The team at CasaSugar helps us celebrate outdoors.

If you’re planning on hosting a party for Fourth of July festivities, you’ll want to make sure that your backyard is up for the challenge. Choosing decorative elements that are multifunctional is key, but it takes a bit of preparation. To ensure that your Fourth of July bash is a beautiful success, get organized with this list of backyard entertaining essentials.

• Shop for extra seating that can be easily stashed once the party is over. Folding wooden chairs, benches, and garden stools can be stored or repurposed in other parts of the house after the party is over.
• Add a pretty and protective service to outdoor tabletops with tablecloths. Oilcloths are offered in a variety of patterns and colors and are ideal for easy cleanup.
• Set down the bug spray and keep mosquitoes at bay with beautifully packaged citronella candles. We especially love the classic, subdued elegance of glass votive citronella candles.
• Make sure your yard has ample lighting by adding temporary options that can be taken down at the end of the season. If you have trees, arbors, or other tall structures, use string lights. If not, look for tiki torches or stake lanterns.
• Avoid having guests make multiple trips in and out of the house for a cold drink by shopping for stylish tubs to fill with ice and beverages.

• Instead of washing dishes throughout the night or dumping plastic and paper dinnerware, consider using biodegradable versions that can be composted.
• If you’re expecting warm weather, be sure to provide shading so that your guests don’t overheat. Umbrellas, tents, and DIY canopies go a long way.
• Let guests know it’s a party by decorating with festive touches like flag bunting, tissue pom-poms, or balloons.
• Trays are a fantastic way to transfer and organize items, but they can also provide extra table surface. Look for trays that can rest on stands or be removed when you have to haul something.
• To avoid confusing beverages, provide a way for guests to mark their drinks. For a hassle-free but stylish way to identify drinks, set out a roll of cute washi tape and a sharpie pen and let guests mark their own drinks. Or set out tags with ribbons for wine glasses and bottles.
• For double-duty centerpieces, assemble shiny red apples in glass vessels or pot pretty blooms to set at tables.

More from CasaSugar:

30 Beach House Views from Around the World

65 DIY Wedding Tips

Tour a Tiny Scandinavian Summer Cottage

100 Awe-Inspiring Green Home Photos

Images: CasaSugar

The post Outdoor Entertaining: 11 Essentials for a Backyard July 4th Bash appeared first on EcoSalon.

The Plankton Series by Maria Moyer – a collection of matte white ocean-inspired porcelain vessels benefiting Oceana – are introduced at West Elm.

NYC-based artist Maria Moyer is obsessed with plankton. Combine that with a deeply rooted love of white, organic shapes and the ocean and you have all the ingredients for her recently launched collection for West Elm. The Plankton Series is a collection of matte white porcelain vessels and highlights the intricate structures of the foundation of the Earth’s food chain, and 5% of the purchase price goes toward helping non-profit Oceana protect the world’s oceans.

Artist Maria Moyer at the launch party for her collaboration with West Elm and Oceana

In-store display of the Plankton Series at West Elm in West Hollywood

West Elm threw a pre-Earth Day party at their West Hollywood outpost on Thursday in celebration of the collaboration and I got to chat with some of the people involved in making it all happen.

I always wonder how these collaborations come about, so I asked Maria Moyer how it all started: “Most of my work is in one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces that I build one at a time. I started a body of work over a year ago that was ocean inspired. It included several references in texture and form to plankton – a lifetime love. Around the same time, West Elm asked me design a collection for them. While I don’t usually make things that are functional, I saw the opportunity as a great learning experience in a new role as a designer and I was moved by the idea that the West Elm audience could reach a significantly larger population than my one-piece-at-a-time creative process.”

The scene at West Elm in West Hollywood

“We look for artists we like and respect, who are creating interesting designs that we think our customers will respond to,” said Abigail Jacobs, Vice President, Public Relations & Brand Marketing at West Elm. “Collaborations add to the diversity of our product mix and make our product offering richer. They allow us to bring in new and unique points of view, and experts in techniques that we might not be able to produce with our in-house design team. Nature, and the sea, is such a meaningful and constant place of inspiration for us, and yet we’d never seen a collection inspired by plankton,” says Jacobs. “Maria’s work is first of all stunning, but the collaboration also gave us the opportunity to educate our customer through the story of her process and inspiration. The partnership with Oceana made that connection even more real.”

