Dining Alfresco in Fair Trade Style

Hot summer days call for cool cocktails, and we are loving this super simple Gin Cup. Refreshing and not overly sweet, the light pink hue looks sweet in our handmade glasses from India.

Gin Cup Ingredients:
Gin, sugar syrup, Campari, sweet vermouth, mint, lemon juice, pink grapefruit juice

Method:
Place the mint sprigs and sugar syrup in the bottom of a glass. Stir about to bruise the mint slightly.

Fill the glass with ice.

Add the lemon juice and gin and stir a frost should begin to form.

Finally add a measure of Campari and sweet vermouth, followed by a glug of grapefruit juice and serve!

Want a warm weather non-alcoholic option? Hand squeezed lemonade is always a hit!

Homemade Lemonade Ingredients:
6 lemons, 2/3 cup fair trade sugar, water

Method:
First scrub the lemons in warm water, then take the zest from 3 of the lemons using a potato peeler or zester.

Remove any white pith with a sharp knife – this is important to prevent the lemonade tasting bitter.

Now put the zest in a large bowl and add the squeezed juice of all the lemons and the sugar.

Pour in in 2½ pints (1.4 litres) of boiling water, stir well, cover and leave overnight in a cool place.

Stir again the following day, and taste to check the sweetness, add more sugar if needed.

Strain with a coarse sieve and pour into bottles using sterilized corks, then chill thoroughly and serve.

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Stop in the store to see even more gorgeous recycled glassware – we have tons of different styles, shapes, and designs, all Handmade and Fair Trade by our talented artisans in India!

Spring Preview: NEW Outdoor Rugs

With cold temperatures on the way, we here at One World Market stay warm by wearing Fair Trade wool ( of course! ) and by looking forward to Spring!

We recently received a wonderful preview of some indoor/outdoor woven rugs that are produced in Senegal. Perfect for an outdoor deck or patio, we squealed when we saw the punch of color and pattern.

Two things Durhamites love: outdoor living and color! And we have to agree. A morning at the Farmer’s Market followed by a hike at the Eno – what could be better?

Following it up with a homemade meal (or glass of wine!) on your deck or patio of course! Which would be all the more fun with one of the gorgeous rugs:

Other color choices available in the zig-zag pattern:

We love the idea of bringing a bit of Africa to your home with these rugs. In Senegal where these are produced, the locals call them “Mingle Mats”.

Find a group of women weaving together in Senegal, or a family dining together, and chances are you will also find a Mingle Mat. These gorgeous African outdoor rugs are produced in a lively weaving facility in Dakar, Senegal's capital city, from long strands of extruded plastic.

We are so excited to bring these rugs to Durham this Spring!

Meet Gladies – An Ember Arts Artisan

Want to know a no-fail technique to a Happy Monday morning?

Read an inspiring story about a woman achieving her goals. Even better, how about goals that have been achieved because you helped support!

That is just what we did today, as we read about Gladies, one of our partners in Uganda, and how purchases of her Fair Trade jewelry are helping her make her dreams a reality.

Gladies has been been working with Ember Arts for the last five years. She is affectionately refered to as ‘Special Teams’ because she’s smart, dependable, and can get just about anything done. Recently she made a big step towards her dreams by starting her own small business.

Gladies fled from her family home in Amuru, an area in northern Uganda, about a decade ago during the civil war. When she first arrived in the Acholi Quarters community of Uganda’s capital city it was only a collection of mud huts around a stone quarry, where men, women, and children could do hard labor for about $1 per day. That’s what Gladies did to pull her family through.

And now Gladies is using her earnings from Ember Arts to expand her earning potential, too.

These days Acholi Quarters is looking a lot better, and so is Gladies’ family. She has three children, and she’s paying for all of them to attend good local schools, an expensive feat in Uganda’s capital.

And now Gladies is using her earnings from Ember Arts to expand her earning potential, too. She recently traveled back to Amuru and bought a rice milling machine, and rented a place in a big trading center to collect, mill, and sell rice. Farmers come for miles around to sell their harvest to her.

