Safari Bedroom Inspiration Board - Elephants and Giraffes and Monkeys, Oh My

So the boys are 1 now and although I love to design and decorate, I have done very little in the way of decorating their bedroom.  Before they were born, I made a few things for their room and it looked pretty good.  The fabric collection that I used is the Zoo Menagerie Collection by Eleanor Grosch in both cottons and flannel. I made some bunting flags, a couple of crib sheets, a lamp shade cover, a bedskirt and a window valance.  The print is of giraffes, elephants and rhinos (expect for the window valance which are the whales from the same fabric collection)

Since we've moved I'll admit that I haven't decorated one iota.  Their room is bigger now in our rental house and we have two cribs as well as their changing table and the glider.  I have been reluctant to hang pictures as I didn't want to put holes in the walls and those command hooks for me are always hit or miss.  But I was recently at a twin mom friend's house and she decorated her girls' room so cute that I got inspired to revamp the boys' room. Here is an inspiration board I put together for their room

So I think the colors will be along the lines of lime and navy with elephants and giraffes and maybe a monkey or two thrown in for good measure.  I really love the chartreuse elephant and giraffe fabrics along with the coordinating chevron print from Premier Fabrics.  They are about $7.50 and yard so I am not sure if I am going to use them for curtains. I would need about 6 yards for the giant window in their room and I am thinking about doing a roman shade application.  As for a rug, well, the room in carpeted wall to wall in beige carpet which i hate because it gets dirty so quickly and its a rental so the quality of the rug isn't great for sitting and rolling around on the floor all day.  I have been in LOVE with FLOR carpet squares forever and used them all over my previous home.  Here I think I might do a lime green 5x7 or so carpet which should only run me about $170, depending on the style of carpet I choose.  I have samples coming in the mail to test for softness and color.  

For bedding I already have a couple of sheets in the Zoo Menagerie fabric but I have been contemplating adding a few different sheets, maybe in the Safari Sky print from Carters (right middle with coordinating quilt and giraffe lamp) or the SkipHop Elephant Parade sheet (right bottom) which is like $24 but is really cute and has a different pattern on the top and sides to mimic a bumper without having bumpers. I also really love the Pottery Barn Harper quilt with the elephant and name applique (top right) but that runs like $110 and is mostly white which is not great for kids in my experience.  I guess it would be just for show so that is a pretty expensive wall hanging.  I am going to see what I can find at our big Garage Sale at the beginning of October before I go out and buy anything new.

For decor, I found some really cute things on Etsy.  The top middle shows a cute print of an elephant with a navy blue chevron.  The artist had two of the same print with the elephants facing opposite directions so I bought those and figure I will frame them and use them to "bookend" a decorative shelf on the wall.  I love the idea of name blocks or letters and I think i'll make these myself with wooden letters form the craft store. Vinyl wall decals are the hot thing in nurseries these days and there are TONS of options on Etsy.  I like a jungle scene with a tree and a couple of animals that you can customize all the colors.  They are pretty expensive, usually over $100 for a large scene, so I have been looking for decals that are reusable so that we can take them with us when we move again.  I figure this would be a great way to spice up the plain old white wooden closet doors.  I also found this giraffe and elephant stuffed animal set that just happens to be made from the Zoo Menagerie fabric so I might pick those up as well.  

I have been so eager to get started on the decor but I have done only one craft project so far. I made this adorable hanging elephant lantern mobile from the lanterns I had used for the Very Hungry caterpillar decorations at their birthday party.  Basically I just strung the lanterns together vertically and then decorated with navy blue fabric elephants that I cut out of some material I had laying around.   I just pasted them on with a glue stick and hung on a nail away from the wall so they can spin.  The kids seem to like it and it was so easy!

before

After

Saving money during Reduce Your Use days

Southern CA is no stranger to power outages. Even in June, I was hearing of rolling and scheduled brown outs in several towns near us. Recently, our power company (San Diego Gas and Electric) started a program where they will alert you to days that are expected to have higher than usual power draws and they request that you "Reduce your Use" on those days.  

Here is an excerpt from the press release in June:

"SAN DIEGO, June 6, 2012 – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced the launch of Reduce Your Use day rewards. Starting this summer, most SDG&E residential and small business customers are eligible to earn a bill credit for using less electricity on specific days. These Reduce Your Use days may be called on hot summer days when energy demand is high and will last from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Customers who are eligible for Reduce Your Use day rewards are encouraged to set up email or text alerts by visiting sdge.com/reduceuse so that they can be notified the day before a Reduce Your Use day occurs. This will enable customers to plan ahead and take steps to save the most energy and maximize their reward.           

SDG&E customers who respond by reducing their energy use from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Reduce Your Use days will see a credit of $0.75 per reduced kilowatt hour (kWh) on their next energy bill. Customers can log into My Account at sdge.com on Reduce Your Use days to view their conservation goal. The online tool will also display how much energy they used and saved during the Reduce Your Use day."

