Thanksgiving is a celebration of life’s gifts, family, and the harvest season. Honor this tradition throughout your home with warm hues and inviting accents. Invoke gratitude from the front door to the dining table.

Here are a few Thanksgiving decorating tips from the Foundary - a flash sales website that offers a curated selection of home and lifestyle products from coveted brands and emerging designers at up to 70% off retail value.

When expecting guests, make a statement from the moment they arrive. A dressed front door is a welcome transition into your home. A wreathe or swag with fall foliage beautifully displays the shades of the season. Natural coir doormats remind guests that tidiness is always appreciated.

The living room presents abundant opportunities for décor. Get comfortable with pillows and throws in coordinating colors. Layer several patterns for a unique look.

Photographs are thoughtful reminders of people and places we love. End tables, credenzas, and desks provide surface area for table-top frames. Custom-framing and artful options are perfect for filling the walls of your home with joyous memories.

For crafty decorations, use autumn’s bounty.  A pumpkin candleholder is effortless and elegant.

The main event for this holiday takes place in the dining room. To keep the attention on a prepared feast, stick to a simple tablecloth or table runner. Embellished napkin rings add just enough detail.

Ample dishes stake their claim on table territory, but centerpieces are chic essentials. Stick to a small but stately arrangement so as not to overwhelm the spread. Sunflowers and berries add an unexpected touch.

Showcase the meal with designer lighting. Pendant lights and chandeliers lend ambiance for conversations and carving the turkey.

For more information, visit Foundary

]]> http://amaze-magazine.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-decorating-tips-from-the-foundary/feed/ 0 http://amaze-magazine.com/2011/09/fragrant-soy-candles-adorned-by-designer-angela-adams/ http://amaze-magazine.com/2011/09/fragrant-soy-candles-adorned-by-designer-angela-adams/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:49:14 +0000 Amaze Magazine http://amaze-magazine.com/?p=1889 Eco-friendly, all natural hand poured soy candles with delicious natural fragrances a now available with the artwork of Angela Adams. Growing up on an island twelve miles off the coast of Maine, Angela’s upbringing helped to shape her unique creative perspective. Angela’s designs are known for their sense of timelessness, simplicity and balance, all inspired [...]]]>

Eco-friendly, all natural hand poured soy candles with delicious natural fragrances a now available with the artwork of Angela Adams.

Growing up on an island twelve miles off the coast of Maine, Angela’s upbringing helped to shape her unique creative perspective. Angela’s designs are known for their sense of timelessness, simplicity and balance, all inspired by the remote and rugged natural beauty of Maine island life.

Dedicated to celebrating a natural lifestyle, she seeks to presents an optimistic view of the world spoken through a language of color, pattern and form, all inspired by the timeless beauty of nature and ever-changing landscape of Maine.

This collection of candles pairs angela adams designs with subtle scents from the natural world.

Candles are available in eight special designs and have a suggested retail price of $24.95 Each comes in an attractive gift box that is free of plastics and suitable for recycling.

Crash candles are made in the USA, in the Chicago area, hand-poured using 100% natural soy wax, cotton wicks, and complex fragrances. Crash is the only candle company featuring artwork by prominent, contemporary designers on the candle itself. Crash natural soy candles also features art collections by Lotta Jansdotter, Zuz Design, and Binth.

Crash was created in 2005 to help artists and designers find new ways to promote their work. Starting with paper product designers, and later working with surface designers and emerging artists, we’ve developed candle products that showcase their talent. At our small, vintage building in the Chicago, Illinois area, a unique, complex fragrance is selected to complement each design that is developed.

The designs are fired on the glass tumblers, becoming permanent, so that the glass can be reused and become part of your life.

Available online at www.crashcandles.com

Hope for Women offers beautifully handcrafted tagua bracelets and pressed flower greeting cards that are sustainably harvested in their surroundings from the rainforests of Colombia and the high peaks of the Himalayas. They also provide artisans a much-improved lifestyle and future for their children and families.

In the early 2000s, prospective home buyers often had to buy a fixer-upper or a home that needed a modest amount of work to stay in their price range. Today, they not only have more homes to choose from, but the luxury of selecting a home that’s ready to move into without major repair. For current homeowners looking to sell over the next few years, it is critical to preserve and improve your current property to get a more than competitive price.
While your first goal is to improve the appearance and functionality of your home, you also want to select home improvement projects that will come close to paying for themselves at resale. Here’s a short list of projects you can undertake that have a high return on investment (ROI):

