A Recycled Soda Can ... A Gift Idea?

How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites

(Photo - Creative Consulting)  

What good is a recycled soda can?  
Well, to a group of physically disabled and blind artisans in Bombolulu, Kenya's second largest city, recycled soda cans mean economic empowerment, housing, medical aid, adult education -- the ability to survive in the mainstream labor market.   A clever, physically disabled artisan, struggling to survive his impoverished living conditions, created this whimsical Girlfriends' Pin from a recycled soda can.

This fashionable Girlfriends' Pin ($14) gives you a glimpse at the impressive jewelry designed by 113 disabled artisans for fair trade markets, like Ten Thousand Villages. 

Can you imagine posing for a picture like this with your two best friends?  I know I can.  Our girlfriends look like they're about to dance at any moment.  

Yes, happiness is dancing!  When the weight of the world gets you down pray first, then dance it out!  You'll be surprised how fast your worries will vanish.  Your girlfriends and fashionistas will love these pins as gifts.  You can also give them as favors or special gifts when you host your Little Black Dress/Little Pink Dress Sisters' Tea in 2011.

Happiness is Dancing!

And here they are again, dancing their hearts out in these beautiful Dancing Women Earrings created by the Bombolulu, Kenya women.

Dancing Women Earrings $10 - Created from the Bombolulu Workshop.  You'll stand out wearing this extraordinary jewelry, especially if you wear this stylish East African art with your favorite little black dress.

Brass Circles Necklace - $44 - Bombolulu Workshop.

Hammered brass circles overlap, swinging from a brass chain. Adjustable closure.

Dancing Circles Earrings - $18  Bombolulu Workshop

Hammered brass disks, each swinging and turning inside a brass circle, dances as you move. What a great way to make an entrance.

 
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters 

Miracles and Blessings ... Charming Gidget Jones here.  I'm a hostess/server at iCafe Woman Moderne.  I asked Kiki if I could host this text-webisode, which is near and dear to my heart. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know about Ten Thousand Villages until several months ago when I received the above Girlfriends' Pin for my birthday.

When you give a Ten Thousand Villages' gift, you're not only buying a beautiful, handcrafted, sustainable product, but you're also helping artisans in third world countries earn a living so they can afford, housing, education, medical ... the essentials needed to survive in this life.

Fair trade enables under- and unemployed artisans to earn vital income and improve their quality of life by establishing a sustainable market for their handcrafted products. 

Ten Thousand Villages is a founding member of the WFTO - the World Fair Trade Organization, a global network of more than 350 fair trade organizations in 70 countries. 


If you never took recycling seriously, these innovative handicrafts will change your mind.  Discarded newspapers, magazines, postcards, soda cans allow people in developing countries to provide for their family and improve their villages.  

Coiled Paper Candy Dish from the Women's Multipurpose Cooperative in Baguio City, the Philippines - $20 

These amazing artisans turn old, discarded newspapers into beautiful products like this coiled paper candy dish by wrapping the paper into coils to make spiraled building blocks.  They're joined with thread and glue, and starched for durability and finish.

Women’s Multipurpose Co-op in turn helps women artisans obtain government help in skills training, buy raw materials, gain access to low interest loans and obtain titles to their land. 

Keeping time never looked so good.
Coiled Newspaper Clock - $28

Patterned wood beads alternate between rolled magazine beads in this one-of-a-kind necklace from Uganda.

Magazine Bead Necklace - $28 - NAWOU - The National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda.  Traditional skills and natural dyes are used to create their crafts.  NAWOU helps with local and export marketing of their handicrafts.  NAWOU artisans earn an income, receive loans, training, counseling, connections to aid agencies and medication assistance.  

When was the last time you had a snack bag of potato chips, Doritas or pretzels?  After you threw it away, did you ever think it would return to life again as a stylish coin purse?

Recycled Coin Purse - $10  Prokritee

Those ingenious artisans in the rural village of Muktagacha, Bangladesh wash and dry the snack bags, then stitch them together to form the outside of the purse, which is lined with cotton fabric and has a zipper.

Prokritee, (means “nature” in Bengali)an agency providing managerial, product design/development and marketing assistance to handicraft organizations in Bangladesh, assist in selling their products in local and foreign markets. 

