It’s the season to be out buying gifts. What can you do this year that represents your natural status? We are all trying to make our routine more natural. Let’s bring that routine into our gift giving.

Natural Gift #1Handmade natural soap

As a soap maker I can not tell you how wonderful this “stuff” is. Not only is it so much better for your skin, but it is so luxurious! You can now find this at plenty of places online. You can also find it at boutiques and gift stores. This is a great way to support your local soap maker. Handmade soap comes in a variety of scents and formulas. You are sure to be able to find soap for everyone on your list.

Natural Gift #2 Soy Candles

These are all natural candles. Just like traditional candles they come in a wide variety of colors and scents. They can now be found all over. I even saw the soy candles at our local grocery store.

Natural Gift #3 Lavender Pillows

Many years I used to make these myself. They are so wonderful. Great for relaxing. I can’t tell you how soothing they are for headaches. You can purchase yours at Pillows of Lavender. Order before the 19th for holiday shopping. Remember to get one for yourself too.

These are just 3 gift ideas. Have more ideas? Add them to the comments and I will add them here with a link. Have fun with your holiday shopping!

The holiday season 2008 is here. That’s right. November 1st has rung in the starting bell for the two months some of us wait for around the year.

Join me in making this a green and natural holiday. My kids and I are really making a push for this. There are so many great opportunites that I will be sharing with you in the next 60 or so days. This will be tips on how to make you and your family a happy natural family during this holiday season.

Topics will include, but are not limited to, cooking, decorating, home care, kid projects and old traditions that we are going to “green” up.

Thanks for joining natural from home on this green holiday season!

We often associate canning, pickling and freezing with something our grandmothers or mothers did. All that time in the kitchen, over a hot stove, making sure it was just right so there was no spoilage. We have all heard the stories of the pressure cookers exploding and the walls being covered with tomato sauce.

But does this help us stay green in anyway? Is this something that has been “modernized” to become more effiecent and worth our effort and time?

The answer is yes!

I even read in the local paper on Sunday how using our freezers to preserve food was becoming the in thing with the economy headed the way that it is.

So how does one go about this? How do we can or freeze or pickle? Well if you were like me and didn’t learn at Grandma’s knee, then you start your research. There are many good sources on the internet for all sorts of food preserving.

My all time favorite and probably the American Standard is Ball Blue Book of Preserving This is the book put out by the people who make the canning jars. It never fails that I always make my way back to this handy reference. It covers from pickles to jams and just about everything in between.