Fair Trade Gift Guide: The World Traveler

- Posted by to General Gift Guides

We’re starting off the holiday season with a series of fair trade gift guides to help all of you lovelies with your ethical gift giving this year! Here’s to the World Traveler: the girl who can’t be in one place for too long, has a list of a million places she wants to see and several she’s already checked off her list! She’s eaten Injera in Ethiopia, ridden an elephant in Thailand and understands why everyone loves New York, but knows that there’s no place like home for the holidays!

Fair Trade Gift Guide: The World Traveler

Kantha Weekender Bag to carry on all of her adventures, Felt Memory Elephant Ornament to remind her of her trip to Thailand, Sseko Sandals, 31BITS Claire Loop Bracelet, Eco Friendly Brazil Nut Candle, a Holi Cosmetic Bag to help her stay organized, Sofia Tagua Earrings, a Harper Knitted Headband to keep her warm on those cold backpacking nights, and a 31BITS Sunday Frill Necklace she can dress up or down. Not shown, but also a wonderful gift option for the world traveler are our Holi Luggage Tags.

Visit the Seven Hopes United blog every Sunday through December for more Fair Trade Gift Ideas!

Fair Trade Stocking Stuffers

- Posted by to General Product Spotlight

Happy November! Are you thinking about holiday gifts for friends and family?!? I know I am, so perhaps you are too.  One of my favorite things to buy for the holidays are stocking stuffers.  I really like stocking stuffers because they are like a little extra holiday bonus and extra holiday love. In my family we often forgot about the stocking stuffers until all the other gifts had been open, then…voila…stick a few more gifts to unwrap and enjoy!

Below I have shared with you some of my favorite small items from Seven Hopes United, which could fit perfectly in a stocking!

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Dead Sea Bath Salts

 

 

Fair Trade Packing Essentials for a Service Trip

- Posted by to General

Machu Picchu, Peru

Happy November to you! This month is exciting to me because I’m leaving for South America in four days! I’ll be gone for a month and will visit Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Chile. My husband and I will be backpacking and doing a bit of service work as well as just exploring. I’ve been looking forward to the trip for months, but I must admit—I procrastinated a bit on the packing part.

I finally finished packing my (rather tiny-looking) backpack, and thought I could share my fair trade packing essentials with you today in case you’re planning an extended service trip or vacation of your own!

The first item up, of course, is a travel bag to pack everything in. If you’re not going the (husband-induced) tiny backpack route like I am, may I suggest our beautiful Kantha Weekender Bag as your stylish suitcase of choice? (Psst…it’s also 30% off right now!)

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Now that you’ve got something to contain all the gear, what should you put inside?

I’m all about comfort when I’m traveling, especially for extended periods of time. And when you’re in a place that may be unfamiliar to you, it’s always nice to have a cozy touch of home in your suitcase. So one of my favorite fair trade packing essentials is a soft robe, like this one:

Robe

As a bonus, you can roll it up tightly and not worry about wrinkles, so it takes up very little space.

And how about something to keep your luggage smelling nice and fresh? Enter our lovely Vetiver Sachet Pillows, handmade in Bali:

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These are small, so you can just throw them in a compartment of your luggage that you’d like to keep smelling sweet!

And my favorite fair trade packing essential is:

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The lovely Alpaca scarf! These beauties are warm, soft, and perfect for using as a blanket on chilly plane rides, as well as for layering in different climates. They’re made in Ecuador using genuine Alpaca fleece and come in a wide variety of beautiful shades.

I’ll see you next week from Buenos Aires! Until then, I’d love if you share you own favorite fair trade packing essentials in the comments below!

XO,

Casey

How Tuesday: Fair Trade Gift Basket

- Posted by to General How Tuesday

The holidays are coming and as it turns out many of my friends’ birthdays are this time of year as well.  So I have gift giving on my mind! One of my most favorite gifts to give is the gift basket! A gift basket is a fun and easy way to create not only a lovely gift but also a unique one too.  And you can completely personalize the gift according to the receiver’s likes and interests.  In this post I’d like to share with you two fair trade gift basket ideas that you could use for the holidays or for any occasion where you might need a gift to give.

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Gift Basket for the Cook!

I like giving a magazine that the cook might like. Who doesn’t like to browse through a magazine! And why not treat the cook to a special homemade treat; I would include the fair trade pumpkin bread that we featured in an earlier Tasty Tuesday post. If you are an avid cook then you know that it can get messy in the kitchen so the Vivian Ikat Apron would be a nice touch.  The sugar and spice spoons are so pretty, so why not add them too!  Everyone can use extra towels when cooking and these Ethiopian Cotton Kitchen Towels can double as wrapping in the basket. Bundle it all up in our Ghana Bolga Market Basket and you have a pretty and unique gift!

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Relaxation Gift Basket for a Friend!

Again a favorite magazine is always a nice touch! And why not give your friend some fair trade wine to enjoy while reading the magazine.  Don’t forget one of our wine stoppers for any left over wine. Candles always add a sense of relaxation and the brazil nut candle is so earthy and grounding! The calming blues and purple of this super soft alpaca scarf would relax anyone, and again the scarf can be used as a wrapping. A pair of earrings, here the Tagua Chip Earrings in Sunset Orange, are just a little something extra for your friend.  And finally bundle it all up in our Mini Bolga Market Basket.

I hope that these gift basket ideas inspire you this holiday season!

Enjoy – Dawn

Fair Trade Turtle Cake!

- Posted by to General Recipes

cake

Need a new recipe for your weekend? How about a fair trade dessert? Remember, calories don’t count on Saturdays. :)

Our friends at Fair Trade USA have cookied up a delicious-sounding turtle cake using fair trade ingredients, and it couldn’t be prettier or sweeter. I can’t wait to try it! It’s perfect for the holidays and for any special occasion.

Fair Trade Turtle Cake (recipe and photo from Fair Trade USA)

Frosting Ingredients:

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Cover the bottom of each pan with a disk of parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine egg, oil, and buttermilk. In a separate (large) bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry until everything is well mixed. Gradually add in the hot coffee.

To bake the cake:

Scrape batter evenly into the three prepared pans and insert into oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes our clean. Let cake rest in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool.To make the frosting:

Mix sugar and milk in a saucepan. Add butter. Bring to a boil mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Add chocolate chips to the pan and mix until smooth using a wire whisk. If the frosting is too thick or grainy, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of hot coffee.

Assembly:

Place one cooled cake layer, top-side down, on your cake plate. Spread one third of your frosting on it, pushing out gently from the edges to make a petal effect. Sprinkle with ½ cup pecans and drizzle with ¼ cup caramel. Add next layer, again top-side down. Repeat frosting and sprinkle with ½ cup pecans and drizzle with ¼ cup caramel. Add final layer top-side up, frost with petal effect and finish with remaining pecans and caramel.

Sounds incredible, right? And if you need some fair trade kitchen items to round out the experience, I suggest baking in our beautiful new Javanese Jewel Apron. And you”ll need a serving plate of course! I reccomend this gorgeous piece from Mexico, the Talavera Ceramic Serving Plate.

Cheers to a delicious fair trade weekend!

XO,
Casey