Search results (title) for: "earth tones"

Wrap Up Your Gifts, All Pretty-like and Eco-friendly Too

2008-10-27T13:33:00Z

Some great items have popped up in this week's special Holiday Showcase for Gift Wrap, Cards and more. Holiday shoppers buying handmade gifts can complete the whole package with handmade holiday cards and pretty ribbons from Etsy Supplies sellers. It's time to stock up — early bird catches the worm. Check the Showcase while you still can — it's this week only!

You can also find inventive options for eco-friendly gift wrap on Etsy: reusable holiday bags, recycled holiday tags, recycling wrapping.

Sellers, if you make cards, gift wrap, tags, ornaments that can be gift toppers, and other items for embellishing presents, you should get in on this Showcase. Click here for details.

Gifting Gift Guide | Showcase for Gift Wrap, Cards, Etc | Earth Tones Series

Recycled Glove How-to: Make a Chipmunk Softie

2008-10-17T15:34:00Z

Gloves (like socks), while born to be part of a pair, often end their days in lonely solitude, separated from their mates by the forces of the universe that conspire at every turn to pull them apart. Alone, they sadly serve little purpose (aside from the occasional show biz appearance for only the most sparkling among them), and are left to languish in the backs of a drawers and bottoms of closets — that is, if they're not disposed of all together. Ah... but it's a new day. Crafter and author Miyako Kanamori has a plan and she's ready to share it!

With her book, Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves, she's given hopelessly single gloves a new lease on life as cozy companions. In her able hands, one glove's worth of material becomes an elephant, a penguin, a donkey, a bunny — you name it — all set free to romp and play together. (Can't you just hear the claps of cheer?)

Try your hands at this chipmunk to start your very own menagerie of recycled glove critters. Download complete instructions here or follow along below.

Thanks to the Penguin Group for sharing this project from Happy Gloves.

Author Miyako Kanamori is a crafter who lives in Tokyo. She is also the author of Sock and Glove. You can see more of her work at her website: bananawani.org/nuiguroom.

For more cute critters made from recycled materials, search "Recycled Softie". Some examples plus a few other autumn-inspired creations can be seen in the related items below.

Fresh Shops: transitantenna

2008-10-16T13:11:00Z

I was recently given the heads up on a very interesting new shop. Though TransitAntenna has only been on Etsy for a few months thus far (one sale and counting!), this Fresh Shop has a pretty interesting story.

You see, this shop has decided to take the "road less traveled." After leaving their homes in South Carolina less than a year ago, this group has been living life as a continual road trip in an eco-friendly converted bus. As they roam the highways and small towns of the United States, they've somehow found the time to start an Etsy shop with really awesome bags and purses inspired by their journeys.

Here's a little interview we did with this Fresh Shop.

Can you tell us a little about the people behind TransitAntenna?
TransitAntenna is a collective of artists, writers, craftsmen, and film makers, traveling and living on the roadways of North America in an old city transit bus converted to run on waste vegetable oil. We (Seth, Jamie, my husband Bob, my son Taylor, and myself) left Charleston, South Carolina eight months ago on a two year journey to see the country.

I am a trained baker and cake decorator, but taught myself how to use a sewing machine about a year ago and began making handbags for myself and friends. My husband Bob went to school for painting and print-making, and we decided to team up to make functional works of art. All the items that we create are hand screen-printed by Bob and sewn by myself on our bus while on the road.

What inspires you as a creative person?
We are inspired by the towns that we travel through and the local culture and flare that is unique to each. We enjoy working with shapes and patterns and lately have been consumed with neon and glow in the dark. Most of the items that we have made recently were inspired by an exhibit on Amish Quilts showing in Denver, Colorado when we were passing through. Living on the road provides challenges such as finding locations to park a 40 ft. bus, finding restaurants to get vegetable oil from and home schooling my son. These challenges can make it difficult to work on our projects on a daily basis, but you can expect to see some fun and exciting items from us throughout the next couple of years.

How do you like Etsy so far? What are your favorite features of the site?
I love all the cool stuff on Etsy that are just my style! Being a part of Etsy offers me the opportunity to be part of a community of people with common creative interests without having to physically be in one location.

Anything else you'd like to add is also welcome!
While traveling we document our journey through photos, writings, and videos on our website, www.transitantenna.com. We also welcome suggestions and ideas of places for us to visit and check out.

Looking for more Etsy newbies? Check out our previous Fresh Shops coverage!

You might also be interested in articles about homeschooling or eco-friendliness or traveling around the world.

The Sustainability of Vintage Suits

2008-10-10T11:30:00Z

My husband and I both care deeply about the environment. He spends his days growing local organic produce which feeds our small Ontario town, and I spend mine de/reconstructing those beautiful old tweed and linen suits we all see in thrift stores, wish we had a use for, and inevitably leave on the rack. I take them home, take them apart, wash them, and upcycle them into lovely shoulder bags, wallets, and pouches. Those suits are so strong: some of them have been around since the 1970's, but they have so much life left in them!

My love of vintage fabric came from my grandmother. Growing up she would send me home with the most beautiful old dresses and blouses which she was no longer wearing. Then I would commandeer my mother's sewing machine, hole up in my bedroom, and make myself clothes: The ones that I wanted, the ones I couldn't find in stores. When I moved to Canada to attend university, I no longer had access to a sewing machine and the habit slumped off, until about a year ago. Upon graduating, I married a Canadian, and we now live mostly in Canada, where I run my online business. I borrowed my mother's machine again, let a friend offload a couple of vintage suits on me, and A)Kat was born.

In day-to-day life in our home, attempts to curb both waste and consumerism are ever-present. We opt for minimal packaging, re-use everything we can, repurpose and repair, and then finally, as the very last step, we recycle. This extends beyond our recycling bins and into our everyday lives — we make efforts to buy much of our clothing and furniture second-hand so as to keep our ecological footprint low by reducing the disposability of both our, and other's, consumer goods. Building bags and wallets for my shop out of men's suits rescued from the depths of closets and the circuit of Southern Ontarian thrift stores, then, was a natural choice.

I deconstruct the suits with my beloved rotary cutter along seams which allows for the largest swaths and least amount of waste, depending on intended uses and individual jackets. This was, at first, a bit more of an endeavor than I had imagined it would be. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find just how much reclaimable fabric is contained in a single jacket.

The existing curves and seams make the design process an intuitive one. Not only is the fabric long off the market, but the motion dictated by individual cuts contributes to making each piece unique.