Moyer with her cousin

“The great part about partnering with Maria and West Elm,” says Jessica Champness, Manager, Major Gifts at Oceana, “is that the inspiration – plankton – are such a fundamental component of healthy oceans and are inherently connected to Oceana’s overarching campaigns, which include mitigating impacts from climate change, promoting responsible fishing and protecting habitat. West Elm has a compelling and authentic design story to showcase and, in doing so, they not only raise funds but help promote Oceana’s work to a new group of potential activists and donors who can start creating conversations about important ocean conservation issues within their own unique communities and encourage people to get involved with Oceana. Any new supporters gained from these efforts translate into a stronger base of support for Oceana to engage in grassroots advocacy, recruit volunteers and raise critical funds,” says Champness.

The visual inspiration is apparent – the amazingly intricate structure of plankton

“I’m grateful to West Elm for giving me what I have been calling a Plankton Pulpit, as I hope to spread the news about the little guys,” says Moyer. “If it doesn’t grab you that these microscopic plants and animals give us half the world’s oxygen (which, by some accounts, is more than our forests), you might also like to know they feed most of Earth’s creatures: from shrimp to whales and the 3 billion humans who depend on fish and seafood. Add to that, the startling and exquisite beauty of plankton – from diatoms to algae to microscopic animals. I’ve found a universe of aesthetic rapture that I want people to know about.”

It’s a beautiful, synergistic collaboration that lures you in with pure aesthetics but forces you to look deeper at the inspiration behind it. Plankton are the trees of the ocean and without them we would not be where we are today. Every time I place a candle in one of my gorgeous new tealights, I will thank them for all the great work they do while I watch the small rays of light dance across the table.

Photos courtesy of Maria Moyer and West Elm

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LA shows the love for local designers, artists and makers of food.

This past weekend, local makers of food, fashion and art gathered at The California Market Center in LA for Unique LA’s Local Love event — the largest independent design show in the country. As a relatively new East Coast transplant, I welcomed the opportunity to meet and mingle with designers and makers on my new home-turf. The products at the show were all made in the U.S., so all the dollars spent during the weekend went straight towards stimulating LA’s design economy.

There was plenty of love-themed merchandise on display, perhaps because this was the perfect opportunity to buy a last-minute Valentine’s gift. We particularly liked the LA Love tees by MNKR and the sweet linen heart coin purses by Yellow Wallpaper.

Of course there were lots of cute tees and onesies for the little ones, emblazoned with everything from squirrels, whales and hearts, like at Jasper Wren, to LA-centric statements like the “I live and cry in LA” onesie from Kira.

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the space (perhaps because it was right by the entrance door) was a tipi, surrounded by pillows, towels, book ends and coasters adorned with lovely graphic prints, all handmade in LA by Wolfum.

My nose directed me to my next favorite — coconut wax candles by Queen Bee’s Hive, scented with spa-grade essential oils. Topanga Candle Company uses vintage vessels such as tins, food containers and film canisters to hand pour the wax into, a creative way to give these objects a new life. You can even bring in your own vessel and they will make it into a candle for you.

Another company that creatively reuses our old stuff is My T-shirt Pillow who, as the name suggests, takes old tees and makes them into cozy pillows. I also loved the recycled cashmere scarves, made from thrifted sweaters, by Creature Cashmere and Stella Neptune.

There was a ton of great jewelry on display — some of my favorite were an action-provoking necklace in black letters by MNKR, a poetic banner necklace with butterflies by Fruition, message necklaces by Solstice LTD, recycled metal pieces by Tiffany Kunz, bold color and ceramic pieces by Kyyote, and pendant necklaces by Love Nail Tree (that camera is for all you bloggers out there).

For the boys — and the girls who steal their clothing — there were bow ties in all sorts of colors and materials by Pocket Square Clothing and wood eyewear by Sire’s Crown. And a new favorite, Hepp’s White Truffle Salt is something I can’t live without.

