We love our artisans and the amazing work they do! Here are a few of our favorite Fair Trade gifts ideas this season, and some of the stories of the beautiful people who made them. We welcome you to see how each product, perfect for the world traveler, is changing the lives of individuals, families, and communities around the globe. Your purchase enlivens their spirit and enriches their lives, as we hope their stories and amazing handmade goods enlivens yours! Thank you for helping make the world a better place!
Africa
Trunk Scrub Shea Soap Honey, Lemon, and Oatmeal by Global Mamas
All Good Stuff. No Bad Stuff. This 4.2oz/120g Shea Soap Bar is naturally moisturizing and refreshing with packaging made from 100% recycled plastic. Handmade in Ghana from pure unrefined shea butter, coconut oil, natural salts, and essential oils. Global Mamas creates hand-crafted items using traditional techniques, maintaining local artisanal skills. Each product is full of life, love, and is crafted with the utmost quality. The producers in the Global Mamas network have worked together for over a decade in Ghana, West Africa developing products that resonate with consumers all over the world, and in-turn have created prosperity for themselves and their families!
Multicolor Six Strand Braid Beaded Bracelet by Zakali Creations
This beaded bracelet features six braided strands of glass seed beads. It secures with a hook clasp and an extension chain and measures approximately 7 inches long. Handmade by the young men and women of Zakali Creations, they produce handmade fair trade fashion jewelry using the skills of wire work and electroplating. The project first started as a garbage collection project in the slums of Nairobi. Recycling remains very close to the heart of the project and much of the material used is reclaimed or recycled, including the cord found inside of tires, which is used to string the beads.
Golden Tiger Eye Bloom Brass Earrings by Brass Images
Accenting polished brass with golden tiger eye stones, South African artisans handcrafted these earrings that hang 1.5 inches from brass hooks. Brass Images was established in 1988 in the coastal town of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. The long-lasting success of the project is due to the fact that the group develops new designs on a regular basis and pays great attention to detail and quality. Brass Images employs 15 people from the local community to help create high-quality fashion jewelry. As demand grows, the organization hires and trains more artisans, providing sustainable income in an area in need of employment. Solid brass and copper are the base materials of each product. By applying extreme heat, the artisans are able to create the interesting patterns and effects on the jewelry. No dyes are used. Each item is entirely handmade and is a one-of-a-kind art piece.
Asia
Upcycled Checkered Seat Belt Handbag by Conserve
The fusion of recycled material and high fashion never looked so good. The woven seat belts provide an engaging design and set this handbag apart as the perfect green fashion statement. This upcycled seatbelt bag is 14 inches long 10 inches high and 4 inches wide with 27 inch seat belt shoulder straps. It is lined with reclaimed denim and has three pockets on the inside, one of which has a zipper.
Born of a desire to reduce India's mountain of waste, improve energy efficiency, and help some of Delhi's poorest out of the city's slums, Conserve India achieves all this by turning plastic bags and unused items and into high fashion handbags. Conserve started as a fledgling recycling project but quickly adapted to confront the biggest challenge it was facing, what to do with the thousands of plastic bags and useable items that could not be composted or recycled locally. After much experimentation, the Conserve team hit upon the idea of not recycling, but upcycling by washing, drying, and pressing the bags into sheets. Handmade Recycled Plastic (HRP) was born and designs for handbags, wallets, shoes, and belts, quickly came flooding in. The challenge was obvious: Use high fashion to support better lives for the poorest, and a cleaner environment for all.
Be Mindful Metallic Message Journal by Matr Boomie
Hardbound eco-friendly paper 5 by 7 inch journal in teal with a metallic design and an inspiring reminder to "be mindful." MATR BOOMIE is a fair trade collection from India that marries modern design sensibility with inspiring traditional art forms, bringing people and cultures closer together. With the mission of creating opportunities for women and minorities to realize their creative, economic and leadership potential. They have grown to empower 20,000 artisans in 40 partner communities throughout India.
OM Medicine Buddha 4" Meditation Bowl with Box by DZI, Inc.
The attractive gift box is made with sustainably harvested Himalayan lokta paper on top of a recycled paperboard. Inside the 4.5 inch square box you''ll find a cushion, striker and 4 inch diameter bowl along with instruction for care and how to use the bowl for a simple meditation. Walking into DZI, Inc in Kathmandu production center’s reception, you are immediately greeted by a cheerful ‘Namaste’ (‘I Salute the God Within You’) with hands pressed together in a prayerful expression. They produce hundreds of unique styled items for export.
The Americas
Alpaca Silver Teardrop Mosaic Stone Earrings by Artisana
These Alpaca silver earrings handmade in Mexico feature a 1.25 inch long open silver teardrop with diagonal mosaic stone and resin Inlay hung on hypoallergenic hooks. The artisans of Tecalpulco, Mexico have long been known for their silver and abalone jewelry. ArtCamp, short for Artesanas Campesinas (or rural female artisans), is a women-owned cooperative that continues this tradition. The group constantly introduces new methods, materials, and machinery to compete in the highly competitive jewelry market, even surviving a collapse in the marketability of their pieces in the 1990’s after jewelry from other countries flooded the US market. The artisans have become business women, understanding the importance of customer service, quality, and design. Their product range includes semi-precious stones, shells, and even tiny flowers captured in resin. Each piece is accentuated by silver alloys or precious metals, and carries on the tradition of fine Mexican jewelry.
This 24 inch Haitian metal wall art features a tree of life with birds in a heart shape. Perfect for hanging indoors or out, the piece is hand painted, hand cut and embossed. When you visit Croix des Bouquets, the area of town known for Haitian metal art in the capital of Port-Au-Prince, you are met with a cacophony of tink, tink, tink as ball peen hammers strike sheets of steel. The sheets are cut from steel drums colored by oil and other liquids the drums at one time held. The process of turning sheets of metal into beautiful wall art is all done by hand, from cutting holes that become edges of trees and leaves, to accenting each lizard with a texture of scales, to painting or lacquering the final design. The artists are proud of their work, signing the pieces on the back side.
Handmade in Guatemala, this chunky necklace with seed beads and turquoise stones features a beaded t-bar closure. Measures 21 inch unclasped. Lucia's Imports LLC partners with Guatemalan families, artisan groups, and cooperatives to maintain a wholesale market for their quality accessories and handicrafts. Lucia's Imports is a member of the Fair Trade Federation and hopes to share the beauty of Guatemala's art and culture while making a difference in the lives of Mayan artisans, one purchase at a time. They design products rich in tradition and sustainable fashion utilizing traditional weaving skills in modern design.
Unique World Inspirations, conscious gifts for globetrotters, is a social enterprise online shop selling Fair Trade gifts and products inspired by the people and cultures we’ve encountered on our travels. By providing crafts to you that are handmade by artisans around the world, we are all making the world a better place, one product at a time.