or not you consider your little one to be angelic is really beside the point when you get them dressed up in this eco-cute Angel Wing Sweater by Oeuf designs. Even with adorably devilish antics and mischievous behavior on tap for the Halloween season, how can one resist this super-soft knit get up for your sweet, pink-faced cherub? We love that your baby or winged tot can continue to wear this adorable costume once the holiday passes. It is a simple way to green your Halloween costume party celebrations while also supporting fair trade artisans and families in other parts of the globe.

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GREEN HALLOWEEN IDEA: Speesees Organic Critter Coats

Searching for that perfect Halloween outfit for your wee one, but just can’t bring yourself to spend money on a silly store-bought pumpkin outfit that will only be worn once? Look no further than Speesees organic critter jackets. These eco-friendly animal inspired coats can be worn comfortably all throughout the year (take that silly pumpkin outfit), but can convert to a cute Halloween costume in a pinch. Of course, what tot wouldn’t want to wear these cuddly jackets everyday?

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GREEN HALLOWEEN IDEA: Non-Toxic Face Paint Pencils

There’s no better time than Halloween to try a set of Lyra Face Paint Pencils. Face paints are a great, ‘green’ Halloween choice, because you may use them long after Halloween has come and gone. Your little one can play dress-up year round with these fun face paint pencils; and this beats buying a costume mask that your child may only wear once. Besides, it’s tough to find non-toxic, organic masks and costumes. With these face paint pencils, your child can become a beautiful butterfly, an army cadet, a cute kitty cat… the possibilities are as endless as her imagination.

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INHABITOTS GREEN HALLOWEEN CONTEST!

Calling all creative, eco-minded Inhabitots!
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, and there are lots of ways to tread lightly on the earth this Hallows Eve with a little ingenuity and crafty resourcefulness. Clever home-made costumes and yummy organic treats are always more fun and memorable than store-bought goodies, not to mention being better for the environment as well! This Halloween we want to pick your collective brains. We want to hear about your brilliant eco ideas – everything from witty home-made toddler and kids costumes to special recipes for organic pumpkin cookies. Inhabitots will be giving away a bunch of fabulous prizes from Oeuf and Nubius Organics to the most creative Green Halloween ideas, so sign up for Inhabitots and enter our contest today! >

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Not So Scary Stuff: Green Halloween

Shrieks, gasps, shivers… And I’m not talking about reactions to the twists and turns of the general election or the teeter-tottering economy. It’s almost Halloween! And that means it’s time to scare up some fun. Every kid wants to be something other than himself for Halloween, so once again eco-conscious parents are forced to find that delicate balance between creepy for kids and eerie for the environment.

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Custom Eco-Textile Design? Yes, You Can!

Though from time to time I may look like a walking mannequin from a Salvation Army store window, my wife and her friends fancy themselves worthy candidates for New York Magazine’s ‘Look Book’ page – that is, when they’re feeling dressy.

Take for example, an ensemble worn to one of our recent dinner parties (really a rollicking kid-friendly affair punctuated with referee calls from parents comfortably seated on ergonomic furniture). After changing out of her pirate outfit (it was also a costume event for the kids), a friend donned a stunning dress from Tucker. The cut and flow of the dress was outstanding, and the abrupt way in which it stopped mid-thigh hinted at a bit of sass.

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