Re-tread Shoulder Bag  - $68 - Asha Handicrafts Association
Known as the Eco-Chic Geek Bag,  this re-tread shoulder messenger bag that can hold a laptop, was made from recycled inner tube in India.  It includes an "Eco-Geek" label that describes the bag's humble beginnings, stating that any marks in the rubber were "earned through its past life on the road."  You can be sure each bag is unique.

Asha means "hope" in Sanskrit, which defines its goal to sustain the marketing ability of individual and family-based artisans and give them hope for a better future.  This fair trade organization represents more than 6,500 artisans in ten states of India. 

Eco-Friendly Vase - $34, Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts  

If you look closely at the multicolored stripes, you'll see the intricate design from the traditional basket-making technique an innovative Vietnamese artisan used to make this vase of recycled magazine and poster paper.  Tightly coiled paper is dipped in glue to form this durable, elegant vase, which includes a glass liner.

Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts is a nonprofit organization that provides income generation and marketing services to Vietnamese artisans. 

Here are more Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts:

Newspaper Napkins Rings - $16.00

Old newspapers are turned into new and beautiful products by wrapping the paper into coils and forming them into spiraled building blocks.  They're joined with thread and glue to make these napkin rings, then starched to make them firm and shiny.

Coiled Paper Casserole Tray - $28
Carry your hot 9x13-inch casserole dish in this tray made from linked decorative spiral rectangles. Look closer and you’ll see this casserole tray is handcrafted from recycled newsprint.

 Bicycle Planter - $18.00, Community Crafts Association of the Phillipines (CCAP)

Display your small plants and herbs in this unique artwork.   Woven twigs and rattan create this useful bicycle planter for your plants and herbs.  What a great gift for those with green thumbs and pot gardens.  

CCAP, is a social development NGO committed to the development and empowerment of community–based Filipino artisans. CCAP provides marginalized artisans with export promotion and marketing assistance.

 (Children Playing)

Fun for the kids, this quirky African toy is called a Galimoto - $9

Oticart International Limited

Made in Nairobi, Kenya ... homemade galimotos are fashioned by children out of anything from sticks to cornstalks and can be any kind of vehicle.  This one's made from wire.  Watch the rider's legs pedal as the wheels move.  This innovative toy takes imaginative children to faraway worlds they create, and return in time for dinner.

Oticart International Limited, a privately held export and marketing company, help local artisans connect with export markets, providing packaging and quality control support for small workshops in and around Nairobi. 

You'll want to give this toy with the Galimoto (Reading Rainbow) book for Christmas, birthday or just because.  

Galimoto (Reading Rainbow Book)
 

Crocodile Puzzle
What a fun way for tykes to learn there letters and numbers.  On a bright green crocodile letters and numbers in white are on opposite sides of the puzzle pieces, which are painted in various shades of green.  Gold Palm International uses medium density fiber board made from fast-growing plantation pine.

 

Wooden Bicycle Ornament - $12 - Alt Trade Network of Nigeria

Carved from thornwood by Nigerian artisans, they use two to four inch thorns from various trees and depict scenes and activities of the village life.

Alternative Trade Network of Nigeria (ATNN) is a nonprofit nongovernmental trade and development organization that provides direct trade and export market access for small–scale Nigerian producers and artisans.

World Children Wall Hanging - $84 - Comite Artisanal Haitien

A Chain of Blessing
“Cut metal work represents the wealth of Croix des Bouquets,” said Jhonson Augustin, an artisan living and working in this Haitian city. “This is what has made the city famous.” Artisans here make a living from creating art out of recycled metal drums.

 Recycled Lamp Shade -  $44, Prokritee
Recycled snack bags and candy wrappers are woven together using traditional basket-weaving techniques by artisans in rural Bangladesh to create this eye-catching lampshade.

Artisans purchase the bags and wrappers in bulk from recyclers who gather them throughout Bangladesh. One group washes the wrappers with water and detergent, and wipes them dry with clean rags. A second group wraps the papers around thin bamboo strips, which are then used to weave the lampshade around a wooden mold.  

This process keeps the discarded snack bags and wrappers from clogging their drainage system, a major problem there.