These gorgeous suits are perhaps the most untouchable staple of thrift shops. The fabrics are beautiful — well made and sturdy after thirty years in circulation — but the jackets themselves are almost impossible to take home. From the time I was 15, I've eyed them, wishing just one would miraculously look good on a skinny 5'5" girl; no such luck. With the odds stacked against them, they're seemingly destined to join the ranks of the rest of the unwanted stock, run their circuits, and end up baled and shipped to developing countries which, due to the clothes-as-disposable-goods mentality of the West, no longer have textile industries of their own.

The exportation of our discarded clothing, as opposed to domestic re-use, contributes not only to dissolution of long-standing textile traditions in economically vulnerable cultures, but also to dependency situations which would take much longer to reverse than they did to establish. The transportation of these goods, by air, land, and sea, also creates copious greenhouse emissions which could be easily be reduced, were an effort made by each of us to step up and exercise restraint in our buying habits.

Supporting small-scale artisans, working in recycled materials, providing upcycled goods of high quality which will last longer than the season — these actions affect the local community, the country, and the continent. And further, our actions have ramifications which affect everyone: the whole world.

Further Resources:
UN Chronical: The Secrets of Used Clothes
Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry

Craftivism Section | Earth Tones Series | Read More About Upcycling

Earth Tones Tip: Getting Rid of Furry Foes

2008-10-03T15:28:00Z

Today's Earth Tones Tip originates from The Green Guide, an eco-friendly division of National Geographic that has tons of helpful eco blogs and tips. Today's topic is getting rid of household mold, from The Green Guide's Tip of the Week series:

"More than just an eyesore, over 80 strains of mold have been associated with respiratory tract disorders. With the health risks posed by a pesky mold problem, getting rid of furry patches should be top priority. Fortunately, you likely have a potent mold eliminator under the kitchen sink: straight vinegar. Undiluted white vinegar kills 82 percent of mold strains, enough for most problems. Fill a spray bottle, saturate the area, and let it sit. The smell will be a bit harsh, but it typically clears out in a few hours, taking the unsightly respiratory tract-threatening brown patch with it.

For more resilient mold colonies, try a mixture of two teaspoons of tea tree oil and two cups of water. The smell can be overwhelming, and will linger for a few days, but tea tree oil works when nothing else will. Nearly as effective as tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract (20 drops mixed with two cups of water) will do the trick without the smell."

For more Earth friendly content, check out our continued coverage of the Earth Tones series.

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Process: Sustainable Wooden Jewelry by PrasseinDesignStudio

2008-09-26T12:31:00Z

Process is a new Etsy video series that features the intimate relationship formed between Etsy sellers and the handmade items that they create and make available to the world through their online shops. Process is not to be confused with a How-To video, as each video is intended to show each seller's unique artistic voice through the process by which their items come to be.

This month, Seattle native Shawn Taylor of prasseindesignstudio is sharing her process of making a wooden wrist cuff with us in conjunction with our themes of woodworking and jewelry making.

As a designer, Shawn works with architects designing spaces, and she applies her knowledge of certified wood and recycled materials in a way that makes her designs both safe for habitation and easy on the environment. Shawn is very passionate about sustainability and has partnered with ecohaus, a sustainable urban building supply company based in the Northwest.

While ecohaus attempts to reuse all of their materials in one way or another, the shipping crates that carry their bulk materials often break in the warehouse and then have to be chipped up to be effectively reused in other building materials. Through her relationship with this building supplier, Shawn has inserted herself into that ecosystem to prevent some of the more exotic woods from being destroyed by upcycling scraps into stunning yet minimal wooden accessories.

Shawn was kind enough to take me to the ecohaus branch in south Seattle, where we met Elliott Kopet, her friend and knowledgeable sales associate who led us through the warehouse, sharing various places for Shawn to scavenge for reusable scraps of wood. Shawn's passion for wood was instantly revealed by her ability to accurately identify a variety of different woods all with varying degrees of weather damage. After gleaning what she could from the scrap pile, we continued to Shawn's home wood shop in north Seattle where she transformed a piece of scrap lumber into a magnificent wrist cuff. The piece, Nature's Barcode no. 1, highlights the sustainably farmed certification stamp that was burned into the wood itself, sharing the story of its origins. As stated in her shop announcements, 25% of Shawn's sales from the Natures Barcode series will be donated to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Subscribe in iTunes | Youtube | Blip.tv | MP4

Earth Tones: Giving It Up

2008-09-06T08:45:00Z

This article was originally published on April 18, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

This installment of our eco-friendly indie series Earth Tones brings us Mandy, aka moxiedoll. An example to all of us, she has undertaken an impressive exercise in restraint! She shows us how to live one's life with intention.

I have never been a very self-disciplined person. This personal flaw often leads me to overindulge in habits simply because I can. Last fall, though, I began to feel like some of my favorite things were beginning to consume me. At the same time it seemed like I was hearing more and more stories about people who had chosen to make life-altering changes either to better themselves or to serve some greater cause, or both. And so I began thinking — what if I decided to give up the things that I most enjoyed? What kind of impact would giving stuff up have on my life?

So I began telling people about my plan for 2008: I would give up something different every month to see what it was like to live without the luxuries I have come to take for granted, and in order to hold myself accountable I would blog (giveitup.wordpress.com) about my experience. My friends and family seemed to have mixed feelings towards the whole endeavor, but everyone was ultimately supportive and seemed eager to see if I could pull it off.

It took me a while to come up with twelve things that I felt could benefit me if I gave them up. But eventually I was able to narrow them into three rough categories: Food/Drink (coffee, alcohol, and chocolate); Technology (TV, the internet at home and my car) and Spending Money (I decided to consider buying only goods made in the USA, buying only used goods, not shopping at all, Etsy, no plastic – using only cash and not going out).

On the "Letting Go of my Lattes" phase:

"All of this is compounded by the fact that I am narcoleptic. Many people asked me how I was going to give up coffee, as if its my only means of staying awake. I take medication to keep me awake during the day, so I knew that I could sacrifice coffee and still function. However I have actually had doctors advise me to drink coffee when I need to and now I understand how much it does help me stay awake. It really does carry me through the slumps at work when I am tired and it isn’t time to take my medication."

Since I began in January I haven’t slipped up yet. But I have made some addendums to my original plan. Now at the end of each month, I determine if I think I can go the entire year without whatever I’ve given up that month. I was motivated to do this after I found myself very quickly resorting back to my bad habits of spending hours every day on Etsy.

