Life can sometimes get heavy and dark. We need to take steps to lighten it up. And what better way than to add some color and joy into our surroundings? These felt ball coasters do just that – and they’re fair trade!

I love the colors in these. Bright. Cheerful. They’re like virtual flowers. The felt balls are absorbent and non-scratchy. They protect your table and keep your glassware clean as well.

They’re like little circles of joy.

The coasters are fair trade from Nepal. The wool used for the felt comes from New Zealand.

It’s really a win-win-win.

Grab your coasters and enjoy!

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If you’ve never used dryer balls before, it’s time for you to start! Dryer balls are amazing. They help your clothes dry much more quickly, which is good for them and good for your electric bill. You want to “cook” your clothes for as little time as possible, for their health and longevity. And who wants a higher electric bill?

Dryer balls also help clothes come out wrinkle-free. Which, for most styles, is a plus.

These things are just so adorably cute. They’re made of wool. Eco-friendly. Fair trade. Great for the environment. Great for your clothes. Great for your household budget.

I originally bought a set of six of the Penguin Dryer Balls. But then my son did laundry at our house. And mysteriously, we only have one cute little round penguin dryer ball left.

Just one.

Clearly these things are addictive.

So this time I’m getting sheep ones. That way, if random penguins start re-appearing again, we know what is going on. Or maybe the sheep will vanish, too. And we’ll have to get a third shape.

Whatever we get, we’ll definitely be getting more. Because these things are just amazing :).

Highly recommended.

Get the Friendsheep Eco-Friendly Fair Trade Dryer Balls from Amazon

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We often think of coffee as a typical fair trade item – but for some reason we don’t tend to think of tea as fair trade. That’s a shame, because harvesting tea is just as farmer-intensive as harvesting coffee is. There is the same reason to support the workers who invest their lives into bringing us the very best tea we can drink.

I had to swear off of coffee a long time ago because of the caffeine. My hands are naturally shaky and even decaffeinated coffee’s mild amounts of caffeine can cause me issues. For those same reasons, I can’t drink caffeinated tea. But I do adore herbal teas.

Serenity is a style of herbal tea from Friendship Organics. It includes in its ingredients:

peppermint
fennel
ginger
passion flower

These are flavors I absolutely adore. Interestingly, I wouldn’t normally think of these as “serene” types of aromas – there are many other items which would more readily come to mind. However, I do find this quite serene and relaxing when I’m sipping it. It’s a nice alternative to the other kinds of relaxing teas that I have and enjoy.

This one container shown has two inner containers, each with 20 bags of tea. So the overall package provides 40 bags of tea. Each bag is tagless. I prefer the tagless types of tea. I tend to somehow drag the tags of bags into the teacup and then have to fish them out again, so it’s just as well for me that there isn’t a tag to cause trouble in the first place.

I like that the tea is organic, without pesticides or hormones used on it. I also of course really like that it is fair trade. It makes me happy to know that the workers who invested their time on this tea will be paid fairly for that time.

And the tea is tasty :).

Well recommended for tea drinkers.

Buy Serenity Herbal Tea from Amazon.com

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Aren’t these adorable! They’re dryer balls. Did you know that adding dryer balls to your dryer cycle can reduce your drying time up to 40%? What they do is help separate out and fluff out clothing so it has a better chance of drying. Some dryer balls are made of hard plastic which make noise throughout the dryer cycle and thunk against the walls of your unit. These are soft, fluffy, and do the same job without the noise or damage.

Some people use dryer sheets to reduce static cling, but those add harsh chemicals to the clothing which isn’t good for the clothing or for you. Avoid all those chemicals. If you use a wool dryer ball, you get the same benefits in a far skin-friendlier way.

These dryer balls are organic and eco-friendly. They’re made from New Zealand wool and are chemical free. Fragrance free. Hypoallergenic. And oh so cute :).

These are fair trade items. They are hand made in Nepal. The workers are paid fair living wages for their efforts, so they can feed and shelter themselves and family members. I’m a strong proponent of fair trade, as you might guess.

Well recommended! Give these a try!

Penguin Wool Dryer Balls – Organic Fair Trade from Nepal on Amazon

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I loved playing the Zelda game Ocarina of Time. The more I played it, the more I wanted an ocarina for my very own. I ended up buying some cheap plastic one and not using it much.

Now that I’m a bit older, I’ve come to treasure the concept of fair trade. I also love things which connect me to happy memories. These beautifully hand-painted ocarinas are perfect in both regards. Plus, you can of course play them!

They come in a variety of bright colors – red, blue, yellow, teal. The designs are gorgeous. They are generally abstract with triangles, diamonds and lines. To me they look like Ukrainian Easter eggs, which adds to their appeal since I am half Ukrainian and always had those around the house.

I’m not sure I would buy these for a tiny child to simply toss around in the toybox. They’re too pretty for that. Get the young toddlers the plastic variety and get one of these for yourself. You can display it on a shelf, enjoying its beauty, and then take it down occasionally to toot along with a song.

Well recommended.

Ocarina Whistle – Hand Painted Fair Trade from Peru on Amazon

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