Three Holiday Must-Haves To Play Dress-Up In!

Gear up for those glittery Christmas and holiday parties, and take this once a year opportunity to deck the halls with your fabulous self! Here are three stylish, sexy, and super affordable accessories that are guaranteed to get you noticed, whether you’re standing under the mistletoe or not!

revolveclothing.com

Flaunt it faux real! I’m not a fan of animal hides, but you can show off all you want in this lavish BB Dakota faux-fur vest. It looks great layered, on top of a low-cut chemise, or simply peeking out of a coat.  Everyone will want to touch you, so leave your shyness at home because you’ll definitely get some attention in this little number.  This is a definite must-have at the top of my list for merely $65!

 

Give a hoot, or at least hang it! Adorn your pretty neck with this irresistibly charming 18″ silver plated owl pendant. This is just too adorable to pass up. Guaranteed you will get lots of compliments while making a groovy statement. Oh, and it will accessorize perfectly with your faux-fur vest. Definitely something to give a hoot about at only $22!

www.etsy.com/shop/bethallison

 

 

Grab that hobo before it’s gone! This double handed chain hobo bag adds a perfect touch of glitz to your holiday wear.  Aside for having multifunctional compartments to drop your lip gloss and cell phone in, the silver multi-chain detailing makes it super cool.  Make sure to get it in silver before they run out. On sale now for only $29.24!

Now get out there and make a statement, and whatever you do, don’t let that eggnog get to your head!

www.mandee.com

Gift & Drink Humanely – Organic Wine To Benefit Our Furry Friends!

UAN Dog T-Shit, www.cafepress.com

Before you take out that credit card and start buying random things online or anywhere else, pause for a minute and think of some causes you believe in. If you’re going to spend your hard-earned dollars you might as well spend it thoughtfully rather than frivolously.  With the upcoming holidays it’s easy to forget that we don’t need to go into automatic pilot gifting mode. Instead of giving something for the sake of meeting obligations, why not give something that will bring awareness to a great product and an equally great cause?  I’m always inclined to lend my support first to animal welfare, having benefitted tremendously from the unconditional love, friendship, and companionship of my furry friends.  Here is a great gift you can raise a glass to, benefitting the United Animal Nations!

Humane Cellars Wine sold exclusively by Benefit Wines (America’s Charity Wine Shop) will give any oenophile more of a reason (errr…or maybe that’s just wishful thinking!) to raise a toast, as for every bottle purchased (most selling for $19) $7 goes towards UAN (United Animal Nations), ensuring the protection of animals.

Humane Cellars Sample Pack

The Sample Pack offers a great selection of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sparkling White, and makes an amazing house or holiday gift for animal lovers at a reasonable $74.99 for the four bottles, $22.99 of which goes straight to UAN. Oh, did I mention these wines are organic and vegan?

For other great causes, visit iBuyiHelp, an extraordinary website that allows you to shop for the non-profit of your choice!  This site links you to any vendor you like, and after downloading their user friendly charity toolbar it will donate a portion of your purchases to your chosen cause via its network of retail affiliates.

As always, shop and spread love whenever you can. And don’t forget that every time you give a gift such as the one above, you teach by example!

Turning Bombs Into Jewels: A Woman’s Fair Trade Boutique With Higher Aspirations

On a recent trip to beautiful Bucks County in Pennsylvania, while antiquing and scouting the bucolic villages and farms for hidden treasures I came upon Rice’s Flea Market, in operation since 1860.  Rows upon rows of G.I. Joe sunglasses and cheap imitation designer handbags later, I began to feel discouraged at the lack of more authentic and unique wares.  But thanks to divine intervention, as I like to call it, I found my diamond in the rough – the woman behind Lotus Jayne, selling handcrafted, locally sourced, recycled and sustainable crafts primarily out of Cambodia, her adopted daughter’s birthland.

 

 

 

 

 

Village in Cambodia, courtesy of www.lotusjayne.com

What really struck me was the intricate jewelry made out of recycled brass from the casings of artillery shells that were dropped throughout the countryside during the Vietnam War.  There is something deeply eloquent and spiritual, albeit beautifully eerie, about purchasing one of those pieces, especially the Bombshell Gong Pendant with the inscription “Make Music” on the front accompanied by “Not War” on the reverse.  The Bombshell Jewelry Collection is created by a local NGO, exclusive for US distribution to Lotus Jayne, comprised of young Cambodians who are dedicated to transforming the lessons of war into artifacts that send a message of peace learned through history.

