If it's your first time here, you might want to check out what this site is all about, or read some of the most popular posts. You can also find plenty of handmade and eco-friendly goods in my online shop. If you like what you see, you can subscribe to get free blog post updates or sign up for my monthly newsletter.

The following is a guest post by writer Caroline Smith. I hope you enjoy!

To keep our planet in good condition for future generations, modern consumers are going to have to make eco-friendly choices in all of their activities. Changing the look of a home is an easy area in which to do this because of the great variety of green products which manufacturers are now providing. Eco-friendly materials are available for use on both the inside and outside of a home and can make it more comfortable and pleasing to the eye.

The Bamboo Worker - image courtesy of finnegan_again on Flickr

Flooring

When working to achieve a new look for the home, owners might wish to start with new flooring. The following are excellent choices for anyone wishing to be kind to the environment:

• Choose renewable bamboo for flooring or bamboo throw rugs for color.

• Consider carpeting or large rugs made from one hundred percent organic wool.

• Cover subflooring with various sizes of overlapping brown paper from grocery bags. Once arranged, glue down and cover with several thick coats of polyurethane.

• Collect left-over tiles from neighbors and friends and arrange in patterns to fit the floor space needing to be covered.

• Use composite decking materials for outer decks.

don't toss that sofa! use a slipcover to make it look brand new!

Furniture

Reusing old furniture can also help save natural resources and prevent landfills from overflowing. With the knowledge of just a few basic decorating tricks, it is easy to change a boring room into an up-to-date, family-friendly environment. The following furniture solutions are not very costly, but they can have a huge visual impact:

• Tighten joints, hinges and screws on older pieces of furniture and use eco-friendly paint that does not give off volatile organic compounds to give them a fresh look without adding contaminants to the air.

• Cover scratched or dented furniture with crocheted dollies or table runners and use bowls of pine cones, nuts, vegetables or fruit as centerpieces.

• Switch furnishings from one room to another; for example, use a bookcase for a bedside table or move a small filing cabinet from the study to the den, place a table cloth and lamp on it, and use it as an end table.

• Purchase inexpensive furniture covers for chairs or couches that have visible damage or are covered in outdated upholstery material.

pillow made from recycled men's shirt & burlap coffee sacks by REpurposingNOLA

Other Ideas

Other little changes that might brighten a home without causing environmental damage include the following:

• Choose fabrics for curtains or shades that are made from eco-friendly materials such as cotton, jute, silk, or hemp.

• Paint an accent wall or two with organic paint that does not give off volatile organic compounds in order to prevent air contamination.

• Use the fabric from old clothes, including colorful denims, to make throw pillows for the beds or couches.

The more thought that goes into the redecorating process, the more likely it will be a success. Consider all of the naturally sustainable products available, and items you already have that could be reused, before launching into any new home renovations. With a little care and attention you can give your home a green facelift knowing that your changes are environmentally-friendly.

This is a guest post from Caroline Smith, who loves furnishing her home with eco-friendly finds. She has a website about slipcovers for couches where you can find advice on extending the life of old furniture.

Want more ideas on giving your home a green makeover? Check out the book Green Living by Design: The Practical Guide for Eco-Friendly Remodeling and Decorating, available at Amazon.

  • Share/Bookmark

{ 0 comments }

A couple of weeks ago, Miss Ashe Mischief and I were browsing shops on Magazine Street, and we stopped into the new location of Spruce Eco-Studio. I had never been into their previous location, though I knew all about it, because the old location was sort of tucked away further down Magazine Street without much else around it. You had to really WANT to go there. The new Spruce location, at 2043 Magazine Street, is on one of my favorite blocks in the city. This block, which also houses Juan’s Flying Burrito and the Trashy Diva uptown location, has become a hub for green boutiques – there’s also Branch Out, Green Serene, and of course my friends and fellow New Orleans Craft Mafia members Heather & Mark of Unique Products share the space at 2038 Magazine Street with the ladies of Magazine Metals.

So after accidentally discovering the new location of Spruce, it was a pleasure to get an email from them recently to let me know about an upcoming open house event they’ll be hosting on Friday, September 10.

Spruce offers not only eco-friendly products for home and garden, but they also offer eco-friendly interior design services. They’re a one-stop shop for products such as clean burning/mobile fire places, solar powered garden lanterns, recycled vases, wall textures, tile and much more. I had the chance to ask one of the founders, Nomita Joshi-Gupta, a few questions about what inspired her and partner Cheryl Nix Murphy to start Spruce and what the future holds for them.

