Blue

Our macrame and beaded bracelets are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, and durable professional beading thread. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our bracelets close easily with a toggle closure: one end has beaded loops and the other a T-shaped piece that slips into one of the loops, depending on how tight or loose you would like the bracelet to be. All very sturdy! 

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. She still has a Fair Trade beading group and a number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Durable professional beading thread

Rayon macrame thread

Not appropriate for children under three years of age.

Our scarves are gorgeous, comfortable, of the highest quality, and affordable. They drape beautifully. Suitable for wearing as an outdoor winter scarf or indoor ornamental scarf. They are colorfast and the chenille will not rub off onto your clothing.

The process of making a scarf is labor intensive. The 100% bamboo chenille is wound into skeins on a hand-powered machine, then hand-dyed with dyes imported from the US. The yarn is then warped onto a warping board. The scarf is then handwoven on a traditional backstrap loom, a process which often takes a full day of work. The chenille is made from sustainably-grown organic bamboo thread in China.

Product Care
Hand wash in cold water with mild soap such as hair or baby shampoo, lay flat until almost dry, then “fluff up” briefly (three minutes) with a fabric softener sheet in a dryer set on low-heat gentle.

Always use fabric softener and minimize agitation and heat. Agitation will eventually remove the pile from the chenille and the tassels, and tangle the tassels. Heat could shrink your item.

For creases or a too-worn look, freshen up by spritzing with water and drying as above. Or hang in a steamy bathroom.

The fabric has already been washed by hand and dried as above, in Guatemala.

Or you may professionally dry clean your scarf. 

Soft like butter! Our customers have been gobbling these up!

Skeins of bamboo thread made from organically-grown* bamboo fiber in China are hand-dyed in four to six colors, in small batches. All these colors show up in the fringes and in a unique jaspe pattern throughout the scarf. (Each scarf is unique!) Each scarf is then warped on a warping board. The warp is then put on a backstrap loom and handwoven. When completed, the fringes are hand-knotted, the scarf is hand-washed, and fabric softener added. It is then dried, first laid out in the sun, then in a dryer. The fringes are then finished, and the scarf is packed to send to A Thread of Hope!

The process is virtually the same as the process used to make chenille scarves shown in the PowerPoint here.

* The bamboo fiber has three certifications: Forest Stewardship Council, which  encourages environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests; OEKO-TEX to ensure that chemical residues in the fabric do not exceed certain limits; and certified organic by ECOCERT SA. We have copies of these certifications on file.

* Bamboo thread is not manufactured in Guatemala. For that matter, virtually no thread is manufactured in Guatemala. For example, the vast majority of cotton thread also comes from far away -- India. (The most arable land is used for export crops such as pineapples, bananas, and African palm oil for biofuels. Severe maldistribution of arable land in Guatemala is a significant problem, with one impact being the 4th highest rate of child malnutrition in the world.)

* Cellulose is extracted from the bamboo by heating and with the addition of sodium hydroxide in a closed system. This method is approved by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) certification guarantees that the personnel and the environment are not adversely affected and that the process takes place in a closed system.

Product Care
Hand wash in cold water with mild soap such as hair or baby shampoo, and rinse with fabric softener. Hang to dry. Iron as needed, using rayon setting. If your scarf is open-weave, be careful not to get the tip of the iron caught in the weaving. 

Our beaded bracelets are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, and durable professional beading thread. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our bracelets close easily with a toggle closure: one end has beaded loops and the other a T-shaped piece that slips into one of the loops, depending on how tight or loose you would like the bracelet to be. All very sturdy! 

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. She still has a Fair Trade beading group and a number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Durable professional beading thread

7 3/8" - 7 3/4" long and 1 3/8" wide

Not appropriate for children under three years of age.

Our beaded earrings are super-popular! They are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, durable professional beading thread, and stainless steel earring wires. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our stainless steel earring wires are nickel-free and considered hypo-allergenic for the vast majority of people.

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. A number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Earrings are shipped in a gift box.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Durable professional beading thread

Stainless steel wire

Coated copper wire

The design is 1 1/8 "high and 3/4" wide, with a 2 1/8" drop from the top of the earring wire. 

Our beaded earrings are super-popular! They are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, durable professional beading thread, and stainless steel earring wires. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our stainless steel earring wires are nickel-free and considered hypo-allergenic for the vast majority of people.

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. She still has a Fair Trade beading group and a number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Earrings are shipped in a gift box.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Durable professional beading thread

Stainless steel wire

1 1/8" long and 2" wide, with a 2 3/4" drop from earring wire

Our beaded bracelets are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, and durable professional beading thread. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our bracelets close easily with a toggle closure: one end has beaded loops and the other a T-shaped piece that slips into one of the loops, depending on how tight or loose you would like the bracelet to be. All very sturdy! 

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. She still has a Fair Trade beading group and a number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Durable professional beading thread

7 3/8" - 7 3/4" long and 1" wide

Not appropriate for children under three years of age.

Our beaded earrings are super-popular! They are handmade by Maya women artisans using the highest quality Czech glass beads and crystals, durable professional beading thread, and stainless steel earring wires. Czech glass beads, when viewed under a microscope, refract light in complicated ways, leading them to be quite vibrant. They are durable, colorfast, and smooth.

Our stainless steel earring wires are nickel-free and considered hypo-allergenic for the vast majority of people.

Beading in Guatemala expanded greatly after a beading artist came from California several decades ago and started a beading group in Santiago Atitlán, training the women to make high quality beaded items. A number of the women who worked with her have started their own groups. Now there is so much beading done in Guatemala that there are bead importers and wholesalers in Guatemala City.

Earrings are shipped in a gift box.

Czech glass beads and crystals

Stainless steel wire

1 1/2" long and 1 1`/8 " wide, with a 2 1/4" drop from earring wire at earlobe hole

Enhance the beauty of your Shabbat table with this lovely challah cover featuring a border of blue stars brocaded on a white background. Handwoven on the backstrap loom by our artisan partners in Rabinal.

Our scarves are gorgeous, comfortable, of the highest quality, and affordable. They drape beautifully. Suitable for wearing as an outdoor winter scarf or indoor ornamental scarf. They are colorfast and the chenille will not rub off onto your clothing.

The process of making a scarf is labor intensive. The 100% bamboo chenille is wound into skeins on a hand-powered machine, then hand-dyed with dyes imported from the US. The yarn is then warped onto a warping board. The scarf is then handwoven on a traditional backstrap loom, a process which often takes a full day of work. The chenille is made from sustainably-grown organic bamboo thread in China.

Product Care
Hand wash in cold water with mild soap such as hair or baby shampoo, lay flat until almost dry, then “fluff up” briefly (three minutes) with a fabric softener sheet in a dryer set on low-heat gentle.

Always use fabric softener and minimize agitation and heat. Agitation will eventually remove the pile from the chenille and the tassels, and tangle the tassels. Heat could shrink your item.

For creases or a too-worn look, freshen up by spritzing with water and drying as above. Or hang in a steamy bathroom.

The fabric has already been washed by hand and dried as above, in Guatemala.

Click here for another explanation regarding care of chenille.

Or you may professionally dry clean your scarf.