Sompen’s Shiobori Silk Scarf, $24.00

Then there are the stunning silk scarves woven by the hands of women employed under fair trade collectives, providing them with the opportunity to thrive in their impoverished communities rather than become the victims of a multi-million dollar sex-trafficking industry.  And to add yet another dimension to the message and authentic character behind this great array of responsible merchandise, there are the intricate bracelets recycled from magazine pages by landmine survivors in Phenom Penh, yet another reminder of the dangers associated with still occurring landmine explosions in Cambodia.

What furthers the appeal of Lotus Jayne is that there is no middle man involved, as the crafts are sourced directly from the participating communities, making all the beautiful and unique crafts on offer exceptionally affordable.  All in all, I came out of this experience not only with a greater knowledge of the many ways one can spread a message of socio-political and environmental awareness, but also an appreciation for yet another remarkable woman positively affecting the lives of others, one beautiful pendant, bracelet, and scarf at a time.  Please share this link with all the great men and women in your world, and let’s celebrate those who continue to turn hardship into a labor of love. (c) Claudia Ghetu

Glass & Bead Flat Bracelet, $15.00

Recycled Rubber Gets Cool & Wearable!

Thencha Boot, $304

It’s somehow refreshing – okay, uber cool – to know that tires don’t only look good on cars, but that they can also look good on your body.  Once you see some of the cool products these two companies have on offer you’ll be wanting to tell the world that recycling car tires should become a new Olympic sport. Besides, there are billions of tires that amass in landfills and then get burned releasing terrible fumes and toxins into the air while they stay aflame for months at a time. And if there’s anything we don’t want are more poisonous chemicals floating around, invading more of our air, soil, and water supply.  What we do want are more awesome bodily adorning accessories made from clever and easily recyclable materials!

Here are my two favorite fashionable rubbery finds!

The Thencha Boot by Greenbees, is a sexy take on an old classic mixing the riding and the cowboy style boot into one eye-catching shoe.  These boots are hand-crafted from leather, however the soles are made from recycled tire.  Perfect for the cooler weather, or for pairing with a feminine floral print dress in the summer. Find out which stores carry this brand of shoes here, or simply shop online at ShopGreenbees.com.

"Carta" Bag by Cyclus

The Cyclus Bag is to die for!  These super cool, both classic and futuristic handbags and backpacks are made from rubber inner tubes with fabric straps made from recycled plastic and cloth scraps.  The premise is to reclaim urban and industrial materials, and turn them into innovative avant-garde designs.  The messenger style bags have adjustable straps and reinforced bottoms, and they are also a perfect fit for your Mac! Let’s multiply innovative and smart by 100%!  Shop online at Cyclus-Us.com.

3 Must-Haves For The On-The-Go Gal

With Summer in full bloom, there is no better time to venture out and get lost wherever the hot wind may take you.  Whether you’re sailing, camping, hiking , or merely enjoying a languid bicycle excursion somewhere in the country, you’ll want these 3 unbeatable goodies along for the ride:

- Innovative Skincare SPF 20 Powder Sunscreen.  This product is a fantastic substitute for greasy sunscreen that makes you break out or turns your skin oily and sweaty within minutes of applying it.  Plus this company takes the lead in anti-aging and scientific innovation in skin care. I simply love the fact that it blocks UV rays without the use of chemicals while managing to give you a flawless matte look.  Yes, even if you’re on the beach in 90 degree weather! To buy or browse more products by this company which has experts raving, go to InnovativeSkinCare.com.

- Jao Hand Refresher/Sanitizer.  This great smelling, easy to pack, all natural hand sanitizer is a must-have anywhere, anytime.  Not only does it kill germs using 65% ethyl alcohol and a blend of antiseptic essential oils like lavander, tea tree and eucalyptus, but it also works as a hand softener, after shave, and zit zapper too. Talk about multi-tasking!  So put that Purell away and click on JaoLtd.com to get the good stuff instead.  Luckily most health stores stock up on this super find too.

- GoRaw Spirulina Super Chips. What do you get when you combine uncooked, unprocessed sprouted organic sesame seeds, organic banana, coconut, dates and spirulina? The most delicious on-the-go live food snack which packs 13.9% protein power and 235 mg of potassium per 3 oz. bag. And this real treat satisfies just about everyone – it’s vegan, gluten free, and nut free too.  Now I don’t have to worry about bananas turning brown in my backpack! To stock up on this yummy snack and see what other delicious things you might find go to GoRaw.com.