Spruce Eco-Studio founders - Cheryl Nix Murphy & Nomita Joshi-Gupta

What inspired you to create Spruce?
A chance to rebuild my home with green products inspired the creation of Spruce. As I was re-building my house I was also simultaneously dog earring hundreds of magazines with green products….ranging from countertops, tiles, fabric and décor…and then I thought I have a selection to start a showroom to showcase my findings and offer design services. My long time friend Cheryl joined me in this venture and Spruce was born. We spent almost a year researching the honesty of each of our products and our concept. Now we have a curated collection that we are proud to offer to our clients.

Can you tell us a little more about the products and services that you offer?
We offer building products such as surfaces, finishes, tiles, fabrics, wall coverings, and retail products such as outdoor décor, retail and most importantly green design services. We also have an extensive webshop… sprucenola.com. Our singular mission is zero compromise between design and sustainability.

Why is being “green” so important to you? Why New Orleans?
Being green has always been a way of life for me growing up in India and for Cheryl an avid preservationist. In New Orleans we all have practiced green by salvaging buildings and putting them to good use. Now it is even more important for us encourage sustainability in our design and our culture…we have a chance to become a model city for the next generation.

What’s up next for Spruce?
We are surrounded by innovation in product design on a daily basis. This has inspired our next step – to design our own line of products.

If you’re in New Orleans, I highly recommend you take the chance to stop into Spruce’s Magazine Street location at some point. Anyone can shop their offerings online at sprucenola.com.

  • Share/Bookmark

{ 2 comments }

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve done a Picked By You! feature. If you like this series and want to see more, please send me your picks! Details on how to contribute are at the bottom of this post.

Ola, aka Musicboxgirl, recently purchased this FreeForm Crochet halter from WildChildDzigns on Artfire. She says, “having never purchased crotchet clothing before, I just bought a beautiful halter from WildChildDzigns. It’s like an abstract painting, to me, and I get to wear it. It also looks comfy.”

Ola makes musical jewelry and accessories inspired by her love of antique-style music boxes. Check out her work at My Secret Music Box, or learn more about her at her blog, Plucked Pins.

Do you have an amazing handmade or eco-friendly shopping find (made by someone other than yourself)? Send it my way! You can email me a link to the item, one or two sentences about why you think it is so special, plus your name and a website/blog link so I can credit you, to mallory [AT] missmalaprop.com and let me know it’s for Picked By You!, or you can post your picks in this thread in the Etsy forums or at my Facebook fan page. Designers, while I definitely encourage you to let me know about your own work as well, please note that Picked By You! is to showcase the work of other artists, so show some love for your favorite fellow artisans!

  • Share/Bookmark

{ 0 comments }

Giveaway! McGowan & McClain Handmade Designer Jewelry

by MissMalaprop on August 30, 2010

Laura Jones, one of the two designers behind McGowan & McClain handmade designer jewelry, recently contacted me to let me know about her line, and to offer up one of her creations for a giveaway. Laura told me, “I think your readers will love our jewelry because it is different.” Personally, I think she’s right!

Laura and her cousin Marian are both classically trained in metalsmithing and jewelry, and they’re based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Yay for Southern girls!) They use natural elements like geodes and stalactites in their work, and cast a lot of their creations from organic objects such as seeds, pods, and peanut shells. The natural world is combined with sterling silver and gold vermeil for an earthy, yet upscale look.

The talented ladies from McGowan & McClain have generously offered up one pair of earrings like the ones pictured above to one lucky reader! To enter to win, all you need to do is leave a comment here and let me know what your favorite piece is from the McGowan & McClain website or Etsy shop! Post your comment by midnight on Sunday, September 12, 2010 (Central Standard Time – go here to figure out what time that is where you are).

This particular giveaway is limited to US residents. The winner will be chosen at random from the comments. Please use a valid email address, as that’s how I’ll be contacting the winner. (I won’t share it with anyone, I promise!) If you are chosen as the winner, you must respond to my email within 1 week from the date I send it, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

So what do you think? Do you like what you see??

  • Share/Bookmark

{ 12 comments }

Friday Links – There’s Lots to Love

by MissMalaprop on August 27, 2010

Handmade Knit Stuffed Sheep by Sara Sacks

I received some awesome bits of press this past week: Clueless Fashionista and One Income Dollar both did writeups on me & my shop! Plus the wonderful Sara Sacks (who has some amazing work in my shop) mentioned me on her blog. Thanks y’all!

Remember those customized one-of-a-kind fleur de lis guitar straps (pictured above) I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I made exclusively for my friend Aaron’s new French Quarter shop, The Guitar Bar? Well, I’m teaming up with him for a little trunk show next week to celebrate our collaboration! If you’re in the area, come and visit us on Saturday, September 4, from 12pm-9pm at his shop at 1205 Decatur Street. You can RSVP or share the Facebook event link with your friends!

