DIY Monday: Make Your Own Deodorant

As women, we must constantly smell as we just got out of the shower - preferably a mountain spring shower - and no matter what back breaking activity we do, the ultimate taboo would be for little circles of moisture to manifest under our armpits. While I don't want to smell as much as the next girl, every time we slather on another helping of chemical induced sweat blockers, we expose ourselves to chemicals like aluminum chloride and parabens. Regardless of whether or not these chemicals contribute to breast cancer and Alzheimers disease (a controversial debate among researchers), the realization that we're wearing these chemicals day in and day out is a little unnerving.

Sweating is our bodies way of releasing toxins and cooling down, so maybe we shouldn't be slathering on super chemicals to stop it. Fortunately, there are other options out there: Lush provides an aluminum free deodorant bar, and so does Toms of Maine. Using ingredients like corn starch, baking soda, and coconut oil, you can even create your own all natural deodorant, courtesy of Instructables.com.

Beautiful Botanical Ceramics

Aren't these beautiful!? WhiteEarthStudio creates simple, yet elegant ceramics inspired by botanical forms in nature. What a lovely wedding gift idea!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Real Wedding: Daniele's Intimate Seaside Wedding

Daniele had a lovely, intimate wedding in Costa Rica and then a reception back home. I love the bright, bold colors she used for her wedding, which seemed so appropriate for the warm, Costa Rican beach. After the wedding, she and her husband invited friends and family for a reception back home in Virginia. For this she purchased the Earthly Affair Alcazar invitation in the colors of sky blue and olive green. (All last names have been changed.)

Daniele created gift bags from Gaiam for all her guests. Unfortunately, Gaiam no longer sells them, but they were made out of 100% recycled content and they look stunning!

Besides her invitations, she kept things green by offsetting her wedding through carbonfung.org, ensuring everything used was local, and giving out herbs and oak seedlings as favors. After the wedding, they went out to a local farm to help plant the seedlings.


Daniele also took advantage of a tree free paper called banana paper for printing her itinerary and program.

Thank you, Daniele for sharing your lovely wedding with us!

Artist Ketubahs

The Jewish marriage contract, the Ketubah, is typically an illustrated, frame-worthy piece of art which both the bride and groom sign on their wedding day. They come in many shapes and sizes and are usually designed by an artist which specializes in Ketubahs. If you're in the market for one, Ketubah.com is kind of the mega mall of Ketubahs, but don't shy away from the ones that break the mold a little. One of my favorite artists is New Ketubah's Tsilli Pines, a graphic designer and artist who delights in putting a modern spin on her Ketubahs.

I've never come across a specifically eco-friendly Ketubah company, have you?

Blogging Break

It's summer. Doesn't that snow look nice? I kind of wish I could roll around in it right now. I'm sure once Winter rolls around I'll be posting photos of warm and sunny beaches.

I'm going to take a short blogging break, but I'll be back Tuesday, August 25th. Until then, cheers and have a great rest of the week!

photo by Philipp Klinger

Sseko Designs offers women the chance to help other women.

As women, I think (most of us) are born with a shoe gene. I've never had a problem thwarting the mass consumerism gene, but when it comes to shoes, I swear my brain starts releasing happy chemicals. It must be true. After all, there are women out there who have entire closets dedicated to their shoes (no, I'm not jealous, I swear...). So I was delighted to read about Sseko Designs, a cause related, women-helping-women kind of company, whose shoes have the power to change lives. This releases happy chemicals PLUS all over good feeling!


Here's the story: In Uganda, it's customary for students to have a 9 month hiatus during secondary school and university. This is done so that they may earn money for their education, but in this male dominated, war torn country, young woman have a hard time finding fair work. Sseko Designs aims to ease this dilemma by hiring recent women graduates who wish to further their education at a university. The goal is two-fold: to provide these women with a monthly income and to contribute to the overall economic development of Uganda.

Real Wedding: Suerissa's NYC Wedding

I'm really excited to announce that for the next couple of weeks you'll be seeing some lovely wedding photos, courtesy of the brides I've had the pleasure of working with at Earthly Affair!



Suerissa purchased thank you cards in the Earthly Affair Fresh design. Her wedding was feminine and sophisticated, with lovely cherry blossom centerpieces, a NYC skyline, and a gorgeous Grecian style dress. In order to keep things a little greener, Suerissa and her groom provided vans to transport guests to the venue, they eliminated the inner envelope of their wedding invitation to save paper, and they donated to wateraid.org in lieu of favors.







Photography by Julia Newman

Danny Seo and Whole Earth Beauty

Danny Seo seems like a pretty fun guy. If you don't already know, he's like the mecca of green ideas, bursting with creativity which he shares in his books, blog, dvd, etc... and now he's even got a new line of eco-friendly beauty products out. I know, I know, how much can one guy capitalize on the idea of "green"? But he seems honest and quite frankly, he's got a lot of good ideas and his blog, Daily Danny, usually gets my brain cranking.

