GREEN DIVA - SHOPPING BAGS

Paper or plastic?

The answer: Neither!

BYOB = Bring your own bag. You can get them for a $1 each at most grocery stores. You can get pretty ones for a little bit more or make your own. Choose sturdy ones so that they last you a long, long time.

Library Tote by Dotty Spot Design

Keep them in your trunk, on the passenger seat of your car or if you're like me and carry an enormous purse - just fold them up and stick them in your purse. This way you'll never forget the bags. Use them every time you shop, not only in grocery stores but also when you go to the mall, flea market or anywhere else.

Upcycled Cat Food Bag by Twinklespins

Make it a habit and try not taking any bags from any stores. It will happen that you run of space in your bags or you forget to bring them etc., and when it does make sure to reuse and recycle the plastic / paper bags you acquire at the store. For example you can reuse the plastic ones as liners in trash cans and paper ones to store your recyclables.

Grocery Bag Sewing Pattern by Keykalou

FASHION STORIES - THE STORY OF A HAT

What's a hat? A hat is head covering. It can be worn from protection against sun, cold, wind or other elements, for ceremonial or religious purchases or as a fashion accessory. 

Red Coctail Hat by HandmadeHatsbyElla

First pictorial depictions of hats go back to ancient Greece and Rome. Milliner is a hat maker and the term comes from Milan where best quality hats were made in 18th century. Did you know that is how Coco Chanel started her career? As a hat maker. Since the early 21st century flamboyant hats have made a comeback, so tall headpieces that could be described as wearable sculptures are totally in now!

Portrait of Bob by froganddog

A traditional hat consist of 4 main parts:

1. Crown - the part that covers the top of the head.

2. Peak / visor / bill - a stiff projection at the front, to shade or shield the eyes from sun and rain.

3. Brim - optional projection of stiff material from the bottom of the hat horizontally and around the circumference of the hat.

4. Puggaree / sweatband / hatband - a ribbon or band that runs around the bottom of the torso of the hat. 

Flower Felted Hat by Danfe

There are lots and lots of different types of hats. Everybody probably heard of an ascot cap, baseball cap, beanie, beret, fascinator, fedora, hard hat, top hat or a Santa hat. But here are some that only few can name:

Balmoral bonnet - traditional Scottish bonnet or cap worn with Highland dress.

Bearskin - tall, furry, full dress hat worn by the guards. You've probably seen in front of the Buckingham Palace. 

Bicorne - broad brim felt hat with the brim folded up and pinned up. Like the one on Napoleon.

Audrey Hepburn by FeelingArtsyStudio

Capotain - worn in 16th and 17th century in Europe. Like the one on Pilgrims.

Cordobes - associated with Flamenco but you probably have seen it on Zorro

Deerstalker - warm close fitting tweed cap for hunting. Like the one on Sherlock Holmes. 

Kolpik - brown fur hat worn by Hassidic Jews

Montera - a crocheted hat worn by bullfighters

Wedding Day Mini Top Hat by BelleMillinery

Rastacap - a tall, round, usually crocheted and brightly colored cap. Think Bob Marley.

Toque - a tall, pleated, brimless, cylindrical hat traditionally worn by chefs.

Ushanka - Russian fur hat with fold down ear flaps

Zuccetto - skullcap worn by clerics.

And many many more. Each and every different kind of a hat has it's own name.

NEW AT THE GLAMBOX - MARCH

This month I only have one new item to show off. It's just been a really busy month for me. I guess one is better than nothing and hopefully I'll have more to show next time:). The new item is a brand new set of spats:

Teal and Houndstooth Spats

These spats are part of the Glamcessories collection. A collection that's full of unique eco friendly items. These spats used to be a jacket and a skirt. The only new items used are the ribbon in the back, elastic on the bottom and thread.

I think they came up pretty cute with the 3 buttons on the side. This is the first time I've decorated my spats this way. What do you think?

GREEN DIVA - START SIMPLE

Green Diva is all about trying to make the world a cleaner, better place, by making small changes in her everyday life. I don't tie myself to trees and I won't preach about anything I don't myself do or have at least tried doing. You may think, I'm just one person, what I do doesn't matter or affect the world as a whole. False. It does and if every single one of us changed their mind set, we can make a huge difference. And I'm not talking about living with no running water, electricity and farming your own life stock. We can do it by maintaining our current life styles, just tweaking it a little...

Eco Mermaid Gown by PureMagnoliaCouture

So. Start simple. Start with the smallest changes. Start with some of your everyday use paper products. And switch to using only 100% recycled paper. Buying products made from recycled paper reduces the need for virgin wood pulp, which means more trees are left standing. Here are 3 products that you start "going green" with:

1. TOILET PAPER -  100% recycled bathroom tissues - No, it hasn't been used by anybody else before!!!! and it works just as well as premium brands do. I've tried several brands and I don't really think they're much different from each other, but I feel like 2-ply tissues works better and are more efficient than single ply ones. Yes, you do scarify some of the softness but once you have made the transition you will actually feel sort of guilty using "the good stuff" while at your friends' house or on a trip. 

Toilet paper earrings by LiciaBeads

Did you know?

If every household in the US replaced just one 12-pack of 300-sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissue with 100% recycled product we could save:

1,900,000 trees

690 million gallons of water (a year's supply for over 5,400 families of four) and

4.8 million cubic feet of landfill space (equal to over 7,200 full garbage trucks)

2. PAPER TOWELS - I try to use as little paper towels as possible and to use cloth that I can wash and reuse instead, however there are times that I can't quite give up paper towels altogether eg. kitty hairballs... But when I do use paper towels, I only use the ones made out of 100% recycled paper. I actually use the unbleached paper towels because I think they match my counter better but if you have to have the white ones, just make sure that they are whitened without chemicals containing chlorine. 

