Wedding Wednesday: Fair Trade Flowers

July 24, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Wedding Wednesday

Flowers! They offer that wonderful final touch to a wedding. Flowers, especially fair trade flowers, bring it all together; from the bouquets, to the boutonnieres, to the center pieces, I love them all! Perhaps it’s clear that I hold flowers in high esteem. Anything that is brings such loveliness can only be held with high esteem. Therefore, let me present to you some fair trade flowers that you could incorporate into your wedding day. All of the shops that I am featuring, which sell fair trade flowers are online but be sure to ask your local florists if they sell fair trade flowers or if they would consider selling them.

Have a wonderful day – Dawn

These lovely yellow fair trade roses can be found at 1800Flowers.com.

One World Flowers sells fair trade roses as well as fair trade calla lilies.

You can find another selection of beautiful fair trade roses at FTD as well.

Table Top Tuesday: Fair Trade Home Goods

July 23, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to General

Happy Tuesday! This week I thought I would change things up a bit; instead of How Tuesday or Tasty Tuesday not why try Tabletop Tuesday?!? I do enjoy a theme. Seven Hopes United has many lovely fair trade home goods to choose from so it seemed like a very good idea to feature some of them in this post. Also, summertime is a time of picnics and friends and family coming together to share laughs and to create memories over good food and tasty drinks. The fair trade home goods I picture below use simple colors that are welcoming and that would be perfect for a dinner party, evening BBQ or even a nice summer brunch.

Enjoy – Dawn

Spring Tulip Tablecloths

Tumblers – Cobalt Dream

Jeevika Recycled Glass Jug

Fair Trade S’mores Cookies!

July 19, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Recipes

How ’bout a recipe?

Summer just screams “s’mores,” don’t you think?

I know it’s not Tuesday, but I don’t think you’ll get any complaints if you make these cookies over the weekend. These are chocolatey, gooey, and delicious. They’re perfect for when you want a s’more but have better things to do than build a fire (or are fire-building-challenged, as the case seems to be with me). I made these last night since my family is coming into town, and I fear they may not make it through the day.

Recipe from Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped graham crackers, about 2 full-size cracker sheets (I used boxed graham cracker crumbs)
2 cups (one 12-ounce bag) semi-sweet fair trade chocolate chips, such as Sunspire
1 1/4 cups Marshmallow Bits

Directions:

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
Add the graham crackers, chocolate chips, marshmallows and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.
Form heaping two tablespoon mounds. Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes if you want soft, gooey Smores-like cookies because they firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Making cookies using fair trade chocolate may seem like an insignificant way to help those living in third-world countries. But every fair trade purchase made is a step toward a stronger global economy. And each purchase, no matter how small, makes a difference in the lives of hard-working people just like you and me.

XO,

Casey

Wedding Wednesday: Fair Trade Dresses!

July 17, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Fashion Wedding Wednesday

My most favorite part of my wedding planning was the wedding dress! I loved choosing my wedding dress and I found one I really loved. Since I didn’t have bridesmaids I didn’t choose additional dresses for friends or family but I can imagine that that process could be a very fun one too.

Today I would like to share some ideas on fair trade bridesmaid dresses and fair trade wedding dresses. At first, I thought I would just write about fair trade bridesmaid dresses but in my search for such dresses I found fair trade wedding dresses too.

Here are my picks for a fair trade wedding dress and two different fair trade bridesmaids dresses.

Celia-Grace offers several different fair trade wedding dresses for brides to choose from. Of the ones on their site I liked the Rachel the best!

Mata Trader’s Glam Noir dress would be a fun and flirty and also sophisticated and unique bridesmaid dress.

Perhaps Indigenous Design’s Luxury Dress may be an unusual choice for a bridesmaid dress, but I thought it would be a lovely addition to a more casual yet classy wedding.

How Tuesday: Tying Fair Trade Sseko Sandals

July 16, 2013 - Posted by Dawn Stary to Fashion General How Tuesday

Are you interested in learning more about our unique fair trade Sseko sandals? Maybe you would like a pair but you didn’t know there were so many great ways to tie these lovely fair trade Sseko sandals!

Today for How Tuesday we show you two of the many ways you can tie fair trade Sseko sandals: The Classic tie and a more complex looking but truly easy Bohannon’s Best Tie! You can purchase Sseko sandals, straps, and all of the accessories I use in the video at: http://www.sevenhopesunited.com/fair-trade-shoes-sandals

How Tuesday: How to tie Sseko Sandals from Seven Hopes United on Vimeo.