Five Favorite Etsy Stores- Eco-Friendly Phone Cases

I want to keep highlighting amazing makers in the US, and I feel like my Etsy links can get caught in the more mainstream shuffle. So starting a series to focus on the greatest stuff we have found.

I don't have an i Phone, so my biggest concern is just finding ANY cover that fits my Windows Phone, but one of the weird perks of an iPhone is you have millions of choices for covers. Within these many, many choices are some that are both Made in America and environmentally-conscientious. It can be easy to just pick whatever is at the store, but most of these are plastic, and they don't do much good. I tracked down some better options on Etsy.

from Carved Products

Carved Products sells phone covers made of recycled skateboards. They look really cool, and I just think this is a great use of materials that might just be discarded otherwise. Plus, there is something sweet about a grown man carrying his fancy phone in a skateboard. It's ok, buddy, you are still hip.

from I Make the Case

I Make the Case has a HUGE selection of bamboo cases that are more eco friendly than plastic, Also great because they last a long time. The longer one case lasts, the fewer cases you send to the landfill, so picking one with a great reputation makes a lot of sense.

from Wrecords by Monkey

Wrecords by Monkey sells a recycled record phone case. These also look really graphic and sharp. Such a cool choice, and it might make a great gift!

from Wild Weka Designs

Wild Weka Designs makes all kinds of everyday household objects (I like their make up brush rolls) out of discarded fabric, saving it from a landfill. They also sell cute little pockets for iPhones. I have never used a pocket cover like this, but if one is your thing, this one helps the Earth AND looks good!

from The Eco Owl

The Eco Owl is based out of Ireland, but I wanted to highlight them anyway, because they do sell eco-friendly phone cases with a lot of beauty and style. Another one that looks really chic and functional to me, which is really the goal, right? Finding environmentally-friendly stuff that people would want even if it wasn't eco-friendly!

Want even more eco-friendly and local shopping inspiration? Check out my Giant List of Ethical and Eco-Friendly Shopping Lists. 

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Five Favorite Etsy Stores- Pack Your Lunch

I want to keep highlighting amazing makers in the US, and I feel like my Etsy links can get caught in the more mainstream shuffle. So starting a series to focus on the greatest stuff we have found. 

As we get ready for the school year, lots of us also get ready to pack a lunch! Not everyone does, and I think it is totally up to you whether your kid (or you!) brings a lunch. Still, this is another one of those things where there is no need to settle for the junk they sell at Walmart or Target- you can buy something specially-made in the US on Etsy and use it for years. Let's make our lunches zero waste!

For a Lunch Sack

from A Little Lark

A Little Lark sells simple cotton bags with all sorts of hilarious and/or adorable designs silkscreened onto them. Such a cool variety and I think this would be absolutely perfect most elementary schoolers. Cool and different, but also really affordable.

from Italic Home

I love these bags from Italic Home, because they look so much like a regular paper lunch bag, but on closer inspection, you see they are made from waxed canvas. It feels modern and totally eco and animal-friendly. If you like these waxed bags but are looking for a different color, you can try Newton Supply Co.

from Intericon

Intericon makes gorgeous cotton and leather lunch sacks that could look grown up enough for a workplace while still being sturdy enough for a kid. Might be a perfect transitional bag for a high schooler. I like that it stays standing on its own.

from Waami Industries

Waami Industries makes great-looking lunch sacks in some of my favorite colors. Based out of Minneapolis, this company takes low cost and low value items, chooses more beautiful and eco-friendly materials, and what results is just really sharp and well-suited to all sorts of students and adults.

from Cloth Bliss

If you (or your little one) want something with some pattern or fun, check at Cloth Bliss which has all sorts of cute patterns and designs. I can totally see this coming with someone to elementary school!

