Green Wedding Favor Ideas

By Erica Tevis

Green as a wedding color is trendy, it pairs well with many other colors and with popular schemes of honeydew and chocolate brown or pink and spring green - it is fabulous for modern weddings. Brides who choose to use this color are very down to earth, fun loving gals. It is highly symbolic for weddings as well; it is said to represent life, fertility, health and prosperity.

Green is complex; with warming properties like yellow and cooling properties like blue, the shade you select for your wedding can make your reception warm and inviting or cool and relaxing. It can also can be warmed up or cooled down depending on the color you pair it with if you are having a duel colored wedding.

Shades of green are popping up everywhere, in wedding magazines and online with favors and accessories. If you choose to use this as your wedding color or accent color, there are now so many choice available to you for your wedding. We have some lovely wedding favor ideas for you in this modern color sceme:

1) Candles - many floral design candles contain green as their accent color. There are also adorable frog candles, "Two Peas in a Pod" candles, and "Perfect Pair" candles. All are perfect for spring, garden or themed weddings.

2) Kitchen Inspired Favors - Items such as "Two Peas in a Pod" salt and pepper shakers, "A Perfect Pair" kitchen timer, "Love Keyboard Magnets" or "The Perfect Pair" fridge magnets make useful favors and are all in this festive color.

3) Place card frames - there are beautiful frames available for your place cards in various shades from sea foam to mint from sage to emerald. Epoxy, pewter and rhinestones accent many of these frames giving them a chic, upscale look and feel.

4) Green Tea Favors - why not give not only a green colored item, but a "green" consumable item? Tea tin canister favors that can be filled with green tea and personalized with your names and dates make a delicious gift. Pair with a jar of personalized honey with a matching label for a soothing after wedding treat.

5) Personalized Edible Favors - personalized beverages, cocktail mixes, Hershey bars, mint tins, or even Mint colored Jordan almonds placed inside an earth friendly box topped with a personalized label makes a fabulous thank you present.

Erica Tevis is the owner of Little Things Wedding Favors, which carries a large supply of green wedding favors in addition to a growing collection of eco-friendly wedding favors. Visit them on the web and check out their large supply of wedding favors, themed favors, invitations, and wedding accessories.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erica_Tevis

Sleep Well in Your Green Bedroom

By Mark Zawaideh

We all know about the benefits of eating organic foods and using eco-friendly free cleaners and other household items, but now this toxin-free existence has extended into other areas of the house. Apparently a tidy, relatively dust-free bedroom just doesn't cut it anymore in today's chemical ridden society.

How green is your rug? Natural products such as jute or wool are the most desirable.

Your bedroom furniture may be oozing toxic gases. Anything composed of particle board or paneling and left unsealed, can emit formaldehyde and has the potential to cause difficulty in breathing, watery eyes, or allergies. Extreme levels have been known to cause cancer in animals and humans.

When you're painting your walls, look for a low VOC brand that contains less toxins. A good rule of thumb is, the stronger the paint smell after you put it on the wall, the higher the level of toxicity.

How many of us are sleeping on an organic bed? An organic bed emits no toxic chemicals and provides a healthy sleep environment.

Most traditional mattresses are made with fire retardant chemicals which seep out, only to be absorbed by our pores and lungs while we are sleeping. After ingesting various chemicals throughout our average day, it gives our bodies a much needed rest if we omit these toxins from our sleeping hours. This is especially true when you consider that people spend about one third of their life in bed.

Some of the common toxins emitted during sleep include:

• Formaldehyde, a chemical which is used in many adhesives and can cause eye and throat irritation and headaches.
• Carcinogenic flame-retardants (known as PBDE’s), many of which are banned in Europe and some U.S. States.
• Decabromodiphenyl Oxide, a brominated flame retardant now being found in women's breast milk.

Here are a few of the green features in organic bedding and mattresses:

• Natural latex cores wrapped in a natural flame retardant such as cotton or wool
• Emission-free mattresses that contain neither glue nor adhesives (these can emit toxic fumes for the first 2-3 years)
• Natural fiber bedding that not only breathes, but naturally resists dust mites
• Any cotton material used in the production of the bedding should be unbleached. Traditional cotton is not an acceptable choice due to its exposure to large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers prior to harvesting.
• No PBDE’s (fire retardants)
• Hypo-allergenic
• Made in a chemical-free manufacturing plant

Various affordable green mattress retailers include IKEA, Cozypure, Gaiam Greensleep/Vimala and EcoChoices.

