Our Christmas 2009 Family Portrait! :)

Our Green Christmas

Let me try to do this one more time... Last year, I was wishing for the 'greenest' Christmas ever! Unfortunately, I didn't have enough support from my husband so it was hard to accomplish a total eco-friendly Christmas. As some of you may already know, there has been a lot of controversy with toys 'made in China' or other part of the world that manufactures toys for cheap, with very low grade standards and ethics. If you Google it, you'll find that even the 'Hottest Toy of the Year' is toxic for our children and still makes it to the shelves and hands of thousands of children in America and probably in the world. Are we really that worried about all of this? Why do we continue to sell these toys regardless the toxicity found in them?

If you go to HealthyToys.org, you can probably search the toys you've bought and check out the level of toxins in them, but why are we taking ANY chances at all?

This year I have my husband FINALLY on board with the decision of buying ONLY wooden toys, handmade, made in America or Europe, IF made in China they NEED to have good standards and use ONLY safe materials in their factory. I am NOT taking chances, so I have been cleaning up my kids' room for the last year and every month I have been donating a set of toys with the permission of my own children.

Here are the things that Santa are bringing them this year:

For the Baby:

A handcrafted car bought through Etsy (love supporting artisans!)

A Wooden Tricycle

A wooden train from Ikea

A set of 24 creative blocks with wagon from Ikea

A wagon/walker from Ikea (I am still battling who is going to get a real good kick out of this toy, the baby or the girls? Not sure yet!)

A furry friend from Ikea (a ferret)

For the Girls:

A bed from Ikea for their dolls (Waldorf style) that are being handmade by a generous friend :)

Melissa & Doug Fold & Go Castle

Melissa & Doug Fold & Go Barn

Furry friends from Ikea

F.A.O. Vanity Set

Wonderworld Eco-Friendly My Portable Cooker Stove

A bookshelf found at Michael's will be used as a dollhouse! :)

And bendy dolls for the dollhouse - these were bought through Etsy (but I am hoping I will be making some of these myself, they are sooo cute!!!)

I also got them a few stocking stuffers from Michaels. They have cute wooden kits for a $1 each and I could NOT resist to buy some, crafts items are always great gifts!

For ALL of them:

2 sets of Play Clips just like these ones for creative playing, building forts and camping.

(A good talented man sells them through Etsy - the price is unbeatable compared to many places out there!)

A coral playsilk! (hoping to buy more of these and hopefully make a canopy size or 2 myself)

Wooden Puzzles

Stuff made by mama:

Got this beautiful horse pattern through an Etsy seller - GREAT intructions!!!

And lots of eco-fi felt food for the kids' kitchen:

and more kitchen items to come (working on it)

and dollhouse furniture will also be made out of felt.

Natural toys not only provide safe play for our children but also it encourages creative play and imagination!

You can find good quality toys through Magic Cabin, Bella Luna Toys, Nova Toys, Three Sisters Toys, Nico and Zoe, Blueberry Forest Toys, Plan Toys, Haba Toys, and even Etsy stores! Or even better, why don't you go Handmade this year?