• FOOD
  • HOME
  • SELF
  • HEALTH
  • FAMILY

Natural New Age Mum

Happy. Healthy. Holistic.

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • About
    • Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions

Love List Aug 16

August 30, 2016 · 17 Comments

It’s the end of August and we say goodbye to chilly nights and look forward to some more warmth of Spring! How has this month been for you?

Here are some things I have been loving in August.

 

Love List

 

Mandala Stencils

♥ Mandala Stencils

So excited about these beauties! The gorgeous Felicity has teamed up with a friend to bring you the brand new Yogini Divine Living Co.

Inspired by their trips to India where each morning they would watch the women decorate their homes, floors and surroundings with beautiful hand painted chalk designs. They learned these designs signify a welcome to guests, the divine spirits and good fortune. Back home in Australia, they have created a new collection of Yogini Mandalas stencils for us.

You can use them for a permanent artwork on your walls, floor, furniture, windows and fabrics using paint (or use spray chalk for a temporary mandala). How amazing would they be for weddings or celebrations? They come in all different sizes to suit your space.

The stencils are totally reusable – just give them a wash and store them in the tube they come with. So fun and easy. I am in love! They would make a gorgeous, unique gift for a special friend.

I am loving the idea of painting them onto a pot planter. You could make loads of these for Christmas gifts or the local school fete.

Until the 20th of October, you can get an exclusive 20% off everything in the store. Just use the code: NAM20 here.

 

 

craft course

♥ Crafty Course

My amazingly talented friend and natural new age mum, Jasmine is running a crafty e-course! Starting on the 5th of September and running for five weeks, you will learn how to make vintage style home-made gifts perfect for Christmas. You will get access till the end of the year and an e-book, so you can go at your own pace.

 

 

Screw-Infertility-available-now-750px

♥ Screw Infertility

Another beautiful natural new age mum is Robyn Birkin from Modern Day Missus. She has written a book called Screw Infertility! Lessons from a Fertility Warrior. Surviving infertility, IVF and miscarriage. It’s all about her heartfelt journey through infertility and out the other side. Beautifully raw and real, Robyn shares her story and tips to help navigate infertility.

Get it here.

 

Feel Good Food Packs

♥ Wholefood for the homeless

This is one of my favourite charity projects. Amber Magna is a girl with a big heart who has created Feel Good Food Packs. She believes everyone deserves the opportunity to eat food that helps them to thrive.

A typical pack contains items such as a trail mix, fruit and nut bar, jerky, healthy chocolate bar and energy ball and is given to a person experiencing homelessness or disadvantage in Melbourne and surrounds. You can help by donating, volunteering or spreading the word!

Check out the website here.

 

lilylolomakeup

♥ Lily Lolo

I have a 15 year old daughter and she loves makeup! Being a student with a casual job, the amount she can spend on makeup is limited (she needs fashion too!) It’s so tempting for her to buy the cheap toxic stuff but we try to compromise a little with her borrowing some of mine and me funding some as well.

Then along comes the natural range Lily Lolo for us to try out (with thanks to the gorgeous Kitsa at Emporio Organico) and we are in love. Fabulous quality products, all natural and affordable. There are some little gift packs as well so I know what my go-to for gifts is. The packaging is so trendy too. I think we are onto a winner here!

Check out Lily Lolo here.

 

Organic-coconut-cream-400ml-H2G_CNCRE2.400 -centre

♥ The Best Coconut Cream

I often get asked what is the best coconut cream or milk to buy. This is my hot tip – Honest to Goodness. It’s certified organic, has no weird stuff like thickeners added, has only one ingredient – coconut and the can comes with a BPA free lining.

It’s the cream of the coconut creams!

I only ever buy coconut cream by the way, not coconut milk. Coconut milk is simply coconut cream with added water, so save yourself some bucks and get the cream and add your own water. We use it a lot in cooking – it gives a lush flavour to curry, biriyani and laksa while adding in lots of good fats.

If you can’t find it at your health food store, have a look online.

 

That’s it from me this month. What have you discovered? What are you loving?

 

 

Filed In: HOME / Tagged: charity homeless, coconut, coconut cream, craft, DIY gifts, favourites, gifts, infertility, lily lolo, love list, loves, make up, makeup, mandala, natural makeup, teenagers, whole food, whole food snacks

Natural New Age Baby on a Budget

June 14, 2016 · 1 Comment

Today I am welcoming one of my favourite bloggers, author and friend, Robyn Birkin from Modern Day Missus to Natural New Age Mum. She is sharing with us her budget tips for a natural new age baby!

Natural New Age Baby on a Budget

When infertility rocked our world, it was a big wake up call to clean up our acts. We overhauled the way we ate and quickly discovered the crazy amount of chemicals in all of the products around us.

Sometimes I’m not surprised at why one in eight of us (at least) have a hard time falling pregnant, and while many of us will still need a bit of extra help with baby making, infertility was a changing point in our lives; a massive learning experience.

When we fell pregnant, and then had the love of our lives, Chloe, I was determined that we would do our best to continue with our new lifestyle which focuses on eating as clean food as possible, and making conscious choices about the products that we purchase.

