A reminder that a couple giveaways end soon. Enter these by February 28 — Monday! If you're wanting to make some concrete changes for greening your life and going eco-friendly, these are a perfect way to start:

• Energy savings in the home! GE Energy Smart LED bulb $50 {2.28; US}

  Just leave a simple comment about how you tackle energy conservation at home for a chance to win one of TWO of GE's new Energy Smart LED lightbulbs that last 20 years and save $85 in energy over the lifetime of the bulb!
  
  
  
  Your $50 bulb will be much cooler!
  
  

• The DivaCup reusable menstrual cup $39.99 {2.28; US/Can}

  The DivaCup is an innovative, eco-friendly solution to your period — say goodbye to messy pads and drying tampons, and know that you're helping the planet as you green your period with a reusable menstrual product!
  
  
  

This giveaway is now closed. View the winners here, and get a new coupon code! Thank you all for entering!

This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

HAVE KIDS, WILL TRAVEL special event: Through our most recent cross-country trips, I've been featuring a selection of special travel-related items for review that should make your next family vacation even more enjoyable! Today's review and giveaway is of an innovative safety-oriented product.

SafetyTat temporary tattoos is offering TWO of my readers a giveaway of a sample pack of the SafetyTat Quick Stick Write-On! temporary tattoos (the packet to the left in the above picture).

SafetyTat contacted me to do a review, and I was intrigued by their product, and the benefits it would have when traveling or attending a busy place with your child. SafetyTat offers temporary tattoos with your phone number that can be easily applied to your children's arm or hand — that way, if your children get separated from you (heaven forfend), they don't have to remember or be able to say their phone number; it will be printed right there to be seen by a helpful adult.

I envision these being a safety measure for pre-verbal children, or children and others with special needs who might have difficulty recalling or conveying a phone number. You could also use one of the tattoos with a message about allergies or medical conditions. I'd love to have one of these SafetyTats on Mikko as we were going through an airport, sightseeing in a busy city, or visiting a theme park, children's museum, zoo, or similar crowded attraction. They would be an extra layer of protection before sending your child off on a field trip or camping excursion. It could even make things less stressful during a day of errands or shopping, particularly if you have a child who loves to run off.

This giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned for the winner announcement. Thank you all for entering!

This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

Sacred Rose sent me a selection of their hand-blended, organic herbal teas for review, and they're offering to give away a box of their exquisite Morning Blossom herbal tea to FOUR winners!

First of all, and appearances are important, these teas are gorgeous. Just look at them all boxed up in chocolate brown with satiny pink bows. Who wouldn't be excited to open a present like that?

Inside, the mixes are clearly top-notch, loose-leaf herbal teas, with identifiable and appetizing dried plants and leaves and a delicious natural fragrance.

Here's the website's description followed by my take (and my husband's) on the four varieties they sent me:

• Mother Earth Zest:

  "a refreshing blend of ginger, spearmint, fennel and sage which assists in bringing a sense of fullness and grounding to our lives. This blend aids digestion and helps us root to the earth. Healing to the Root Chakra."

  This tea was very minty & refreshing. Sam said it was "zesty and morning-like," which was his joke because I said the name (the box wasn't in front of me) was something like Morning Zest (he's so helpful). Then he said it was "like Christmas, a sitting-in-front-of-the-fire tea." I think the Christmas connection must have something to do with the high mint content and the freshness of the ginger. I'm not usually a fan of ginger or mint teas, and yet I really did find this delicious! Go figure.

• Dreamtime:

  "a soothing brew of passion flower, skullcap, chamomile and valerian that promotes a deep sense of peace after an overactive day providing a wonderful prelude to a peaceful night's rest. Opens the Sixth Chakra so one can dream their vision in life while soothing the physical body so one can easily move from insomnia into a well rested sleep."

  This tea was herby looking but very tasty to drink. I could see flower heads in the tea, so it's hardcore herbal! It smelled delicious, and brewing a cup would be a lovely routine to end the day.

