Friday Favorites 08/16/2013

Karin Lidbeck Brent, Contributing Editor
Creative Women is a company that I found recently while traveling around picturesque Vermont. They wield beautiful home textiles and contemporary accessories that are all handmade by women all around the world. Having partnerships with textile studios in Peru, Ethiopia, Senegal, Bolivia, and several other countries, each product Creative Women sells is inimitable. 

While searching for home furniture and design ideas in Vermont Farm Table, I stumbled upon these towels from Creative Women. Both delicate and soft in texture, these handwoven striped towels are made from all-natural Ethiopian cotton. The subtle accent of color makes the towels simple yet stunning, allowing them to complement any dacor. Although these linens are made to function as towels, I’m going to use them as table runners or throws. Whatever their use may be, they are a great addition to any New England home with a country feel.

Creative Women sells a plethora of products, including pillows, throws/blankets, scarves, napkins, placemats and tablecloths. They buy from women-owned companies around the globe, and do more than just designing and selling textiles by supporting women’s economic independence. Founder, Ellen Dorsch, found that by selling these women’s products in the United States, “an opportunity existed to improve women’s lives and to maintain a centuries-old art form by introducing the West to the beauty of Ethiopian textiles.”

Paula M. Bodah, Senior Editor
Throw pillows are such a great way to change the personality of a room without tossing out all the furniture and starting over again. With Elaine Smith’s toss pillows for McGuire in durable outdoor fabrics, now we can do the same quick change on the porch or deck anytime we have the urge to rev up our outdoor style. Smith uses Sunbrella fabrics, so her pillows are fade- and stain-resistant and can easily weather a whole summer and still end up looking like new.

Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief
A few times a year, when in need of some outdoor beauty and quiet, one or two friends and I will spend an afternoon at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. Nestled (naturally) near the crest of a hill that boasts a scenic overlook of Wachusett Reservoir and the mountain of the same name beyond, the complex includes several specialty gardens, woodland walks and—my favorite—an expansive apple orchard bursting with obscure heirloom varieties from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. (Hint: If you go during the Harvestival on Columbus Day weekend, you can actually buy and taste individual specimens of the apples—an eye-opening experience.)