My most recent visit in my local Ten Thousand Villages store I spotted a handbag made from recycled snack bags that looked like the coin purse in the earlier scenes.  It took my breath away.  I had already reached my shopping budget, so I had to leave it there.  I thought I could find it online, but I didn't see a photograph of it.  If it's there, or they replace it when I return, I'll buy it and show it to our iCafe Woman Moderne guests.

 Gold Crocheted purses - $14, Hajiganj
Bangladesh also produces these beautiful gold crocheted purses.

Hajiganj is a group of women artisans in one of the poorest areas in Bangladesh, where people are mostly dependent on hiring out to rich farmers who pay very low wages. 

 
Brown Crocheted Handbag - $43.50 - Manos Amigas Peru
Handcrafted by artisans of Manos Amigas in Lima, Peru, it is crochet trimmed with soft brown suede. Adjustable buckle and  drawstring closure.

Manos Amigas, “Hands Joined In Friendship,” works with family workshops and small businesses making a variety of handicrafts in impoverished areas of Lima and in the Andean highlands. 

There you have it.  I've made my list of fair trade products and checked it twice.  Not only will my friends and family members enjoy their innovative, sustainable gifts ... they'll love knowing that this gift will keep on giving to the village where it was handcrafted, for years to come. 

Are you already enjoying a product from Ten Thousand Villages?  Tell us about it.

Knit a Warm Cozy Feeling

 (Knitting Cafe)

Can't knit a scarf or an afghan, even a pot holder is too daunting? Not to worry, you can curl up with a good knitting novel and a cup of hot chocolate and transport yourself into a vacant seat in a yarn shop where knitting and chatter take you to a simpler time.

A quick turn of the page of Debbie Macomber's novel, "The Shop on Blossom Street,"  and you find yourself seated next to Lydia, the owner of the newly opened Seattle yarn shop on Blossom Street.  You're now at the first beginner knitting class where you're attempting to make the first group project, a baby blanket. 

You size up your three classmates.  Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as an olive branch to reconcile with her daughter-in-law.  For Carol Girard, the baby blanket gives her hope as she tries her final attempt to conceive, and Alix Townsend must knit her baby blanket to complete a court-ordered community service project for time served.  

Each woman brings something emotionally different to the table.  As mothers and daughters, sisters and friends, mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws, we all bring something different to the table, but that connecting piece can come in a ball of yarn, a recipe, a song, fabric, an antique tea kettle ... the list is endless and the emotions strong.

Fiction Imitating Life
Bestselling Romance Novelist, Debbie Macomber, author of The Blossom Street Knitting Series is a perfect example of life imitating fiction.  She opened up her own yarn shop suitably called Debbie Macomber's A Good Yarn Shop in Port Orchard Washington, inspired by her second book in the series, "A Good Yarn" (Blossom Street No. 2)  

 
Miracles and Blessings, Kiki here ... what better way to spend a brisk night than with a pair of knitting needles, beautiful worsted yawn and a nice cup of cocoa or Chamomile tea.  

We're not short on knitting groups here at iCafe Woman Moderne.  My favorite is our "Divas Can Knit Too" where generational borders are knitted together tighter, a few hours each week.  It's going on right now ... our ten knitting divas are from ages 8 to 80.  Four of their mothers have gone to their heavenly homes sooner than expected.

 And only five could knit when they started.  Don't worry if you can't knit, you can still enter the knitting fold by curling up to page- turning knitting fiction.     

The Friday Night Knitting Club (Friday Night Knitting Club Novels) 

On this particular Wednesday night "Divas Can Knit Too" session, they were asked to bring in their favorite knitting fiction and a special holiday dish.  Several brought in books from Kate Jacobs bestselling series, "The Friday Night Knitting Club" that share in the group's joys and pain weaving life into each stitch.  

Knitting groups are all about discovering a new passion, uncovering old hurt, and finding the gifts that lie beneath the surface.

 A Glimpse Inside iCafe Woman 
Moderne's "Divas Can Knit Too"

Sasha
Fifteen-year-old Sasha, who lost her mother two years ago to Breast Cancer, enters the iCafe Woman Moderne great room wrapped in her mother's favorite paisley scarf and clutching Kate Jacobs' "Knit the Season." (From The Friday Night Knitting Club Series)  She drops her backpack on the table containing the satchel she's almost done knitting.  