 

Here are 7 ways to have a Natural New Age baby on a budget:

 

♥  Our Cot – IKEA Sniglar

Oh boy, we searched high and low for a cot and many a pregnancy insomnia-induced night was spent googling which cot was the best. So many of our cots are laced with toxic glues, varnishes and paints and off-gas for years, and if there was one thing I was determined to ensure was as low tox as possible, it was Chloe’s bedding, because they spend more than 50% of their time in there!

So many cots have also been recalled over the years, that you need to make sure your cot adheres to the latest safety guidelines, so a second hand cot can be a good idea, but also warrants a bit of research.

And some of the most eco-friendly and low tox cots out there are pretty exxy, except one: the IKEA Sniglar cot, which only costs $99. This is the cot we settled on. It’s made from untreated, solid beech. You may not know, but IKEA has also done a lot of work in the last six years on their sustainability, and all products from IKEA are renewable, reusable or recyclable. $99 is a steal! At first I was worried that it wouldn’t be sturdy enough, but it’s been great and we bought the matching change table too.

For the mattress, we purchased a Tetra Tea Tree Mattress and Snugglebed, and purchased organic bedding from Amazon.

 

♥  Op Shop Toys and Books

When most people think of their local op shop, I bet they think of women and mens’ clothing, but we’ve purchased some awesome books and toys from our local op shop.

We purchased a xylophone, plus lego pieces, and we also bought a perfect condition Spot book, which was the feature book at Baby Rhyme Time the following week – what a boon! Aside from being really cheap, it’s a great way to reuse and recycle things, and because most people don’t think of their local op shop for kids’ toys.

 

Ross and Chloe

 

♥ Verge collection

I hate that our society has become so quick to use products and then throw them away when they have the slightest defect. Ross and I drove past this awesome cubby house (which seems to entertain Chloe for hours!) on the verge, which only has a few cracks. They’re on the top so Chloe doesn’t know!

This might have otherwise gone to landfill, so I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to reuse it, and it was free!

 

♥ Gumtree for nappies and strollers

As well as being a more environmentally friendly option, cloth nappies are cheaper in the long run too, but the thing about cloth nappies, is that they can be expensive up front, and different brands suit different bums and mums. Gumtree is a gold mine for cloth nappies though, and many of them are either unused or barely used as a number of people intend to use them, purchase a bunch at once and then decide cloth nappies aren’t for them, so you can get them at a really good price, and still in good condition.

We also bought our stroller second hand (a City Mini which we LOVE – it folds with one strap so you only need one hand) for $300 and it came with all the accessories, so we saved about $300 and were able to reuse something that may have otherwise gone to landfill.

 

♥ Coconut oil

Coconut oil is a great item for your nappy bag as it is so versatile. You can get some from your kitchen and put it in a small tub as a nappy rash cream, a moisturiser/baby oil and a massage cream.

We also had a bad case of cradle cap, which I read goes away on it’s own, but it so doesn’t! Am I right?! So I doused Chloe’s head in coconut oil and combed it out a few times, and within one day, it was gone.

Another little tip, is when your baby is first born, that meconium is tough to get off! But, if you pop a bit of coconut oil on their bum in between nappy changes, the oil makes it so much easier to get off.

 

♥ Homemade toys

It’s so true that kids can have all the toys in the world, but what they really want is the contents of your kitchen drawer! Here are a few toys that Chloe has loved:

  • A muffin tin, with little bits of food or smaller toys in the holes
  • Stainless steel bowls laid out with a wooden spoon for some drum action
  • A empty toilet roll wrapped up with some rice or dried beans inside for a rattle
  • Photographs – kids love seeing photographs. We had had a large picture frame that recently broke but instead of throwing everything away we put contact paper over the top so it has become like a small playmat/large place mat
  • An activity board with leftover things from your sewing cupboard, kitchen or shed
  • Homemade lavender play dough

 

Robyn and Chloe

 

♥ Our Wrap – The Close Parent Organic Caboo Wrap

This is hands down my favourite and most recommended purchase. Chloe basically lived in her wrap for the first 6 months of her life and at 14 months, she still sometimes goes in it.

What I love about this wrap though is that it is so versatile. You can use it in a tonne of different positions, so it is suitable for newborns, right up to toddlers, which not that many are and it’s really easy to chuck in the wash.

 

So that’s some of the tips we have to lower the chemical load on your babe, as well as do your bit for the environment, and your hip pocket.

What tips do you have?

 

Robyn-Birkin-Modern-Day-Missus-profile-pic

About Robyn:

Robyn Birkin is a author, fertility warrior and zen mama who lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband and daughter, Chloe, a gorgeous result of IVF treatments.

She has recently shared an honest and raw account of her journey with infertility, IVF and miscarriage in her book, Screw Infertility!

When she is not trying to stop her daughter, Chloe, writing on walls and trying to give the cat a nervous breakdown, she writes stories for fertility warriors, life lovers and vegan babes on her blog, Modern Day Missus. She is a lover of veggies, surfie dudes and sunshine, and is in the juice (over smoothies) camp.

 

Screw Infertility Robyn Birkin

Filed In: FAMILY / Tagged: babies, baby, eco baby, eco-friendly babies, green baby, infertility, Modern Day Missus, natural baby, Robyn Birkin, toxin free baby

Search

I’M A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

PEOPLE I RECOMMEND

Categories

  • FAMILY
  • FOOD
  • HEALTH
  • HOME
  • RECIPES
  • SELF

PRAISE

Archives

Copyright © Natural New Age Mum | Branding + Site by Robyn Birkin