When a celebrity speaks, the world listens. And when a celebrity acts, the world pays attention. With all of those downtrodden faces like La Lohan and Britney “Pride of Louisiana” Spears manhandling the media, it’s time to see a positive and optimistic face taking the forefront.

Make It Right NOLA is the nonprofit organization fronted by beautiful boy Brad Pitt, who has invested time, energy, architects, and a vision to helping rebuild one of New Orleans most devastated regions– the Ninth Ward.

The vision of Make It Right resonates through the hearts, ears, and heads of all current and displaced New Orleanians:

In December 2006, Brad Pitt convened a group of experts in New Orleans to brainstorm about building green affordable housing on a large scale to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Having spent time with community leaders and displaced residents determined to return home, Pitt realized that an opportunity existed to build houses that were not only stronger and healthier, but that had less impact on the environment.

Previously, Pitt sponsored an architecture competition organized by Global Green with the goal of generating ideas about how to rebuild sustainably. Several of those designs are currently under construction in the Lower 9th Ward and the project inspired him to expand his efforts.

After discussing the hurdles associated with rebuilding in a devastated area, the group determined that a large-scale redevelopment project focused on green affordable housing and incorporating innovative design was indeed possible.

The group settled on the goal of constructing 150 homes (one of the larger rebuilding projects in the city), with an emphasis on developing an affordable system that could be replicated.

To demonstrate replicability, Pitt determined to locate the project in the Lower 9th Ward, one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans, proving that safe homes could and should be rebuilt. Pitt hopes that this project would be a catalyst for recovery and redevelopment throughout the Lower 9th Ward and across the city of New Orleans.

Having listened to one former resident’s plea to help “make this right,” Pitt was inspired to name the project “Make It Right” (MIR).

As a gift for those Southerners you love this season, consider making a donation to Make It Right NOLA, where eco-friendly sustainability & reconstruction will gift so many. You can choose to gift any amount, or for those looking to make a larger contribution, consider gifting an item for each house– a solar panel, a live oak tree or landscaping, or a back-up generator. Or, consider buying them a Make It Right 9 t-shirt or gift bag (like the ocean t-shirt featured at right).

Instead of following a celebrity’s trends, their bad behaviors, or their haircut, consider following their good deeds and efforts to make the world a safer, healthier, and pinker place.

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I came across this cool bracelet from a post Phyllis made on her blog, Personal Treasures, called “Gifts that Benefit Charity - Part 2″.

This unique piece of jewelry features fair trade coffee encased in a glass vial, on a hammered sterling silver bracelet. This piece is part of designer Sherry Truitt’s hunger series of jewelry: 20% of the purchase price will go to support Doctors Without Borders. I’d love this bracelet anyway, but the fact that she’s donating part of the proceeds to such a great charity makes it that much cooler.

Speaking of cool bracelets that benefit charity, Nicole, who works for the non-profit CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict), wrote to tell me about a holiday fundraiser that organization is doing.

CIVIC advocates on behalf of innocent civilian individuals in conflict-torn regions all over the world. In their online shop, CIVIC carries these handmade bracelets, laced with nine silver beads which represent the fact that nine out of every ten victims of war are innocent civilians. The entire proceeds from the sale of these bracelets will go directly back into CIVIC’s advocacy work.

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I just wanted to quickly mention a couple of really cool things I stumbled across today:

First, a friend tipped me off to this amazing new site called FreeRice. This non-profit site lets you play a fun game where you can test your word knowledge & build vocabulary skills. For every word you get right, they’ll donate 20 grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Program to help end hunger. The donated rice is paid for through advertising on the site…so the more people who visit it and play the game, the more rice they’ll be able to donate. The game is pretty addictive & challenging, plus it would be great site to introduce students to in order to help build vocabulary.

Also, I was reading the blog on Oceana’s website, and there was a great post about eco-friendly alternatives to gift wrapping. I love the idea of using silk scarves as gift wrap. They also mentioned a cool site called Wrapsacks where you can keep track of how your reusable gift wrapping is passed along from person to person. I keep trying to think of more reusable & recycled gift wrapping alternatives as the holidays approach, and I love both of these ideas.

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Looking for an alternative gift idea for the little ones in your life? What about an eco-friendly plush toy created from recycled and remnant fabrics?

The stuffed animals made by Melbourne, Australia based Real Toys are a great alternative to mass-produced toys, and since each one is crafted individually, these toys are as unique as the child who receives them.