She partnered with her brother in the business, so now his family is benefiting, too. And they have big plans for the future.

Gladies and her brother plan to put up their own commercial building in the trading center, a place where they can process and store not just rice, but other crops, too. Building, she says, will start in December.

Like most of our partners in Uganda, Gladies wants to eventually move back to her family home. With the money she’s earned and skills she’s learned as an Ember partner, she’s well on her way to accomplishing that dream.

We are so excited to support Gladies, and the 27 other women in her artisan group! Stop by the store and see their beautiful jewelry today!

Content and Photos provided by Ember Arts

Easy Gifts that Keep Giving

This summer, we here at One World Market seem to be getting lots of folks looking for housewarming and hostess gifts.

We love putting together impromptu gift baskets, and thought it would be fun to feature a few of our favorites here on the blog!

Baker’s Delight: Whether it’s a gift for a home cook or a professional chef, anyone who enjoys baking would love this gift! Fair Trade Madagascar Vanilla from Madécasse, paired with cool blue napkins handmade in Bali, a utensil set hand-carved from sustainable acacia wood, all nestled inside an all purpose white-washed bamboo bowl.

Every item tells a story at One World Market, but we love the story behind our new vanilla! Not only does Madécasse support Fair Trade farmers who grow and harvest the vanilla bean, but they also produce and package their product in Madagascar! This provides 4 times the impact of traditional Fair Trade practices.

Tea Lover: The perfect gift for the tea lover in your life! Choose an Organic, Fair Trade tea and pair it with a beautiful handmade, Fair Trade mug! We love this blue and white stunner from Vietnam, handmade and hand painted! To round off the gift, add in a hand-carved mango wood owl trivet from India, perfect for a tea kettle.

Borrowed from an idea we saw on Pinterest, you can take a great gift like a cookbook and make it truly memorable:

By wrapping it in a tea towel! You can even spice up the package by adding salad servers!

We love gift wrapping in tea towels not only because it’s super cute, but it’s also sustainable and simple! Seriously, no cutting, taping, or trash! And it only takes 30 seconds! See below:

Also cute in a tea towel:

a nice bottle of wine! The tea towel above is handmade in Ethiopia out of Organic, Ethiopian Cotton. So soft!

This tea towel comes from an artisan group, Creative Women, that supports 65 artisans living in Ethiopia. Starting with only 5 weavers, One World Market is proud to be a part of a growing success story for the women in Ethiopia!

So whether it’s a hostess gift, a housewarming present, or just a small token of gratitude, giving a Fair Trade gift is always the way to go!

One World Market Earth Day Celebration & A Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our recycling game this week! We were so excited to read everyone’s comments as the week progressed!

Just as we predicted, One World Market Facebook Friends are incredibly smart! Nearly every guess was correct! And those that weren’t were still great ideas! Purse made of bacon? Yum!

Before we announce the winner of the week and the recipient of a $50 OWM Gift Card, let’s review the answers!

Monday’s Recycled Item:

This is in fact three different coiled bracelets handmade in Uganda out of recycled magazine pages! Each bead starts as a long strip of paper, which is then rolled, glued, and lacquered.

Simple and yet incredibly beautiful! We carry paper bead jewelry in a WIDE RANGE of colors, styles, and lengths!

Next up, Tuesday’s Item, and what seemed to be the easiest guess of the week:

Handmade in India, this handbag is made entirely of old seatbelts! So many of you guessed this bag correctly!

Want to see the artisans in action? Check out this short video, less than 2 minutes long, to see a seatbelt purse being made!

Wednesday’s Item was another purse, but instead of seatbelts…

Conserve artisans used recycled denim and rubber from the inner tubes of tires! The artisans that make this bag are the same artisans featured in the video above!

Conserve makes ALL of their items from recycled materials, helping India cut down on their enormous issues with waste.

Thursday’s item, a friendly rhino from Kenya, may have been a little bit obvious:

 

meaning that his Coca-Cola cans were showing! Made from recycled soda cans, this friendly fellow is 100% recycled. A few of you even guessed what his accents were: recycled telephone wire. Great job!

