Shopping handmade for the holidays has gotten really easy thanks to Etsy — so up the ante and get handmade gifts that are also crafted by women from upcycled materials! While you may not be a fan of your grandma’s holiday sweaters, green girls with style are handmaking gifts that are as beautiful as they are unique and eco-friendly. A few to consider:

For the wine drinking fashionista: Smart Glass Jewelry. The brainchild of dumpster-diving eco-artist Kathleen Plate, Smart Glass Jewelry’s made from emptied glass bottles.

The chic pieces, meticulously cut and polished into eye-catching, translucent accessories, certainly don’t look like they were inspired by bottles in the dumpster. Prices range from $38 for a glass bangle to $248 for a large charm necklace. Earlier: Kathleen Plate’s recycled glass home collection: Dumpster diving as art.

For the anti-plastic-bag crusader: “This Bag is Garbage” accessories from Original Good. Made by fusing discarded one-use plastic bags, these cute clutches and purses are made under fair trade practices by women in New Delhi.

For the music-loving writer: Papergeist journals. For the greenest writerly gift, opt for Papergeist, which covers its goods with vintage record sleeves and fills its pages with pre-used paper, folded so you can use just the clean side!

Post use, every part of the journal can be recycled in whatever bin takes paper in your town — aside from the black spirally coil, which you can send  back to Papergeist — 501 W. 124th Ave., Tampa, FL 33612 — for $5 off a new notebook. That said, I’ve filled up the notebook I own — but love the cover so much I don’t want to recycle it….

Papergeist offers journals and planners at $22 a pop, but you can get 20% off your purchase by using the code “SFF20″ minus the quotes. Earlier: Barbarella Papergeist journal.

Photos via Original Good, Papergeist, Smart Glass Jewelry

0 Comments