Amazeballs! Fabric Florals!

Are these not so amazeballs!? (My new favorite word - "amazeballs" - picked it up from Beyond Beyond.) I never knew fabric could yield such floral-y results. I wonder if you can wash these? No dusting needed! Hehe. :) Jane Joss is the brilliant mind behind these.

Repost: Drink Your Coffee and Give A Bird A Home

I'm not sure what it is about coffee that gets people so excited. I enjoy the aroma, but the taste is something I guess I never acquired. (Except I will confess that I could easily be swayed to the other side of the coffee fence with enough of those yummy flavored creamers.) But regardless of whether or not you drink it, this addictive bean definitely works well for weddings. Coffee loving brides have created entire coffee loving themes for their weddings. It's a great after dinner treat, it works well as favors, and you can even use the actual beans for decoration. In fact, I placed coffee beans into hurricanes, provided by my venue, and then placed pillar candles on top for my wedding. If one of your wedding colors is brown or "espresso", as was mine, it works really well as a means of decor. They add a soft, rich color and a nice texture.

So if you're planning on incorporating coffee into your wedding in some way shape or form, then consider an organic and/or fair trade coffee. Here is a fairly extensive list of coffee manufacturers that are green in one way or another (edit: the original link from 2007 was broken, so that is a new one) . I actually learned a lot from this list. Did you know that some organic coffee growers also make it a point to be "bird friendly"? The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center deems coffee "bird friendly" when it is "shade grown," aka grown under the rain forest canopy. Over 150 species of birds have been found to live in the shade of "traditionally managed coffee and cacao (chocolate) plantations in Chiapas, Mexico, a number exceeded only in undisturbed tropical forests."

So drink your coffee and give a bird a home!

Photo Credits from Flickr: Far left photo-Catherine Buca, Top Right Photo-Kyris

Plastic Bags Turned Plastic Roses

Give me a big old "guilty" stamp on my forehead because I am constantly forgetting my re-usable totes when I go to the grocery store. So what do you do when the store gives you plastic? Well, yes, you can recycle those bags (most supermarkets offer recycle bins for plastic bags). Or, you can make little roses! Instructables does it again!

Mini Eco Favor Bags

I'm not sure how many guests would actually re-use these little favor bags, but I know I sure would. I kind of want them just for trinkets around my home. Made of 100% organic cotton, they are available at Dream Green Weddings.

Eco-Bling

Is everyone "loved" out after yesterday? I hope you had a good Valentine's Day and to those of you who were asked the big question - and said yes - congratulations! If you're visiting for the first time, then welcome, welcome, welcome! So happy to have you here. Today I've got some awesome eco-bling bling to share with you. Enjoy!


So spark-ah-leeee! These are the beautiful creations of self trained metalsmith, Andrea Bonelli, who handcrafts gorgeous wedding and engagement rings (and other pretties) from her California home.

Bonelli uses recycled metals from Hoover & Strong and ethically mined diamonds and gems in all her designs, so not only is it stunning, it's eco-friendly too!

Check out her entire line of work here!

Healthy Monday: Share your experience or opinion on motivation and the gym.

It's Valentine's Day. Woohoo! Feel like I should at least mention that on here. Okay, on to other things.


Who else has been watching The Biggest Loser!? I catch it on Hulu (I just started this season, so no spoilers in the comments, okay?) and I always get so vested in the contestants. I want to see them succeed and win and reach that finish line! Yes, I have actually shed a tear or two watching this show. So here I am rooting for these strangers who, let's be honest, have chosen to bare all (in more ways than one) for a freaking reality show, and the most exercise I get all day is really only in the form of carrying around my six month old daughter. Granted, I've got one sizable bicep in my left arm, so if the asymmetrical muscle-y look is ever in, I will be very fashionable. Anyway, my point is that getting the motivation and the determination to put away the junk and start back on the treadmill is hard. Especially with a baby. And a business. But those are all excuses. I recently saw something on the Making Things Happen Tumblr page that said, "A year from now, you will wish you had started today."
I believe this. A year goes by fast. I need to start eating healthier. I need to go to the gym. Once I'm there, I'm good. So question for you: how do you motivate yourself to work out and eat healthier? I'd love to hear what you have to say and perhaps your advice will help get me into some spandex and sweating to the oldies.

PS. GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO THE EARTHLY AFFAIR FACEBOOK PAGE! Only one day left to enter to win a Kindle!!!

"LOVE" This Ring!

This ring is beautiful, yes? However, what I like more about it is how fun it would be to fidget with. In a boring meeting at work? You've got a mini fidget-ma-gig on your finger. Plus, it would be a super sweet gift from a hubby, boyfriend, or fiance (hint, hint to about the five guys that read this blog.) Custom made with recycled sterling silver. Available at Metalnat.

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Also, some other goings on: Eco-Beautiful Weddings is giving away a pretty sweet giveaway from The Cotton Bride and the Chevy Cruze! Hurry up and enter!