Drinking Wine To Stop Illiteracy: Let’s Toast To That!

Fledgling Wine, Pinot Noir

How would you like it if every time you raised a glass of a very special Pinot Noir you contributed to bringing literacy to countless underprivileged children? Leave it to the brainiacs behind Twitter to come up with a great platform which makes buying wine the best excuse next to tweetting.

The Fledgling Initiative makes wine to promote Room To Read, a non-profit organization that brings literacy and education to children in the poorest parts of the world.  There are over 300 million young people worldwide who don’t have access to education, primarily books, and who are at risk of remaining illiterate.  Through The Fledling Initiative many children, particularly in Asia and Africa, will benefit from new libraries and books in their own language.

And these wines are derived from some of the best vineyards in California via Crushpad, the expert wine making team, sourcing 50 of the best vineyards in California and Bordeaux.  We hear the 2009 vintage was extremely successful, and potentially the best one of the decade.  So whether you’re on the shy side and would rather indulge one bottle at a time for a mere $20, $5 of which goes to Room To Read, or you’re feeling indulgent or generous enough to buy a case – rest assured that this time you’ll be really drinking to a good cause.  One that you paid for!

Click here to purchase a bottle of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir Fledgling Wine!

Taking ‘Sustainable’ to the Next Level: Wearing a Bottle and Loving it!

What do Lady Gaga and a leading apparel company that has had ‘Hard To Beat’ in its tag line for nearly a century have in common? Innovation! Not many clothing companies can claim that their ‘eco-collections’ fall into either of three categories: Sustainable, Organic, or Recycled. We’d be pleased just to hear ‘eco-friendly,’ but who are we to complain about taking sustainability to the next level and incorporating the use of recycled plastic bottles into the mix of wearable fibers?

Anvil seamless ring spun cotton jersey

Anvil is the largest domestic buyer of US grown organic cotton, and has been ranked the sixth largest purchaser of certified organic cotton worldwide. This company takes its environmental mission very seriously, partaking in the AAFA Restricted Substance List and the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program which allow only for the strictest guidelines in sustainable harvesting methods without the use of chemicals. To ensure consumers are confident in their products, Anvil has launched TrackMyT.com, which encourages buyers to track their t-shirts, by seeing where they were made and what the environmental impact was.

Be assured that as serious as this Little Goody Two-Shoes company sounds, they are anything but square. They offer over 70 styles of sportswear and accessories for men, women, and children in 80 fun colors, shapes and forms. Check out the seamless collar 100% ring spun cotton jerseys in funky neon hues from the chromaZone line.  But we suggest you first opt for the AnvilSustainable hoodie, so that at the next party you go to this summer you can brag about how your top was made from three plastic bottles converted into polyester, then blended with cotton. Now that’s hot!  Just try not to sound too nerdy.

Since you can’t buy directly from the website, click on Distributors and find out where you can locate a vendor near you. Happy eco-shopping!

Sustainability Meet Sexy-bility: Hot Shoes That Save the Amazon!

What we buy and where our money goes makes an impact on a scale wider than we can imagine.  It’s a rippling effect that can positively affect the livelihood and well-being of people and places from the smallest to the biggest denominator.  So when a young and ambitious eco-conscious company chooses to team up with an organization like Greenpeace to support their ‘Slaughtering the Amazon’ campaign, we better stop and listen – and get ready to shop!

Evo Shoe, $160

Terra Plana is a highly innovative design-savvy footwear company out of England, with a big heart and a great global mission: ‘Inspired by ecological survival, Terra Plana believes in a variety of non-generic products supporting ideas of sustainability: lightness, anatomic design, disassembly and durability…(to) re-evaluate what we can do to minimize waste and toxin use and maximize product use and love.’ Yes, they use the ‘L’ word in their mission statement!  Their shoe collection is as expansive and revolutionary as their commitment and passion for the environment.  There is something for everybody, but what you get with this company is far from conventional.  We’re talking durability, revolutionary ultra-designs (think 22nd rather than 21st Century!), and instant eye grabbing style. Most of their shoes are stitched by hand the old artisan way, to minimize the use of glues and other un-natural and extraneous components.  What’s interesting is that whereas traditional shoe crafting is raised to an art form, technology is used to engineer high performance footwear with scientific precision.  Their Vivo BareFoot line is designed to strengthen the feet muscles and realign posture.  And the vibrant colors and designs couldn’t be cooler.  Then there is the Dopie collection, which features probably the world’s most minimal footwear, as if you were  literally walking with only a simple sole adheared to your foot. The Vegan line also boasts oustandingly smart footwear, which might even be capable of converting one into vegan-wearer, so a big kudos for that!