It's not hard to understand why she identifies with the book's central character, Dakota, a college-age daughter who through her own sojourn helps Sasha embrace her mother's legacy and re-kindle the joy of Christmas without her. 

Inside "Knit the Season"

Excitement is in the air as the Friday Night Knitting Women at Manhattan's Walker & Daughter Yarn Shop plan for the holidays and a wedding on New Year's Day.  Meanwhile, the college-age daughter of the founder, Dakota Walker, is determined to finish a sweater her mother started before she was born.  Her mother's patterns and stitches open up her biracial history and help her realize that to build on her mother's legacy she must allow herself to be the woman she desires to be.

iCafe Woman Moderne

Sasha smiles as she pulls out a tray of home-made corn dogs and bags of popcorn balls, a batch for the group and a batch to hang on one of our Christmas trees.   

Every year, after Christmas Eve service, Sasha and her mom made corn dogs -- her mom's favorite junk food -- and popcorn balls -- her favorite snack -- then drowned them with cups of hot chocolate and whipped cream.  Her Aunt Diane who brought her to the group six months after her mother's death, heads for the kitchen with their dishes.  Hers is a beef vegetable soup with pasta shells.   

Trinidad
For Trinidad, the memory of being served divorce papers on her 60th birthday led her to Debbie Macomber's book: "The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love:  A Novel." 

 The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love: A Novel  - Centerpoint Christian Fiction

Inside the "Sweetgum Knit Lit Society"

Every month, six members of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society gather to discuss books and share their knitting projects.  But this particular night, they're caught off guard by the chosen book theme for the upcoming year.  Still reeling in her newlywed bliss, Eugenia the group's leader chooses "Great Love Stories in Literature " as the theme for the year's reading, a risky list for this group's age spectrum and relationship status.  

With Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights dancing in their heads, they're forced to confront their own perceptions of love and relationships.

Inside iCafe Woman Moderne

Trinidad's mother, Olivia, who is still very active at 85 and happily married to Roger, Trinidad's 86 year-old-father, for 65 years, doesn't understand how her daughter's second marriage could end in divorce after twenty years.

"The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love:  A Novel," moves Olivia to face the negative things in her relationship she carried from her five-year first marriage and ignored.  No longer ignoring them, she can now start to heal and find peace, even if her mother doesn't understand her decisions. 
  
There's been a disconnect between mother and daughter since Trinidad signed the divorce papers a month ago.  They usually come together to the Divas Can Knit Too sessions, but today Mama Olivia arranged for a friend to take her. 

A hurt Trinidad wishes her mother would at least try to understand her feelings. She hasn't walked in her shoes, so she shouldn't judge.  Suddenly, she smells a familiar aroma from her childhood.  

Mama Olivia appears with a neighborhood friend carrying a pressure cooker containing her daughter's favorite childhood dish:  smoked turkey wings and string beans.  The friend carries her baked macaroni and cheese and homemade Parker house rolls to complete the meal. 

These days, her parents are usually the dinner guests.  Since moving into a swank senior/assisted living villa, her parents enjoy daily first class club house dining and restaurant early bird specials.   

 

(poshgirlvintage.com)

Mama Olivia has another surprise for her daughter, she pulls out a thick cookbook Olivia's mother gave her on her wedding day.  Within the pages are several knitting patterns from Trinidad's childhood.  Tears glaze their eyes, remembering the many dishes they prepared together after battling over the selected recipes.

Deep in their individual thoughts, there are still few words shared between mother and daughter as they partake in the potluck favorites.  Afterwards, the group finally knits and chats over their Knit Lit picks.  

Suddenly, all knitting hands stop when Mama Olivia blurts out, "Divorce was never an option when I was coming up.  You had to make the best of a bad situation and stay with your husband."

Anger wastes no time reaching Trinidad's face.  Her mouth opens to speak, but Mom's next words render her speechless.

"At least, that's what I believed until the day I packed up you kids and went to Brooklyn to stay with your Aunt Betty and Uncle Harry.  I even found a job. I know ... you thought we were there for the New York World's Fair.  You were only five at the time.  Your Uncle Harry got us tickets so we went.  I wanted to make sure you kids were happy.  Just when I was about to tell you and your sisters what was going on, we reconciled."  She munches on Sasha's popcorn ball. 

