samhain: paganism

Samhain, a Celtic holiday translates to 'summers end', in gaelic cultures was a pagan harvest holiday. Samhain ends the lighter half of the year and begins the darker half. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. The Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities with people and their livestock often walking between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, casting slaughtered livestock bones into its flames.

The Gaelic custom of wearing costumes and masks, was an attempt to copy the spirits or appease them. In Scotland the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white. Samhnag were turnips which were hollowed out and carved with faces to make lanterns, meant to ward off harmful spirits. The Gaelic festival became associated with the Christian All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and has hugely influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween. It continues to be celebrated as a religious festival by some Neopagans.

the cake walk: a halloween carnival activity

In many Elementary Schools around the US, a cake walk coinciding with a school carnival is organized for the Halloween holiday. For any elementary schools that do not do this activity I have a word of advice, Start!
This celebration can also be done with the entire neighborhood or other community facility or group. The Cake Walk can be turned into a fundraiser for a worthy cause as well. It is very similar to musical chairs. Each cake comes from parents or group members who volunteer to bake or buy a cake and donate it to the game.

To organize one, put numbers on the floor or carpet with masking tape, forming a circle. Maybe 20 perhaps more if it is a big school. Participants purchase tickets and when they want to play, hand in their tickets, they each choose a number/position, and when all the spots are pretty much filled, you begin. Using a tape recorder or record player, put some fun dance music on, and encourage the walkers to move around the circle, in rhythm to the music. After several rounds of this, the Leader stops the music, and everyone claims the spot nearest his/her feet. The leader pulls a number out of a fishbowl (there is a number in the bowl for every number in the circle). That chosen number wins the cake for that round, choosing from all the cakes available, donated by participating families. The others are given some sort of small door prize, and a "thanks for playing!"...and may, of course, try again with another ticket. Repeat until all cakes have new homes.

Bakers or Buyers of cakes will need advance notification of the event and the need, so you'll be distributing flyers and/or making phone calls. You need a chairperson/Leader to be responsible for set-up, and ideally one or two enthusiastic Helpers to keep it running smoothly. Someone has to be available to Receive the cakes as they are brought in, store them safely, set up, clean up...etc..

For the love of German Chocolate cake, please bring this activity back people!!!

I was completely unaware as to the true history of the Cake Walk, that you can read about here. I guess the cake walk is as good as Jazz baby-it sure tastes like it.
photo source

flat pack prototype chicken coop

The University of Colorado, Boulder has created an Urban Chicken Coop Project to focus on the current backyard chicken raising trend happening in Boulder County. The city has seen an upsurge in its community garden project and 360,000 visitors to the Boulder County Farmers' Market each year. Many local restaurants incorporate the locavore movement so the local food movement and production is a huge priority. The citizens of Boulder are propelled to natural living, outdoor activities such as, biking, hiking, skiing and now gardening and farming have become the latest path to follow. A nationwide dialogue has begun proving that a chicken coop can be maintained in a backyard urban environment.

Two University of Colorado professors-Richard Saxton in the Art and Art History department and Rob Pyatt in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning have challenged their students to revisit the age old debate; can urban exist in the rural and can the rural exist in the urban. The "Chicken Shack Village" installation explores rural aesthetics and farming in an urban environment.

College of Architecture and Urban Planning instructor Rob Pyatt's design and build class to complete the first model for the easy-to-build chicken coop kit for homeowners. The most successful seems to be Jeff Troutman's flat pack chicken coop design (in black). Jeff's affordable design is an easy to assemble coop utilizing digital fabrication methods to cut FSC certified plywood sheeting with minimal hardware into 4'X4' sections, ultimately housing up to 6 chickens when constructed. The design includes a chicken run and is meant to be set up next to a backyard fence, still allowing for easy access to collect eggs.

Currently, in Boulder, there is an exhibit of Troutman and others designs for the chicken coops at the BMOCA Museum.

In addition to "Chicken Shack Village," symposiums have been set up to allow speakers such as the Urban Hens organization to address topics of collaborative art, raising chickens in the urban setting, environmental responsibility, healthy living, building and maintaining coops, as well as local farming and gardening.

More information available on this project at CO &
AB.

haute paper cuts: beatrice coron

The intricate paper cut artwork by Beatrice Coron are her inventions of cities, worlds and scenes from life, representing notions of identity and belonging to certain spaces. Each piece describes countless human activities or perhaps wishful circumstances. The body of work entitled, "Personal Cities" began with the idea of imagining a city that would contain all the essential elements of one single person’s life- real or idealistic. These compositions include memories, associations, observations and thoughts that unfold in improbable juxtapositions. Her cut silhouettes show detailed stories and dreams, rich narrative universes. Born and raised in Lyon, France, Coron has lived in Taiwan, Mexico and Egypt. Coron's work is represented in collections of many museums, libraries, universities and she has a rich history of solo exhibitions.

led halloween lights

Energy efficient string LED lights are available at Target

katy hackney: floral jewelry

Katy Hackney's beautiful creations are inspired by nature and botanicals.

stewart & brown: winter giveway!

