Fair Trade Blog

Spring.  Time for the new.  Time to clear out the not so new. 

Ten turns of beads and bangles!   These Kenyan bracelets wrap your wrist in color.

Bright and shiny.  Silver earrings made in Chile to add a little sparkle in just the right places!

Intriguing Haitian wall hangings.  Each time you look at the Voodoo art design, cut and shaped from reclaimed oil drums, you’ll see something slightly different. 

Clothing on sale.  All of our blouses are discounted!  Need something cool and breezy this season?  How about a colorful top from Ecuador? 

Keep shopping your good values!

Mother’s Day is upon us once again, so many of you are thinking about what to give your mother this weekend that will delight and honor her. Well, I ran across this from Maureen Mackey of the Portland Green Living Examiner.

Her list of ten ways to honor your mother and Mother Earth.

1. Give her that old standby, a bouquet of flowers, but look for the VeriFlora logo that indicates the flowers were sustainably grown. You can find VeriFlora blooms at flower shops and grocery stores, including New Seasons, Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

2. Don’t forget that other time-tested Mom favorite, chocolate, but search for fair trade chocolate at your favorite chocolate shop or grocery store.

3. Give her house, or even one room, an eco-friendly Spring Cleaning with green cleaners.

4. Plant a tree in her honor.

5. Show Mother Earth you appreicate her beautiful nature by walking or bike riding.

6. Go see the movie Earth, which celebrates our planet and the creatures who live on it. Look for local theaters and showtimes here.

7.  Buy her fair-trade jewelry, so she knows her adornments were crafted sustainably and the artisans who created it were treated fairly.

8. Visit a Farmer’s Market to buy locally-produced food.

9. Buy your mother fruit or vegetable starts and offer to help her plant them.

10. Consider becoming a Zoo Patron to suppport wildlife conservation. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Keep shopping your good values!

What could make a teddy bear even better?   Make it out of Alpaca fur.  If you get your hands on one of our new bears, just try to put it down! 

White Alpaca fur makes them the softest, warmest bears you’ll ever hold.  Each one is hand made in Ecuador from naturally-grown Alpaca fur.  You can select a small or medium size online, but you have to come to the shop to see the large bears keeping watch in our store.   

If you ladies want to get noticed while out on the town, chose one of our elegant new cocktail rings made close by in Madison, Wis.  Each one features a crystal or faux pearl surrounded by an impressive band of shimmering silver beads.  The band stretches to fit any size finger making them easy to wear. 

Our new tagua heart necklaces are more casual for those informal summer gatherings or simply an everyday accent.  Ecuadorian tagua nut is carved into a heart shape with a swirl through the middle before it is dyed a deep chocolate brown.  It’s a great complement to our breezy, colorful blouses.  

Come back soon to see more fairly traded, distinctive, handmade merchandize from around the world.

Keep shopping your good values! 

Though spring is having a hard time arriving here in the upper Midwest, it’s definitely spring in our store.  We did a photo shoot to bring you our new spring and summer clothing.  I had great fun with our models Andrew and Rain along with our photographer Rebecca. 

It was a welcome bright spot on a cold, rainy day.  

Our new blouses are just the thing for those warm days now arriving.  Handmade embroidery on fantastic colors including reds, blues, greens, and yellows highlight our breezy new selection. 

We have new “pirate” shirts to bring out the scoundrel in the guys.  Our men’s short sleeve shirts come in traditional blue, white, and ivory.  

For your warm weather walk about, we have colorful shoulder bags for guys or gals that include roomy pockets and casual style.  Very comfortable!

Our jewelry selection now includes a wonderful single-bloosom necklace carved from Tagua nut.   The selection of colors will help you compliment any outfit.   We found out at our shoot that they go particularly well with our new blouses. 

Keep shopping your good values!