And Instead of those Ziploc Bags...

from Love for Earth

Love for Earth makes tons of sizes and colors sandwich and snack bags out of their shop in Virginia. They have amazing reviews, and you just handwash the bags with the rest of your dishes for the day. One bag can last years, replacing tons of ziplocs (saving money and preventing waste- score!).

from Olive Street Studio

Olive Street Studio also makes wet bags/ sandwich bags. I love the cute patterns they come in, though I would worry about getting something too cutesy since they last so long!

from Bag it Conscious

Bag it Conscious sells sandwich, snack, and lunch bags. I love the bright colors and simple designs. The patterns look so fun for younger kids. Plus, they have 3000 positive reviews, so they must know what is up. (check out equally fun napkins to put with it on Creekside Kid).

from Sweet Pea Purse Company

Sweet Pea Purse Company also makes sandwich bags in some seriously adorable prints that might even be cool enough for a high schooler to use. Other ones are pure kiddo, but check them out.

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Top 5 TV Shows I'm Definitely Not Looking Forward To

1. The X Factor- I am so sick of singing shows and celebrity judges and all of that nonsense. And I actually think last year this was the show that broke the camel's back. No amount of teen queen is going to win me over to this, or the one with the chairs, or the one that used to have J Lo. Please someone start the new trend, because this one is tired.
2. The New Normal- People keep talking about this one, because it is the next brain child of Ryan Murphy, but I am not sure there could be a bigger turnoff for me. Because I am pretty sure Murphy's creative MO is starting with a cool conceit loaded with some sort of potential, and then making it increasingly bizarre/stupid/sincere and ugly at the same time. I really did like Glee in like the second half of the first season. That Madonna Episode is damn good. But at some point, some big chunk of somebodies at Glee ran out of good ideas and humor. Also, is a coming out story really the only way to give a high schooler pathos? And I am happy there are some good gay story lines out there, but if you are still making your curvy girl sing songs about eating tater tots, I am pretty sure we aren't talking about acceptance. It's bizarre, because it wants to be making fun of High School Musical style moral patronizing, but it just espouses a different set of rules. That isn't satire, that isn't clever, and I don't see his new show as being any different. I think that actually American Horror Story is the perfect creative vehicle for Murphy, because he can just switch set ups as he goes.
3. Revolution- I am sorry, but I have not forgiven any of the guys from Lost yet. They are freaking assholes that wasted way too much of my life. I am not watching another show, because now I know they never know what the hell they are doing. Plus their "tough girls" are always kind of wusses who need men's help. Plus, I hate them. I will never watch this show.
4. SNL- I have already written at length about how much I hate SNL now. Especially Seth Myer's SNL. I'll pass, thanks.
5.  Whitney- You know those girls who say they hate all other girls because they are actually the only cool girl and all other girls are stupid? Worst group ever. And this show is not funny.

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Top 5 Documentaries about Crime

I can't even try to explain the obsession with these kind of narratives, especially since I don't particularly like this kind of content in fiction films. Yet, Netflix is on to the fact that I obsess about crime documentaries. They run the gamut from really smart with interesting distance from the crime itself to kind of short sighted to totally vague and not particularly interesting.

