'Tis the season to get great deals on Christmas ornaments for next year!  Check out the great selection over at Global Girlfriend where they have ornaments on sale from several countries made by women artisans.  The ball ornaments are created with glass beads by women working at a trade co-operative in India.  This trade co-op helps women to gain valuable skills, be paid a fair, living wage, have a safe working environment and even a retirement plan!  The site contains a huge range of items made by women in fair trade work environments.  The beaded ornament comes in four colors as shown and is currently on sale for $4.95 from it's regular price of $6.  Even better, with every purchase of each of these ornaments, Global Girlfriend will fund 1.0 percent of a microgrant for a woman in a rural community in Africa to launch a small business, through Camfed.

The middle ornament is an angel made from women in Kenya to represent peace and happiness during the holiday season.  The angel is dressed in traditional Kenyan clothing and is completely adorable, imho.  She'd make a great addition to any Christmas tree, regardless of culture, country or ethnicity.  Global Girlfriend asks you to purchase these products "to help build a better future for girlfriends around the globe".  Great idea and company name!  The angels are on sale right now for $3.50 from it's regular price of $4.95.

The embroidered ornaments on the right hand side are made by women in India.  The dragonfly ornament is currently out of stock but the cat ornament with sequins is still available.  These ornaments are made at a women's fair trade co-operative called Tara Projects which can be read up on in detail on the Global Girlfriend site.  It even has short bios of two of the artisans fighting their way out of poverty with strength, perserverance, dignity, skill and hard work.  It's a pretty amazing read that really makes you consider how blessed we are.  These ornaments are now $1 off -- down to $5.95 instead of $6.95.  The'd be a great addition to next years decorations as well as lending a hand up to women crafters in India.

As mentioned in previous posts, my Christmas wish list this year will be entirely green.  Yes, even a fuschia mug counts as being green when it is made from 100% recycled polypropylene.  Instead of getting paper or the even worse alternative of styrofoam, I almost always bring my own mug.  I've been doing this for years and years now.  I guess that's why it's about time to pick up a new one!  This super environmentally responsible mug reduces waste, repurposes recycled plastic and is 100% recyclable itself when it is time to replace it.

It's BPA free so you don't need to worry about harmful chemicals leaching into your coffee.  The double lined walls of the mug help to keep the coffee warm longer.  This really shouldn't be an issue for me since I usually finish my coffee right away!  Another bonus is that it's microwave and dishwasher safe.  My stainless steel coffee mugs can't do that and it can be a real pain sometimes.  In case any of my relatives are wondering, the mug is made by Aladdin and available online at LL Beans.  You can even search online for an LL Bean coupon to use when buying Christmas items there.  That way your eco-shopping will be even more affordable!  I do quite a bit of online shopping at this time of year and find online coupons can really save money easily.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, here and here, I'm going to try to ask for only eco-friendly gifts this Christmas.  These colorful bowls have definitely made the list.  They're made by Zak designs out of 100% recycled melamine to create a funky, retro style pattern appropriately called "Confetti".  The pattern is available in bright colors or black and reds so you can get whatever suits your mood and kitchen.  I've already got a set of plastic mixing and serving bowls but I always worry about how safe the plastic is.  These bowls are BPA, PVC, phalate and lead free so that completely removes any of the concerns that using plastic might give you.

Safe for dishwasher but not microwave use (of course!), so they're easy to care for as well as easy on the earth.  These are not the only items in the collection -- it contains a whole line of plates, bowls, salt and pepper shakers, etc.  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that I get a set of these this year for Christmas.  They're available on Amazon if anyone's interested -- hint, hint! lol

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going to only ask for environmentally friendly things this year for Christmas.  That should make shopping a learning experience for my family.  My mom bragged to me the other day that she was going "green" because she recycles her empty cigarette packages....doh!

Onto something funner...check out these gorgeous purses made by Etsy crafter interrobang.  Based out of Australia, interrobang literally means question mark, exclamation point (?!).  I just thought that was an interesting/weird little tidbit!  She lists recycled seatbelts as one of her favorite materials to work with and recommends that you order with plenty of time left for shipping if you're in the U.S./Canada.

Both the purse and matching wallet are, obviously, made from recycled seatbelts.  Tons of cars are sent to the wreckers every year with the metal being recycled.  The seat belts were previously just garbage but have been ingeniously repurposed into these amazing purses and wallets.  The nature of the seatbelt itself is meant to be extremely strong and durable.  This leads to extremely strong and durable products made out of the junked belts!

I absolutely love the look of the belts sewn together and then having melted seams to make it even stronger.  The shiny stripes make a beautiful and completely unexpected striped appearance to the bag.  I'm certain that many people wouldn't even recognize the material as being a seatbelt but I'd love to fill them in on the huge range of benefits of upcycling!

There are a few different styles of purses and wallets available as well as laptop sleeves and messenger bags.  She even has an interesting bag made from upcycled billboards!  Definitely worth checking out this seller as you try to get your Christmas shopping done!!