These are a little harder to get used to than toilet paper. They are less absorbent than premium brands but you do get used to them and they do get the job done. Once again, try different brands until you find the one that you like. 

Moose Paper Towel Holder by aspenmetal

Did you know?

If every household in the US replaced just one 6-pack of 140-sheet virgin paper towels with 100% recycled product we could save:
over 2,200,000 trees
over 780 million gallons of water (a year's supply for over 6,000 families of four) and
5.7 million cubic feet of landfill space (equal to over 8,400 full garbage trucks)



3. FACIAL TISSUES - I only use these when I'm sick but some people use them a lot more. Just like the toilet paper and paper towels, I only use the ones made from 100% recycled paper. They are a little less soft and they don't come scented (who cares anyway when you have a runny nose and can't smell it?!) but the transition is easy. 

Tissue box by SelenarteDecoupage

Did you know?
If every household in the US replaced just one box of 175-count virgin fiber facial tissue with 100% recycled product we could save:
385,000 trees
140 million gallons of water (a year's supply for over 1,100 families of four) and
990,000 cubic feet of landfill space (equal to over 1,500 full garbage trucks)

What do you think? You're ready to give it a try? Study the numbers above for a second. Wouldn't this be worth it?
If you're already hooked, I'll have more easy changes for you to try next month....


All of the "Did you know?" facts were borrowed from Seventh Generation website. I buy their products thru Amazon's subscribe & save. No trip to the grocery store. The stuff just shows up at the front door every so often:)

FASHION STORIES - THE STORY OF GLOVES

Everybody knows what gloves are - they are garments covering hands. They have separate openings for each finger and the thumb. Gloves protect hands against cold, heat or chemicals. They can also be guards for what we should not touch.

White Lace Wedding Gloves by darkponydesigns

Gloves have lots of practical purposes. They're worn daily by lots of different commercial and industrial professional as well as athletes. Latex ones are used by healthcare professionals. Criminals may wear them to avoid leaving fingerprints. But we're here all about fashion so let's not forget that they can also be worn just for vanity reasons or to make a fashion statement.

Gloves go way back. According to some translations of The Odyssey, Laertes is describes as wearing gloves while walking in his garden. There are mentions of use of gloves among the Romans.

Mouse Hand Warmers by WarmYourself

They didn't began being worn by ladies as a fashion ornament until the 13th century. They were made of linen and silk and sometimes reached all the way to the elbow. A Paris guild of glovers made them in skin and fur.

They reached their greatest elaboration in the 16th century when Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion for wearing the gloves richly embroidered and jewelled, and for putting them on and taking them off during audiences, to draw attention to her beautiful hands.

Fingerless mittens by Danfe

Have you ever wondered how many different styles of gloves there are? Here are the main ones:

1. Fingerless - they have openings for each finger and thumb but no covering.

2. Gauntlets - are fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual ones for each finger.

Fingerless  Gloves by ArtMode

3. Mittens - are gloves that cover the entire hand or fist but do not have separate openings for each finger.

4. Hybrid gloves and mittens are the ones that are fingerless but also have a convertible compartment that can be pulled over the bare fingers to enclose them.

5. Formal wear gloves - come in 3 lengths: wrist ("matinee"), elbow and opera (full length). They can be satin or lace.

Vintage sheer gloves by VeraVague

Who would think there was so much to such a simple accessory? Remember this though next time you put your gloves on: Whether you're going biking in your fingerless gloves, putting on mittens before hitting the slopes or the pretty satin black gloves while going to the opera - back in the day they had sumptuary laws to restrain this vanity for example against perfumed gloves in Rome in 1560:)

Leather gloves by gaboo

BLOG PLANS

One might wonder: What am I going to write about over here?

So far, I've come up with 3 series of articles that will show up monthly: 

1. Around the 10th of each month, I'm going to publish an article in a series called GREEN DIVA. This series will show you how to green your life style by making simple choices in your every day life. I am not a "hippie", neither do I tie myself to trees but I'm a big believer in being eco friendly. It's good for me, animals, plants, the whole entire planet and future generations. It's even good for you.

2. Around the 20th of each month, I'm going to write about what's NEW AT GLAMBOX. About what I'm working on, have been working on or plan to work on. I'll try to have something new to show you each time.

and last but not least

3. Towards the end of each month, you'll be able to enjoy a series called FASHION STORIES. It'll be all about different fashion items from gloves thru spats and all the way to DVF wrap dresses. About their history, evolution, different styles and ways to wear. I'm going to try to illustrate this series with some gorgeous items found on Etsy.

I may also publish articles on other topics as they come up.

I hope you'll enjoy reading them all as much as I enjoy writing....

WHAT'S HAPPENED?

It's been a year and a half since the last and only post here and you may wonder: "What's happened?" The answer to that is - nothing and a lot at the same time.

The Glam Box was a venture started together by my sister and I. It started off as a handmade jewelry store and then we added some accessories to it. We had great hopes for it but the sales never really came.

My sister decided to give up on it and split off last year. I've been trying to keep it going but have been too busy with all my other ventures to really give it my full attention.

When we split up, we split up all of the merchandise we still had on hand between the two of us. Since then, I've been wearing lots of The Glam Box pieces and loving them. It made me think that I don't want to give up on it, I've never wanted to give up on it. So here I am, back on blogger saying: I'm going to make all kinds of new pieces for The Glam Box and I'm going to keep up with this blog!

A big part of my plan is to make The Glam Box an eco friendly venture. By that I mean using as many repurposed materials as possible, printing all of the labels on 100% recycled paper and using eco friendly packaging materials and so on...