Check out the Chuck

Who knew that you could dream of a waste basket? The Chuck from studioCrank is a new edition to our store and people (including us!) are loving it already. It's great for trash - sized for a 3 gallon BioBag for the messy types, storage, and of course recycling. Best of all it's made of 100% recycled cardboard and is printed with low VOC inks. If you order it on-line it ships flat, but it takes about a minute to put it together.

Check out the Chuck - $12

NPR's The Story with Dick Gordon

We always love it when people sit up and take notice of our designers. The pretty organic table linens from Fiberactive Organics got some well-deserved attention when Julie Mullin, the founder of Fiberactive Organics, was featured on NPR's The Story a few months ago in a piece called A Gift of Hands. Julie employs Vietnamese refugees in her North Carolina business and this unique relationship is explored in the NPR piece.

We love the idea of cloth napkins at home, both to make any meal seem that much nicer, and also to do away with paper napkins. You can see Fiberactive Organics napkins here, and you can listen to the podcast here.

Have We Mentioned It's Our Birthday?

Yep, Grasshopper 510 is turning one. To celebrate we are having a major in-store sale on Saturday and Sunday: 20% off all regularly priced items. If you're local please stop in and check it out.

....Did we mention there will be cupcakes?

Teacher's Pet

Need a quick gift for your child's teacher? Look no further than this pencil case. Made of recycled cardboard tubes and repurposed flip-flop foam, it gets an A+ on its eco-report card.

Is It Summer Yet?

It's supposed to hit 80 degrees here in Chicago today and we are itching to dine al fresco. To keep the bugs at bay, we have this citronella candle that can't be beat: recycled glass, soy wax, plus the scent keeps the mosquitos away? Perfect summer host gift: FOUND.

We Love This Bag

Look what we got in the mail today: as soon as we saw this bag, we fell in love. It's the perfect fresh color we're craving for Spring, but it's also going to work well in the colder months. These Ashley Watson bags don't stick around too long, so if you love it as much as we do, snap it up!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is fast approaching and with it comes a nice opportunity to let the moms in your life know how special you think they are. Whether that means reaching out to your own mom, or your wife, sister, best friend, or daughter - now is the perfect time to say "I think you're doing a great job."

If you're looking for a gift to go along with that sentiment, check out these suggestions:

What's better than breakfast in bed? Pick something yummy to cook like apple strata, and then present this book along with your masterpiece. We're betting she won't mind if the book has some smudges on it, if it comes along with a cooked meal.

Give mom some time to herself and pamper her with these luxurious bath and body items from Earthworks. One of our favorites is the African Jasmine scent collection - but you can't go wrong with any of them.

This cute clutch is the perfect little purse for just about any mom. And of course, she'll love that its from you.

Don't forget to take a peek at the Holiday section of our website for more ideas.