You have to check out this awesome post by Retro Housewife Goes Green. She talks about Global Warming and climate change and I couldn’t have put it any better. She also posts this amazing video that everyone should see:

Recently I have seen many new reusable cloths that are pretty decent. They clean up big spills. They don’t mildew like sponges. They dry quickly and you can wash them more than once. All of the options have been great, especially when you’re trying to quit using paper towels. I was sent a new cloth- The Ultimate Cloth– which is amazing. It cleans without needing ANY cleaners and you can keep reusing it- guaranteed for 5 years.

The Ultimate Cloth contacted me when we were working on the townhouse. (BTW-Still on the market.. ugh) So I took the cloth over there and started cleaning the mirrors with it. I was truly impressed! The townhouse has a 8 foot mirror hanging over the fireplace and a dry bar that is completely mirrored. They both were caked with dust and other yucky stuff, but The Ultimate Cloth did the job. I am very OCD and if I see streaks it drives me nuts. The Ultimate Cloth left NO streaks at all!! You just wet the cloth, wipe and you’re done! The Ultimate Cloth isn’t for just wiping mirrors, it cleans any surface without needing any cleaners! The Ultimate Cloth got grease off a stove, marker off a table, cleaned a dirty bar and more… again without any cleaner! This has been my mom’s favorite product that I’ve tested.

Here is how it works from their site:MiraFiber™ Technology has open spaces between fibers that act as millions of tiny ‘scoops’ that pull dust, dirt, oil & other contaminants into the cloth and hold them until washed away with mild soap or detergent. (Can also be bleached for disinfection.)

I do kind of feel like their website is a infomercial that is selling you a fake product or something that has a catch, but it’s totally legit. We’ve tried using The Ultimate Cloth on everything and it cleans it with only water. We’ve had our cloth for about 2 months now and it’s still holding up.

Want to see for yourself? Go to The Ultimate Cloth and you can purchase a cloth for only $.01 plus shipping. It’s truly worth it!! You can also purchase single cloths for $6 and they sell value packs.

Thank you The Ultimate Cloth!! We’ve truly LOVED our cloth!

Disclaimer: I was sent this item to review from The Ultimate Cloth. This in NO way changes my opinions about the products or company. These are my thoughts, opinions and results.

Congrats to Danica for winning the Skin Free GC!!

Congrats to Katie for winning the Eden Fantasy GC!!

Congrats to rainmommy for winning the GetNGreen GC!!

Congrats to Laura for winning the Little Twig Giveaway!!

Congrats to Tj and Amy for winning the BARBAR ECO 8000!!!!! (Keep trying to contact Dr. Oz- if they make it on the show you still have a chance to win one!)

Congrats to clarissa@neiding.com for winning the Clean Flame logs!!

Thanks to all that entered!!! 🙂 Here are my current awesome giveaways!!

• Blue Ridge Gypsy $30 GC Ends 1/10
• Celery Street Journal Ends 1/11
• Divine Soul Healing CD (3 winners) Ends 1/16
• Green Baby Green Mama $20 GC Ends 1/22
• Belly Bandit from Baby Best Organics Ends 1/30

Want more entries???

For every review that I post, that doesn’t include a giveaway, if you leave a comment about something from their site, you can get 4 extra entries!

Also, you can now Tweet DAILY instead of just once!!

Be sure to check out other ways to get extra entries by looking on my side bars for buttons to click or other fun ways.

If you also suggest a friend to Mkokopelli through Facebook or email (CC me in the email) you can get 5 extra entries!!

I will post this under my notes on Facebook in case you forget!

Are there other ways that you’d like to earn extra entries?

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all that entered!!

With Charlotte being the 18th largest city, you’d think people here would be more Eco-friendly and demand safer products and stores. I’m having a tough time with this lately. Not only with friends, family, and stores… but with other aspects of my community. But, luckily there is the internet and a community I can feel whole with. There are many stores with great values and morals online! And when I do find a NC company, I get really excited!!

Green Baby Green Mama started almost a year ago in Mocksville, NC. Green Baby Green Mama is a online “Green” baby store that was created when one “green” mama couldn’t find the right products for her little one. I empathize because I’m getting very frustrated at the lack of older toddler sizes for my little one! Green Baby Green Mama carries Eco-friendly food, play, wear, sleep, bathe, diaper, and cleaning products. They are all either organic, eco-friendly, fair trade, sustainable, or all of the above!

What I like about Green Baby Green Mama is that it is a simple yet stylish site. When I try to explain to my grandparents or aunts about Eco-friendly products, they look at me like I’m crazy. They sometimes get overwhelmed at the 1 stop Eco-shopping stores and give up. Green Baby Green Mama is laid out very nicely and easy for anyone to navigate. Plus they sell name brand Eco products that you love and trust!