Dissolving Wedding Dress

When I got married, I was torn between a dress that I kind of loved, but looked awesome on me, and a dress that I absolutely adored but, I felt, looked only okay on me. Ultimately, I went with the dress that I fell in love with because I think I was just over-scrutinizing my own body. And over-scrutinizing one's body is never a good thing. Seriously. So my advice (even though you didn't ask for it, I'm totally going to give it to you), go for what you love. You will only wear a wedding dress once. Hopefully anyway, right? What matters most is that you're comfortable in what you're wearing and if that means going all Lady Gaga on yourself, then by all means, go for the futuristic dissolving wedding dress and the alien boots. Seriously.

(Below: Wedding Dress Dissolves in Water. This is a cool concept, but if someone
spills water on you, do you lose part of your dress?)

Ooh La La Pretty, Eco Pillows

Ooh la la is right! Valentine's day is only five days away. All you smoochie smoochie types will enjoy this pillow! (Don't ask me what a "smoochie smoochie" type is - I made it up and I'm not sure either.) Whether it's the month of love or not, this pillow is super cute. And since the felt is made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic water bottles, it's pretty eco too! Find on Etsy at Alexandra Ferguson. $89.00 (Found originally while perusing Coco+Kelley)
I'll be posting eco-friendly Valentine's Day ideas all this week on Twitter. Follow @EarthlyAffair!

Handmade Tea Stands, Vintage Plates

I have a very simple mind when it comes to jokes. Perhaps it's because I don't like to think. That makes me sound so smart, doesn't it? Anyway, hope you're ready, I've got a lame joke coming your way: These tea stands are so adorable and sell so quick, you won't want to "stand" around waiting to buy one. Oh, are you still here? Well, thank you for letting me get that out of my system. :) Anyway, hese beauties are available at Orange and Blossom. They are all one of a kind and can be used in so many ways - showers and weddings obviously, but what about as a business card stand, a tray for bathroom necessities (cotton swabs, lipsticks), fruit stand, a place for breakfast pastries,and the list goes on!

Easy, Eco-Friendly DIY Gift Wrap

Believe it or not, today's post actually comes from my husband! Well, sort of. He sent me this link back before the holidays, which was very sweet of him. He's an awesome husband and he has the ability to make me laugh when I cry and sometimes cry from laughing too hard. Our love is pretty strong and it's only grown deeper since we had Sophia, but we've never been huge Valentine's Day fans. We usually stay holed up in the house, although last year I used it as an excuse to get us gift certificates to go skydiving. His desire, not mine, but he wanted me to go and share the experience so I went too. Man, that was scary as hell. Anyway, I digress... I'll tell that story another time. :)


So if you're into giving gifts this holiday, or maybe you're just into getting gifts, this is an inexpensive, eco-friendly way to create personalized gift wrap. Man Made DIY (seriously, how cool is this: "Handmade Life for the Post Modern Male") features this great gift wrap tutorial using a secondhand post war novel for the letters (although you could use a magazine, annual report, thick newspaper, etc...) and unbleached brown kraft paper.

Is Valentine's Day worthy of your affections or just another holiday? Share your 2 cents!

Don't forget! Only 11 more days until we announce the winner of the new Kindle! If you haven't done so already, just "like" EarthlyAffair.com on Facebook to enter!

Very Versatile Bridesmaid Dresses

Butter by Nadia is like the Moby wrap of fashionable dresses. For those not in the know of mommy-hood slings (a Moby wrap is a long piece of fabric that turns into different variations of a sling), these versatile dresses can be flipped, swung, wrapped, draped! The possibilities are limitless. It's a really perfect choice for a cohesive bridesmaid look, but versatile enough to take advantage of different styles to flatter different body types. They offer satin fabric for those oh-so-formal events and jersey fabric for those oh-so-casual soirees. Shop Butter By Nadia.

An Eco-Friendly Wedding All About Giving Back

We're kicking off February, the looooove month, with a post all about Alex and Tim, recent bride and groom of Earthly Affair and all around awesome couple. I loved creating their invitations, menus, and even their trolley sign! This wedding is a wonderful example of how being eco-friendly can mean different things to different people. For these newlyweds, it was all about making a difference in the world.

**All photography by Sarah Kealing**

Eco-taxis were used to shuttle guests. The banners on top of the taxi were created specially for Alex and Tim in the same design as the Juliet invitation.

Alex wrote, "My husband and I consider ourselves so lucky and blessed in so many ways, and are very motivated in showing our appreciation for what we have (from clean water to the people, and community we live in) and enjoy doing what we can to give back. We too believe that little things can make a big difference."

The couple found so many inspiring ways to make a difference and to give back. For example, the stamps used to mail their invitations were all designs in which 100% of the proceeds went to organizations like the Make A Wish foundation and the Autism Society of America.


Lavender seed was tossed at the kiss, which is eco-friendly to both the planet and the birds. And their first dance was to the song, "One Love," a song recreated by a charity called Playing for Change, which focuses on building schools and bringing education to villages around the world.

The menu, consisting of local and organic choices, was printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper in the Juliet Design.

Thank you so much Alex and Tim for sharing your beautiful wedding! We, at Earthly Affair, are more than honored to be a part of it. :)

**All photography by Sarah Kealing**

If you'd like to share your eco-wedding, please e-mail jns721 at gmail dot com.