On Etsy addiction:

"Now I still have 10 days of Etsy abstinence left, but I can pretty confidently say that this day most accurately illustrates the frightening attachment I’ve developed to this web site. There I was in beautiful, sunny Mexico lounging luxuriously next to the pool and all I could think about was how fun it would be to spend some time on the computer perusing my Etsy favorites with Megan? What is wrong with me?"

Like many others I have also been attempting to live a more eco-friendly life this year. And fortunately for me, I’ve found that giving things up has actually helped me do that. Although I’m only a quarter of the way through the year, with every thing I’ve given up I honestly have become more cognizant of what I’m doing on a daily basis and, more specifically, what I’m consuming. Last month I shopped only for items made in the USA, which was incredibly difficult and frustrating.

On Buying American:

"Occasionally I found a 'Made in Uganda' or 'Made in Argentina' tag, but Chinese citizens appear to be making the majority of what I buy. After reading that 'Made in China' stamp for the 100th time, my shopping spirit was sucked dry and I took the only American made item that I found, a pair of blue tights, and sadly went grocery shopping."

But the Buy American month forced me to think before I buy and to begin looking for longer lasting or biodegradable alternatives to things that are predominantly disposable. By doing so I have prepared myself for upcoming months when I might not be able to buy those disposable items that I might actually need, while also doing my part to help the environment.

And so I’ve chosen some great eco-friendly Etsy finds to assist all of you in your personal attempts to help save our planet.

pot scrubbers by starrz85

flatware set by ponyup

Cloth diaper by katnappies

Tee shirt bags by zJayne

Shampoo soap by naiad

Unbleached coffee filters by theScenicRoute

Reusable swiffer cloths by quiltingmama

Reusable snack bags by gnomeclothes

Natural laundry detergent by showertreatsoap

Crayon nubs melted down and reconstituted by ivylanedesigns

When she isn't crafting at moxiedoll, Mandy works as a fiction and audiovisual librarian in Oak Park, Illinois (www.genre-x.com) and consumes mass amounts of media and pop culture. All the clutter left over from her other mass consumptions led her to begin using only recyclable goods whenever possible. Follow her "fasting" at giveitup.wordpress.com.

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Earth Tones: Eco Ego Game for Kids, via Inhabitat

2008-08-13T18:48:00Z

Videogames have huge educational potential — not only do they teach kids strategy but the content can be thought-provoking too. Take for example Eco Ego, a free online game that lets kids (and adults) roleplay a sweet little creature living in a tree stump. The goal is a Sims-like equilibrium with the natural environment.

Thanks to Inhabitat, a great website to check out if you're into greener living and good design. They've launched a sister site for kids too, www.inhabitots.com.

More Earth Tones posts.

Handmade Kids: Birthday Parties

2008-08-02T23:06:00Z

If you are throwing a birthday party, make it eco-friendly and spark the creative artist in all of your guests — it's simple and fun! Creating an eco-friendly party will also give you the opportunity to teach your child about caring for the planet, too. Everyone wins: you get to help the environment and your pocketbook.

Invitations:
If you don't have time, there are lots of Etsy sellers that have great kids invitiations, like createdbykaren, BeMyGuestInvitations, and kkbabyboutique. People will appreciate the personal touch of a handcrafted invitation or thank you note. I certainly would!

This princess crown invitation is so precious; it has ribbons on either side to turn it into an actual crown.

Party Favors:
Party favors or goodie bags can be a hideous waste, often times loaded with plastic mass produced junk that will likely end up in the landfill. Why not give really thoughtful gifts that will last beyond the party? But, really, how is a busy working mom going to pull this off?

For the little guys, try the all-in-one handmade jumbo crayons that come in their own re-usable bags, sold by ButterflyBrain.

They are perfect for the kids' chubby little fingers.

Make small cloth bags, fused plastic bags (see the Etsy how-to) or buy other reusable bags from an Etsy seller. Kristysbagz and OleBagLady both have great cloth bags for boys and girls. Let the birthday boy or birthday girl get on Etsy and pick the fabric with you. You might want to monogram or screenprint the bag with each guests’ initials, or if you don't have time, find an Etsy seller to do it for you.

Bag by OleBagLady.

Fill your handmade goodie bag with a traditional game or one of these handmade items:

Race Car by WoodChesters.

Handmade wooden blocks, cars or trucks sold by sellers like McCoyToys, SantaWoodShop, and JimboToys.

Pirate Cookies by ASugarAffair.

Homemade cookies by sellers like mandalarain, whimsyandspice, or ASugarAffair.

Mini Coloring Book by lizphiz.

Coloring books by EyePopArt, DesignedByNatureShop, or lizphiz.

Wildflower Seed Card sold by TheBumbleBeeStudio.

Or how about a packet of seeds to take home and plant? Some Etsy sellers that sell seeds include, TheBumbleBeeStudio, Hippychic59, and greenthing.

Decorations:
Banners: Creating your own designs and themes is a fun way to spend quality time with your upcoming birthday boy or girl. First, let's look at birthday party banners. We love this banner by crafymommy who makes custom order banners so you can add your childs name and pick the colors. A beautiful handmade way to welcome your little guests.

Table: Instead of a tablecloth, find an old sheet and buy some non-toxic markers. When the kids arrive, get them to decorate the cloth with drawings or birthday messages to your child. It’s something you can use again for special occasions throughout the year.

If that doesn't work for you, check out chalkynoodles' oil cloth tablecloths that can be used over and over again. She has lots of patterned fabrics to choose from. Try using cloth napkins. They don’t have to match, and the odd ones can look more colorful and fun.

Pinatas: This is a favorite in our household and it never fails to be a crowd pleaser with the kids. Etsy has lots of sellers who make pinatas; Birchangel is just one who custom makes beautiful pinatas that can be used as decorations as well.

Activities:
I’ve hosted 16 birthday parties for my 3 kids! Only for the last one did I delve into the world of crafting. I set the theme of butterflies based on the only craft activity I could competently participate in — coffee filter butterflies.

Artwork by Caroline (daughter of Megsestoril)

We used coffee filters for the wings, connected by wooden clothes pins and pipe cleaners for the antennae. The children painted the wings and decorated them however they wanted. I’m still cleaning up the glitter five months later, but in the end we had a kitchen full of beautiful butterflies and one very happy birthday girl.

