I received some Zulugrass product from the Leakey Collection to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Buying from Fair Trade artisans is one of my favorite ways to “give back.”  The Leakey Collection is one such company I found this year and, wow; let’s just say my wish list with them could easily grow long!  They sell a variety of products, and they’re all beautiful!  My favorite, though, is their signature “Zulugrass.”

Made by the Maasai women of Kenya, these beautiful beads are formed of zulugrass and dyed to a wide array of colors.  You buy them in whichever colorways you prefer, and the beautiful thing is that many can be mixed and matched!

The necklace you see above is permanently affixed; it can’t be swapped.  (The design is wonderful, though.  The string is made with a slider, which enables me to wear it at a variety of lengths.)  But much of the zulugrass can be purchased as sets of individual strands.  These are awesome, ’cause you can wear them in the sets they came in, mix them up, add or subtract strands…AND you can wear them a variety of ways.  Put them around your neck for a necklace.  Clip them around your neck, for a different kind of necklace.  Wrap them several times and wear them on your wrist…you get the idea.

These “Beads for Learning” would make a great stocking stuffer!

These special bracelets “symbolize the bright futures of educated children.”  100% of the profits from these particular bracelets will be used to pay teachers’ salaries in rural Kenya.  Five bracelets = one day’s pay for a teacher.  (This is a single strand.  To wear it as shown you’ll need to wrap it several times.)

Honestly, I’d love to have one of EVERY color set; they’re all so beautiful!