Seattle Recycled Arts Festival

This past gorgeous sunny Saturday in Seattle, I decided to check out the Georgetown Carnival. It's a pretty sweet street fair, featuring vendors, food trucks, a main stage for musicians... I headed over because I had heard about a recycled fashion show. Turns out the fashion was just one part of a larger Seattle Recycled Arts Festival. They "define 'recycled art' as art created using at least 75% reclaimed materials", and their craft vendors and juried art made up a substantial part of the carnival. The festival is one day only, but the featured artisans below can be found online or at other shows year-round.

Some of the highlights:

Fashion Show (Pardon my low photo quality. I wasn't as close as I wanted to be!)

This stunning crochet dress made from reclaimed laces by Kim McCormick of Kimmi Designs. In addition to her Etsy store, you can find her work @KimmiDesigns on Facebook or Instagram, and at Pretty Parlor on Cap Hill in Seattle.

This tank made from a purse and wrap skirt made from a *shower curtain* by Staci Bernstein. Also @spellcasteraggiev on Instagram.

Top and pants also by Staci Bernstein. 

Dress from vintage tees by Edie Everette

Artisan Booths

Upcycled yard art by Simply Quirky Yard Art. Bonus points to Julie and Carline for sending my purchase home in a reusable shopping bag. The piece I brought home above, and a sampling of their other pieces below.

Jewelry made from recycled chandelier crystals by Capable Father. Also @capablefather on FB and Instagram. I love the green and gold necklace I brought home (pictured at bottom) and the other red and white pendants on display (top). The colors? These are "handmade papers [he sources] from a women's cooperative in Nepal that uses sustainable non-tree methods".

At $45 for the yard art and $35 for the necklace, you would pay similar prices for commercially-produced alternates, but I was happy to support small businesses using upcycled materials.

Thoughtful Threds

Today's theme is green, green, green!!

Green: eco conscious shopping
Green: great color, I look awesome in it. ;)
Green: $$$

So, I was feeling like buying some new clothes. I'm in a mission: I need more green. Someone on TV or at work or something was wearing green, and it stuck in my mind. And when I'm on a mission, I gotta go online. That brings us to ThredUp, one of my favorite online thift shops.

I get on the site and learn about this Choose Used partnership they're doing with Olivia Wilde and Conscious Commerce. They take second-hand tops and screen-print phrases on them that draw attention to good choices like:

• I wear used clothes.
• Thank you for choosing used.
• It takes 700 gallons of water to make one new t-shirt. (

10% goes to their circular fashion fund.

I chose one shirt from the Choose Used campaign (in mint!), and a green tee with pockets, and a green sweater for this fall.

I love that the confirmation email tallies up my savings for me: spent $56.78 and saved $100.22. I also love that in the past years, they've improved their packaging to remove plastic. It came in a simple cardboard mailer and tissue.

Meanwhile, as I'm composing this post, I run into my friend Kim A. She's just come from dinner with her friends at a nearby restaurant, and one of her friends brought tupperware for the leftovers! No disposable take-out containers, for the win!

Overall, great evening: I saved 64% on some second-hand clothes in like-new condition, one of which has a great conversation starter on it, and saw a friend making positive steps of her own.