Registry:
Encourage your guests to buy handmade. Create a registry or wish list of eco-friendly gifts that your child would appreciate such as wood toys, handmade dolls, lunch boxes, klean kanteen bottles, etc.

Personalized Lunch Box by MommaOh.

For more eco-posts, check out our Earth Tones series. If you have any other ideas for crafty, eco-friendly birthday parties please add your ideas in the comments below!

Handmade Kids Series | Special Kids Showcase | Baby Gift Guide | Children Gift Guide

Featured Buyer: TreeHugger Bonnie Alter

2008-07-30T14:11:00Z

You feel the magnetic pull of your baby, right? But what about all the junk that gets drawn into your new family's orbit — disposable diapers, plastic toys that break almost as soon as you get them, heaps of clothing? Being kind to the earth is on most people's minds these days — new parents, grandparents and friends. We invited the good folks at TreeHugger.com to write about their favorite green baby items at Etsy for this week's special Featured Buyer. TreeHugger is an environmental web magazine featuring all things green and environmental, and contributor Bonnie Alter found some great items for the Handmade Kids series.

As the mother of an overgrown child, I love the chance to look at, admire, feel, touch and maybe buy baby clothes and toys. Perhaps some day I will even have a grandchild (don't tell my son that I said that!). While it is true that charity shops are a major resource for finding good recycled clothing and toys, Etsy also has handmade options. There are so many adorable things made out of recycled and reused products on the market. So here is one hopeful-grandmother-to-be's personal list of things she would choose for a wonderful gift.

There is something about soft floppy toys that makes my maternal instincts go all sentimental. This recycled and irresistible animal is Sam, made by pogoshop, who sports a blue striped wool pullover. He is made out of soft angora which is gentle to baby's cheek. By pogoshop, $30.

I love this Veggie Power shirt. The images are taken from '70s vintage towels. So cute. By kinchi, $20.

And to politicize them early: a Che Guevara t-shirt, to match daddy's tattered one. By youngpunks, $17.

Diaper bags used to be oversized horrible looking things, usually pink and white with ribbons and bows. Now there are chic bags, well designed and made out of interesting and sophisticated fabrics. (At last!) The hemp messenger bag is one that the husband could carry without embarrassment; made out of Romanian hemp, it has 9 pockets, of all sizes. By infusion, $120.

For the exhausted mother; these Sleep Angel pillows are just the answer: they are filled with lavender from Provence. Lavender smells so wonderful and is supposed to make you sleep better and deeper (how about just sleep?). By lapomme, $16.50.

Where to shop? I'm a Canadian but I'm living in England, so I used Shop Local to find sellers here. I was intrigued by the felt creations by eikumpel who is based in England. The Kumpel doll is a jolly looking red doll for boys or girls to hug. By eikumpel, $22.

As a Canadian, Shop Local Canada turned up rikrak, who caught my eye. She does a very chic bib (what!) quilted from vintage fabrics, and reversible as well. By rikrak, $21.

From Kingston, MadaboutColour sells hand-knit baby hats which are striped and brightly-coloured. By MadAboutColour, $22.

There are the most adorable cotton diapers around now, unlike the old days when they came in white only. The diaper above is made of bamboo and is adjustable in size. By GreenWayBabywear, $14.75.

Only the best for your little one: these hand crocheted wash cloths /baby wipes are made with 100% certified organic cotton and free from dyes and other chemicals, and they come in sage and cream colours. By Knittles $9.

Combining necessity and a bit of fun, these fabric nursing pads are wash and wear. They are a fashion statement, as well as being soft and made of natural antibacterial bamboo and organic cottons. By southernbellesandbow, $4.

Walking versus driving with the little one? Walking wins out for so many good environmental reasons. I was a confirmed stroller mother and pushed it all over the city, day and night. However many new mothers (and fathers) are using slings now, especially for newborns. If your back can take it, there are a lot of benefits: free hands, close to your heart and so comfie for sleeping infants. The solid coloured organic cotton sack comes in a range of soft colours. By slingsandsacks, $70.

TreeHugger has compiled a pretty extensive guide to "How to Green Your Baby", which is a good source of information and starting place for mothers and fathers considering the green route for their children's upbringing. It outlines hot topics such as diapers, breast or bottle, toys, furniture and wipes.

Bonnie Alter is a Canadian living in the UK who writes for www.treehugger.com. Her interests are gardens, design, fashion and culture which she writes about on a daily basis. London and all of England is a real hive of activity and creativity when it comes to green products and issues. For her, "It's a delight and privilege to try and pass on these ideas to interested readers in North America and elsewhere."

Handmade Kids Series | Special Kids Showcase | Baby Gift Guide | Children Gift Guide

Handmade Kids: Eco-Friendly Gear for Toddler Boys

2008-07-15T12:23:00Z

When we started brainstorming ideas for the Handmade Kids Series, there were two ideas that came through loud and clear: eco-friendly items and finds for little boys. There is so much cute stuff for girls, so we decided to share the love! cloud9designstudio, an Etsy seller with an eco-mission and a lil' boy of her own, stepped up to the plate.

The eco-movement, with regards to clothing, is a conscious effort to shift the public's thought process from buying at mainstream big box stores toward buying local, organic and earth friendly items. This effort to save our planet is important because it helps reduce our carbon footprint, brings awareness to global warming and helps us tread a little lighter on this earth. The future is in our hands. What will the world be like for our children if we don't start making greener choices?

From Organic Consumers:

"Just 2.4% of the world's arable land is planted with cotton, yet it accounts for 24% of the world's insecticide market and 11% of sale of global pesticides, making it the most pesticide-intensive crop grown on the planet. $2.6 Billion worth of pesticides are used on cotton worldwide each year."

The health of our planet has also been adversely affected by pesticides. The pesticides and synthetic fertilizers used on cotton routinely contaminate groundwater, surface water and pollute the water we drink. Fish, birds and other wildlife are also affected by the movement of these chemicals through the ecosystem. Many of these problems have been documented by the Pesticide Action Network North America.

[Cotton ball photographed by that owl]

Here's how you can get involved in the eco movement: You can support local farmers and workers and cut down on pollution caused by shipping, support fair wage labor practices (fair trade), and buy recycled or upcycled items.

Here’s what to look for:
1) Organic or fair trade clothing
2) USA made, local or sweatshop free clothing
3) Recycled, upcycled, thrifted or reused clothing

As a mom to a 2 and a 1/2 year old toddler boy, I know how hard it is to find cute clothes for little boys, much less eco-friendly clothes. So I scoured Etsy to bring you the very best eco-gear for boys. I found some cool handmade items sure to look hip on your eco-tot while he's out there huggin' trees!