I was thrilled to see the kind of creativity and high level of design that comes out of Los Angeles. Shopping locally means that you are directly supporting this industry of small-scale designers. They are often the ones who push the envelope and give us the unexpected. That is something we need to cherish and of course, show the love to.

The post Unique LA’s Local Love Event appeared first on EcoSalon.

Highlights from our event.

To kick off a green Fashion Week, EcoSalon was pleased to co-host a (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out party Thursday, September 8th in partnership with New York’s Textile Arts Center, Of Rags, and the New York City Fair Trade Coalition. Over 500 guests came by to nosh on raw, vegan brownies, swig delicious organic bubbles, talk eco fashion and check out new looks from some of New York’s rising green talent at the TAC’s new West Village location in Manhattan. We loved meeting with all the designers, artists, nonprofit folks, fair trade entrepreneurs and fashionistas in attendance.

Party goers also scooped up goodie bags and EcoSalon’s exclusive Feral Childe “Stop the Fashion Pirates” tee shirts, partial proceeds of which help to support Feral Childe, the indie brand currently embroiled in a lawsuit against Forever21. Scroll down to see some of the highlights of the event, which culminated after 10 p.m. in a surprise birthday celebration for Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost (who broke down in a shameless frenzy of gluten glory to eat at least two delicious frosting-topped cupcakes). Photo evidence, oh yes.

While we were all there to shop and support eco fashion and participate in Fashion’s Night Out, of course, these two editors have to say it: Damn if we don’t have some good looking’ readers. (Special thanks to stylish vegan man-about-town and EcoSalon’s favorite ethical raconteur Dan Mims for swinging by, as well.)

Jewelry and fiber designer Erin Considine and Textile Arts Center Co-Founder Owyn Ruck

Of Rags crew: Liz Westendorf, Liz Ricketts and Branson Skinner

Event guests mingle and talk eco-fashion

Knitwear designer Kaelyn Garcia, New York City Fair Trade Coalition’s Pamela Alimurung, Lori Imbesi, writer Alyssa Alimurung and Afia designer Meghan Sebold

EMpower’s Virginia Dooley

Designer Eliza Starbuck, EcoSalon Managing Editor Amy DuFault and EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief, Sara Ost

Our (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out bags were chock full of great goodies!

Nature vs. Future designer Nina Valenti and social media and marketing guru Camille Marchand

Designs by Feral Childe, Ohm-Mongo, and more

Kaelyn Garcia shows us knits are hot

EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost and writer and social media maven Alyssa Alimurung

Co-Founder and Editor of Green House of Fashion, Zanna Schumacher

Guests at our event were invited to cut the tags from their clothing and pin the tags to the corkboard. The Textile Arts Center will then trace the origin of their clothes, helping party attendants learn more about where their fashions come from.

Fashion writer and founder of Greta Guide and FASHIONmeGREEN, Greta Eagan

Designer Nina Valenti, Buddha Nose founder Amy Galper, RESTORE co-designer Celeste Lilore, Social Media expert and writer Anandi Premlall and the ever fabulous, RESTORE co-designer and mayor of New York, Anthony Lilore

Kestrel Jenkins, writer for Ecouterre and founder of Hoverstyle and Jill Danyelle, Occupational Therapist and founder of FiftyRX3

Erin Considine Jewelry

The feisty Eliza Starbuck ready for war wearing her exclusive Feral Childe for EcoSalon “Stop The Fashion Pirates” t-shirt

Shabd’s luxe maxi dress

Rachel Miller, Sustainable Fashion Professor at Pratt, Rhea Alexander, Founder and Designer of DIGS, DIGS architect Ali Soltani

Each designer provided an interactive statement for guests to learn more about the inspiration behind their brands.

Designers Meiling Chen and Eliza Starbuck

EcoSalon Managing Editor Amy DuFault and designer Nina Valenti

Exclusive Feral Childe for EcoSalon “Stop the Fashion Pirates” t-shirts

Source 4Style’s Elizabeth Cloyd and Afia Designer Meghan Sebold

The Textile Arts Center’s Manhattan Manager Addison Walz and TAC co-founder Owyn Ruck

Wool and the Gang takes knitwear to new heights

New York City Fair Trade Coalition’s Pamela Alimurung and DIG’s Rhea Alexander

Happy birthday to EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost!