There was a one Reduce Your Use day in July and three so far in August due to the heat wave we are having.  On each of the Reduce your use days if you use less Kwh than your average expected use between 11AM and 6PM you will get a credit on your bill. EASY!!  So in July I tested it out and I didn't run the AC or do laundry or run the dishwasher between 11 and 6 on 7/20/2012 and I got a $4.50 credit on my bill.  

But the real test of my resolve to save money came this past week when the temperatures soared into the high 90s and the humidity was killer.  Could I put off running the AC during the hottest part of the day?  Well on thursday we went out to the coast with some friends for a playdate and when we got home the kids had baths and a nap so they weren't too miserably hot.  I still had to put on the AC by 5 but I had made it most of the day so I thought it was ok.  Friday, we headed over to the Y so I could work out and the kids went to the daycare there. I still had to do diaper laundry but I got it all washed and out in the sun to dry by 11. It was really hot by 4 so I had to turn on the AC.  On Saturday the kids had swim lessons in the morning and then napped for 4 hours (!!) when we got home.  I ran the AC from about 3-430 but then we left to head out to the Fair so off it went. In order to try and keep the house cool, I made sure to keep the house closed up as much as possible and keep the blinds closed on the side of the house where the sun was beating it. 

I thought we did pretty well conserving energy and luckily my efforts were handsomely rewarded!  Check out our energy use chart for the past week.  Disregard the temperature axis.  The real temp were in the 90s

 

Do you see our savings?  $27.75 in rewards in just three days of not using the AC!  Nice.  We are expecting another week of abnormally high temps here so maybe we'll have a few more of these Reduce Your Use days.  

How do you save energy?  Does your electric company offer these type of rewards for saving energy?

Review - EcoNuts Multi-Surface Cleaner

Over the past few years I've been trying to "green my cleaning" by incorporating more natural cleaners in my house. I felt this was especially important when the babies came so as to limit their exposure to toxic chemicals.   I have been wiping down the kids' high chair seats every day (sometimes twice a day) and figured that any residue from a traditional cleaner might get on the hands/food that touches their high chairs.   One product I was dying to try was the multi-surface cleaner from EcoNuts. I have heard really good things about EcoNuts soap nuts (also on my list to try) so I thought their multi-surface cleaner would be a good thing to try out.  Here is what EcoNuts says about their cleaner on their website:

The ultimate in non-toxic liquid surface cleaners!

Safe to use around children and pets, and packaged in an aluminum bottle with our low-flow spray trigger (saves you money!).
This lightweight and compact 10oz bottle will clean everything in your kitchen and bathroom and leave it fresh-smelling. No gloves, goggles, or face mask required to block those awful chemical fumes!

The formula is based on our Eco Nuts and other botanical extracts. It is phosphate-free, sulfate-free, ammonia free and alcohol Free.

It works on tile, metal, stone, porcelain enamel, chrome, laminate, quartz composites and other non-porous surfaces.

Use in conjunction with our Clean-All powder to power through tough messes.

When I got it i thought that it had an interesting spray nozzle and was a good size although pretty expensive as far as cleaners go at 7$ for 10oz (for comparison, Windex multisurface cleaner is about 4.50$ for 26oz.)  As soon as I sprayed it, I was immediately put off.  WOW it smells like vinegar - a LOT.  Not even close to "fresh-smelling" as they claim in their ad.  I don't care how "natural" it is - if it smells awful I am not going to use it.  I cleaned some mirrors to see how it did as a cleaner and it's fine.  I decided that i could use it on outside tasks like cleaning my car windshield and the outside of glass windows but i will not be using it in the house.  I've only seen a few reviews of this product online and no-one has mentioned how much it stinks so I don't know if I got a bad bottle or if I am crazy, but this stuff stinks.  And that's just my opinion.

The Mystery Conscious Box

A few months back I found out about something called Conscious Box. Basically every month you get a box of goodies and samples of companies that are green and sustainable. They are "dedicated to introducing you to the most ethical, sustainable, and honest businesses that create the purest products available. We scour the marketplace to find those that stand above the rest. Discovery defines the Conscious Box experience." That sounded really neat and I always like to discover new things that are useful and/or delicious AND support a more sustainable lifestyle. Generally it requires a subscription to a 3 or 6-month plan and each box is based around a theme. The products featured are 100% vegetarian and nothing is tested on animals.

When I saw the Mystery Box posted on my facebook wall, I thought "Well, this is a great opportunity to try it out without having to commit to a subscription." I placed my order right away and I just received it yesterday. Here is what the box looked like...

And inside were tons of samples. I LOVE samples!! There are all sorts of neat things like little bars of soap, lip balms, and hand salves. There are drink mixes, candies and a full-sized fruit and nut bar. There is detergent and natural air freshener. There are even a couple seedballz, those little clay balls that have flower seeds inside that you just sow and grow and natural arts and crafts paint. Too cute! I can't wait to try everything!

Samples of these brands include: 
Healthy to go  
Natural Colors
Seedballz
generationMe
Climb On! Products
Uni-Fresh
NaturalJoyBeauty
thinkThin
Java Juice
Chimes
Badger
SoapBox Soaps
Sacred Mountain Herbals
emerginC
GoodCleanLove
Groovyplanet