Mother's Day Gift Guide: Presents with Purpose

This Mother's Day, forget about sending your mom a bunch of flowers or a box of candy. Instead, shop at Ten Thousand Villages, and give her a one-of-a-kind, beautiful gift that will not only touch her heart, but will help out someone else's mom, living on the other side of the world.

"Our designers and buyers work with artisans to build on their traditional skills with trend and color information and new product suggestions," said Michele Loeper, Marketing Manager: Retail and Brand Strategy of Ten Thousand Villages.

Ten Thousand Villages offers artisan partners a spectrum of design assistance that varies with the unique challenges of each group. Their in-house buying team helps artisans adapt traditional artistic skills to create a product that appeals to U.S. consumers. And their buyers make regular visits to artisan partners, where they collaborate to produce best-selling products and enable their partners to develop their businesses and design skills.

These beautiful items are produced in the most environmentally friendly way possible: by hand. Many artisans recycle materials such as newspaper, post-consumer magazines and glass to create innovative and functional products, often utilizing a wide range of materials from bamboo to waterweeds.

"These groups source renewable, natural materials to keep resources in balance," said Loeper. "We encourage artisans to use local, raw materials whenever possible, and many artisans use natural dyes. Several artisan partners also source sustainable wood, or 'good wood,' from farms that replant trees after they are harvested."

Fair Trade and Fashion Forward

As a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Ten Thousand Villages ensures the artisans are fairly compensated. Artisans receive up to 50 percent in cash advances when an order is placed, and payment in full when an order is shipped. "This capital allows artisan groups to purchase equipment and raw materials without going into debt by taking out loans with high interest rates," said Loeper. "Ten Thousand Villages works with Shared Interest to deliver punctual payment to artisan groups."

Once the products arrive in the U.S., Ten Thousand Villages is responsible for marketing them. Artisans' wages are not affected by product markdowns or discounts because they have already received payment before the products arrive in their warehouse.

Buying Fair Trade is a simple way to support women around the world. If the opportunity exists to buy a bowl, set of dish towels or even a scarf that gives back to women around the world, for the same price or less than that of a major retailer, the decision to make more sustainable purchases should be easy.

For example, Ten Thousand Villages works with artisan partner Prokritee (meaning "nature" in Bengali), to source items made from repurposed saris. This partnership provides jobs for poor rural women in Bangladesh, improving the women's standard of living and helping them send their children to school. In a region where thousands of women are forced to take jobs in dangerous, unregulated garment factories, or resort to sex work as a means of survival, this partnership has provided a way for these women to earn a livelihood out of harm's way.

Here's a sample of some of the sustainable, fair trade gifts you can get from Ten Thousand Villages for Mom on Mother's Day:

?Blue Spiral Vase
This vase was painted and glazed by hand and high-fired for strength and durability at the Kinh family workshop in the famous pottery village of Bat Trang, Vietnam, where ceramics artisans carry on centuries-old traditions. Sales of this item benefit Craft Link, a nonprofit organization who works with Vietnamese artisans to generate income, with a focus on ethnic minorities, street children and artisans with disabilities.
($39) Handmade in Vietnam

Denim Dusk Silk Scarf
This versatile scarf is perfect for dressing up or dressing down. The distinct linen-like appearance and texture of Lao silk sets it apart from other varieties of silk. Its gentle strength is naturally dyed in dusky blue. Sales of this item from benefit Phontong Handicrafts Cooperative, which teaches artisans weaving skills and provides free raw materials.
($49) Handmade in Laos

Marble Jewelry Box
This luxurious marble box was handmade by the artisans of Dominion Traders in Pakistan and lined with velvet for the ultimate in sophistication. Sales of this item benefit Dominion Traders, a group that works with underprivileged artisans who make stone and shesham wood crafts in the city of Karachi.
($69) Handmade in Pakistan

Daisy Chain Necklace
Silvery petals make a shining statement piece. Sales of this item benefits the artisan group CFM Market Linkages. CFM works with artisan communities throughout India, with most communities being in the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh region.
($39) Handmade in India

Paisley Cotton Robe
This soft cotton robe is adorned with a traditional paisley block print pattern, a labor-intensive method of hand-printing fabric. Sales from this item benefit Aravali, a for-profit company supporting the work of close to 150 artisans in the Jaipur area.
($59) Handmade in India

Coffee Candle
A fun little gift for the barista or coffee drinker in your life, this Honduran candle is full of beans -- coffee beans. Sales from this item benefit the cooperative Candelas La Luci�rnaga ("Firefly Candles"), a project of the nonprofit women's organization Actions for Popular Development, an organization dedicated to the empowerment and welfare of women, which includes a shelter for abused women and their children, a home for pregnant women and a microlending program.
($18) Handmade in Honduras

Beautiful Body Care Kit
This body care kit includes two bars of handmade soap scented with cucumber and coconut, and a natural fiber body scrubber, tied together in a palm leaf basket. Sales from this item benefit two artisan groups: Palam Rural in Tamil Nadu, India and Community Action for Social Transformation (CAST). Palam Rural Centre offers employment opportunities to people of the marginalized Harijan community in southeastern India. CAST provides employment and healthcare to women affected by HIV/AIDS.
($18) Handmade in India

Robin's Egg Necklace
This lovely necklace is robin's egg blue for springtime accessorizing. Artisans create each of the ceramic beads for this necklace by hand, one at a time. Sales of this item benefit Jacaranda Workshop, a nonprofit organization located in Nairobi, Kenya, that provides employment, training and other assistance to artisans with mental or physical disabilities.
($49) Handmade in Kenya

For more information or to shop, visit tenthousandvillages.com