Countdown to sugar high in 3, 2, 1…(please don’t tell Marketing Manager Anna Brones about the cupcakes).

The post EcoSalon at NYFW: (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out Party Highlights and Pics appeared first on EcoSalon.

EVENT Join EcoSalon and SF’s craziest cyclist at Swig next week for a good time, a good cause and a chance to win an iPad and other prizes!

By now, you’ve probably heard of the AIDS/LifeCycle: a 7-day, 545-mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, starting June 5. The 2500 riders who participate, in addition to riding thousands of miles to train for the event, also raise money to benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

Join EcoSalon as we sponsor one (slightly crazy) Zach Morvant of San Francisco’s Anatomy Creative. Zach is joining the ride this year, but, wait for it…he is riding a single speed bike, otherwise known as a ‘track bike’. (For the uninitiated, that is a stripped-down, single-speed, fixed gear machine.) To train, he’s been rising with the sun to ride up Hawk Hill before work, and recently charged Mount Tam via Four Corners to East Peak (which is reportedly “the hard way”…we’ll take his word for it).

To reach his $3000 fundraising goal, Zach needs our help: he’s got $1500 to go.

Good cause? Good time? You know we are so there.

EcoSalon is proud to co-host an event this Tuesday, May 31st at San Francisco’s very own Swig. ‘The Last Mile Fundraiser’ will feature some coveted items for raffle as well as discounted drinks, and, of course, Zach. Your $20 donation at the door gets you two raffle tickets. Additional raffle tickets will be sold for $10 a piece. Bonus? Top shelf susty cocktails with Fair vodka will be poured for just $3.00. Limited quantity, so get there on time!

Raffle prizes include: An iPad, a bottle of biodynamic bubbly, fair trade vodka from Fair, a $75 gift certificate from our favorite eco fashion boutique, Ecocitizen, a $75 gift certificate from EcoSalon’s stylish sister company, eco-chic home goods retailer VivaTerra, Giants’ tickets and other surprises.

Who, what, when, where: Everyone (including you!), “The Last Mile Fundraiser”, May 31st, 2011 6-9 pm, Map

Mark your calendar – we’ll see you there, sister!

Thanks to our friends at Swig for their hospitality. Special thanks as well to @LA, Fair, VivaTerra and Ecocitizen. All donations are tax deductible and receipts will be provided.

The post AIDS Lifecycle ‘Last Mile Fundraiser’: Good for a Cause, Good for the Planet appeared first on EcoSalon.

EventAn Earth Day party hosted by EcoSalon and SF’s Bar Agricole.

For greenies and foodies alike in San Francisco, one of the best things to come out of 2010 was the launch of Bar Agricole, the gorgeous modern tavern in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. The all-star founding cast includes legendary mixologist Thad Vogler (Beretta), chef Brandon Jew (Magnolia), Eric Johnson (Delarosa), and Mark Ellenbogen (The Slanted Door). Tucked in next to Slim’s on 11th, Bar Agricole is rustic and sleek, a LEED-certified gem of reclaimed woods, exposed beams and enormous blown glass fluted chandeliers.

But it’s not just the design that wows. Bar Agricole serves delicious seasonal fare – think creamy chopped liver on toast and organic squash fritters – and farm-to-bar cocktails. Ingredients are sourced locally, including herbs and lemons from the patio garden. This comfortable, beautiful space is run by some of the friendliest bartenders and staff in the city, which is part of why I’ve been stopping by for happy hour and dinners since the restaurant opened last August. So when our managing editor, Amy, and I were there for a business meeting recently, we decided to ask Thad what he thought about an EcoSalon party on Earth Day.

Where else but a green, chic spot like Bar Agricole for EcoSalon’s Bay Area readers? Thad agreed, and a plan was hatched. We invite you to an EcoSalon gathering this Earth Day (April 22nd). Come by between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. for special organic EcoSalon cocktails by Thad and the team – a perfect way to end a day of volunteering and Earth Day activities. We’ll be enjoying drinks, tapas and chat, plus a few surprises. Stay tuned for updates! We look forward to meeting you.

