How Tuesday: Ornament Exchange

November 12, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Gift Guides How Tuesday

The beautiful Eva Hand Painted Ornaments would bring cheer to any friend!

I love love love the holidays! As mid-October rolls around each I have already started making Thanksgiving plans and my December has begun to fill up with fun holiday cheer outings. Last year one of the new additions to my holiday fun was an ornament exchange. I have a group of friends whom I go out with every couple of months to try out new restaurants and for our December 2012 outing we added the ornament exchange. This December we will be meeting at one of San Diego’s newest hotspots and have decided to keep the ornament exchange tradition going.

Ornament exchanges are quite easy and a nice way to engage with one another around the holidays without having to spend too much money. For our first exchange we used the theme of our childhood homes (we are all transplants to San Diego) this year we are going for a more laissez-faire approach so I am going to bring one of Seven Hopes United’s lovely ornaments.

How we exchanged: we chose the person’s birthday that was closest to our dinner date and then shift two to her right and voila we all had new ornaments. Then we went around and explained the significance. See…fun and easy!

Along with the Eva Hand Painted Ornaments above checkout a few more ornaments from Seven Hopes United that I really like.

This felt baby penguin is just too adorable not to share!

My maternal grandmother meant a great deal to me growing up and she loved cardinals, so every time I see one I think of her. This felt cardinal will be hanging on my tree this year.

This felt dove ornament is a reminder that the season is about peace for all people.

Because who wouldn’t love a felt gnome ornament?!?!

Have a wonderful day! Dawn

Fair Tuesday!

November 11, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Fair Trade News General

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we all know what immediately follows Thanksgiving…Black Friday! And these days we have not only Black Friday but there is also Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. I have never participated in Black Friday sales, it just seems too stressful for me. I have however participated in Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday but I my favorite of all is Fair Tuesday.

Last year was the first I had heard of Fair Tuesday and I am happy to say that I did buy fair trade items on that day. The nice thing about Fair Tuesday is that it sort of encompasses all of the other days. You can buy online or in a store, several small local shops have fair trade, fair trade items make great holiday gifts and you are supporting producers in the developing world.

Check out some of my favorite Fair Tuesday gift items from Seven Hopes United. They are unique and would be great for any number of people in your life.

1. Tree of Life Wall Tapestry

2. Dream Bean Market Basket

3. Eva Hand Painted Tiffin

4. Cascade Necklace

5. Recycled Pop Can Giraffe

Enjoy – Dawn

Fair Trade Gift Guide: The Man’s Man

November 10, 2013 - Posted by Ashleigh Krawll to Gift Guides

Happy Sunday! We’re starting our Christmas lists here at Seven Hopes United and we’d thought we’d share our fair trade gift ideas…so here we go! Each Sunday we’ll be posting a new gift guide. We are working hard to find the greatest ethically sourced, responsible and fair trade gifts for the season. If you missed last weeks Gift Guide for the World Traveler, you can view it here.

We all know guys can be insanely difficult to shop for (because if they need something they buy it, am I right?!) so here’s a little something for the guys that they definitely don’t have, but we think they’d love (and have been given my husband’s stamp of approval)! So here’s to The Man’s Man: who appreciates the fun things in life.

Recycled Cork Mustache Coasters – so amazing they should be left out on the coffee table or on his desk at the office, Malia Designs Recycled Feed Bag Wallet, Santa Yeti Ornament – what guy doesn’t love a yeti?, Metal Bike Chain Bowl, Lion Wine Stopper, Ginger Ale Bottle Soy Candle, Warby Parker Sunglasses.

Coffee Date from Beunos Aires

November 8, 2013 - Posted by Casey Trogden to coffee date General

Hola from Argentina!

If we were having coffee today, I would first tell you that I’m not drinking my usual American coffee. I’m either having espresso (which I always need at least 2 of :)) or the traditional Argentinian drink, mate. Mate is served in that lovely container you see above and is a strong, herby blend of tea. One of my favorite things about traveling is eating, drinking, and doing like the locals do!

I would also tell you that while I’ve been here, I’m done some fun things. Such as going to the zoo, where I saw some different animals that I’m used to in the states:

And these little guys roamed the grounds freely. I decided they were a cross between a rabbit and a deer:

Besides the zoo, we’ve done some other traditional Buenos Aires activities, like seeing a tango show!

Tango is a very big deal around here! We learned a bit about the history of tango and even took a quick lesson ourselves (let’s just say, we have a bit of work to do in that area.)

Other “typical” Buenos Aires favorites:

Leather goods, steak, and red wine—all great things from my perspective.

Tomorrow we are headed to a traditional “gaucho” show and barbecue, and after that we’ll be on our way to Chile and Peru. I’m most looking forward to hiking Machu Picchu! I’ll be back with some more photos and stories from our trip soon if you’re interested! Have a fantastic weekend wherever you are!

XO,

Casey

Tasty Tuesday: Fair Trade Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 5, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to General Recipes Tasty Tuesday

Cheesecake!!!! Do you love it as much as I do? And fair trade pumpkin cheesecake is even better. There’s no time of year that cheesecake doesn’t perfectly fit into. For summer you put berries on top and for fall you add a little pumpkin.

When I was a kid growing up my older sister would make my grandmother’s cheesecake and it seemed like a difficult feat. The spring pan alone felt way out of my league. But then I decided to take on the challenge and as it turns out cheesecake isn’t so difficult to make.

Here is a recipe I found online and enjoyed the results of! It’s not too complicated and there are several opportunities to use fair trade items in this little gem. Also, there is a super easy cream cheese topping, which can hide any cracks in the top of the cake!

Fair Trade Pumpkin Cheesecake (from LivingPretty)

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (or ginger snaps)
1/2 cup of fair trade sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Filling:
3 packages (8 ounce) cream cheese softened
3/4 cup fair trade sugar
3/4 cup fair trade brown sugar, firmly packed
5 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups canned pumpkin purée (make sure you DON’T use pumpkin pie mix)

Sour Cream Topping:
1 cup sour cream
5 teaspoons sifted fair trade powered sugar
freshly ground nutmeg

Directions:

• Combine crumbs, sugar and butter for the crust. Mix well and press firmly into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a lightly greased 9 inch spring form pan. Chill.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat the cream cheese until smooth in texture and add sugars. Continue beating until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
• Stir in cream, cinnamon, nutmeg cloves and pumpkin. Blend well.
• Pour blended batter into your prepared pan. Giggle gently to allow any air bubbles to escape.
• Bake for one hour. Turn off the oven, and let the cheesecake sit in the warm, but turned OFF oven for 30-45 additional minutes.
• Remove cheesecake from oven and let cool slightly. Set oven on broil and move oven rack to its lowest position.
• Mix sour cream and powered sugar until smooth.
• Spread mixture lightly on the top of the baked, room temperature cheesecake.
• Place cheesecake under the broiler to set. WATCH cheesecake very carefully, as the sour cream topping can easily burn.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover tightly and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
• Gently run a sharp knife around the edge of the cheesecake, in between the Cheesecake and spring form pan edge. Gently remove cheesecake from pan and enjoy.

May we suggest serving the fair trade pumpkin cheesecake on these beautiful linens, which give a fall feel with the red and orange.

Red Lotus Tablecloth & Red Lotus Napkins

Fair Trade Gifts