Early this morning, OWM volunteers carefully copied down everyone’s name who guessed, giving double entries to those who shared the game with their Facebook friends. Our winner was chosen by random drawing:

Jennifer Smith

Congratulations Jennifer!

Stop by One World Market, your Fair Trade, non-profit on Ninth Street in Durham to claim your gift card!

And thank you to everyone for playing! Be sure to join us this Saturday, April 20th from 12noon to 3pm as we celebrate Earth Day!

You can even try your hand at making your own paper bead bracelet or keychain!

Get Organized–Attractive Solutions that Support Fair Trade

The first day of Spring has arrived, and we are already thinking about Spring Cleaning here at One World Market.

We love re-organizing the store and back room, making everything flow better and work more efficiently. In our own efforts to organize, we came across some useful and attractive Fair Trade solutions to boring old plastic bins!

By using different baskets, the clutter is contained out of sight but can be easily within reach! Each basket becomes a part of your home décor, adding texture and neutral colors that easily blend with your own style.

In neutral shades we have tons of different sized baskets and bins in a natural grass:

       

These baskets are made from a natural kaisa grass and are handmade in Bangladesh.

If you’re looking for a pop of color, these useful baskets also come in a fun, rainbow assortment:

These would be great to use as a hamper, to store toys and other often used items, or even to stow away winter gear.

OWM staffer April’s favorite hamper is another one of our color options:

an aqua seagrass basket. April loves that it fits just the right amount of laundry to wash one load of clothes, and the soothing colors add to her décor instead of detracting.

Another fun color option that comes from Bali, are these sturdy baskets with…

great detailing from the scarps of recycled Balinese fabric! These gorgeous prints add a fun pop of color to a very sturdy basket.

We also have other options that include recycled materials, like this fun basket made from recycled juice pouches:

We love this basket for recycling, because the plastic pouches are easy to wipe down and clean! Plus with the sturdy side handles, you can easily tote the basket around the house.

Another fun recycled basket you can use for small items is actually made from newspaper!

Rolled and woven newspaper make this fun basket visually appealing and one of our volunteers says she uses one as a catch all by her front door.

Stop by the store and see all of our organizing options – whether neutral or colorful – we’ve got you covered on getting organized!

Fashion Trend: Collar Necklaces

A new trend that’s going to be popular this fall is the Collar Necklace. Simple but chic, a collar necklace can add a nice touch to a casual outfit or dress up an outfit for a special occasion.

This fall, One World Market is embracing the Collar Necklace trend with some fun, Fair Trade options that will give you a unique way to play with your wardrobe.

And since our options are handmade by very talented artisans in developing countries, we know that each piece will continue to garnish compliments, even after Fall 2012 has passed.

Our first favorite is handmade in India by a cooperative of women artisans:

Wire nests embellished with classic black seed beads, this necklace is truly a work of art!

Also from India, the next two necklaces shimmer with blue tones reminiscent of the ocean:

Also in shades of cool blue, the next collar necklace is made from recycled glass by artisans living in Ghana:

With brass accents, no two necklaces are the same, making it truly a one-of-a-kind statement necklace.

But not all collar necklaces are made of shiny beads, and our next few choices are great examples of the variety in our jewelry collection.

These necklaces are not only Fairly Traded, making them a benefit for the artisans who made them, but they’re also SUSTAINABLE, making them good for the environment!

Each of these necklaces is made from a sustainable nut called Tagua. Found readily in Ecuador, artisans hand-carve each bead from the nut.

Just like the necklace from Ghana, since each bead is handmade, no two are exactly the same. And since each carved nut is hand-dyed, the colors can vary as well.

It’s no secret that we love jewelry at One World Market, but what we really love is being able to embrace current fashion trends with pieces handmade by our artisans.

When you shop Fair Trade, the artisans gets a fair wage for their handy work, and you get a well made handicraft. Fair Trade is truly a growing trend that we hope never goes out of style!

Stop by the store today to see the necklaces featured in today’s post, and ask a volunteer to show you other Collar Necklaces we currently have in stock!