We’re celebrating our gratitude on GreatGreenBaby.com by throwing a big holiday raffle! We’ve asked the best online organic baby websites to donate their wares and we’re happy to report that we have lots of organic onesies to give away!
How to Enter: This week’s prize is from Nina and Tom
1. Leave a comment below OR
2. Sign up for our newsletter OR
3. Quadruple your chances of winning by linking to GreatGreenBaby.com from your blog or website and email me and tell me about it. Your name will be put in the hat four times.

Winners can only win once throughout the entire contest.

Each week an organic onesie will be given away from one of the following:

• Booby Dooby www.boobydooby.com
• Go Goose Go! www.gogoosego.com
• My Conservation Baby www.myconservationbaby.com
• ferdinand www.ferdinandhomestore.com
• District Cotton www.districtcotton.com/
• Nina and Tom www.ninaandtom.com/ – This week’s give-away!
• Bamboosa www.bamboosa.com
• Baby Bam www.babybamcollection.com
• Green Apple Baby www.greenapplebaby.net
• WonderToast www.wondertoast.com

*The fine print: If you enter the contest by signing up for the newsletter, you can unsubscribe anytime you like…just stay signed up through the end of the contests and I pick a winner. If you enter the contest by linking to GreatGreenBaby.com, links from Splogs won’t count. You must have a way for me to contact you on your site so that I can get in touch if you win.

Winner has been chosen! — Congrats to Holly from Chelsea, MA !!

amazon.com

For cute presentation, this sweet pea bundle of baby layette essentials gets a gold star. A woven basket is filled with organic cotton baby basics, including a baby blanket, footed pjs, a cap and bib, and a peas in a pod shaped rattle. The color is a natural beige throughout, with the sweet pea motif of a baby bundled in a pea pod decorating each item. The basket could be re-used again and again by the new mother too, either for keeping baby toiletries in, or giving gifts to the next new mother, so it doesn’t need to be a waste of resources. For elegant mothers who love the quality of organic cotton, as well as its chemical free benefits, this Baby Aspen classic gift set is sure to be a hit at baby showers.

The set costs $54.99 at amazon.com.

Nice quality set comes in Pink, Blue, Natural, or earth print. So much easier to get your little one in and out of. Fits 0-4 months. 100% certified organic cotton with low eco-impact color dyes.
$24.00 at Gaiam

When we start families, we’re often tempted to cut corners on things like clothing and toys, thinking that our son or daughter will outgrow a garment before it’s worn out. That causes us to discount the value of durability and quality in clothing, and to almost view it as disposable.

We all understand that you get what you pay for, but that line of thinking is causing us to plan to “get” less. Instead of thinking of your children’s clothes as durable diapers, think of them as a longer-term investment.

How is that possible? You can’t make your child stay in the same size longer than he or she actually wears it! No, you can’t. But if you plan to have more kids yourself, or if you have friends or relatives who plan to have kids after you, it can be worthwhile to buy nicer things and not write them off once those gangly arms and legs render them unsuitable. Buying quality clothing, laundering it correctly, and storing it efficiently keeps your nicest items in good condition for other kids.

That may sound suspiciously like a roundabout way of saying, “Spend more money.” Don’t count on it. On top of all the old tricks–surfing the clearance racks, shopping at liquidation stores, redeeming loyalty points–you can also outfit your kids in nicer things for less money with some quality time spent online.

It doesn’t take long at all to zip through a search and find coupon codes for Hanna Andersson, a retailer of some really beautiful and unique clothing for people of all ages. With the savings you accumulate, you get that wonderful choice: Get the same items for less money than you originally thought, or get those items plus some other things for the same expenditure that you expected would get you much less. Call it the bargain shopper’s conundrum, and enjoy it.

And don’t forget each fall to prepare yourself to take advantage of the best Black Friday deals. Make a promise to yourself that you’ll avoid paying retail at every opportunity.

In the tearjerking stories of our grandparents, the younger siblings always bemoaned ending up with the hand-me-downs of the older ones, who had already worn out the garments before little sisters and brothers got them.

That has given a bad name to hand-me-downs, so let’s coin a term. Let’s call it “Sibling Garment Succession”. Or maybe instead of saying we’re handing it down, let’s say we’re saving it up.

Terminology aside, these truly aren’t your grandmother’s hand-me-downs. Grandma’s were washed in harsh soap with a hand wringer and dried in the beating down sun. Yours have a gentle cycle and a low-temp dryer.

That means that you’re not passing along the rags from kid to kid. You are spending your money wisely up front to make a purchase that will benefit all your children. Remember that when spending is really investing, there’s a benefit to reap that will repay you more than you think. Don’t hand them down, save them up!

A very sweet and completely natural hand-made toy, this gorgeous bunny would make a great new baby gift. Made in a simple Waldorf style, it uses a recycled (or up-cycled if you prefer!) Angora sweater as the main fabric of the toy and is stuffed with natural wool to make it warm and cozy to cuddle. The eyes and nose are embroidered on and whiskers sewn in, so it is safe for all ages to play with. The bunny makes a soft jingle when shaken, from a bell tucked inside, and is bound to be one of baby’s first favorites. The bunny is 8” long and 4 ½ “ high, perhaps a bit large for a small baby to grasp early on but a reassuring cot companion all the same.
Costs $42 from Woolcrazy on Etsy.

Organic cotton onesie with the little pup on the front. Start teaching new languages early!
$19.00 at Monkey Moos