I love this colorful elephant, but there are plenty of other animal friends to choose from, including horses and giraffes, monkeys and monsters, and more.

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This weekend I’ll be doing a special last minute addition to the New Orleans Craft Mafia’s holiday market lineup: the Crescent City Craft Market is back to our regular Second Sunday of the month, which will be this Sunday, December 9th from 2pm-6pm at The Big Top Gallery (1638 Clio Street, near Lee Circle, between St. Charles Avenue and Carondelet Street). Also, don’t forget to check us out on Thursday, December 20th from 6pm-10pm for some super last minute shopping.

Some of my fellow Craft Mafia members will be participating in Festivus on Sunday as well, from 12pm-4pm (Magazine Street @ Girod in the CBD). So if you’re a local, I highly recommend you come check these markets out…they’re pretty near each other, so it’s a quick hop, skip, and a jump from one to the other, and you can get all of your holiday shopping done in one day with local merchants and handmade items. It will be awesome & easy weekend holiday shopping that totally avoids the mall and the ‘burbs.

This Saturday, some of my friends will be doing the annual Oddities Bazaar at The Green Project. All proceeds from this event benefit Recycle for the Arts, and there will be plenty of fun things to do: an oddaments sale, a singing dog named PICKLE, stilt walkers, belly dancers, a doll, toy & mask exhibit & a silent auction!! The event takes place on December 8th, from 1pm-5pm at The Green Project ( 2831 Marais Street in the Marigny).

Also, I went to a brainstorming meeting last night for what is sure to shape up to be an amazing event here in New Orleans next spring. Remember when I posted about Go Green NOLA last week? Well, imagine a whole grassroots festival dedicated to all of the sorts of resources and ideas you can find there. This event is still very much in the planning stages (last night was the very first meeting of the minds!), but if you’re interested in being involved in putting this event together, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the right people.

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Getting into the holiday spirit? Are you running around doing all sorts of elf-like errands and preparations and decorating and maybe you’ve gotten a little chilly in the process? Have no fear because Sarah is here with The Snart!

What the heck is The Snart, you may ask? It’s the perfect companion for your head, especially during a blustery holiday season! The Snart will have you feeling festive while it keeps you warm.

To keep your noggin properly warmed this holiday season, check out sew-sew.net to order your own handmade Snart.

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Things have been crazy busy around here lately, so please pardon my infrequent posting. I promise I’m trying to simplify some things in my life and am working hard to get back to a more regular schedule. Things are crazy for most people during this time of year, I know. On that note, I just got a bit of my holiday shopping done at Lollibomb Beauty.

I met Luca from Lollibomb at Stitch last month and I was so glad to finally have the chance to sniff her products in person. I’ve been wearing the two roll-on fragrances I picked up there constantly (I snagged Sugar Rush and Dragon’s Blood).

There are TONS of great gift ideas at Lollibomb including samplers & surprise boxes, monthly subscriptions, travel sets & gift certificates. Plus everything is really affordable, handmade, 100% vegan, and smells delicious! Luca even runs an awesome recycling program where you can send in your old Lollibomb containers in exchange for a free gift.

Check out her website or order your gifts via Lollibomb.etsy.com.

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Fellow New Orleanian Lillian Lovich wrote to me the other day to let me know about a fabulous new resource she’s created called Go Green NOLA. This site is a green how-to guide full of resources for the New Orleans community. It’s got info on recycling, sustainable building, eating & shopping locally, and much more, all in one place. The website looks really amazing. Great job, Lillian!

Lillian also mentioned that she’s a fellow crafter…I think the stuff she makes is super cute! Just take a peek at Lillie’s 5 & Dime for sweet coin purses (the Howdy Horse pouch at right is adorable!), aprons, paper goods & vintage.

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As I’m sure most of you are well aware, today is Black Friday. Well, for my part, I’m staying well away from the malls and major shopping centers, because I took the Handmade Pledge and all of my holiday shopping will be from independent artists and locally owned shops.

If you’re looking for a way to shop handmade and support causes you care about at the same time, check out this blog post: Give Gifts That Give Twice: Holiday Presents from ETSY that Support Charities

If you’re in the Chicago area, I recommend you drop by the Crafted Handmade Market of Exquisite and Curious Things tomorrow, November 24th. This event takes place at Goose Island Brew Pub in Wrigleyville (3535 N. Clark) from 10am-4pm and admission is free & parking is free and ample. Sounds like it will be a great time!