Mark Zawaideh, a top sales associate in the United States, and based in the Northville Michigan real estate market. If you're looking to buy or sell property in the Canton MI real estate area, be sure to visit Mark at MarkZProperties.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Zawaideh

Emerald - The Rich Green Beryl Gem

By Chris Ralph

Man has valued the beautiful green hues of emerald gems since the earliest days of history, in fact emerald is one of the most highly prized of all the gems. The name comes from the Greek "smaragdos" which means green stone. Emerald has been treasured for at least 4,000 years by different cultures all around the world.

Cleopatra prized her emeralds more than any other gem. She may have dropped her pearls in her wine for Mark Anthony but she kept her emeralds for herself! The ancient emerald mines of Cleopatra, long a mystery, were discovered again a hundred years ago near the Red Sea. Some tools found in the mine were dated at 1650 B.C. but no quality emeralds were found: the mines were exhausted thousands of years ago. The Romans also loved emeralds because, as ancient scholar Pliny said, "nothing greens greener." Pliny said that emerald was the only gem which delighted the eye without fatiguing it. He said his eyes were restored when gazing at emerald.
The Moguls of India, including Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, loved emeralds so much they inscribed them with sacred text and wore them as talismans. Some of these sacred stones, called Mogul emeralds, can still be seen in museums and collections today. Emerald is the birthstone for May, the month of springtime romance, and the anniversary gemstone for the twentieth year of marriage, the perfect emblem of an enduring love.

Emeralds are often characterized by a garden of inclusions of veils of tiny bubbles and other types of minerals trapped within the stone. Under magnification, you will see all sorts of lovely patterns resembling foliage in a garden. The inclusions are like a fingerprint, giving each emerald a distinct personality. The extreme rarity of transparent emerald is why the finest quality emeralds can be more valuable than diamonds. Emerald's rich green color is caused by minute traces of chromium or vanadium. Chromium is the rare Midas element of gemstones: its presence also gives rubies their fiery redness. Crystals of emerald grew long before human history in metamorphic rocks, which usually restricts the size of emerald crystals, making them very rare in large sizes.

Ancient emeralds were taken from mines in Egypt, Austria and perhaps what is now Afghanistan. When the Spaniards arrived on the continent of South America, they were stunned to see emeralds finer and larger than any they had ever seen before. The Spaniards spent years searching for the source of the fantastic green stones favored by the Incas. They found it finally in what is today Colombia: Chivor, also known as Somondoco or "God of the green gems," then later Muzo and Cosquez, the richest emerald mines in the planet and still the source of the finest stones today.

Today, emeralds from Colombia are easier to obtain: they are as close as the nearest jewelry store. They are prized for a vivid saturated green like a lawn of new grass after a rain. This color is so prized that visible inclusions are accepted in these emeralds in return for the incomparable color. When choosing an emerald, the most important value factors to consider are color and clarity. The more vivid the green, the more valuable the emerald. There are also attractive bright stones with a lighter green color that often make a spectacular piece of jewelry. Darker green emeralds may also make up in rich color what they lose in brightness.

Because emeralds are so rare without inclusions, some inclusions are expected. However, you should look to make sure that fissures and inclusions do not go too deep into the stone so that it might be weakened enough to break if it were hit accidentally. The fissures and fractures that are characteristic of emerald are traditionally filled with oil to minimize their impact. You should avoid cleaning emerald with hot soapy water or steam and never clean an emerald in an ultrasonic cleaner because this oil could be removed or damaged, making the fissures more visible.

A flawless, clear emerald is very rare and is usually found in only small sizes. Small to medium sized stones are often faceted in the "step" or emerald cut. The gem is also lovely when cut into a cabochon or dome shape. Sometimes emeralds are even carved. Emerald is the accepted birthstone for the month of May. It is also the anniversary gemstone for the 20th and 35th years of marriage. As a part of the normal cutting and polishing process, most emeralds are immersed in colorless oil to fill voids, but it is required that jewelers disclose this to any buyers.

Care should be taken to protect emeralds from scratches, sharp blows, household chemicals, and extreme temperature changes. Do not clean emeralds in home ultrasonic cleaning machines, as there is a potential for damage.

For photos and more information on emerald gems, see the author’s website at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Emerald.htm

The author has an entire set of web pages which are devoted to providing information about the world of gemstones. His gemstone information Encyclopedia page can be seen at:
http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Gemstone_Encyclopedia.htm
Chris Ralph writes on small scale mining and prospecting for the ICMJ Mining Journal. He is a rock hound and prospector and owns his own turquoise mines in Nevada. His website on gemstones and jewelry can be viewed at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com