Tips and Tricks to Increase Sales Through Free Shipping
Maybe you are makers like these guys from Havie. You spend so much time in your craft and money too - should you offer free shipping through platforms like Etsy?
crafts
Lebanon’s Broom Makers Swept Out of Business
The perpetual pursuit of cheap stuff stuck together by underpaid workers in China has put a great deal of stress on “mom and pop” artisans across the globe – including Lebanon. Traditional broom makers from Ghassaniyeh in the southern district of Zahrani told Lebanon’s Daily Star that they once made a decent living making straw […]
Fruitful Fusion “Trochets” Bean Bags from Trash
Concerned to reconnect hands and minds and make a worthwhile environmental impact, a few women from Saudi Arabia are crocheting recycled plastic bags into colorful bean bags and other quality crafts. The founder of Ateeq, which is Arabic for vintage, Diane Rayyan teamed up with crochet master Ishrat Khawja to hold a two day “trocheting” […]
Ramadan Crafting Ideas
While away the long, hot hours of fasting with these fun and festive crafting ideas for Ramadan In times of stress, I turn to sewing and crafting. Colouring in and cutting out shapes, gluing, stitching and sticking things together is just so much fun that I can’t believe entire nations aren’t hooked on it. For […]
Off the Gireed is a Sassy Egyptian Furniture Line Made with Organic Palm Fiber
Egypt’s hottest new environmentally-conscious designer Manar Moursi studied in two of America’s most prestigious academic institutions before founding Studio Meem – a sassy and sustainable design studio based in Cairo. Leaving the stoic traditions of Princeton University and UVA behind, Moursi is now making green waves in her home country. Despite being a fairly young […]
Light Bulb Terrarium and 5 New Uses For Old Light Bulbs
Just because incandescent light bulbs are less energy efficient than CFLs doesn’t mean you need to toss them. Upcycle them! IKEA Israel won’t even sell incandescent light bulbs any more, and people are gradually switching to more energy efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). No need to toss the baby out with the bathwater, though – […]
Aya Kaya’s Online Upcycling Tutorial For Turning T-Shirts Into Bags
Before grabbing another polluting plastic bag, learn how to easily make a cloth bag out of items you already have lying around. Sustainable Israeli designer Aya Tager will be giving upcycling workshops in Tel Aviv in a couple weeks, but for those who can’t make it she is giving an online workshop right here on […]
Hannukah Workshop To Teach the Miracle of Upcycled Lighting
Sustainable designer Aya Tager will teach upcycling workshops this month so that the lighting miracle of Hannukah can continue beyond the holiday’s 8 days. The Jewish holiday of Hannukah celebrates the miracle of a single day’s supply of oil lasting for eight days of lighting, and is beloved by environmentalists who appreciate the energy efficiency […]
Upcycled Tea Wraps Into Miniature Origami Masterpieces
Origami and some creativity saved these Earl Grey tea bag wrappers from the recycling bin and made them functional again. We are constantly surrounded by paper. It is in our mailboxes, surrounding our dry food items, and pretty much everywhere. It is all too easy to toss unwanted or used papers into a wastepaper basket […]
Etsy “Local” Stores in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Dubai
Regional Etsy shops unite to form old-fashioned collaborative studios, online. Etsy, the online handmade and vintage shopping platform, has done amazing things to help people buy handmade, eco-friendly and local products. Artisans who are marketing their own products can easily set up online shops on the site, and on the buying end, Etsy has made […]
The Famous Potters Of El-Qasr, Egypt Got Soul
Pottery has been passed on for several generations in el-Qasr, an ancient village 12 hours south of Cairo. In the medieval village el-Qasr, set at the foot of a limestone mountain in Egypt’s western desert, pottery is taken very seriously. In their book Egypt, Civilization of the Sands, Pauline and Philippe de Flers quote the […]
How To: Upcycle Eid Greeting Cards
Giving Eid cards is trendy in Muslim culture. Eco-designer Zaufishan demonstrates how she "upcycles" old spangles and scraps, into jazzy new handmade Eid cards for the Hajj season.
Paula Leven Handspins and Knits Wool, Bringing Totally Off-the-Grid Crafts to Etsy
Paula Leven is an avid spinner, in the archaic use of the term. Etsy, the popular handmade craft shopping site, touts itself as being green for a few reasons: all the items on the site are either handmade or vintage, and there is a feature to help shoppers buy local. And yes, these are green […]
Tel Aviv’s Salon Mazal to Host a DIY Recycled Craft Workshop This Week
Salon Mazal’s eco-activists may be a little extreme, but they can still teach you some cool recycled crafts. Salon Mazal, an information center in Tel Aviv that spreads information about a whole range of issues including social change, human rights, animal rights, consumerism, feminism, and gender issues, is known for bringing together a collective of […]
Zolaykha Sherzad Resurrects Traditional Afghan Crafts Via Modern Fashion Design
Zolaykha Sherzad revives Afghan artistic culture and trains women with her Zarif Design company in Kabul. Fashion can be environmentally friendly in a few ways. Green-ifying your outfit can be as simple as obtaining it from your local second-hand store, or using eco-friendly detergents and cold water to wash it. Alternatively, it can mean that […]