So this is turning out to be a mini "week of the wedding" as I get myself into gear to move ahead on my own wedding—apologies to anyone who dislkies wedding posts, you can taks solace in the fact that (a) I won't do this very often; I'm saving most of my wedding rants for a future project and (b) I'm not your typical taffeta, lace and chair covers kind of girl.

So lets talk for a minute about sustainable weddings. As with all things, the label sustainable can be applied very broadly. For example, I visit two wedding blogs regularly to keep myself sane in this chair-cover-centric wedding world: 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding and A Practical Wedding. Sara from 2000 Dollar wedding (who we had the opportunity to chat with briefly at the Summit of Awesome, and who was awesome enough to give us a little shout-out a few weeks ago) is big on keeping both the budgetary and ecological impacts of your wedding in check. A Practial Wedding focuses more on cutting through all the "traditions" and "you're-supposed-tos" to create a meaningful event. In my mind, both of these are very sustainable approaches to what can be a very wasteful industry.

I'm not trying to say there's a right way to have a wedding—what's important is what's right for you. I know gowns and dancing—and even an aisle and ceremony—aren't right for me, but they are right for a lot of people. The point I want to make is that a wedding is the perfect opportunity to practice conscious consumerism. Let's face it, weddings are expensive. Really expensive. Next to a house, probably the most expensive thing you'll ever buy. Everyone says money is power—a wedding is the perfect time to vote with your wallet. If you are all that money into things that are truly important to you, like local organic food or a conflict-free ring or a sustainable dress or even better, handcrafted elements from small businesses and artists, you are sending a big message to the wedding industry, and the consumer industry in general.

For us, the statement is as much about not spending money as it is about how we spend it. We can do without some frills and feel better putting that money towards a future home intead. I can say, no, I don't need chair covers (I'm sorry, I really, really hate chair covers) or favors or matching bridesmaids, and that's making a statement, too. And I feel good about the choices we've made, going with a small business for the catering, picking a non-profit venue where the fees we pay go directly to maintaining the grounds, DIY-ing like crazy and relying on the talents of our many amazing friends, and buying handmade whatever we can't make ourselves. In this economy especially, we have to remember that how we spend our money really does make a difference.

Loving these snarky "recession cards" by 9SpotMonk, all on 100% recycled stock.

I've got weddings on the brain this week. June is my cousin's wedding, then we get married in September, followed shortly thereafter by our BFFs, Julien & Karen of Re-Bicycle. I'm well behind on my planning, but that's OK... I promised myself that I'll spend next weekend attempting to make my dress! Scary as that is, I'm inspired by the great eco-friendly dresses I've seen on Etsy. (And I know I can buy one of these beauties if my attempts fail.)

There are so many handmade, low-impact options out there, and I love that buying one of these dresses means that you are supporting an independent designer, not the Wedding Industry. I love the very fun dress above by ArmoursansAnguish, constructed, like all their garments, entirely from recycled and reclaimed materials.

Of course, I have a soft spot for simple, natural, comfortable dresses. (I'm not a gown kinda girl.) And this lovely, lovely raw unbleached cotton dress by Zelaya is just right for a late summer garden wedding...hmm...

We'll be heading to Brooklyn on Sunday to take a walk around the BUST Craftacular and meet some more crafty peeps. Let us know if you'll be there and we'll stop by to say hello!

I'm a little late on this one, but I've only just now had time to check out the latest issue of Readymade. Have you seen their beautiful DIY chandelier made from old bottles? I love the way the candlelight glows through the frosted glass bottles in their example piece, but I bet this would look amazing in green glass as well. Check out the digital edition of the magazine for complete instructions.

We're going the rustic, candles-in-mason-jars route for our upcoming wedding, and if there were more hours in the day I think I would make a few of these to complement the centerpieces. Oh well, not this year. But I think I will file this away to be made for the garden haven I hope to someday have. (Complete with bottle wall, of course.)

To say that Julien is a bicycle-enthusiast would be an understatement. Bicycle-obsessed is more like it. But his passion for all things bicycle has rubbed off on me enough to have me pedaling to the grocery store, committing (voluntarily!) to off-road rides, and developing an appreciation for the endless possibilities created from recycled bicycle parts. And so, we both love these books made by palepink from recycled bicycle tubes. As anyone who has ever bought a belt from Julien knows, no two used tires or tubes are exactly alike, which means each palepink book is one of a kind. Great for journaling, sketching, scheduling, etc., these books are as useful as they are unique!

Just wanted to share this email we got from Leslie, one of the winners of our Earth Day Giveaway:

All the goodies just made me smile! I Love that all the gifts are things that you can't find off the shelves at Target.

That's exactly what this is all about.

After our panel Selling Successfully Online at the Summit of Awesome, Jeff and I decided that it would be a good idea to share some of what we spoke about (and what we learned) here. We put up a page of resources for selling online here on the site, but it seemed worth covering some topics further. So I'm going to try to write a few paragraphs on Thursdays discussing different aspects of selling your work online. Obviously there are many, many sites that go more in depth than I'll be able to here (that's what that resource page is for), but I'll try to give a brief overview on a wide variety of topics.

So, enough introduction, let's start from the very beginning. You like to make things, and you've been toying around with selling your goods online. Before you even think about setting up shop, what is it that you want to sell? The way I see things, you have two big challenges facing you before you even start making your product: 1: There are a lot of people selling handmade goods online. That means a lot of competition, and a lot of work to get yourself seen. 2: You probably aren't going to turn a profit right away. Whether this is a hobby for some extra pocket money or a full-on business venture, it's going to take time before you are raking in the cash.

Keeping that in mind, here is my most basic advice for anyone thinking about opening up shop and starting a product line: make things that you enjoy making, because it will take time and hard work to get sales, and you might as well be having fun doing it, and always challenge yourself to make something new. Don't just make things that are "safe"—there are a lot of other people out there already making those things. Step outside your comfort zone, and chances are you'll stand out from the crowds of other crafters. And make things that you'd want to buy. You should be your best customer, and you should be proud of your work.

So go get started, experiment, and find your niche. There is nothing wrong with using your online shop as a testing ground to see what products people are interested in. You don't need to have a polished product line when you first set up shop—in fact it's better not to, in some ways, because you'll find that it's easier to make changes and try new things if you haven't devoted a huge amount of time to a full line. (I'm sure there are people out there who will disagree with me on that one, but that's my take.) Most importantly, don't be afraid to go ahead and put your work out there. I know plenty of people who have gotten hung up on the idea of actually putting there items online for the world to see—you'll be joining an amazing, supportive handmade community that will help your shop—and you as an artist—to grow.

That's my take on the first step... Next: where to sell your work

Check out my latest post over at Try Handmade, where I discuss the joys of soy as a sustainable material in all kinds of handmade goodies. Joys of soy. Why am I so cheesy?