"We both wanted the reconciliation, but the change had to happen in both of us, and it did."  She holds her daughter's gaze, unflinching.  "But we were evenly yoked, that was the glue that allowed us to piece the marriage back together.  We had to both lean on God, not just one of us."  

"Sixty-five years later and we're still leaning on God and making each other laugh.  So baby, I have walked in your shoes, I was foolish for not wanting you to know that.  At first I couldn't, until I saw the pain I was adding to your pain.  And when I found the cookbook in your sister's basement ... I knew I had to share."  

She takes out a pattern from the cookbook. 

"That was my favorite sweater," Trinidad cries out.  "You made me give it to Cousin Renee when I was eight because you said it looked like I was wearing a bolero."  They laugh.  

"Well, it did ... you had a growth spurt.  But what you didn't know is that I knitted your sweater during my separation.  Baby, I'm so sorry for my behavior ... please forgive me."  Mother and daughter hug each other crying.  There's not a dry eye in iCafe Woman Moderne.

"Somebody needs to take a picture.  Does anybody have a camera?  Nobody?  Darn ... my sister Dani always had a camera with her everywhere she went and she--," Aunt Diane stops, her horror-stricken eyes land on her fifteen-year-old niece, Sasha. 

"It's okay, Aunt D ... Mom still does, through me."  She takes out her mother's 35 mm Canon she had in college that still works.   It started her career in photo-journalism that led her to success in children's fashion photography.

Sasha worked with her mom from the time she was eight.  And today was the first time she stepped foot into her mother's photography studio (her partner cousin now runs) since her death two years ago.  

"Knit the Season's" Dakota gave her the right nudge.  And she's so glad she did.  On that note she takes a group picture.

Our Mothers' Footprints

 
For me, knitting represents footprints into my mother's life.  As my hands awkwardly guide the yarn over and under the needles, I see my mother's hands flowing like a dancer moving to a special beat only she hears.  Her symphony drapes over her cinnamon legs in a mixture of earth tones.  Mine lay tangled around my knees as I drop another stitch ... nope, two.  A hole threatens to disturb this row of somewhat neat stitches.

I've never seen holes, gaps, crooked stitches or lumps in any of my mother's afghans, vests, scarves, pocketbooks and hats.  A seamstress by profession, Mom had that special designing eye.  Someday, I may become the knitter she was, or not -- but while I'm knitting one and purling two, I feel a connection that goes beyond the yarn and needles. 

I see my mother's smile when I pick out the yarn.  I hear her humming her favorite song when I'm in my knitting zone, (no dropped stitches) I see her nodding as I stop myself from going in the wrong direction.  I may no longer be her young child, but I will always be her daughter ... and the strands of yarn now connects us spiritually to a place where yesterday's differences no longer live.

Whether it's through a karate class, a recipe, a song, a garden, a sewing machine or a camera ... we carry traces from our mothers' lives and create something extraordinary that defines the women we have become, or on our way to be.  

 

 

 
 

A Sushi Christmas Tree ... Really?

No ... your eyes aren't playing tricks on you.  You haven't entered the Twilight Zone either.  Yes, Virginia ... there is a sushi Christmas Tree.  It's beginning to look like Christmas. 

 

Close your mouth before something other than sushi flies in.  Now tell me this, who had the time to painstakingly arrange each piece of sushi to make this incredible Christmas tree displayed in a Japan store window, of course, and discovered on Odee.com. Talk about being a kid in a sushi store.  I could eat my way up each edible branch without breaking a sweat.  Please pass the Wasabi. 

Social Networking: The 21st Century Way to Find New Clients
(Left Photo by Nigel Main )

 

   

Here's a tree environmental enthusiasts will love.  Made of eco-friendly plywood, it has a mid-century modern vibe, perhaps influenced by the room's cool decor.     

Kiki here, miracles and blessings to all of my iCafe Woman Moderne Divas and you first-timers. 

Don't worry, you've got time to grab your favorite beverage before we start.  May I recommend this week's iCafe Woman Moderne special:  Kiki's White Chocolate Cappuccino or Nina's Iced White Chocolate Cappuccino Frappe version (photo) and Celia's  cranberry scone.

"Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me, and keep me from stumbling."  Psalm 119: 105

It's only fitting that the daughter of a former Christmas tree vendor hosts our latest text-webisode:   "A Sushi Christmas Tree ... Really?  Don't be afraid to add your own unique theme to centuries old traditions.  We're giving you permission to think outside the box.'"  

Here's another eye-opener.  

 

Yup, it's a Mr. Potato Tree. 

 (Book tree)

This one's easy and touches my love for books.  It has to be in a  library or bookstore.  But don't let a toddler near it.

(Messiah Lutheran Church)

Our celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ is the true reason for the season that often gets lost in the shopping frenzy translation.   

Many longstanding traditions accompany our celebration of the most precious gift of all -- but the Christmas tree is the biggest tradition transcending generations.

  

How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites
(Photo - Creative Consulting) 

 Heavenly Christmas Tree decorate 

with angels and stars - Martha Stewart)

There are tons of stories circulating about the history of the Christmas tree, here's one I like the best.  According to the Christmas Tree Farm Network,  legend has it that Martin Luther started the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate the birth of Christ.

"One Christmas Eve around 1500, he was strolling through the snow-covered woods and became awe-struck by the beauty of a grouping of small evergreens.  Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight.  When he arrived home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share it with his children.  He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth."

We're not letting grass grow under our feet.  We're busy here at iCafe Woman Moderne embracing the spirit of the season and revamping the traditions.  There are two live trees adorning the great room and an artificial white tree turning heads in our sun room.  

Yes, you heard me right, the daughter of a former tree vendor has put up a white Christmas tree at our virtual cafe.  When you hear what we're decorating it with, you'll forgive me.  There's a method to Kiki's madness.

  

(Create for less) 

Oooh ... did you smell that ... another batch of Christmas cookies just came out of the oven.  This time, they baked a batch of a New York favorite:  Black & White cookies, also known as Half Moons.  

Wait a minute, did I just here Kekoa say she's baking a batch of her TuTu (grandother) Kalani's Hawaiian Tea Cookies in the other oven?  Our iCafe Woman Moderne divas -- Kekoa, Linda and Jocelyn -- are in Christmas Cookie heaven, baking their hearts out.  Is this batch number eight or ten?  I've lost count.  They're stuffing  them into cute quart size chinese containers in a variety of colors and patterns, from Flamingo Pink to Tiffany Blue and Chocolate polka dots.

A Bonsai Christmas 

Speaking of Chinese food containers, here's another unique tree I bet you never thought of doing a Bonsai Christmas tree.

Miniature Chinese lanterns and flocked birds make this plastic  bonsai tree memorable.   

Here's another unique tree from Martha Stewart.com.

A Rose Christmas Tree.

According to the legend of the Christmas rose, Madelon, a poor shepherdess, was tending her sheep on a hill near Bethlehem when she saw the wise men bearing gifts on their way to visit the Christ child. 

Madelon wept, knowing she could not afford a present for the new king. Just then an angel appeared and turned the girl's fallen tears into pale pink roses. A joyous Madelon gathered the blooms and carried them to Bethlehem to give to baby Jesus. 

Since that time, the Christmas rose (not a rose, but a hellebore) blooms each December as a reminder of this loving gift.

"The Partridge Family"
Aluminum Christmas Tree
 

Remember the aluminum tree?  It's making a resurgence.  
This is a updated version. 

"Oh, that's beautiful ... Dominique ... I love it.  A proud Dominique shows off the favor tree she constructed from Martha Stewart.com.  Pardon my manners, Dominique is our resident chocolatier and right now she's filling the favor bags with her signature chocolate.   Enjoy!
  

 (Decorated white Christmas tree)

See those three  iCafe Woman Moderne divas huddled around the towering white Christmas tree, they're ready to decorate it with some unique decorations.   To reflect our fashion forward fashionistas, they've using a "Little Black Dress/Little Pink dress theme inspired by our new favorite annual tea.  

Stephanie, an excellent crafts woman, hand made miniature little black and little pink dresses, shoes, hats and handbags to put on the tree.  We may keep it up until our next Little Black Dress/Little Pink Dress Sisters Tea for Breast Cancer Survival in May.

