Bead for Life

Today I bought a few bracelets and a necklace that were on sale by a few student groups in our cafeteria. They are sold as a part of Bead for Life, and are made by women in Uganda. The proceeds are sent back to these women to help them receive education, health treatments, vocational training, etc. It helps them create a sustainable way to overcome poverty by providing a form of income instead of just sporadic aid.

On top of this, the jewelry is quite well-made and gorgeous! I've made jewelry before, and this is better than anything I could ever hope to do.

The beads are actually made out of rolled strips of newspapers and magazines, and there is a spot on their website where you can see how they are made. The video is really cool and very inspiring. It's convinced me to go and get another bracelet for my mom. I hope she doesn't read this post before I give it to her!

Chi Omega

As many of you may have noticed, it's been quite some time since I last posted. I took a little break to concentrate on my winter semester at school, and am proud to say that my efforts paid off. I consider last semester to have been quite successful.

A big event that has occurred since my last post is that I am now a member of Chi Omega Fraternity. I am not yet an initiated member, as Initiation is on March 25th, but I am most definitely a part of this wonderful community of Chi Omega sisters!

Part of the fun of being a Chi Omega is that now I get to shop for things with owl or skull and crossbones designs (those are two of our symbols). My only purchase along those lines thus far is a really awesome owl necklace from Claire's. I've had to stop myself from buying a whole bunch of other things because I'm waiting for Big/Little week. This is all in an effort to avoid buying myself the same things that my Big Sister ends up buying me. I'll be sure to post photos from that week when it comes. I've got another month to go!

Organization

I love the Container Store. I love being organized and having a place where everything belongs. It's only when stuff doesn't have a place that my room gets messy. This goes hand-in-hand with my Container Store love, because they have containers to hold EVERYTHING! Seriously, anything you can think of that you want to store, and the Container Store will have a way to store it.

My favorite recent purchase from the Container Store is called a Jewelry Spinner. They come in both necklace and bracelet sizes, but as I wear far more necklaces than bracelets, I opted for the necklace one.

It looks super cute on my desk with all my other containers, and it makes everything really easy to find when I need it :].

New Earrings

These earrings were a thank-you gift from my fabulous honorary Aunt Mary. Aren't they beautiful? Just thought I'd say thank you and show them off :]. Thanks again Aunt Mary!

Etsy Mania

Who doesn't love Etsy? Seriously, for those of you who have yet to join the Etsy bandwagon, get a move on! You are seriously missing out on some really awesome stuff! So the basic concept of Etsy is that artists or small stores create an account and sell their hand-crafted wares online. They sell all sorts of random things, but my favorite by far is the jewelry! Big surprise as I wear a moderate to large amount of jewelry every day. I'm always searching for more, and I'm a really big fan of good, cheap finds. My favorite places to look are flea markets, because at almost every decent flea market there are always a few stands that sell ziploc bags full of old jewelry for bulk prices. My very, very favorite place to go is a stand at the Fremont Sunday Market, where they always have a bin of dollar jewelry. I've gotten some of my very favorite pieces there.

But back to Etsy. Lately I've been eying their nature-inspired jewelry, and especially the pieces concerning roses. I absolutely adore the silver orchid earrings pictured above. Here are some of my other favorites:

Pearl Rosebud Earrings

Bird and Leaf Necklace

Orchid Necklace

Rose Lariat Necklace