One of the other sites I write for, Flight Path Studio, recently combined forces with Handmade Spark, which is one of my favorite handmade websites! Some of the articles I’ve written previously for Flight Path Studio are now up on Handmade Spark, including my interview with my artist friend Marrus.

twisted fleur de lis pendant by John Doherty

One of the artists featured in my shop, John Doherty, has a statue being unveiled today in Slidell, Louisiana, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He was recently featured in the Times-Picayune! Congrats John!

Make Your Own Toys: Sew Soft Bears, Bunnies, Monkeys, Puppies, and More!

Want to find out how to make that cute little critter pictured above? Check out the new book by Sue Havens called Make Your Own Toys: Sew Soft Bears, Bunnies, Monkeys, Puppies, and More! In her new book, just released this week, Sue demonstrate how to make over 20 soft animals from recycled fabrics. They’re all so cute!

And I also have a winner to announce: the winner of the UPrinting.com Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway is…. #3 – Lacey! Congrats to Lacey and thanks to everyone who participated! I’ve got some other giveaways in the works, so stay tuned!

  • Share/Bookmark

{ 2 comments }

Abita Lovers Recycled Denim & Lace Fabric Flower Barrette

Last night was a very successful Katrina 5.0 event at my day job, the Louisiana State Museum. I stayed busy live tweeting from my own Twitter account and from @LaStateMuseum, and had the chance to finally meet some of my favorite Twitter peeps in person last night and see some others I already knew: @CallMeAlva, @champsuperstar, @geekandahalf, @YatPundit, @lunanola and of course my pal (and fellow @nola_craftmafia member) @artbymags.

I got into a discussion with YatPundit which I can’t stop thinking about. (P.S. thanks to YatPundit for the shoutout on his blog) He told me I should promote myself more. Which is maybe a little funny to me, because in some ways I feel like all I’ve done for the last 4+ years with this blog and my other projects is to promote myself. But I guess what I’ve REALLY been doing is promoting others, and along the way building connections, community, etc, which I hope to benefit me in the long run. But maybe I SHOULD be explicitly promoting myself a bit more? I don’t know, what do you think?

Here’s the thing: I think I’ve ALWAYS been better at promoting others than promoting myself. That’s part of why I’ve built my blog, and my shop, around supporting and promoting other artists, designers, and companies that I believe are doing good work. Even when I was little, I wanted to do something to change the world. I believe that this can be my contribution – by sharing a handmade, more sustainable alternative with my customers and readers, I think that bit by bit I can help change the way that people think about their purchases. Buy less cheaply made crap, created under possibly deplorable working conditions and environmental standards, and when you do buy, make it something that will last, and that means something to you. Just like people are starting to realize that we should know where our food comes from, so too should we know where the other things in our lives come from, and how they were made.

It’s been a slow, long, hard climb so far, I’m not going to lie. I see some people and success seems to come so easily to them. Maybe to some of you it seems like all of this has come easily to me. Believe me, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, but I’ve also worked my ass off to get to where I am now. And I still feel like I have a loonnnnng way to go. (And I try to remind myself that those people with easy-seeming success work their asses off too. Appearances can be deceiving you know.)

I know I have an amazing group of people behind me, who do believe in and support what I do. I get great feedback all of the time, especially when I do live events – people ask me if I have a shop (meaning a brick & mortar retail store). I tell them that’s the plan, but I’m not quite there yet. I want to get there. Really, really, really bad. Not just for me. But for all of the artists that I work with, and help to promote. And most of all for the customers. I would LOVE to introduce tourists and locals alike here in New Orleans to this amazing handmade community. People fall in love with this stuff when they see it in person.

I’ve got a great support network, but I’ve got plenty of naysayers too. Anti-visionaries. People who tell me how lucky I am to have a great steady job with benefits. People who tell me retail is dead, the economy is in decline, it’s the worst time to start a business. (Apparently these people don’t read the news, seeing as New Orleans is the new hotbed of entrepreneurship.)

Sometimes all you have to do is ask. Maybe I don’t ask enough? So here it is… If you like what I do, if you like any or all of the amazing artists that I work with, share it with the people you love. Send your friends and family a link to my shop or my blog. Tweet it, Facebook it, or sign up for my email newsletter. (Did you know that if you sign up, you’ll get a coupon code for free shipping in the confirmation email??) If you’re REALLY enthusiastic, you can ask me about joining my ambassador program. If you’re local, you can come to one of my events, or host a home shopping party or trunk show. (Which, might I add, I think would be great for sororities – anyone have sorority contacts in New Orleans?) And if you have constructive criticism for me, I’d love to hear that too. Seriously, I WANT to learn, and grow, and create an amazingly successful business, not just for me, but because I think it can help so many poeple, in so many ways. Help me achieve that goal. (And if I can help you achieve your goals, let me know that too – I’m always up for potential collaboration!)

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
  • Share/Bookmark

{ 5 comments }