For the Family: November 2008 Archives

Sweatshop Free Crafting and Art

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by Mama-Lu

Wandering around the aisles of craft stores dreaming of projects used to be my idea of a great afternoon out. When I decided to chase the sweatshop-free dream, suddenly the aisles went from tempting to depressing.

It would be so easy to snatch up lots of fun, cheap supplies and create items for sale, but the "Made in China" label puts a damper on those ideas. In the end that's a good thing. I do not need a reason to buy more stuff, and buying things that might be more expensive keeps my purchases limited. The real temptation is to increase my Etsy shop profit by using sweatshop products. At the same time, every time I type "This is a sweatshop free product" it makes me feel like I can make a difference.

Honestly, yarn sources are not too bad. Beads for rosaries on the other hand is a little tricky. I did find beautiful beads from fair trade sources like Happy Mango Beads and Kazuri West, but these would send the cost of a rosary well beyond my price range. I could also buy from the Czech Republic, since they make beautiful beads and as members of the EU have trust worthy labor laws. In the end I ordered from American Woodcrafters Supply Co.

I am still a long way from being sweatshop-free in everything, but crafting is one area I am doing pretty well, even for the kids. Despite the distance I still have to travel, the more labels I read, the more committed I am to doing better.

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Hurry, Hurry, Hurry

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This is Mama-Lu. Chris usually edits my posts so please excuse any problems and the absence of my special font color. I'll have him fix it when he get home tonight [fixed--ed]. Since these are time sensitive and I forgot before he left, I'm flying solo.

  1. Time is almost up to register for the Smart Martha Seminar taking place at St. Matthew's in Champaign on November 15th. Learn new ideas about having a faith-filled family and managing your house. Plus, spend the day with other women who are trying figure these things out too.


    For more info, visit the Smart Martha website, and to register go to our parish website

    I've heard good things!

  2. Scoot on over to Seaside Tales for a chance to win one of my duck puppets. Enter by Friday!

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November 2008: Monthly Archives

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Mama-Lu's Etsy Shop

About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the For the Family category from November 2008.

For the Family: October 2008 is the previous archive.

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