This tie from redpajamas is adorable.

Like this hand dyed block printed and appliquéd Owl long sleeve shirt from 1girl1boy.

Or these darling upcycled wide leg pants from earthbabyee that are made from a man’s dress shirt.

How cute is this lightening bolt appliqued shirt from trustysidekick.

And MaryZoom has a cute art smock made from a repurposed 100% cotton shirt.

This upcycled shirt from SarahBird is so colorful.

This organic hoodie by SweetMemoriesQuilts is too sweet.

Here’s a bright blue organic dragonfly shirt from inkyspider.

An organic “strong” tee from littlegorganics.

Sandcookies has this precious set.

And this “I’m like totally organic” tee from ninaandtom says it all.

For More Info on Being an Eco-Friendly Parent...

Healthy Child
Simple Steps
Green Mom Finds
Organic Consumers
Sustainable Cotton
Environmental Working Group's Advice for Parents
Treehugger
Green Living Online
Green Mom
Green Hour
Organic Cotton Association
Friends of the Earth
Climate Crisis
Stop Global Warming
Team EcoEtsy
Team EtsyKids
Team EtsyMoms
Trailer for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth

For more information on being a friend of the environment, check out the Storque's Earth Tones series. For more child related content, continue reading the Handmade Kids series!

Handmade Kids Series | Special Kids Showcase | Baby Gift Guide | Children Gift Guide

Earth Tones: Craftivism Motions in the Oceans

2008-07-01T12:17:00Z

Erin Chan aka designsquid calls to Etsy sellers and buyers to care for our ocean animals, endangered by bad habits and indifference. We give our Etsy Pets series an Earth Tones spin, in this post for animal and nature lovers.

71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in a common chemical substance that is essential to all known forms of life: water. Each year, an estimated 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into this valuable resource. All around the world, our oceans are in crisis. Though we acknowledge water to be a very important part of all life, we risk our future as well as the future of marine life by turning our oceans into dumping grounds. However, it’s not just pollution that threatens our oceans. Whales continue to be listed as an endangered species because of their continued slaughter. Plastic bags, bottle caps, cigarette butts, food packaging and other waste are harmful to birds, turtles, and other marine animals who mistake these things for food. Fish swallow small bits of plastic which we in turn digest when consuming seafood. Plastics are able to absorb other chemicals around them and thus spread their harmful properties across the world.

[Photograph by djloche]

Only we can help control these disasters. In order to help save polar bears, seals, narwhals, fish, and ultimately ourselves, we must save our oceans. By reducing CO2 emissions on an individual level, you can help. By taking action against industrial fishers who destructively trawl the bottom of the oceans, you can help. By lobbying against offshore oil and gas activities, you can help. Here are some other suggestions:

If you walk or exercise outdoors, pick up litter you might see along the way. Streets and storm drains empty into rivers that lead to the coast.

Avoid using plastic disposables. Use reusable containers and avoid plastic bags and wraps of all kinds.

Volunteer for International Coastal Cleanup Day which is on September 20. Find action in your area by visiting this website.

Support responsible vacationing. Cruise ships dump 90,000 tons of sewage and garbage into our oceans every day.

The most important thing you can do is get educated and get involved. There are many organizations around the world that promote cleaner oceans by saving marine wildlife and helping communities become environmentally aware.

So, how does this impact Etsy? What you could be asking, rather, is how can you make an impact through Etsy? When I started my Etsy shop, I already knew that I wanted to promote environmental awareness. By donating 10% of every purchase to Oceana, I know that I’m making a small step in the right direction.

[Photograph by Shek Graham]

There are already other Etsy shop owners finding ways to help:
JumpingJackDesigns sells personalized sea turtle stationary from which $3.00 goes to help the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project.

retrowhale generously donates $5.00 to the Heal the Bay organization for each print she sells from her Heal series.

10% of the sales from Dragonfire’s Sea Life jewelry is donated to help clean up our oceans and beaches.

These are only a few of the Etsians who are determined to help save our oceans and marine wildlife. Imagine if every Etsy store promised 10% of their monthly sales to help promote a greener way of life? Imagine the impact that would make on our environment.

Any little bit helps. Offering specific items with proceeds donated that are separate from your other listings is a good way to get started. Joining teams that specifically help causes that interest you and hold monthly donation drives is also a big way to help.

If you don’t own a shop but purchase from Etsy regularly, you can help by searching through donation items first.

If you are interested in helping, but don’t know where to start – here are some websites that can help you determine in what direction you might want to go.

Further Resources:
Oceana
Greenpeace
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Save the Whales
International Year of the Reef
National Marine Life Center

Cruelty Free Etsy | EFA Etsy for Animals |
Earth Tones | Etsy Pets on the Storque | Special Pets Showcase

Etsy Finds: Mini Moss Terrarium

2008-06-25T12:00:00Z

Let me preface this by saying that I am a terrible gardener. Even "easy to grow" plants die under my care. I once had a cactus jump out the window: apparently my black thumb was so bad, it decided defenestration was a preferable fate. (Although I secretly think the cat had something to do with it.) And we won't talk about the time I fed my Venus fly trap steak...

Madebymavis clearly sympathizes with me: her moss jars look so robust even I couldn't mess one up. And the self-contained terrarium is perfect for bringing some greenery to a small apartment. The description says:

"requires very little care, just leave it in a room with bright indirect sunlight. Water every 2-3 weeks and whatever you do, don't over water! This little jar will take care of itself."

That is the sort of plant care I can get behind.

Need a daily fix of Etsy Finds? Sign up for the Etsy Finds e-mail! Conveniently delivered to your inbox on the daily!

Plants Subcategory on Etsy | Outdoor Subcategory on Etsy | EtsyPHAT Team | Earth Tones Series

Earth Tones: Ecotourism in Fiji with Tribe Wanted

2008-06-16T11:26:00Z

Ecotourism and making handmade items can go a long way in helping to sustainably develop communities. Etsian Kaz Brecher aka kazoo reveals an inside perspective on the process of creating a functional community art project in Fiji. She traveled there as a member of TribeWanted.com, an ecotourism website committed to making your vacation a lot more meaningful.

What do flat-pack children’s stools, a sustainable tourist village in northern Fiji, and one of the hippest gift stores in Los Angeles have in common? My project! Let me back up a bit to make sense of the TribeWanted Baby Zaishu project that has taken me more than a year to orchestrate.