• Matri: Tea of the Mother:

  "a delicate blend of nettles, red raspberry, rose hips, alfalfa, dandelion, lemon and ginger that breathes women in birth in the most high and loving way. Matri was created to inspire mothers to be unified with the higher consciousness of the physical, emotional, mental, & spiritual body systems."

  This tea was the most herbal, a little grassy flavored (like you'd imagine herbs steeped in hot water to taste) but pleasant, and it left a green ring around the top of the cup and a lot of green "soot" in the bottom of the cup. What I liked was how specifically they chose the herbs that assist in preparing for childbirth and guiding through it. I'd heard of the benefits of some of these herbs, but I looked them all up individually to make sure there were no contraindications to using them in the second trimester of pregnancy. There were a lot of mixed messages — for instance, Childbirth Solutions and Herbal Gardens gave a go on everything, but American Pregnancy noted that some types of parts of nettles could be on the Likely Unsafe list for the Natural Medicines Database, and that dandelions have insufficient data available. Some of the confusion is due to the fact that not a lot of scientific research has been done into herbal medicine, and there are differences between eating an herb (and what part you eat), taking a high-dose tincture, and drinking a (diluted) cup of tea. I took this compromising route: I determined one cup of tea now wouldn't hurt me, and I'd save the rest of the box till my third trimester, where it will do the most good and since I'd hate to use it up before then, anyway. I don't want to advise anyone in a medical fashion who's pregnant, so check with your midwife or doctor about what's recommended for you. Just researching those herbs convinced me personally that these herbs have very specific and helpful benefits during pregnancy and birth. (And stay tuned for a future giveaway of the Matri tea!)

• Morning Blossom:

  "an invigorating blend of peppermint, spearmint, rose, ginger and alfalfa that encourages motivation and joyful experiences. On the physical level Morning Blossom assists the respiratory system and metaphysically it opens the Heart Chakra to a reciprocal balance of giving and receiving self, romantic and planetary love."

  This is the kind you could win, and I'm so excited about that! I wasn't joking when I called it exquisite. I really love this tea! Remember how I said I wasn't normally a huge fan of mint and ginger teas? Maybe I'm lying, because this has two types of mint plus ginger, but I think it's absolutely delicious. It even has miniature rosebuds in it, which makes it adorably pretty and would make it a good gift tea. (Think ahead to Mother's Day, weddings, and baby showers, for instance!) I like a lot of teas, but I had three all-time favorites — and now I have four.

Open box of loose-leaf tea, sealed for freshness

Morning Blossom in brew

Closeup of the blossoms in Morning Blossom

I have to admit, the descriptions of the teas kind of make me giggle (especially Beloved: The Twin Souls, because I'm immature). I'm crunchy, too, but I still get a kick out of reading some of the language on the site and in the literature they sent me. I don't always drink my tea so spiritually, but the good news is — if you do, the spiritual vibrations are there for you!

"Sacred Rose® Organic Herbal Teas are blended to hold specific patterns of light frequency. … Sacred Rose® Organic Herbal Tea is enthusiastic about raising the vibrational frequency of humanity one cup of tea at a time. … Sacred Rose® Organic Herbal Teas stimulate the energy body's innate ability to heal. Each Sacred Rose® blend facilitates an inner alchemy within the matrix of the body mind opening the gateway for a change in consciousness."

I just want to speak to anyone who might be uncomfortable with the vibrations language that the tea tastes good, too! And the herbs are effective whether you believe in them or not.

One downside is that this tea is pretty pricey if you're not used to organic and specialty blends: $18 for a box, plus shipping. It's definitely a tea for connoisseurs! I want to share Morning Blossom with my friends, so I'm planning to order some more boxes, anyway. I'm a big believer in the benefits of tea and effective herbs, and the quality of loose-leaf varieties. I like that this is an artisanal drink from a small company.

A big plus: Sacred Rose is committed to being eco-conscious and sustaining the planet, and the teas are all organic.

BUY IT!

You can purchase Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Teas directly from the Sacred Rose website: SacredRose.us for customers in the USA, SacredRose.ca for customers in Canada, and SacredRose.eu for customers in Europe.

