At Reach And Teach we like to play a little game called “What Would You Get For…?” where we pick people in our lives and try to figure out what we might get for them as a gift. We actually have a few hundred people on the lists we and our team have created over the years. One of the key tests for any product we bring into our shop is whether we can think of someone, anyone, to whom we would give that as a gift! That counts for every book, game, toy, puzzle, fair-trade craft… everything! So, with Mother’s Day right around the corner we wanted to share some ideas with you for a mother in your life! Of course, like everything we do, there’s a peacemaking, social justice, gender equality, and sustainability lens on everything. So… in case you were pondering what you might possibly get for someone in your life, here are some of our recommendations!
Idea 1: Mother and Child Wooden Sculpture from Indonesia
We were thrilled to discover Indonesian artisans through our partnership with Novica. In our story photo above, Wayan Rendah celebrates the spontaneous relationship shared between a mother and her child, capturing the two in Suar Wood (AKA South American Walnut) as they play together. Working with local Balinese artisans, he carves the sculpture by hand, giving it a finish that accentuates the wood’s natural grain. We have this and several other beautiful pieces in the shop.
Idea 2: Body Butters from Thistle Farms
For women who can use a little soothing meditation time in their lives we have beautiful singing bowls from Tibet, more wood sculptures from Indonesia, and body butters from our friends at Thistle Farms. an amazing nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction.
Idea 3: Bath and Other Essential Oil Products from Molly Muriel
We met the founder of Molly Muriel (whose name is Branda) at a gift show many years ago and were so impressed by the products and her mission to help supply the world with natural products. From the beginning, Molly Muriel was created with a vision of integrity and environmental consciousness. No synthetic perfumes or fragrance oils are used, only pure essential oils for scent. All soaps are colored with plant botanicals and/or clays, with no un-natural food colorings or pigments. The soaps. candles, bath salts, and lip balms that we offer are the essence of natural goodness!
Idea 4: Green Lifestyle Gifts for the Earth-Conscious Mom
Some moms prefer practical gifts but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be fun! Our Friendsheep dryer balls are a great substitute for single-use dryer sheets. Optionally put a drop or two of Molly Muriel essential oils on one of them and they’ll make the laundry fluffy and nicely scented! We have a variety of faces on these cuties which you can mix and match. And, save Mom from having to lug big containers of liquid soap around by gifting her with Earth Breeze laundry sheets. Great for the planet these sheets dissolve in the washer and for every package sold Earth Breeze gives a package away to nonprofit organizations helping people around the world.
Idea 5: Fair Trade Chocolate, Teas, Cocoa, and Coffee
Yes, that’s Derrick, looking a little perplexed trying to help match someone up with just the right gift. She was a tough cookie! Maybe the answer would be tea, chocolate, or coffee! Our friends at Equal Exchange were among the earliest promoters of the Fair Trade concept and they are still at it decades later. Herbal or not, vegan or not, caffeinated or not, nuts or not, we’ve got you covered.
Perhaps there’s a spot on Mom’s wall for one of these beautiful fair-trade sculptures made from recycled steel drums in Haiti! We have a few different designs to choose from. Or, on a smaller scale, perhaps the mom in mind LOVES chocolate. Our friends at Ethereal Confections in Woodstock IL hand-craft each of these dark-chocolate bars with organic fair-trade and vegan ingredients. Each bar is a work of art! We also have a variety of hand-made truffles which we can box beautifully for you.
Idea 6: Handmade Night Lights
Again, on the practical side, hand-made glass artists from Ecuador create these beautiful nightlights brought to us by our friends at Pampeana Fair Trade. When you purchase a product promoted by Pampeana, you become an ambassador of Fair Trade principles, supporting equality and sustainability as well as helping to preserve our environment. Also, Pampeana is a women-owned business.
Idea 7: For the Foodie Mom
A few months ago we asked each person working at Reach And Teach to go through every cookbook and if each of us could not find at least THREE recipes in a book that we felt compelled to make the book was banished from the store. I know, kinda harsh, but hey…. If you have a mom in your life who loves to cook, loves social justice, loves healing the planet, loves sweets, loves science….. we’ve got some great cookbooks to choose from.
Idea 8: Bokashi Composter for the Gardening Mom
We’ll never forget the one dear friend in our life who made all occasions simple for her husband, all she ever wanted was dirt! She would LOVE this Bokashi composting system which we have grown to love in our shop. Reduce waste by 50% with the Bokashi Organko 2 kitchen compost bin! The award winning design is made from 100% recycled material and fits easily under the kitchen sink or on your kitchen counter. And the dirt it creates…. priceless! The right mom will love it. (The wrong mom will wonder what you were thinking, but hey, maybe she’ll also grow to love it… you never know.)
Idea 9: Jewelry and Scarves
Stepping away from the practical, let’s take a few moments with beauty with a purpose. Starfish Project restores hope to exploited women in Asia. They provide life-changing opportunities through their Holistic Care Programs and their social enterprise where women create beautiful jewelry and become managers, accountants, graphic designers, and photographers. The jewelry is stunning and the packaging is simple, elegant, and beautiful.
Scarves from our friends at Sevya make wonderful gifts, both practical and beautiful. “Sevya” is a Sanskrit word that means “caring through service”; caring for humanity and for the environment we live in. Sevya is dedicated to preserving the indigenous art forms and cultures of India by supporting the artisan communities who uphold these traditions. They work directly with artisan communities throughout India to develop contemporary styles of apparel & accessories that showcase their traditional and eco-friendly methods of handcraft–including hand-loom, block-printing, tie-dye, and embroidery. The scarves are made with the finest natural materials using traditional craft techniques, which are passed down from generation to generation.
Idea 10: More Books! (including Audio Books)
One of our greatest joys is having someone tell us about a person in their lives for whom they would like to find the perfect book, and us placing just the right book in their hands! We have curated each section of our shop carefully, again, with each book on the shelf because we had someone in mind for whom it would be the perfect gift. And, don’t forget, as an independent books store we have access to literally tens of millions of titles we can get for you in just a couple of days. You can even gift someone with audiobooks through our shop! Our partnership with Libro.fm allows you to give a particular book or a bundle of book credits (we have a beautiful gift certificate you can give them) that your giftee can use any time.
Idea 11: Socks With A Cause
OK. If you’ve gotten this far and you still haven’t seen anything that is a match for your giftee, here’s something that EVERYONE can use… socks! Conscious Step supports people and the planet with every purchase. You can count on them for supreme comfort, ethical and sustainable production, and designs that make you smile; all while empowering non-profits to support their causes and communities.
Idea 12: Handmade Quilling Cards (and other Fair Trade handmade cards)
We sure do hope something we’ve shown here has perked up your ears, tickled your fancy, piqued your curiosity, drew your attention, or raised your eyebrows, but… if not, don’t forget that we have these incredibly beautiful Quilling cards! Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. These cards are fair-trade and hand-crafted in Vietnam. They are stunningly beautiful.
Whew! That was a lot of stuff! Did you find something? No? Fear not, there is SO much more in our shop we can share with you. Come in person or peruse our web site. Over the last few months we have put in literally hundreds of hours of work to make our web site sync up with what’s in the brick and mortar shop in San Carlos. Perhaps your giftee likes jigsaw puzzles, games, nail polish, books about dragons, brain teasers, or chess! We truly do believe that we can help match most people up with just the right gift. Try us! We hope to see you in our San Carlos shop soon, or have you visit our web site. We can even schedule a zoom with you and walk you through the store. However we can, we LOVE to help people find the perfect gift. See you soon!