First, what is Tribewanted.com? It’s an online social network that is building a sustainable tourist community in an economically-depressed region of Fiji. The brainchild of two 20-something Brits, the project works like this: a small membership fee gets you a week (or two or three) of food and lodging on Vorovoro, a gorgeous strip of lush tropical growth and pristine beach off of the third largest reef in the world, Cakalevu Reef. Ben Keene and Mark Bowness had leased the island for three years, but the catch was that almost nothing was there, and the membership itself would both vote on development efforts and be an instrumental part of building the community.

I traveled to the island 6 months into the project, in February, 2006, after a cyclone and a coup had left the project on shaky ground. Tui Mali, the chief of 5 villages in the region, had turned down the producers of “Survivor: Fiji” in favor of working with TribeWanted, so all of us involved wanted to show him that he’d made the right decision. When I arrived, all they had was a kitchen, a beautiful community center (called a bure), and some composting toilets. So, while falling for the Fijian way of life, I helped with flooring and weaving bamboo.

As it happens, some years before, I came across a beautiful stool, called a Zaishu, designed by Australian artist Matthew Butler. Transcending social and cultural barriers, Zaishu collaborates internationally with artists to feature artwork from various community groups, endangered tribal art, as well as hand-painted limited editions of slot-together chairs made from plantation pine using water-based inks. Known as flat-pack furniture, because it can ship and store in a condensed form, and with Good Environmental Choice certification, the chairs are the epitome of what I love in great environmental design: incredible aesthetics married with efficient functionality. I had emailed Matthew hoping to find a way to collaborate, but nothing made sense until I traveled to Fiji.

It struck me that we could do a limited edition of the Baby Zaishu chairs, designed for children, painted with Fijian patterns, to benefit the local school — raising awareness locally about flat packing and sustainable ideals while also calling attention to the potential of low-impact tourism. So, after that first trip to Vorovoro, I flew to Sydney and met with Helen Punton of Zaishu, who was as excited about the idea as I was.

I returned to LA and approached Billie and Tootie, the owners of Reform School, a recently-opened gift shop that carries responsibly made or recycled/reformed art products. Their motto is “reuse, recycle, reform, rebel,” which goes hand-in-hand with the TribeWanted way. And they had been interested in my involvement with the project, so when I proposed that they carry the Baby Zaishus exclusively, they agreed.

One year later, after running for election as the April “chief” of the TribeWanted.com project, I was off to Fiji again, this time with silk screens and water-based paints in tow. Each month, one of the members of the eco-tourist tribe is elected as chief the key liaison between the visiting tribe and the indigenous tribe: the chief is given a small portion of the operating budget to use towards a legacy project. I used this money to help defray the hefty cost of materials. The raw laser-cut wood pieces were shipped from Australia to Fiji. And I brought everything else with me (much to the horror of the airline attendant who checked me in for my flight).

I chose patterns carefully for their significance in Fijian culture. The tops represented the oldest tradition of tapa/masi, stenciling onto bark paper, while the sides drew from modern bula flower patterns and the woven mat patterns that are specific to the northern regions. I readied the silk screens in order to better involve people of all skill levels, and members of both the international and the local Mali tribe set about hand-painting details and working together. It was back-breaking work, with the paint drying quickly in the heat, so we could only get through a few pulls before we’d have to wash the screens and begin again. But the curiosity about the project accomplished exactly what I’d hoped — it created a platform for discussion about traditional arts and what it means to design everyday objects in sustainable ways, and put some attention on this oft-forgotten region in Fiji. The Fiji Times profiled the project twice while I was on the island, and I hope that in spreading the word about the project, the discussion will continue.

Ultimately, gifts were presented to the Mali District School, to the Chief of Mali and to elders of the tribe who were instrumental in the project. I then hand-carried the rest of the chairs back to L.A. as luggage, so as to cut down on more shipping carbon impact. The chairs are now available for sale at www.reformschoolrules.com with all proceeds going back to the Mali District School for arts and sustainability education initiatives.

The school currently struggles to meet even basic educational needs, like notebooks and pencils, visual aids and books. The TribeWanted members have been bringing a book each since the inception of the project to build what is now a robust library. The Baby Zaishu project grew out of a desire to provide aid of a different sort. During the first year of TribeWanted, for example, a Green Club was started at the school, in which the kids learned how to make their own paper from recycled bits and pieces, re-use plastic bottles and bags in unexpected ways, and start a garden at the school. But the budget needed to keep the club going was not available, so it lapsed after a few months. The Zaishu proceeds will be able to jump-start the Green Club and allow children to express their creativity while exploring traditional and new art forms.

It leaves me hopeful that, when presented with enthusiasm and something to rally around, people across the globe are willing to come together to support artists and dreamers, eco-tourists and foreign villagers, in an effort to make our world a better and more beautiful place.

Further Resource Links:
www.reformschoolrules.com
www.zaishu.com
www.tribewanted.com
www.theartofwooing.com
Fiji Times Article on the Project

Kaz Brecher, aka kazoo, recently published her first book, The Art of Wooing: An Email Tale of Modern Courtship (www.theartofwooing.com), a romp through the travails of finding love as told through emails back and forth, with mixed media art and poetry. She revels in paper products with her friends at Rosebud Design Studio (www.rosebud-design.com) and hula hoops out in the sunshine whenever she can. She lives in Los Angeles, despite having left her heart in San Francisco. And, when she’s not working in interactive media, plotting her next film pursuit, or dabbling in wooing experiments, she can be found seeking out amazing new artists and products online and in the world. Further blogs from her Fiji adventures can be found on the TribeWanted.com website here.

Gotta Travel On | Travel Showcase | Etsy World Tour | Earth Tones

Open Studio Tour: WorkatHomeDad

2008-06-11T17:34:00Z

In this Open Studio Tour series, we'll be snooping around artists' creative spaces, how they set them up, when, why…even how often they clean them! We really want to know all about our artists, and maybe get a bit of inspiration!

It's Father's Day time so I had to knock at workathomedad's studio door…a glass studio under the sign of eco friendly and fire!

What's your name and what kind of craft do you do?
My name is Matt Carrigan aka workathomedad. I am 35 years old. I have been a full time glassblower for 9 years now.