· Replace the front door – In addition to improving curb appeal, a high-quality entry door can help lower energy costs by reducing drafts in extreme weather. It’s also one of the first things a new buyer will notice.
· Add a deck – Building a deck from pressure-treated wood can bring an ROI in the neighborhood of 80 percent. And, if you’re a handy do-it-yourselfer, you can install the deck yourself and make this addition even more cost-effective.
· Kitchen improvements – Historically, kitchen remodels carry the highest ROI. Unfortunately, they also carry the highest price tags if you’re replacing cabinets. Consider replacing cabinet hardware, countertops, and key appliances instead. That’s a great way to give your kitchen a new look without absorbing the cost of a major remodel.
· Finished basement – Whether it’s a home theater room, man cave, home office, or exercise room, a finished basement adds extra value to the price tag of your home.
· Replacement windows – This is an everybody-wins improvement. By installing new windows, you, the homeowner receive tax credits and lower energy bills, the latter of which is a huge selling point for potential buyers.
· Bathroom – Like kitchen remodels, renovating your bathroom can deliver a larger ROI than most projects. It also has a larger price tag. Instead of spending top dollar, try making modest improvements that could eliminate possible objections from potential buyers—replacing the vanity, installing efficient fixtures, etc.
· Attic bedroom – With people living longer and the dollar not going as far as it used to, many homes are now multi-generational—parents, grandparents, and grown children all living in the same house. Converting your attic into an additional bedroom creates a selling point for potential buyers who may have grown children or parents who live with them, but need a bit more privacy than what a typical bedroom might offer.
· Eliminate loud colors – It’s your home and you have every right to paint your walls, but if you plan to sell your home, use neutral colors in rooms that will be most traveled by real estate agents and their open house guests.

By taking on one or all of these home improvement projects, you not only improve present living conditions for you and your family, but also create a more attractive and lucrative product for resale. And with the number of houses presently on the market, you need every advantage you can get.

Sara Shragal is a staff writer for DirectBuy. For more information or other helpful tips for your home, visit www.directbuycares.com.

RevolveR, Twice The Journal, Twice the Gift… If one gift is not enough, why not give two? Give the gift that reinvents itself.

Lets face it, finding gifts for some people can be next to impossible, especially for someone who has their head and hands full. So why not celebrate all that energy and drive and give 2 gifts in 1 with a little magic in between. The RevolveR Journal is perfect for organizing even the most unruly of minds, and is available in an assortment of stylish colors, so it will look dapper no matter the occasion.

The double-binding of the RevolveR Journal lets you gift and regift at the same time, and you only need to wrap it once. With two sides stylishly bound together using a single handmade binding, the RevolveR note book is the perfect gift for the law student who can’t stop doodling, or the parent balancing work and family.

Pocket organizer? Sketch pad? Grocery list? Classroom companion? RevolveR is the dual-purpose must-have gift of the season. It is also available in two sizes, so whether you need a stocking-stuffer or something a little more substantial, RevolveR has you covered.

Turn the page, turn over a new (green) leaf…
RevolveR is the perfect eco-accessory. We mostly use recycled paper (100%), and where we need to use a tree we make sure the paper is FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council)! So put your eco-conscience at ease. RevolveR has you covered.

And RevolveR does not eschew form in favor of function. Have it all with four color combos and two versatile sizes. Each RevolveR consists of two 64-paged sewn folios – one lined, the other blank – bound together in a single handmade binding that allows for two beginnings and endless possibilities.

RevolveR is available for purchase online at revolverboundbooks.com

Perfect for an evening of socializing out on the deck or an intimate meal at a table for two, GoodLight candles keep the mood bright and the air clean and are now available both online and in stores nationwide.

Paraffin versus Palm Wax
While they may look great on the tables of your favorite restaurant, bathing you and your friends in a soft glow, candles made from paraffin wax have a rather dirty secret. You may have finally cut down on the sweets and upped the veggie intake, but wouldn’t you know, the paraffin candle next to your beet salad is quietly giving off the kind of toxins that you’d normally associate with a diesel truck. Recent studies have actually linked the chemicals found in paraffin candle fumes with cancer and birth defects.

GoodLight began making palm wax candles for one simple reason, to keep us all from breathing in these poisonous paraffin candle fumes. Paraffin is made from petroleum, which means that it’s both toxic and non-renewable. Palm wax, however, comes from palm fruit and is both non-toxic and renewable. This makes palm wax candles a cleaner, healthier alternative to paraffin candles. Palm wax is also less expensive than beeswax or soy wax, allowing GoodLight to offer the most affordable paraffin-free candles (by far) on the market. GoodLight candles actually cost the same as—or less than—many paraffin candles.

A Candle for Every Situation
With a candle for every need, GoodLight has you covered no matter what you want to illuminate. And remember, all GoodLight candles are 100% palm wax, non-toxic, and feature lead-free cotton wicks. These clean burning candles ensure that your only concern is which type you want to get. Use a pillar candle to light up any room of your home. Dripless taper candles are perfect for formal occasions in any dining room. Votives, the true utility candle, look great on the mantle, the deck, or nestled in a cozy nook. And tea light candles, with their recyclable tin containers, work beautifully as a team or by themselves under oil diffusers.

The GoodLight Commitment
In addition to making candles that protect their users, GoodLight is committed to protecting both the planet and the people on it. GoodLight is a member of GreenPalm and the World Wildlife Fund’s Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, whose mission is to advance sustainable palm farming practices and promote social responsibility. GoodLight is also a member of 1% for the Planet. Each year GoodLight donates 1% of all sales to organizations combating climate change.

GoodLight Natural Candles are available at retail stores across the country or online at naturalcandles.com, which also features a store locator.