Date and time: April 22, 2011 7-9 p

For location: Bar Agricole

For further information: editor at ecosalon dot com

The post EcoSalon and Bar Agricole Announce an Earth Day Party appeared first on EcoSalon.

Allow me to wax cosmic: There are certain events that take us outside of ourselves. Big ones, dwarfing our most significant human travails. Events where we look up for a moment and submit to the understanding that we’re part of a stupefying stellar picture, passing through a heavens so overwhelming that we’re simply owned – and there’s nothing to do but watch and accept our role in the show. Beautiful stuff.

I’m talking solar and lunar eclipses. I’m talking comets. And I’m talking meteor showers, the most intense of which is about to make its annual clockwork appearance, erupting out of Gemini early next week to the delight of night-sky devotees who never miss its arrival. The Earth, says NASA, “will pass through the Geminid debris stream, producing as many as 120 meteors per hour over dark-sky sites.” The shower will peak probably between midnight and sunrise on Tuesday, “when the Moon is low and the constellation Gemini is high overhead, spitting bright Geminids across a sparkling starry sky.” (See NASA waxes, too.)

The thing about the Geminids is that they’re unlike other meteor showers in that their “shooting stars” do not come from our passing through the tail of a comet, but rather from a “weird rocky object” called 3200 Phaethon. This smallish rock with an odd orbit is believed to have come from an impact event with asteroid called Pallas. In any event, there’s a ton of strange and unique features to this show, many of which remains a mystery to scientists. Its big deal, though, is, well, its bigness.

“Of all the debris streams Earth passes through every year, the Geminids’ is by far the most massive,” says NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. “When we add up the amount of dust in the Geminid stream, it outweighs other streams by factors of 5 to 500.” Says the NASA site: “This makes the Geminids the 900-lb gorilla of meteor showers.”

So go. Watch. Obey the heavens and enjoy the show.

Images: Dr. Rawhead, St0rmz, Nasa Images, Navicore, Noel Feans

The post Heads Up, the Geminids are Coming! appeared first on EcoSalon.

Join Sara and me and a handful of our writers for drinks and treats tomorrow, Tuesday, November 23 at Rye, located at 688 Geary, from 6 – 8pm.

Something else you may want to know – we’ll be giving away a gift certificate for a luxurious facial from Avra Organic Spa, five gift certificates to shop at the SF-based boutique, Eco Citizen (valued at $50 each), a pair of bamboo leaf earrings from Feisty Elle (valued at $36 each), plus freebies from our sister company VivaTerra – not to shabby, right?

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there.

Image: Greg L

The post Come to Our Meetup Tomorrow! appeared first on EcoSalon.

Last week we announced our first ever reader meetup in San Francisco – did you mark it on your calendars? Join Sara and me and a handful of our writers for drinks and treats next Tuesday, November 23 at Rye, located at 688 Geary, from 6 – 8pm.

We’ll also be giving away one luxurious spa package from a top organic spa in the city, five gift certificates to shop at the SF-based boutique, EcoCitizen (valued at $50 each), a pair of bamboo leaf earrings from Feisty Elle (valued at $36 each), plus freebies from our sister company VivaTerra.

We hope you can make it and look forward to meeting you!

Image: Greg L

The post A Reminder About Our SF Reader Meetup! appeared first on EcoSalon.

Come one, come all because we’re hosting our first ever reader meetup in San Francisco! In case we missed you at the EcoSalon Shops! event in NYC this past June, this is your chance to join Sara and I and a handful of our writers for drinks and treats on Tuesday, November 23 at Rye, located at 688 Geary, from 6 – 8pm.

And if seeing our smiling faces isn’t enough, we’ll also be giving away one luxurious spa package from one of the top organic spas in the city, five gift certificates to shop at the SF-based boutique, EcoCitizen (valued at $50 each), and stay tuned next week when we’ll be announcing more prizes!

How’s that for getting the pre-holiday party started? Only two more weeks – we look forward to meeting you!

The post You’re Invited to a Reader Meetup in San Francisco! appeared first on EcoSalon.