Where do you make your items?
When I started glassblowing because there were no open-to-public studios anywhere Los Angeles. Glassblowing is one craft that requires a studio right from the start. The necessary ventilation and the use of large amounts of oxygen and propane make it very difficult to set up in a temporary location like a spare bedroom or kitchen.

As soon as I purchased my equipment, I rented an old store front in the Silverlake district in Los Angeles. The storefront also gave me a retail outlet to sell my work. My wife and I ran our studio/ gallery in Los Angeles for 7 years before relocating to a small town in the Pacific Northwest.

Did the studio set up impact your crafter budget?
Opening our studio/gallery in Los Angeles took a small investment. Luckily, we are skilled DIY'ers and were able to do all the construction of the studio and gallery ourselves. Living in a large city like Los Angeles allowed us to find retail and office equipment at exceptional prices. I was also able to buy used welding equipment that is used in a glassblowing studio.

How did you set up your studio in an eco-friendly way?
It has been a slow progression making the studio more and more eco friendly. I think it started from the very beginning, when we would go to local businesses and get their old packaging materials and office supplies to reuse them in our shipping. We started using renewable energy as soon as it was available to us. It only costs a couple of cents more a kilowatt hour —not bad for knowing your power is from the wind and not a nuclear plant or from coal. We are careful to use minimal packaging for our products. Reuse, reduce, recycle is the motto in our studio.

I make a great line of wine bottle stoppers that reuse my glass scraps that would normally be sent to the landfill. These recycled wine bottle stoppers are currently my best sellers. They are bright and colorful. People love the fact that they are eco-friendly.

Which is your favorite tool?
First place has to go to my GTT Mirage glassblowing torch. My Jim Moore diamond sheers take second place.

Do you want to share with us one secret of your studio?
My studio is over 107 years old and I think it may be haunted.

How big is your studio?
My new studio is about 350 square feet. It houses 2 glassblowing work stations, a sandblasting cabinet, a photo booth, warehouse style racks for storing all of our show equipment, and raw glass materials and a kiln. We use our spare bedroom as the office for the computer, fax, copier, and file cabinets. We also use a larger enclosed back porch for our shipping department. We store all of our shipping materials there. If I had any more space here I am sure I would use it for something, too!

Is there anything you would add to your working space to make it more eco-friendly?
In the near future I would like to add skylights to my roof. That would eliminate the need for lighting my studio during the day. In Oregon it also stays light out in the summer until 9:30 or 10pm, so skylights would be very beneficial. Solar panels for electric and water heating are also on my list. I am very excited to install radiant floor heating in the studio as well. Radiant floor heating is a form of central heating which utilizes heat conduction and radiant heat for indoor climate control, rather than forced air heating which relies on convection. Heat can be provided by circulating heated water through pipes installed in the floor.

If you had to choose one synonym for your studio which one would you pick: atelier, family room, lair, lodge, nest, playroom, retreat, sanctuary, shelter, darkroom, or showroom and why?
It is definitely an atelier. It is set up as a studio and not much else. I have no chairs or couches in it. It is a place for creating art.

How much time do you spend in your studio?
A normal week finds me in the studio about 40 hours, with an additional 15-20 hours spent photographing, updating my Etsy store and website and talking to clients on the phone. My wife spends 15-20 hours a week doing marketing and sales. In the summer we spend at least every other week out of town at art festivals selling our work.

Do you share your studio with anyone?
I currently have an apprentice who works with me part time. She also helps with our booth at art festivals. She often brings Yerba Mate to the studio for me (my favorite).

And last but not least, how often do you clean it?
I clean my work area every week or so. The entire studio gets cleaned and organized once a month. Packing and unpacking for art shows is what makes my shop the messiest. I need a way that makes less of a mess when I get ready for a show — either that or a housekeeper lol.

Thank you Matt, until next studio snooping, ciao!

If you have an interesting studio or workspace and some tips to share, comment below and you may be next in our Open Studio Tour series!

GOOD Farmers Market

2008-06-06T19:42:00Z

Our friends over at Good Magazine are hosting a very yummy and eco-friendly event here in NYC:

The celebration takes place Saturday, June 7 from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, at Solar One: Green Energy, Arts & Education Center located at 23rd Street and the East River in Manhattan, and is open to all subscribers to GOOD magazine 21 years of age and older. To non-subscribers, the price of admittance is $20, all of which supports CENYC/Greenmarket's work in promoting regional agriculture and adds you to GOOD's subscription base.
For a $20 subscription, subscribers get:
(1) 6 issues of GOOD
(2) Entry to a GOOD party & free drinks
(3) And all $20 goes to support Greenmarket, a program of Council on the Environment of NYC (CENYC.org)

Come on down if you're around. Sounds Great! We co-hosted a KIVA event with them. And last year we made a little video at City Sol festival.

MOCCA, the indie comic book expo, is also taking place in NYC. Ah, summer goings-on. So many things to do.

Other fun events this weekend where you live? Post in the comments below!

For the Birds

2008-06-06T13:47:00Z

Etsy seller Bugtussle has come up with an interesting way to give fabric and fiber scraps a second life.

I have been making "bird giving balls" for years now and giving them out as gifts to friends. I have a flock of sheep, and some of the fleece was not good enough to use in my yarn, so as not to waste anything I thought it would be nice for the birds, since I saw them taking some of the scraps on the barn floor after shearing to make a nest.

After finding nests around my farm with fleece in them, I decided to purchase a grapevine ball, which I thought was the natural way to go about it. I put my discarded fleece into it and added ribbons to see what would happen. To my surprise, I started to see ribbons in a nest! I could not believe it! So then I decided to add different colors of fleece and add more nesting material stuff such as excelsor, etc. People are always amazed at how birds actually use this.

Her Bird Giving Balls are very compelling as a sort of interactive lawn ornament, doubling as a way to upcycle the offshoots of your crafting projects. It's like a co-production creative project with our winged friends!

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Earth Tones Tip: Self-Watering Garden Planters care of Instructables

2008-05-30T11:00:00Z

This week's Earth Tones Tip comes care of aperkins01096 on Instructables, which is a very useful site full of user-generated photo how-tos. This how-to covers how to convert milk jugs into self-watering garden planters. Super easy, and a great way to recycle! Click on the image below to get the full tutorial!

For more Earth friendly content, check out our continued coverage of the Earth Tones series.

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Fresh Shops: burrowburrow

2008-05-29T16:19:00Z

burrowbrurrow caught my eye while browsing Etsy, as I noticed they had just opened their doors on May 22nd, 2008. (Very new!) I love the expressive detail put into each piece and the unique choices of animals. Below are a few questions I sent the artist so that she could introduce herself.