Caecilia Shoe, $125

I am simply in love with their sexy Caecilia shoe, which fuses the irresistability of a killer stiletto with the utilitarian function of a funky (emphasis on funky) sports shoe.  What’s a girl to do if she can’t decide between comfortability and and sexy-bility?  What makes me love this shoe more than the way it looks is that it’s not only recycled and features a memory foam footbed, but it’s also part of the Vegan collection, and therefore part of the Save The Amazon campaign.  Aside from several stores in the UK, Terra Plana has only one store in the US in New York City, as well as in Austria, Slovenia, and Australia.  I definitely recommend shopping online, but if you’re like me, you won’t think twice about taking a trip to any of the above locations with an excuse to try one of the word’s coolest and most innovative shoes.  See it as a special mission for you and future generations of forward thinking eco-savvy shoppers, whom you may inspire as a result of your uber-cool fashion sense and commitment to make a difference where it really counts.

The Water Bottle That Keeps On Giving!

Every year Americans spend 17 billion dollars to satisfy their taste for water on the run. Bottles upon bottles are then chucked, ending up in landfills, and then in our oceans. If there is ONE thing you can do, to make a huge difference by just making ONE simple choice here it is: buy a portable recycled bottle with a built-in filter that you can refill anywhere and anytime.  Meet your new thirst quenching best friend: the Bobble! You can buy this ingenious recycled, BPA free, made in the USA patened filtered water bottle by going to www.waterbobble.com.  I don’t know what’s more appealing, the cool sporty design or the great price of $9.95, which we’ll save you thousands of dollars while also saving the planet.

Spread the word and share this great find with all your friends!  Happy drinking!

Waste Not! Save The Elephants By Buying Recycled Elephant Pooh Paper

I am an elephant lover. I collect all things with elephants. I think elephants are one of the most advanced and intelligent animals on the planet. They morn their dead much like humans do. They are loyal and nurturing to their families. The female bull or matriarch performs her legendary and daunting duty of leading her heard to water for hundreds of miles each way on an unrivaled pilgrimage in the animal kingdom. Above all, I am of the creed that elephants have an extrasensory ability to comprehend things beyond the earthly plane and to communicate telepathically amongst themselves.  Much like dolphins and whales.  Us humans could learn a few things from these exceptional giants, if we paused long enough to look deep into their eyes to recognize a wisdom and integrity that unfortunately eludes the destructive ego of our species.

Enter a small unprecedented environmentally friendly company with a mission to save my favorite animal from extinction, Mr. Ellie Pooh, the self-appointed ‘world’s only living paper mill.’  Who would have thought that elephant dung could be recycled by being sun dried, then boiled, beatten into a pulp and then pressed to magically form sheets of paper?  I honestly wish that all the paper manufactured and used in the world could come from elephant pooh!  It’s a widely available bi-product consisting mainly of natural fiber that until now has not been harvested or thought of as a renewable and cost efficient resource. Think about how this brilliant method of harvesting a product from a being that’s barely hanging on for survival could benefit our environment on so many levels.  It could save forests, and it could save a majestic creature from perishing forever.

The specific area that Mr. Ellie Pooh is choosing to focus on is Sri Lanka, where the animals are not being killed for their tusks but rather for competing for land and interfering with local agriculture. The only way the elephant can survive is by becoming a source of sustainable economic growth, and better yet a viable option for creating jobs and employing the people of Sri Lanka.  I actually spoke with the founder of the company and I was so happy to hear that women will also be benefitting by crafting beautiful hand-made elephant paper products.  In his very words, ‘If the elephant is used as an economic asset that contributes meaningfully to the welfare of the people, the then people themselves will not want to see it disappear from their area.’

Mr. Ellie Pooh Hand-Made Photo Albums

Log onto www.mrelliepooh.com to learn more and to shop for some really unique and beautifully crafted products – from picture frames, to photo albums and stationary.   Also, show your support on Facebook, and don’t forget to tell your friends! Thank you Mr. Ellie Pooh for trying to save my favorite animal!

Also please show your concern for elephants by logging on to: SaveTheElephants.org!