Green Baby Green Mama sent Ella a Baby Soy 2-in-1 Vintage Peacock Tee Set.
I have to say I was soooooo excited to know that Baby Soy now makes 2-4T clothing. Baby soy was my favorite company when Ella was an infant. Their soyfiber/cotton blend is super soft and thick. I never had any issues with any of her Baby Soy clothes. I guess I better stock up since she is about to grow out of 4T and I seriously love their clothing!

The best part of the 2-in-1 Vintage shirts is that you get 2 shirts for the price of 1! I love the layered look and would have still bought it if the shirts didn’t separate. But to my surprise they did and that gives the outfit tons of other options! Right now you can get the 2-in-1 Vintage Peacock or Whale Shirt at Green Baby Green Mama for only $24.99!! Green Baby Green Mama also sells several other Baby Soy outfits from sizes 3 mo- 4T that are truly adorable!!

The Giveaway: Green Baby Green Mama would like to give 1 lucky reader a $20 gift card!!

Rules: You have until 11:59 p.m. EST January 22, 2010 to enter. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced after they respond to the winning email. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email, or a new winner will be chosen. You must leave your email address! This contest is open to the US

How to Enter: Tell another item you love from Green Baby Green Mama. Make sure you leave your email address!! I cannot contact the winner without it!

EXTRA entries: You must complete the “How To Enter” before making any extra entries. Make sure you leave a comment for each extra entry and tell me which one.

2. Become a fan of Mkokopelli on FB, Mkokopelli on Twitter, or Follow my blog
3. Subscribe to my blog by email (on the right sidebar) You must verify and be active at the time of the giveaway- those who are unverified will become disqualified
4. Blog, Tweet or send a message on FB and leave a link here (1 entry per day)
5. Enter another giveaway I have going on and tell me which one or leave a comment on a non-giveaway post (1 entry total)
6. Become a Fan of Green Baby Green Mama on Facebook
7. Follow Green Baby Green Mama on Twitter
8. Sign up for the Green Baby Green Mama Newsletter
9. Follow the Green Baby Green Mama Blog Feed
10. Grab my button




New disclaimer: I was sent this item to review from Green Baby Green Mama. This in NO way changes my opinions about the products or company. These are my thoughts, opinions and results.

I’ve teamed up with Best Baby Organics again for a dual giveaway! The entry comments left on Mkokopelli will be added to the total Best Baby Organics entries. This is their giveaway that we’re just lucky enough to get to dually host!

Here’s a new chance to win the ever popular Original Belly Bandit, the post-pregnancy compression garment that helps you shrink back to your pre-pregnancy shape.
Want to win one of these amazing belly shrinking compression bands ~ it’s Easy!
Simply visit Best Baby Organics and find three maternity, post-pregnancy, or baby products you like the most and then leave us a comment listing the three items. Don’t forget to list your email address as well, otherwise we can’t contact you in case you win. The winner will be notified by email on January 31st, 2010

To enter: Leave a comment on this post listing the three products from our Best Baby Organics that you liked most!! This is a mandatory entry!

1.Become a fan of Mkokopelli on FB, Mkokopelli on Twitter, or Follow my blog

2.Subscribe to my blog by email (on the right sidebar) You must verify and be active at the time of the giveaway- those who are unverified will become disqualified
3. Blog, Tweet or send a message on FB and leave a link here (3 extra entries total)
5. Enter another giveaway I have going on and tell me which one
6. Subscribe to Best Baby Organics (on left sidebar)
7. Subscribe to the Best Baby Organics Blog

• Anonymous comments will be ignored.

• One winner will be randomly selected.

• The deadline to enter is January 30th, 2010 Midnight EST. Winner will be announced on January 31st, 2010

• The winner will be able to choose size and color of the Belly Bandit Band. If we don’t hear from you within 7 days to claim your giveaway another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!
——————————————-
Can’t wait until the contest ends?
Pick your favorite Belly Bandit and Use Coupon Code: BAMBOOBB
during checkout to get $3.00 OFF the purchase price and FREE SHIPPING
CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

So now that the holidays are over, I’m sure you’re like me with millions of photos waiting to be uploaded and printed. As a photographer, I have over 3,500 pictures of Ella that are just in albums. I’ve been slack since June and have piles waiting to go into books. The great thing about the digital world is saving them on the computer, but there is nothing better than holding your own print. I also used to be a avid scrapbook artist, until I started writing Mkokopelli. I wonder why…. 😉 Don’t get me wrong, my heart belongs to writing. But I now have 2 years worth of scrapping to catch up on.