Can you tell us a little about the people behind burrowburrow?
The shop burrowburrow is me, Ann Smith. I live and create these sculptures in Providence, RI.

I began making these little robotic-looking animals while studying illustration at RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design). I had always loved animals and robots, so combining the two seemed very natural. Since then, I have created over 500 creatures ranging in size from 1" tall to 3' long. They are all constructed from broken electronics and machine parts. I build my animals from the inside out.

I'll start with basic curves that define the inner 'skeleton' of a piece. Many times I start with the backbone; sometimes, though, I'll build a piece from the bottom up, starting with the legs. From there, I'll add shapes that fill out the meat or muscle of the animal. The final touches are mostly external accents, such as streaks of color or textures like hair and feathers. Each animal is unique and can never be reproduced. The individual personality of a piece is very important to me: I want the viewer to be able to form a connection with the sculpture.

What inspires you as a creative person?
I like things that are intricate and well crafted: things that can move. I enjoy taking junk and turning it into art. I like the challenge of recreating different animals.

How do you like Etsy so far? What are your favorite features of the site? What might you like to see done differently/new features?
I love having an Etsy shop. It is so easy to use: I am the opposite of computer-savvy, so this is crucial. I can finally sell things online — something I always thought would be too difficult to set up for myself. I love the layout and the opportunity to personalize one's shop with a banner, etc. I wish I could change the order of my pieces once they're posted — this is really not so important though, just something I'll have to consider next time I add new items.

Even though these aren't geared towards men per se, we think these would make great Father's Day gifts. You can find more examples of Ann's work on her portfolio site, burrowburrow.com, as well as her blog.

Check out Pounce Undiscovered to discover more Fresh Shops! Say hey to a new seller!

Father's Day Showcase | Gift Guide for Him | Father's Day Gift Guide | A Dude's Perspective

Earth Tones Tip: Reusing Disposable Items

2008-05-23T13:24:00Z

This week's Earth Tones Tip is from Life Hacker. They have a great post on reusing those supposedly "disposable" things you have lying around the house: CD-R spindles, dryer sheets, wine corks, yogurt containers...the list goes on! All those things that could normally be thrown in the trash can be upcycled or recycled into something useful. Put on your thinking cap and start reusing stuff before it hits the dump!

For more Earth friendly content, check out our continued coverage of the Earth Tones series.

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Fresh Shops: jalexstudios

2008-05-22T13:22:00Z

I consider myself to be pretty eco-savvy: I have solar panels on my roof, I walk to work most days (subway the rest) and haven’t used a plastic bag for my lunch since I don’t know when. Yet at a birthday party last week I was mortified as a neighbor reached into the trash to pull out a bottle cap I had just discarded and put it in the recycling. Oops.

I decided to use my Fresh Shop assignment as penance and find a new seller focusing on upcycling.

JENGA! I found a great one: Jalex Studios.

The shop is a great combination of everyday pieces for the home and conversation-piece art, all made from recycled materials. The styles are also a great mix of classic and modern. Check out some of the items below.

The Jenga lamp is made from recycled window brackets and wood flooring.

This amazing vase actually uses the inside of a hard drive as the base.

This conversation piece is made from reclaimed doors.

I consider my penance served and look forward to more great items from this shop. Who will be the first to purchase from JalexStudios?

Have you seen a new shop with potential? Leave it in the comments! Also, check out previous Fresh Shops for more good stuff.

Earth Tones: Terrariums

2008-05-15T13:16:00Z

Terrariums are a fun rainy day activity. Bring a little of the outdoors in! If you have little ones, think of it an at-home science project to teach kids about the environment, as well as a welcome decor change from the usual cut flowers. And if you don't have a backyard (or don't have the nerve to guerrilla garden), you can still have greenery.

Etsy vintage sellers offer some nice glass jars too (you can now search just for vintage items in the drop-down search bar). See below for some options.

Etsian and blogger CityDirt wrote about how terrariums transport you to a mini world —

That's part of the terrarium's appeal. It's a mysterious little microclimate that makes you think of jungles or deserts. Another appeal is that they are very self-sustaining. The moisture creates its own "rain cycle," so they rarely need to be watered and many do well in low light.

Here's a how-to from her blog citydirt...Or rather, how not to make a terrarium. Learn from her mistakes!

First, I purchased glass containers. The small globe is from Sprout Home, the square bowl is from Jamali Garden Supplies and the darker glass is hand blown by artisans in San Miguel de Allende.

I purchased some of the smallest plants I could find, including Oxalis, Maiden Hair Fern, Evergemiensis Fern, a Red Vein Fittonia, and some moss. (At this point you might be noting that my plants are a little big for my glass containers. I wasn't yet aware of this.)

Here, I've added way too many pebbles. I then added too much charcoal, and by the time I added the soil mixed with a little sphagnum moss, it was too deep. So I had to go back and take out the soil, remove some charcoal, and some pebbles.

Almost all the plants I bought were too big to fit into the globe, so I ended up filling it with moss and a few oxalis.

The ferns, moss, Fittonia, and Oxalis are essentially crammed into these. They aren't the tropical landscapes I was hoping for. Though, I kind of like them; I felt a Victorian Era-type fetish of wanting to cram all of my plants into glass jars...

But next time I make a terrarium, it will be with little plants and big containers.

Plants Subcategory on Etsy | Outdoor Subcategory on Etsy | EtsyPHAT Team | Earth Tones Series

National Bike to Work Day: May 16, 2008

2008-05-14T18:49:00Z

Here in New York we've been having an unfortunate spring, as the past few weeks have brought us some yucky rain and surprisingly chilly temperatures. Note the discarded, busted umbrellas in the wind tunnel near the Etsy Labs:
However, we're closing in on the outdoor season and the bikes are getting pulled out of their winter hibernation.

May has been declared National Bike Month, and thanks to the League of American Bicyclists, the third Friday in May (this Friday, May 16!) has been National Bike to Work Day since 1956. Lots of major cities have events planned for Friday and the rest of the month, so if you're here in NYC with us, check out the Bike Month NYC site, or search online to see what's going on near you. So rain or shine, be ready to get on your bike and ride!

P.S. Plus, we can use the break from the gas prices...
P.P.S. Someone should invent a biodegradable umbrella...

Get ready for bike season by bringing out your bike this Friday. Here's to National Bike to Work Day!