Stewart & Brown, a lovely fashion label based in Ventura California is the brainchild of Karen Stewart & Howard Brown, partners in life and work. They launched their ethical fashion brand in 2002 in L.A., determined to pioneer the sustainable fashion movement. Both Stewart and Brown bring a high level of creativity to the collection every season. Karen, a trained painter and New York native, and Howard, a graphic artist and Montana native, oversee every aspect of the product and brand themselves.

Stewart+Brown designs offer the highest quality and functional style while remaining sustainable. The company donates a minimum of 1% all sales to non-profit, non-governmental environmental and social welfare organizations.

For all you readers, Stewart&Brown is hosting a giveaway this week for this gorgeous Hilda Cap-orchid colored merino wool hat. With a chunky knit, this fair trade gem will make you the adorable envy in the cold snowy days to come. To win, please leave a haiku about cold/wintry weather in the comments. Do not forget to leave your email (ideally in non hypertext link format), so that I can retrieve your mailing address for Stewart&Brown to send Hilda to the winner. Winner announced Sat, Nov 7. (5,7,5 syllable poem)

annabel faraday ceramics

Annabel Faraday ceramics are a pleasure to my eyes this morning. I recently found her wares and became intrigued with her process of printing maps onto stoneware. She sells her amazing stoneware creations directly on her site, her studio is in Victoria Park Square London. Purely modern and delightful.

evguenia jokhova: paper cut art

Evguenia Jokhova, a painter and bookmaker is inspired by fantasy and fairy tales. Through this world of make believe, escapism & imagination her fantastical works emerge. Mundane objects are transformed into wonderous dreamscapes or imaginary creatures.

d-build: deconstruct design develop

Rob Englert and Grant Meacham are in the process of developing a new method of cataloging and distributing reclaimed materials in an effort to promote the benefits of their use in new constructions and products. To do so, they are creating a website called D-Build, which will be both a blog and an online marketplace that sells material from dismantled houses and the products made from them, while illuminating some of the material's cultural history.

This will be done by carefully cataloging a house as it is dismantled, taking note of historical information alongside dimensional data, which will be uploaded to a central database. Additionally, each home will be scanned, preserving buildings that might otherwise have no blueprints or other documented history. Then, all of this information will be linked to the online marketplace, so buyers can access an information-rich history of the materials they are browsing.

D-build is currently being prototyped, but you can check out their demo in the video above. The website will first focus on Syracuse, launching at the grand opening of the new Syracuse Center of Excellence Headquarters in December. It looks like this will be the first house to be taken apart and cataloged:

via Core 77

tesla motors: new boulder, colorado location

Tesla Motors has opened a Colorado gallery at 915 Pearl St. on the Pearl Street Mall as it's newest strategic regional hub. Tesla is currently the only automaker producing and selling highway-capable EVs as well as the only automaker offering “house calls” with a mobile service squad, all customers can enjoy hassle-free service without leaving their home or office. Convenient, low cost house calls will be made for annual inspections, firmware updates and other services--Teslas require less maintenance than a conventional car. The Boulder facility the sole hub for customers throughout the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains.

The centennial state aims to be the most environmentally friendly in the nation, with Gov. Bill Ritter getting accolades as America’s “Greenest Governor.”US Roadster owners get a $7,500 federal tax credit, and Colorado’s progressive public policy offers additional incentives for residents who buy this year. Coloradans get more benefits if they replace their gas guzzler with an all-electric, zero-emission Roadster – the only car that’s faster than a Porsche 911 and twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius.

To date, Tesla has delivered nearly 900 cars, and many owners in Northern climates drive them all winter long. Tesla performed cold-weather testing on a frozen lake in Arvidsjaur, Sweden. Scandinavia is a leading European sales market, and Canadian deliveries start later this year. Electric seat warmers and heating vents thaw drivers on frigid nights. The Roadster can also be fitted with snow tires and chains, and customers may select from two hard-top roof options. In addition to being four-season friendly, the Roadster consumes no gasoline whatsoever and therefore never requires a time-consuming detour to the pump. Owners simply charge the Roadster overnight from a conventional 120- or 240-volt outlet, and every single morning the car is fully charged – roughly 240 miles of driving. With an EPA-estimated range of 244 miles per charge, it costs less than $5 to refuel.