Here are some cute shoe and handbag ornaments from Avon. 

I'm also cutting black & white damask fabric into a long strip to wrap the tree.  You know from past text-webisodes, how much I love damask. 

Some of our mini shoes and handbags are actually made of chocolate.  We just can't get away from chocolate can we?  
  

Our two iCafe Woman Moderne kitchens are definitely getting a boot camp workout.  I warned you a few text-webisodes ago that yours would too.  Ours is holding up quite well, how about yours?

Okay, we're seen a sushi tree, a potato tree and an eco-friendly Christmas tree, what's next ... a candy tree?  Well, actually ... yes, a gum drop tree.  Ashley and Megan bought table size aluminum trees from a local Dollar store along with the decorating candy.  The sky's the limit with what you can do with a candy tree! 

 (gum drop tree)

My Personal History with the Mighty Fir tree

My dad sold Christmas trees throughout my childhood and teen years.  On Black Friday, we'd get up way before dawn and go to a wholesale place in South Philly to get our bunches for sale.  Dad sold them in front of our North Philly row home, replacing the peanut and bubble gum machine usually there.  

Being the last of five, and since my older siblings were no longer interested in helping Daddy, I became his designated partner by age eight.  

I was security, branch sweeper, handed him the string to bind the trees and nails to hammer into the stand.  I took my job very seriously. I even kept a metal shovel nearby to go after anyone who tried to swipe a tree.  The only time my father got robbed was every year around two or three in the morning by the same family, the Marstons.   Well, I guess it was a friendly heist.

They were a family of twelve, and every Christmas Eve after my family turned in for the night, two of the older kids would lumber up the street (they lived on the same block) and ring our doorbell in hopes we had one tree left for their Christmas morning.  

Daddy always kept one for the Marstons.  He'd charge them a dollar and threw in a stand for free.  More often than not, no money exchanged hands.  This happened for over ten years.  

Of course, his security was right there on his heels just in case there was, what my Dad called, "a no account jitterbug" ringing our door.  The parents usually sent the older sons.  After we said Merry Christmas to the young Marstons, Daddy would cover my eyes so I wouldn't see the goodies under the tree.  Good times!

Since we're more environmentally aware in the New Millennium, a live fir tree seems to be the natural choice.


Christmas Tree Farm Network
Did you know ... Christmas tree farms stabilize soil and protect water supplies while providing refuge for wildlife. In case you're ever on Jeopardy, Christmas trees grow on soils that can't support other crops. 

Another benefit, real Christmas trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and emit fresh oxygen. This helps prevent the earth-warming "greenhouse effect." One acre of Christmas trees produces the daily oxygen requirement for 18 people.  Approximately one million acres produce Christmas trees in the United States that translates into oxygen for 18 million people every day. For every real Christmas tree harvested, three seedlings are planted in its place.

Enjoy your Christmas tree shopping.  Try thinking outside-the-holiday box when you're ready to decorate.  And more importantly remember to be a blessing to someone this Advent Season.  Be an Advent Angel for someone in need.   We leave you with a few delicious recipes to enjoy with family and friends. 

White Chocolate Cappuccino  (modified)

from About.com

Perfect for those cold winter nights. An espresso and white chocolate mixture with a bit of brandy. Made with real melted chocolate, too.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz light cream
• 4 oz espresso
• 1 oz white chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp rum non-alcoholic flavoring
• 1 tsp creme de cacao
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• Whipped cream

Preparation:

Heat cream until almost boiling. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until melted and smooth. Stir in liqueurs and vanilla. Return to low heat and whisk until foamy. Pour espresso into a large mug, then spoon chocolate mixture over the espresso. Top with whipped cream.
Serves 1

From Cooks.com

HAWAIIAN TEA COOKIES

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1710,151183-243194,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 1 3/4 c. flour 3/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 c. butter, softened 1 c. sugar 1 egg 1 tbsp. lemon juice 2 tsp. vanilla 1 c. coconut Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, lemon juice and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in flour mixture, then coconut. Shape dough in two 2 inch diameter rolls. Wrap and chill 4 hours.With sharp, thin knife, slice dough 1/4 inch thick. Place 1 inch apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven, 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove to rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen.