Trade as One Gift Guide

"What if our spending could actually be used to fix problems, than cause problems?"

For the last two years the organization Trade as One has come to our church and set up a boutique before Christmas, to allow congregation members to purchase Free Trade items.  Across the country 10,000 bought fair trade through Trade as One, and created 100 full time jobs.  By shopping through Trade as One, it allows us a chance to use our spending power for good.  We're all going to end up at the mall this Holiday season, or shopping online at Amazon (or maybe not after last week's debacle), or of course, at Target, but the thought is to use a portion, or all, of that spending power to buy fair trade and have a chance to help provide jobs for those in impoverished nations.  Jobs that help work themselves out of poverty and provide an income for their family.

To be perfectly honest last year when this group came to our church, I didn't purchase anything.  There were a handful of excuses I gave, but this year, my heart and mind couldn't say no, and I purchased some of the things I list below.  Other items are just plain cool.  You don't have to wait for Trade as One to come to your church, just visit their site and you can shop from home.  Flat rate shipping is just $5.  If you have a chance, please also watch the video Trade as One produced at the very end of the post.  It is amazingly creative and inspiring. 

wood bead bracelet set of 3 (give away all 3 or keep 1 for yourself) - Shop

tree free notebook (Taylor will love this to practice her printing) - Shop

windowpane scarf perfect for a Secret Santa or your sister in law - Shop

floral head wrap - Shop

Africa toss pillow in Aqua - Shop

ivy vine cuff - Shop

child's kangaroo top - Shop

paper bead earrings - Shop

paper bead necklace - Shop

bamboo bowl and servers - Shop

recycled plastic trash can - Shop

Ollie string doll - Shop

A Father's Day Gift Idea

Who has Netflix here?
Well if you do, then do I have a Father's Day gift idea that will knock the socks off your husbands this year.  They will be kissing you and marveling at your sheer genius in getting them something they never knew they wanted.  Ladies (and maybe some gentlemen), I now present to you the Roku:

Now you can go to the website to read all the little techy details, but basically what this box does is hooks up to the internet and your Netflix account so that any movies, TV shows and other Internet based On Demand programs that you would normally only be able to watch on your computer, can be magically downloaded and played from your TV screen.

I don't ever get excited about tech type stuff.  When Art brought home our flat screen TV and hooked it up, I greatly disappointed him when I said "I don't see a difference."  You would have thought I stabbed him in the heart.

But this little guy is marvelous.
Let me do a little demo

So you have it hooked up to your TV already, and this is what your screen will look like.
Oh and excuse the crooked pictures.  I have had the stomach flu for the last 2 days and apparently it has affected my equilibrium and picture taking skills, and I don't feel like Photoshopping these guys.  I'm sure you'll understand.

You can pop into your Netflix account and view any On Demand type movies and TV shows for FREE at anytime!  This is how we were able to get caught up to the saga that was LOST.

There are a whole slew of kids programs to watch too, without commercials.  I hate commercials on kid's shows.  They are so obnoxious and badly made.

If you notice up top you'll see we have 80 of these types of programs in our queue.  There's no limit to how many you can download!

Oh and there's MLB.TV.  I think there's a TV show for NFL too.

Okay but my absolute favorite part of the Roku box is that we can get Pandora on it!  Do you know what Pandora is?  It's basically internet radio that only plays the kind of music you like.

You enter an artist such as Jack Johnson, and it will only play that genre of music.  And now with the Roku, we can play Pandora from our TV.  We love it, even the kids.
You can choose just about any artist you like.
Flight of the Conchords, Art's choice.  I think they're annoying, but whatever.

A little Cake anyone?

Jason Mraz is an overall family favorite.

As well as Jack Johnson of course

Anyhow, you get the idea.
The whole gadget is pretty impressive, but the fact that you can get Pandora on it, just takes it to a whole new level.

The Roku box starts at $79.95-$99.95.
We've had ours for over 2 years now and we use it almost daily.
I think your husbands would dig it.
But remember it only works if you have a Netflix account.

Please let me know if you decide to get your man one of these, and what you all think of it.

So since my husband already has this nifty little device that I'm about to recommend, can some of you provide me with some suggestions to get him this year?

WHO GIVES A HOOT?!?

A fellow owl-obsessed friend of mine will be receiving these note-cards I crafted last night for a belated birthday gift. I can't decide if I like the card with or without the grosgrain ribbon. What do you think? I'm thinking the simplicity of the card lends itself to no bow.

These cute cards got me inspired to make more note-cards with an uber simple design aesthetic. My friend Janine got me interested in stamping with her design inspiring Stampin' Up parties. While I love all that she creates with their products, I am just either too lame, too stamp- deficient, or just uncreative, I have no luck replicating her snazzy and stylish cards. The girl's got a closet full of stamp products, no joke, so I'm sure that helps her cause.

So back to the uber simple designs. I was searching for "unique" stamps on the world wide web (I recently read that using that term dates me) last night. You know, a design that could stand on its own and really make a card fantastic without needing much at all. I found this cute retro forest stamp from Sideshow Stamps. Isn't it just screaming to be on a card intended for a nature-loving friend?

Oh and I just died over this Yellow Owl Workshop birdcage stamp. I hijacked hubby's Paypal account last night and snatched one up.

Anyone else have good stamp recommendations? The owl stamp was found all alone at Michaels (so unlike their usual assortment), but have had no luck finding something as bitchin again (again, dating myself). Stamp well and prosper my friends!