A three-ounce box (same size as pictured) costs $18. Shipping to U.S. addresses starts at $7.95 but becomes cheaper per item if multiple boxes are ordered.

You can also purchase Crystal Tea Infusers for $29 each.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win ONE of FOUR boxes of Morning Blossom organic, hand-blended, loose-leaf herbal tea, enter in the comments below! Contest is open to U.S. & Canadian mailing addresses.

MAIN ENTRY: Visit SacredRose.us and tell me another tea that interests you!

Leave an email address in at least one of your comments if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. (You can write it like this to foil spambots: mail {at} hobomama {dot} com or similar.)

This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network, a site co-founded by Lauren of Hobo Mama & Dionna of Code Name: Mama and intending to bring together those interested in attachment parenting and a natural lifestyle. You may enter at one site only, and we'll be recording IP addresses to ensure that there are no duplicate entries. That said, please do check out and enjoy both sites!


BONUS ENTRIES, after completing the mandatory entry above, to increase your chance of winning (leave a separate comment for each so I can count them all):

• Tell me something you learned at SacredRose.us.
• Like Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Tea on Facebook (2 extra entries).
• Like Hobo Mama on Facebook.
• Like Natural Parents Network on Facebook.
• Follow HoboMamaReviews.com publicly through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama Reviews RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Follow www.HoboMama.com through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Subscribe to Natural Parents Network in a reader or by email.
• Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway article at Natural Parents Network and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
• Follow @Hobo_Mama on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
• Follow @NatParNet on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
• Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can tweet this text: Enter to #win Sacred Rose organic herbal tea in a @Hobo_Mama & @NatParNet #giveaway = 4 winners! http://t.co/sohZtgR {3.15, US/Can}
• Follow Hobo Mama on Networked Blogs.
• Post this giveaway on your Facebook page or wall and leave the link (1 entry). You can use this status update: Enter to win one of FOUR boxes of @Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Tea from @Hobo Mama. Contest ends March 15 and is open to US & Canada.
  Be sure to attach the contest URL to your update (this is not part of the update text): http://www.hobomamareviews.com/2011/02/giveaway-sacred-rose-organic-herbal-tea.html
• Enter another of my current giveaways or the giveaways on Natural Parents Network (1 extra entry per giveaway — check back for more!).
• Put my Hobo Mama button on your website or add http://www.HoboMama.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the button is in the sidebar. Leave your site URL in the comment.
• Put the Natural Parents Network badge on your website or add http://NaturalParentsNetwork.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the badge is on the front page of NaturalParentsNetwork.com. Leave your site URL in the comment.

RULES:

• Contest open to US & Canada.
• Contestants may enter at either Hobo Mama Reviews or Natural Parents Network but not both. Entries will be combined for the drawing of four single winners.
• Leave each entry as a separate comment so I can count them all.
• For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let me know in your comment.
• For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
• You don't have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
• I will pick the four winners through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave an email address in your comment if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. If I can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, I'll draw a new name.
• Any questions, let me know: mail {at} HoboMama.com

I love Signing Time DVDs — and my son agrees! Baby sign language meant so much to us in the years and years (ok, year) where Mikko wasn't really talking but he could communicate with us through sign. It was like a window into his brain, and such a treat! We still practice our American Sign Language with him at three-and-a-half years old, and each Signing Time and Baby Signing Time DVD we have is still in rotation.

I have good news about Signing Time: After a hiatus when funding ran out, Signing Time videos are now playing on Nick, Jr. and public television stations again throughout the United States. Yea!

To celebrate, Signing Time is offering a couple great deals if you'd like to buy some DVDs, flashcards, or other ASL products for kids:

Shop LittleMissMatched for a fun spring sale — 20% off anklets and knee highs in fabulous, mismatched spring hues!

Take 20% OFF Spring anklets & knee highs.
Use code BLOOM.
Ends Friday 2/18.

Hurry, this deal ends today at 10 p.m. EST!

Life's too short to match, don't you think?

Ok, I have to say — these are pretty cool.



Get vintage rock t-shirts at Roots for 5 classic rock bands!

There's also a Winter Sale going on, with up to 50% off select items for a limited time only.