Thursday, March 4, 2010

Easter/Spring NaturalKids Team Blog-A-Thon & Giveaway!

The NaturalKids Team was started by woodmouse in 2007. Early members included faerierebecca, fairiesnest, cozycottage. It was a small group, with a small presence on etsy. Since that time members have come and gone but our mission has stayed the same. To be a group of sellers dedicated to creating natural products for children. We are a diverse group of artisans who make natural toys, utensils, clothing and accessories for kids. Our sellers work with materials from the Earth, such as wool, cotton, silk and wood. Our goal is to support, promote and have fun together while building our businesses.


One of our 1st Team Blog Post read as below and it is still true today....

"We are a diverse bunch from all over the globe who have at least one thing in common: we all work with natural materials in our products for children. Oh yeah, and we're all pretty darn crafty & talented too! Wool, wood, cotton...just simple materials direct from the Earth."
So who are we?
Some of us are mothers of small children.
Some of us are mothers of grown children.
Some of us make dolls, some of us make hats, some of us make toys.

Some of us have been selling our wares for many years.
Some of us are just starting to discover our talents and start selling.
Some of us work with natural materials for environmental reasons.

Some of us work with natural materials as part of the Waldorf educational philosophy.
Some of us work with natural materials because we believe they are healthier and safer.
Some of us just like working with natural materials.

Some of us sell our wares for a living.
Some of us sell our wares as a hobby.
Since that time, some of us are fathers.

There are many members now! Please have a look at the list here
To celebrate our NaturalKid-ness, we are having our very first giveaway on our blog! Yay!

Offered here is an awesome little playset from The Enchanted Cupboard.

The playset looks a bit like the one in this photo, but it has more! It also includes an extra, smaller pine tree and a larger, different shaped magical mushroom.

To enter, simply visit The Enchanted Cupboard's shop and then come back and leave a comment as to what your favorite item is. The drawing will be March 26.

For more entries - please leave a comment for each:
1. Tweet about this giveaway!
2. Follow us on Facebook! http://artist.to/birchleafdesigns/
3. Follow our Blog!
4. Follow The Enchanted Cupboard's Blog! http://thereluctantcitydweller.blogspot.com/
5. Follow NaturalKids on Facebook!  http://www.facebook.com/NaturalKidsTeam
6. Follow NaturalKids' Blog! http://natural-kids.blogspot.com/

That's 7, yes 7 chances to win!

Thank you for reading and now join in the fun to take a trip to see what you may find at these NaturalKids Team Members Blogs! Happy Spring!!!

Oh, be sure to check out these sweet gift items for Spring from the Natural Kids Team!

The blogs listed below are all participating in the Spring Blog-a-thon...Please take a moment to visit them:

Monday, February 15, 2010

Please take a moment to zip on over to the Progressive Pioneer's blog...here she is having a $50 gift certificate give away with The Sitting Tree, a lovely shop on Etsy.

Here are some examples of what you could get with the $50!



Saturday, February 6, 2010

New Listing!

We have a new listing for our Etsy Shop! This toolbox is perfect for organizing art supplies, sewing notions, or whatever needs organizing...great children and adults alike!

Wooden Toolbox with dividers made from pine by birchleafdesigns

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Amazing Giveaways!

There are some amazing giveaways happening!

1. Here is an amazing puzzle giveaway with Donni at The Magic Onions blogspot. After entering, be sure to stop by their shops to see what beautiful creations they have to offer. Donni's Etsy shop is Fairyfolk and Jeannette's puzzle shop is Puzzled

2. Another sweet giveaway is being offered by Jen and Jane with Sewnnatural...be sure to check out her blog Sweet Greens to enter!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Let's Go Sledding!

Here is our sled trail...it's about 800 feet long and oh so fun!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

An interview with...us!

Greetings! We are BirchLeaf Designs - a small family of folks near the Yellow Dog River in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We live off the grid...making handcrafted, natural playthings that inspire imaginations using wood, silk and felted wool. We live, work, homeschool, create, love and play nestled amongst the Hemlocks.

We like to reclaim wood and other pieces parts to make quality playthings for children. We are known to use recycled/upcycled materials like cereal boxes for the flower presses or wood cut offs from other projects; materials found in nature (like birchbark or acorn tops); and during a dying session, we use nontoxic dyes and keep water use to a minimum...with no "running" water, every drop counts!


We currently sell natural, whimsical wood and fabric playthings (like teething rings, bug boxes, flower presses, swords, playsilks and playclips to name a few). Our most popular items include our playsilks, swords, and bugboxes.

We are always looking for ways to improve our products! Comments and suggestions are welcomed! We also do custom orders...is there a product that you would like to see us make? We are open to ideas and challenges!

We work to live simple...off the grid, solar power, solar water pump, wood heat, bees (!) and in return for our work, we get to enjoy those simple gifts...maple syrup, honey, nature...sweet love, sweet life!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Climate Change ACTION Day - October 24, 2009! Do your part so we don't have to depart.

We just attended a conference called the Great Lakes Bioneers Conference. Wow! is what we have to say about it! It was so amazing to get together with a bunch of loving, caring folks. A meeting of the minds, a place to gather to ready ourselves to get down to business and do something about our current state of affairs. We are all fired up!
http://www.glbconference.org

One major issue is that of Climate Change. This issue is so important because if we continue doing what we do without changing how we do things...we will all become extinct! Yes, folks, EXTINCT, like the dinosaurs. We need to reduce our CO2 emissions in our atmosphere to below 350ppm (parts per million)

So what are we waiting for? Let's do something about it! Here is one day that you will for sure want to mark on your calendar:

October 24 is the Global Day of Climate Change! We need to change how we do things NOW or we will not be here to fix the damage. For more information and ways to get involved please, please visit

http://www.350.org/understanding-350#2
http://www.Powershift09.org
http://www.Realclimate.org

*FREE SONGS* by great musicians to help you "Get Down with 350!"
http://www.350.org/350-songs-planet