I was organizing my scrap table a couple of weeks ago and got the idea to look up Eco-friendly photo albums. I found Forest City Photo Albums and the Kokopelli album stole my heart. Yes, Kokopelli is how I got my screen name and it’s not my last name! I get that a lot!Each Forest City Photo Album is handcrafted using dried tropical leaves such as lilies, recycled rice-bamboo paper, hibiscus, seashells, rope, twigs, coconut buttons, bamboo, kava, and lamtoro seed pods. All of the tropical materials used for the albums come from Bali and are created with non-endangered plants and plant parts. The albums come in small, medium and large which range from holding 20-80 pictures. Because the pages are so thick from the plant material, you wouldn’t want more than 80 photographs. The book is built to last but adding too much bulk could damage the plants and binding. These are great albums for special occasions like trips to the beach, night out with friends, holidays and vacations!

Forest City Photo Albums sent me the Diamond album to review and it’s awesome.I love the unique designs of the leaves! This has been a great coffee table conversation starter and since it matches my personality, I kept it for me. 🙂 The small album has 20 pages designed for 20 4×6 prints. You can use rope slots to hold the 4×6 prints or you can glue a 5×7 picture to the paper.

As I was cleaning out my storage room last weekend, I came across an album that is similar to the Forest City Photo Albums. It is made out of leaves, sand, twigs and rope, but it has Panama City sewn into the cover. Since I was crafty 2 years ago, I turned the album into a nifty scrapbook for Ella’s first (and only) vacation! I thought I’d share a few pages. The first page, if you look behind the tickets, you can see what a blank page looks like…

http://w62.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w62.photobucket.com/albums/h101/mkokopelli/Panama%20Scrap/1809e2b6.pbw

If you don’t have all of the embellishments, just adding fun stickers, ribbons, note tags, or even leaving it blank works! The book is truly beautiful and much different than the ugly fabric acid pages books.

You can purchase these earth friendly albums from Forest City Photo Albums for $16-$30 depending upon the sizes. Forest City Photo Albums tried to work out a coupon deal, and came up with a 50% off shipping! All you do is enter mkoko in the coupon code at the check out!

If you go to Forest City Photo Albums and leave a comment here with your favorite album, you can get 4 extra entries to ANY giveaway going on in January!!

New disclaimer: I was sent this items to review from Forest City Photo Albums. This is NO way changes my opinions about the products or company. These are my thoughts, opinions and results.

Anyone have any resolutions this year? I’ve done really well over the past 2 years with keeping to my resolutions, but didn’t make any for 2010.

I do know I want to start doing more for my community and volunteer when I can. But, volunteering should never be a resolution- so I’m leaving that out. And I always strive to be the best parent I can be and to provide in whatever ways I can for my family. But, those are given. So, I’m just going to live this year to the fullest extent that I can!!

Last year my resolution was to lose weight. Goal achieved and then some! Here are my 40 pound results!I couldn’t find any pics of me by myself so you can really see the difference, but you get the picture. And I’m sure 4-5 pounds of hair was chopped off!

So, do tell about your resolutions if you have any!! I’d love to hear them. 🙂

I was nominated for the Giveaways For Mommy Web’s Top Giveaway Blog and I NEED your votes!!! You have until March 1, 2010 to vote and use your 2 extra entries on any giveaway(s) you’d like! You can split the extra entries- just write “voted top giveaway blog #” in the comment box. Just click the button below to vote!!! 🙂 Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all that entered!!
I can’t believe this is my last post of the year! I love the idea of a fresh start and getting a clean slate. Last year I experienced so many new things and now I get to share with you a new way of self healing for the last of my “cleansing” week.

Simon & Schuster sent me the Divine Soul Healing Transmission audiobook by Dr. Zhi Gang Sha. Dr. Sha is a soul leader, healer and divine servant. He is the expert in the most advanced cellular healing science now occurring in China. In the Divine Soul Healing Transmission he shares with listeners about soul secrets, wisdom, knowledge, and practices that you can bring into your life for enlightenment.

The Divine Soul Healing Transmission is also available in paperback, which I’d really like to read along with the CD. I love audio books, but I am also a visual learner. I think the audio CD is very important with the Divine Soul Healing Transmission for the audio downloads and to truly get a feel for Dr. Sha’s and the Divine’s message. I had the chance to take a road trip this week and was able to listen to the Divine Soul Healing Transmission with Ella in the car. She didn’t complain and was enjoying Dr. Sha, so I think this might be my new way of reading! Dr. Sha talks about soul downloads that you can receive by the Divine and other souls. He says that everything has a soul that wants to help serve the Divine. Once you heal your soul, your mind and body will follow.

Simon and Schuster also sent me the Soul Symphony of Yin Yang by Dr. Zhi Gang Sha and Mr. Chun Yen Chiang.

This is a beautiful piece of music, but it is much more than that. The CD is meant to bring balance of the Yin and Yang within your heart, mind, and body. It has divine frequency and vibration, with divine love, forgiveness, compassion, and light. I found the music to be very peaceful and soothing. I thought it would put Ella to sleep, but she listened and was content. This is huge, since the child hates car rides and usually after an hour she’s screaming. But while we listened to the Soul Symphony of Yin Yang, she was relaxed.