10 Ideas For Earth Hour

Earth Hour is this Saturday from 8:30pm - 9:30pm, and if you are thinking of participating you might be strapped for ideas on what to do for an hour with the lights off.  If you've never heard of Earth Hour before, it is the single largest global event that started in Sydney Australia in 2007 as a way to engage and empower people on the issues and effects of global warming and energy consumption. 

It really is quite a fascinating event and even though it's only an hour without electricity, it feels pretty incredible to participate in something that is celebrated in THOUSANDS of cities around the world. 

For some additional reading on Earth Hour visit

• Earth Hour Wikipedia Page
• Earth Hour YouTube Channel
• Earth Hour Twitter
• Earth Hour Website
• Earth Hour News

Without further ado here are 10 ideas on what you can do during Earth Hour. 

1. Have friends over for a candle lit dinner. Make it an eco-conscious dinner menu if you can.
2. Have a fireplace? Chiminea? Candles? Relax with a book, loved one and wine. 
3. 1 word. S'mores.
4. Play candle lit board games, card games, or drinking games. :) 
5. Go for a walk. With your dog. To the mailbox. To say hi to neighbors. Just for exercise. Whatever.
6. Find a public Earth Hour event in your community or visit a spot with high visibility of the city and watch how many lights go out during Earth Hour.
7. Come up with a list of ways you can consume less, recycle and reuse more.
8. Take a nap.
9. Pull out your telescope and look at the moon and stars. Or just look at the moon and stars.
10. Get some bongos and start a drum circle ya hippies!  Other instruments welcome, too.

Well that's it, those are my 10 ideas on how to spend Earth Hour. Have other ideas on what you can do during EarthHour? Leave them in the comments!

Almond Milk And Almond Milk Pulp Crackers Recipe

Today I had the pleasure of learning a new vegan recipe on how to make my own almond milk! After sharing some photos of the almond milk and cracker-making process, I received a request for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it here.

The recipe was very easy and doesn't take much time at all. Below is what you'll need and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

ALMOND MILK RECIPE

Ingredients

(eyeball measurements to taste)

• Water
• Almonds  
• Dates
• Vanilla Extract

Equipment

• Blender
• Fine-mesh strainer
• Measuring cup
• Wooden spoon
• 2 bowls
• Lasagna pan/rectangular baker

Directions

1. Place the almonds in a bowl or a lasagna pan or rectangular baker, cover with water and let sit over night.
2. Next, place the water, almonds, dates and vanilla extract in a blender and blend on high until smooth. We did this part in small sections, filling the blender with 2 cups of almonds, 1-2 chopped dates, and a splash of vanilla extract.  You'll want to use both the soaked almond water and regular water from the tap filling the blender to just cover the almonds.
3. Pour the almond mixture into the fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir and press the pulp to extract as much milk as possible.  Once done, put the pulp back into the blender and cover again with almond water or tap water (depending on how much almond water you have).  After straining for a second time, set the pulp aside for crackers.
4. Rinse and repeat until you've finished blending and straining all of the almonds, then enjoy your delicious almond milk!

ALMOND MILK PULP CRACKERS RECIPE

Ingredients

(this is where you can get creative)

• Almond milk pulp
• Your favorite seeds (sunflower, roasted flax, sesame)
• Your favorite herbs (parsley, rosemary)
• Your favorite veggies (dried tomatoes, garlic)

Equipment

• Dehydrator (if you don't have one you can try the oven, but I'm not sure how it will turn out)
• Bowl (used from almond milk)
• Wooden spoon (used from almond milk)

Directions

1. Add all of your favorite seeds, herbs, and veggies to the mixture.
2. Mix, stir mixture together.
3. Flatten out the mixture on a dehydrator tray or baking sheet
4. Cook at 115 degrees for 24 hours in the dehydrator
5. Cook at 115 degrees in the oven and keep an eye on it

If you make the almond milk and crackers, let me know how they came out!!!

Enjoy!!

*hugs*

Starting A Cruelty-Free Fashion Company Ain't Easy

It's been 3 months since launching Elizabeth Elmwood and I've learned an important lesson.

Doing a fashion start-up that meets my moral standards is tough!  

Cruelty-free, sustainable, locally and ethically sourced, air dyed, and so on, and so on, and so on. It's surprisingly difficult to find like-minded companies to source fabric, notions and other business items from. Perhaps one element of a product offered will meet my standards, but other elements of it will not. And all I can think is, "Well, here is a huge void in the market, maybe it's an opportunity to do something amazing!" 

Growing up in New Jersey, there is a huge part of me that wants to apply for grants and take over one of the abandoned factories in Paterson. A town with a rich history in textile manufacturing. Especially with Hoffman La Roche closing in Nutley, I'd love to bring some manufacturing jobs to the state I love so much. 

Keeping things on a much smaller scale - for now - as a couturier, I have come across a few resources that have been of great value to EE.

One of them another start-up Maker's Row, which I've been using to find New Jersey based manufacturers. I can't yet filter my searches to include sustainable, cruelty-free goods, making it challenging to find manufacturers of interest.  But I am able to save manufacturers to a curated list and I've been contacting them one by one to see if they meet my criteria.  You can also search by stage including sourcing, pattern making, sample making, etc making it a very valuable tool.

The next company I've been using is Spoonflower. Textile design is of great interest to me and I was able to test some designs on fabric with this company. Unfortunately, their organic cotton fabrics are $27 a yard and I wasn't very impressed with the quality for the price. But it's there if and when I need it, which is good enough for me.

Last but not least is one of my favorite companies of all time Botanical Paperworks. I've used botanical paperworks for my business cards, for Christmas dinner place settings, and now I will be using them for my merch tags!

I am in love Botanical Paperworks' plantable seed paper. I think it will be a nice added bonus for those that purchase my garments.  My way of saying I appreciate your business with a small gift that I hope will bring a smile to your face and add a touch of luxury to the Elizabeth Elmwood experience. 

Know of any other helpful tool and resources? Leave them in the comments.