1. Aileen Wuornos- Life and Death of a Serial Killer- The first time I saw this, I was not a fan, but this film, and its prequel are one of the most interesting accounts of what happens after the indictment I have ever seen. It would be plenty smart if we only saw the economics and publicity that ran rampant around Wuornos, but this is paired with interviews with Wuornos that are so insane that they are actually mesmerizing. Two very strange movies, but I would say they are much more interesting than the film Monster, which is based on Wuornos. Truth is definitely more compelling than the fiction, in this case. They are on Netflix, and I would recommend them for afternoon viewing.
2. Capturing the Friedmans-This film captures the perspectives of the Friedman family, a typical family who was broken up when the father Arnold (and subsequently one of his son's Jesse) were tried and plead guilty for shocking crimes against Friedman's young students. Director Andrew Jarecki lucked out to tap into such a compelling archive of the family's private films as their father and brother awaited trial for pedophilia. Where many of these films suffer from a sort of vague point of view, Jarecki uses the ambiguity of the trial to his narrative advantage. The director was said to have sympathized with the family, believing them innocent, but I think the film can only transcend the original allegations as long the father's insistent silence, non-presence, and undeniable collection of child pornography fade into the background. But the gap (and some level of guilt?( at the center is so loud, and that is what makes the film so compelling, pared with the excessive emotion of the wife and children.
3. Dear Zachary- This film is emotional torture. I can't even recommend it to you, because it comes right in and crushes your soul. I would never watch it again, but I think it was well done and certainly approaches the crime in question with a tender and thoughtful intimacy not often displayed in these kinds of films. It also has a very specific and political point of view which I think is really smart. But seriously, I would not wish this film on my worst enemy.
4. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired- I never knew much about this crime, beyond that Polanski is a creepy perv. This movie didn't really change my mind, but it's account of the vast differences (and the political stakes) in his treatment in Europe and America is highly compelling. All in all, a very smart, very dry account of what happened from multiple perspectives. Good little documentary.
5. Cropsey- Dealing with murder as collective myth and shared mystery. I loved that aspect of the film, though the research aspects of the film are weak and the actual facts around the murders seem rather loose. They picked a road that it was difficult to finish, and the beginning of the film is much better than the end, but it is still an interesting experiment.

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5 Things I Love This Week- Weekend Away Edition

1. Diggery Doos Falling out of People's Vans- This happened. Out of this van. And then the guy walked around the parking lot spirit dancing. Apparently all of the hippies they ran out of Silicon Valley landed further north, because their amazingness is everywhere up there.

 2. The Entrance to the Redwood Forests- This is not what you imagine when you think of National Forests. A Big beautiful beach. It was a good shock.

3. Fern Gully- We actually saw where they shot a lot of the Ewok stuff from the third Star Wars movies. And the rock from the Goonies. And where they shot a bunch of Jurassic Park 2. And the Boy felt we discovered Fern Gully. Apparently the Redwood Forests is like second Hollywood.

4. The world's largest crab cakes ever- Yes, this happened too. From the Trinidad Eatery in Trinidad. They were like the size of my face. We couldn't finish them. I literally had like one bite of my dinner. There was like a whole crab in each of them, and they were super delicious. 10 out of 10, except that we both felt major eating guilt afterwards.

5. Cows free roaming on the side of Highway 1- Yes, it is random, but we watched an illegal passer almost hit a cow. Then I honked my horn (I saved the cow's life!), and got them running, Red River style. Sadly, the cows did not trample the doushey passing person's car.

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5 Things I Love this Week

1. That my brother got a job! Man, I could not be happier (or more relieved) that things are coming together for my brother as he gets moving in his life in LA. So proud of him!

from fabfashionfix.com/beauty-how-to-apply-eyeliner-tutorial/‎

2. Cat eyes- Ok, so I cannot yet do something like this for myself, but a good cat eye just looks so pretty. Still working on making my own, because they certainly look nothing like these ones, but eventually I will figure it out! Hopefully anyway! Still enjoying my brief turn into girlyhood, but I can also sense that this isn't built to last (I just don't have the patience, so I better enjoy it while it still has my attention.
3.Harrison - "that awkward moment when everyone else that shares your political ideals is a moron..."- More specifically, getting in a political debate on facebook and having your conservative cousin basically back you up. It doesn't often go that way, but it did this week and I enjoyed it. (Plus, it is his birthday in 2 days! Yay cousin!

4. This picture. The Boy's family went on vacation last week, and it was saad we couldn't go, but pictures like this make me smile. That is living the good life!

from modernkiddo.com/its-the-modern-kiddo-costume-parade/

5, Little children in Hobbit costumes smoking pipes. Why does this make me so happy? I can't even describe. It makes me want to learn to sew, so my children can someday dress like orcs or something.

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