If you’re a New Orleans local, I’d love to see you on Sunday for the holiday edition of the Crescent City Craft Market. Hosted by the New Orleans Craft Mafia, this special event takes place at The Big Top (1638 Clio Street, just off of St. Charles Ave.) on November 25th from 2pm-6pm. There will be a DJ, discounts and door prizes, plus admission is free and there is plenty of free parking in the Fleet Tire lot across the street. If you can’t make it this Sunday, be sure to mark your calendars because we’ll be hosting an extra special “Last Stop Shop” next month on Thursday, December 20th from 6pm-10pm, also at The Big Top.

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In case you haven’t already heard, there’s a great new blog on the indie block called IndieSave.com.

Blogger & designer Danielle (also of indie boutique Collective Elements) created this site as a one-stop blog for coupons, deals, sales and other promotional offers from all your favorite independent designers. You can browse the blog by discount amount or type or sign up to receive the email newsletter so you’ll know as soon as any new promos have been added. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me!

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On Friday night I went with a co-worker to see the New Orleans Bingo! Show. She’d never seen it before, and afterwards she couldn’t stop raving about how great it was. I first wrote about it here, in the early days of this blog. This show never fails to make me remember all of the things I love about New Orleans… How this city can get into your blood and the real reasons that all of us living here can’t give up on her.

During each show they usually show a couple of short videos. This time the band’s leader, Clint Maegden, made a little speech after they showed my favorite video, Complicated Life. He uploaded it onto YouTube a couple of months ago and is trying to get the video up to 100,000 views. He’s a quarter of the way there so far. This video is what I love about New Orleans in under 5 minutes. Seriously, go take a peek and you’ll see what I mean. (I’d embed the video here, but for some reason I can never get videos to show up in this blog.)

While you’re checking out awesome NOLA videos, take a look at this Current TV piece on The Noisician Coalition. I’ve had the chance to participate in a few of the noise parades, and I’ve got to say, I’m really proud to have these people as my friends.

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I’ve been crazy for earrings lately. With my super short haircut, I’ve been wearing them pretty much every day. Here are a few of my favorite recent earring finds:

I’m loving these adorable caterpillar-like handcrafted sterling silver earrings. Each pair is made to order for only $30 at StoneSoupJewelry.

My boyfriend got me addicted Guitar Hero on XBox, and these earrings made from recycled vinyl records remind me of my new favorite video game. $14.99 at VLING

These sterling silver earrings are a great buy because they’re so amazingly versatile. In fact, they’re four pairs of earrings in one! In addition to the hoops pictured here, they also come with a tiny stud earwire, and you can wear the pieces alone or with the main body. $36 at India y la Luna

I think these kiln-fired enamel and copper earrings would be perfect for everyday wear and would be a great way to add some sass to a simple jeans & a t-shirt. $21 at tinarice

Last but certainly not least… if I had to choose only one, these would be my current faves. I stumbled across these octopus tentacle earrings a few days ago on Etsy and now I’m obsessed. I’ve been an avid octopi fan since well before the current craze, and these are just gorgeous. $38 at OctopusMe

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Well, I’m safely back home after a fun weekend in Austin. I had a great time at Stitch on Saturday and got to do a little shopping yesterday afternoon on South Congress Street.

The weekend was a whirlwind! I was so glad to finally meet Maggie & Michael of Supermaggie in person and I was also very excited to meet Sarah of Fort Cloudy and Luca of Lollibomb Beauty (I picked up two of her yummy smelling roll-on fragrances at the show). Here’s the three of us in a Myspace style photo:

I snagged an amazing clutch made from vintage upholstery fabric from Cahoots Handbags and browsed the fabulous goods at Aorta’s booth (fellow Etsian the Rocket Workshop even snapped a picture of me in action at Aorta’s booth). I also got to meet fellow blogger Jessica of Funky Finds. (If you want a chance to win some Stitch swag, be sure to check out her recap of the event and leave a comment with your favorite funky Stitch designer.)

I also got to see lots of amazing people again, including Rob & Corinne from Threadbanger, Faythe of the Indie Craft Documentary, Shannon from Patina, & Matt from Etsy. I’m sure I’m forgetting people too, there was just so much to see! It was a sensory overload. So much so in fact that I totally spazzed and forgot to snap any pictures. Doh! Luckily plenty of people were there with cameras…just check out the photos here, here, and here.

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