Love the smell.. love how this works… love that it’s natural! The NEW All Natural CleanWell Antibacterial Hand Soaps. Abundant with sensational aroma’s, the four hand soap offerings are a great accessory to create the ultimate sink soiree.

Most of the conventional hand soap products that have accompanied sinks in the past are petroleum based and have environmental implications. Instea of opting for soaps that annihilate everything in their path, enter CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Soaps, made with ingredients from renewable plants, primarily thyme. With a first-of-its-kind natural chemistry, CleanWell proudly introduces a unique formulation of thyme and plant essential oils proven to meet FDA standards for 99.99% germ killing efficacy, and a safe and effective natural alternative to the toxic ingredients found in most antibacterial and sanitizing products.

CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Soaps do not include the controversial ingredient Triclosan, widely used as an antibacterial in household hand sterilization products. Triclosan is a known endocrine disruptor, a synthetic chemical that when absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body’s normal functions.

CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Soaps ($4.99) Key Benefits:

• Infused with white tea and aloe
• Custom crafted scents sourced from the finest natural essences from around the world
• Created exclusively by preeminent natural perfumer and published author Mandy Aftel
• Available in Orange Vanilla, Ginger Bergamot, Lavender and Spearmint Lime

CleanWell’s All Natural Antibacterial Hand Soaps are available at Whole Foods Markets, select Target stores, Babies R Us, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC and Amazon.com.

In Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It: The D.Y.I. Guide to the Good Life by Billee Sharp, this D.I.Y. guide to the good life, readers learn how to edit their lives, since in the long run, less is more — pedal now or paddle later! The best things in life are free — or very nearly free — and author Billee Sharp shares her freecycling, budget-savvy, barter-better wisdom. Based on a sensible foundation of global responsibility and foresight for the next seven generations, Billee Sharp’s philosophy is compelling. From the radical common sense introduction to the practical how-tos and yummy recipes, The Free (Or Nearly Free) Guide to Happiness is a step-by-step handbook to revolutionizing spending habits and reclaiming quality of life in the process. Learn how to start a community garden and to seed share, raise organic veggies in the front lawn, eco-clean the house with lemons and lavender, cure minor maladies from the kitchen cabinet, organize a trade-for-what-you-want free flea market, and cook meals for pennies.

Billee Sharp styled herself a career as a contemporary art curator and gallerist, working with Damien Hirst and other art world notables. In 1993, she started both a family and record label with Scotsman Jonah Sharp, a pioneering electronic musician. Billee currently runs a green cleaning business and organizes independent music, literary, and art events. She lives in San Francisco.

Available at Amazon.com

Most of us would like to have more of an eco-friendly lifestyle, but organic and natural labels on everything from skincare lotions to dog treats often come at a higher price.  In DO IT GORGEOUSLY: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products (Voice/June 1, 2010/$19.99), do-it-yourself advocate, passionate environmentalist, and New York Times bestselling author of Gorgeously Green Sophie Uliano provides the affordable solution by showing how uncomplicated and gratifying it can be to become self-sufficient.

DO IT GORGEOUSLY is a treasure trove of green projects and recipes covering nearly all areas of life.  You will discover easy step-by-step instructions to guide you from the practical (making your own sesame sunscreen, creating a nontoxic nursery, and planting a medicinal herb garden) to the fun (mixing your own anti-aging serums, making “good as new” fashion, and preparing delicious food gifts).  In addition to recipes, Sophie offers simple and money-conscious tips to saving energy in your home, eco-friendly ideas for pets, and great uses for household items you probably already have.

Just a few of the must-try creations are India rose luxurious oil, apricot and geranium moisturizers, nontoxic insect repellent, pomegranate eye serum, citrus furniture polish, baby berry cereal, and a stunning recycled cashmere cardigan.  DO IT GORGEOUSLY is the means to create all the fabulous products you crave, guilt-free!

Available at Amazon.com. Visit online at www.gorgeouslygreen.com

Summer is finally here! That means hot days by the pool and hotdogs on the grill. But after all of the outdoor fun, cleaning up can be a hassle. Thanks to the new “green” Bon Ami products, cleaning has never been so easy.

The non-abrasive Bon Ami All-Purpose Cleaner can be used on an array of versatile surfaces outside the house, from patio floors and furniture to BBQ grills and utensils. Its simple, effective formula works to remove the toughest messes including oil, food spills, grease and much more.

Whether hosting a July 4th BBQ or cooking dinner for the family, be sure to clean your grill before and after use. Tough enough for the messiest grill grates, yet gentle enough for the exterior, even stainless steel, the Bon Ami All-Purpose Cleaner is an affordable and eco-friendly way to keep your grill pristine and clean all summer long.

Keeping the Earth clean for 120 years, Bon Ami has been America’s original natural home cleaner since 1886. The simple, yet effective ingredients will refresh and clean without the use of harsh chemicals or toxins. So kick back all summer long, and let Bon Ami do the work.

The new Bon Ami All Purpose Cleaner is available in a Free + Clear version that has no added scent or Tangerine Thyme, a delightful fusion of mandarin, tangerine, orange, thyme and clove. Happy grilling!

Price: All-Purpose Cleaner- $2.99
Availability: www.BonAmi.com