Tesla’s goal is to produce increasingly affordable cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla sells cars online and has delivered nearly 900 Roadsters to customers in North America and Europe. In addition to Boulder, Colorado, Tesla has showrooms in California’s Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, London and Munich.

oficinaethos: sustainable furniture

Oficinaethos
Brazilian design house Oficinaethos primarily uses certificated woods or lumber from demolition areas for their beautiful furniture and artwork. The pink accents are amazing.

Design Milk

hannah loiuse lamb jewelry

Dainty nature inspired jewelry by Hannah Louise Lamb from the UK.

botanical designs: prismera

Lovely jewelry by Prismera Design

congrats to organic giveaway winner!!

Congrats to Amy Mottola who won Haute Natures' Snug Organics giveway. Looks for more HAIKU giveways in the future on this site.

morgan wills: recycled wool

Morgan Wills has a boutique label in Seddon Australia. She focuses on crafting unique eco friendly products with bold colors.
The Cast offs range is made from 100% recycled wool, vintage fabric or designer off cuts. She often uses linen tea towels and tablecloths in her creations.

rehab vintage furniture

Rehab Vintage has a nice offering of vintage and repurposed furnishings.

ecopod trash recycler

Ecopod is a devise that can crush 50 plastic or aluminum cans and store them for you until your trip to the bin. There are separate compartments for newspapers or plastic bags all withing the 16"X20.5"X31" can.

haute nature: blogged rating

Blogged sent me a link to their rating of my blog. I'll take my rating as a huge compliment considering I am a one woman show here at Haute Nature.

tom bihn: cork fabric bags

Tom Bihn

junktion: recycled housewares

Junktion is a fabulous company from Tel Aviv spicing up old junk to transform it into wonderful new treasure. The fresh gas tank baskets and bike horn candlesticks are such an inventive way of upcycling used times. See more on their site. via AT

team germany wins solar decathlon

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that ‘Team Germany’ from the Technische Universität Darmstadt has won the 2009 Solar Decathlon with their project surPLUShome. This is the second time in a row that a team from TU Darmstadt wins this international contest after already snatching the title in Solar Decathlon’s last edition in 2007.
After 9 days and 10 contests, Team Germany reached the highest overall scores, closely followed by Team Illinois and Team California. Dubbed “the big, black monolith,” surPLUShome is almost entirely covered with photovoltaic panels that managed to generate 19 kilowatts during one day of test runs—more than twice as much as some other Solar Decathlon contestants.
The Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. More about Team Germany's house here.

green genius bio bags

Green Genius, is a brand new biodegradable trash bag about to hit store shelves. The 100% recyclable craft board box is 60% post consumer waste and printing with UV inks. Look for them soon and make the change!

rickshaw bagworks

Rickshaw Bagworks a San Francisco based company produces stylish, sustainable messenger bike bags. Their bags are designed to optimize cutting and eliminate material waste and made locally in San Francisco with domestically sourced fabrics. Many styles are entirely recyclable.

dow solar: photovoltaic roof shingles

Dow Solar Solutions has launched a new range of BIPV system that will be great for all those who don’t like to give up the appearance a conventional roofing shingle gives to their house for being ecofriendly. The company’s latest solar panels look just like regular roofing shingle and according to the company, they cost about 40% less than other solar panels that can be installed like roofing tiles. Dow received $20 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to help develop its BIPV products.

In addition to being cheaper, these new solar shingles, dubbed Dow PowerHouse, are 10% more efficient and cost 15% less on a per-watt basis. The panels can be installed by regular roofers and can provide renewable energy without changing the look of your house. The new solar shingles can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingles, Dow said, and will be introduced in 2010 before a wider roll-out in 2011. The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells. Dow's shingle will be about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than current BIPV systems. The Dow shingles can be installed in about 10 hours, compared with 22 to 30 hours for traditional solar panels, reducing the installation costs that make up more than 50 percent of total system prices. The product will available in North America through Lennar Corp (LEN.N) and Pulte Homes Inc (PHM.N) before marketing is expanded.
via Reuters

clementine art supplies: boulder colorado

Sustainably and responsibly minded Clementine Art Studio in Boulder Colorado has a fresh & healthy line of childrens' art supplies. Clementine Art's new art supply line contains simple ingredients from the earth. The products are colored with vegetable, plant, and mineral pigments instead of artificial dyes, providing an innovative solution to chemically laden, artificially colored art supplies. Each offering allows for open ended play and consists of kits for sculpture, collage or singular materials like modeling dough, natural paint, natural markers, soy crayons, soy crayon rocks and natural glue. All of Clementine's natural & safe materials created by the founder Diane Mercer, encourage children to create real art from scratch. The supplies are all natural, certified non toxic and environmentally friendly. Even the packaging for the art supplies is made of 80% post consumer recycled and reusable materials & printed with soy ink. Time for art!