So anyway, Seo's Whole Earth Beauty products look really interesting. The line includes 12 different eco-friendly products, including Certified Organic Body Wash, Certified Organic Perfume Spray, and Natural Bamboo Body Scrub. I promise I'm not getting paid for this and I promise I don't even know the guy, but I have to admit, when Danny Seo says it's green, I usually believe him.

DIY Monday: Pineapple Decoupage Votives

Courtesy of the crafty DIY Goddess, Martha Stewart, these decoupage votives add a touch of modern whimsy. Don't you think they would look lovely at an outdoor wedding? See Pineapple Decoupage Votives on MarthaStewart.com.

One-Of-A-Kind

Cute and unique stuff from across the pond. A combination of gems, trinkets, and doodads make up this collection of one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces of jewelry. Great gift ideas for the flower girls and bridesmaids. Found at Eclectic Eccentricity.

Real Wedding Ideas

Jessamyn Harris delights again with beautiful photographs from a July wedding. Found via her blog, I adore what this couple did - light blue bottles featuring old photographs, vintage bow ties, homemade jam favors, and homebrewed beer for refreshments! This kind of attention to detail is amazing. And it paid off. The wedding, and the couple, all look stunning!

Contest Note!

Most of us expect to get presents when we have birthdays. Few actually give stuff away! But that is exactly what the talented Erin, from Lucky Designs, is doing to celebrate her birthday. Click on over and win cool stuff! Good luck and hope you win!

Gay Pride Wedding Band

Loving this. It's the Pride Ring by the ethical and fair trade jewelry brand, Cred.

Fun and Unique Centerpiece Vase

These aren't exactly earth-friendly, but they might be pretty fun for use as a centerpiece. Wouldn't this be a unique way to name your tables? Just write it on your vase! Love the glasses too. They would make a great wedding or engagement gift! Visit Chalkboard China to see more!

DIY Monday: Cardboard Napkin Rings

Finally! Something better than using the cardboard tube as a new hiding place for the hamster. Merriment Design has come up with a creative twist for those cardboard tubes (specifically, those sturdy saran wrap tubes) by turning them into nifty little napkin rings. Merriment Design's Napkin Ring Tutorial.

Found via Apartment Therapy.

Re-purposing Bottles into Vases

When it comes to repurposing things, I am pretty resourceful. Last Spring, my egg cartons dubbed as seed holders, an old sake cup did the trick when I needed a toothpick holder for a cocktail party, and my holey socks are great dusters. But my favorite things to repurpose are glass jars and bottles. Below you'll find a picture of my mantle at home. The tall vase in the middle is actually a repurposed Looza Juice bottle, to the right is an organic cranberry juice bottle, and the little jar on the far right is a vintage bottle I got at a flea market!

For a wedding or a party, I think you could easily repurpose glass jars into vases. Uniformity is nice, but different sizes and types of vases on each table add character and thought to your centerpiece, even if it did contain pineapple juice at one time. If you don't think you're the reusing kind of gal, don't fret. There are plenty of other eco-friendly choices out there and they don't always have to hold flowers. Think about stones, candles, foliage, photographs, bird seed, beans...with a little creativity, the choices are endless!

Clockwise: Urban Outfitters 100% recycled vase, Clever Lids for Tin Cans found via Re-Nest, FloresDelSol Ferns and Milk Vintag Vases, Custom Signature Vases found via Inhabitat

Shade of Blue - Eco-Friendly Fashion

Ethical fashion brand, Stewart + Brown, offers up luxuriously green clothing with unique prints, graphics, and styles. Since I've got a serious crush on the color blue right now, I thought I'd dig up some of my favorite blue items from their site. The Blueberry Drape Dress, second picture down, is my favorite at the moment. The color is so rich and the style of the dress looks amazingly comfortable. And it's made with 96% hemp!

1/2 Sleeve Henley

The Drape Dress

Madame Butterfly Tea

Vintage and Handmade Goodies

The little black dress will always be a sophisticated staple, but don't be afraid to add a little color or a unique accessory. Vintage and handmade goodies, usually more eco-friendly than their mass manufactured counterparts, are a great way to add your own style and still look classy.

Flower Brooch Pin made with vintage linens at LeslieJanson

Handmade fascinator at DoYouFeelTheScent

Vintage 70's Oxfords at TimeBombVintage (These are brown, not black.)

White Summer Flower Ring by Spiderella Studio

Eco-Friendly Bath and Beauty Products

Mega bridal shows are a ton of estrogen packed fun, but only until your feet start to hurt. You soon realize that those cute pumps were not such a wise choice when you're clopping around the ultra hard ballroom, community center, or conference hall floor. If you can't get your fiance to give you a foot massage, treat your feet with Intensive Heel Cream and then hydrate your skin with Sustainable Softness Body Lotion, both by Eco Tools. They offer paraben free, phthalate free, allergy tested bath and body products, as well as recycled and sustainable make up tools!