Luxe Jewelry blog

Mississippi horticulturist Felder Rushing fields your most frequently tiffany and co asked questions about how to have a truly green holiday.

Are fake trees better for the environment?

No. “They can be reused, but they’re not biodegradable,” says Rushing. Eventually, artificial trees end up in landfills and stay there for centuries. Another problem: These trees are often made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic that releases harmful dioxins into the air during manufacture. Plus, overseas factories produce most fake trees and ship them great distances, generating high levels of carbon dioxide emissions in transit.

How about a living tree that can be replanted later — is that a good way to go? “It’s a nice idea but a bad practice,” according to Rushing. “Bringing these trees indoors in the winter is a terrible thing, physiologically speaking. A very small percentage of the trees survive, probably less than one in 10.”

But if I buy a fresh tree, aren’t I contributing to deforestation? “Nope. These plants are silver pendants farmed specifically to be Christmas trees,” explains Rushing, who adds that they’re typically a low-pesticide crop. “In fact, you’re supporting local agriculture when you buy one grown in your area.” (Find farms at localharvest.org.) After the holidays, most towns offer to turn the trees into compost or wood chips for free. Check earth911.com for a list of recycling centers near you.

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ELVIS BEFORE HE WAS KING

Elvis Presley would have turned 75 on January 8, 2010, but he doesn’t look a day over 21 in a new Smithsonian exhibition. The collection — 56 early photos of the King taken by Alfred Wertheimer — tours the country, starting in Los Angeles on Presley’s birthday and continuing through 2013. To view the schedule, visit sites.si.edu/elvis.

THE BEST WAY TO SPEND $24

For not much dough, the festive Scandinavian-style print of this ROLLING PIN gives you something pretty silver earrings to look at while baking — and to display all the time. (anthropologie.com)

Navajo County issued the following news release:

State Senator Sylvia Allen, Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney, Mayor Rick tiffany jewellery Fernau and the district director from Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s office spoke to hundreds of schoolchildren, teachers and their parents at the second stop on the statewide Capitol Christmas Tree tour on November 10, 2009.

“We’re very proud of Show Low’s donation of time and resources to this project,” said Mayor Fernau. “The White Mountains will be on display for all the nation to see.”

Supervisor Tenney quipped that it was “about time we showed the nation that we silver pendants have Christmas trees here that don’t look like saguaro cactus.”

“More importantly, I wanted to point out that this is a Christmas tree,” Supervisor Tenney said. “I think the nation would do well to remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.”

Senator Allen challenged all the schoolchildren to make a Christmas wish.

“I want you to make a wish that you could show more love, give more service and silver earrings show more kindness this holiday season,” Senator Allen said. “I think that if we all wish for that, this tree will give people hope whey they see it in the Capitol.”

District Director Virginia Turner also sent congratulations and well-wishes on behalf of Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who could not be present for the event.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

This week’s economic releases, although few in number, will provide an indication silver jewellery of just how cash-strapped consumers are prior to the traditional Christmas spending spree.

The first such announcement, US retail sales for October, is out today and the headline figure is expected to show a slight improvement on September. The consensus forecast is for a roughly 1 per cent increase in headline sales.

This expected rise in the October figure is the result of a rebound in vehicle sales, which have increased by an annualised amount of 10.5m for the month, translating into a 3 per cent increase in retail sales for motor vehicle and parts dealers.

UK retail sales for October are released on Thursday. Based on figures from the British Retail Consortium and surveys by the CBI, the employers organisation, analysts’ consensus forecast is for an increase on September of about 0.5 per cent. Although a small improvement, it is heartening after the previous release, which saw sales remain flat at zero per cent growth.

The week will also reveal how consumer prices have fared in the US and UK during October silver earrings, in addition to the final release of eurozone consumer prices for the month.

US consumer price index figures come on Wednesday. Although these are expected to have increased from September (by about 0.2 per cent), there will still be deflation compared with the same period last year, with analysts expecting this to be at -0.3 per cent. The upward pressure on prices since September is the result of increases in energy costs, specifically heating oil costs.

UK CPI figures for October are released tomorrow, and analysts expect headline inflation to have increased by 1.4 per cent. September’s inflation figures came in lower than the consensus forecast mainly because of weaker than expected growth in food prices. Petrol prices also declined, falling a reported 1.2 per cent in October. Analysts, however, see both these declines as only a temporary lull and expect upward pressure to reassert itself on both these items this month.

The final announcement of the eurozone harmonised CPI for October is made today, and is forecast to silver key rings be the same as the -0.1 per cent annual change of the flash estimate.

Thursday brings the final release of UK public finance data for October, ahead of the pre-Budget report in early December. Analysts expect public sector net borrowing to be at about pound(s)7bn for the month, with the Treasury forecasting total borrowing for the 2009-10 fiscal year at pound(s)175bn. HSBC analysts view this as overly pessimistic and expect total borrowing for the year to come in at pound(s)153bn.

Other prominent releases this week are Japanese gross domestic product figures, due out today. Analysts are expecting modest growth in Japan’s economy over the third quarter, with a consensus of 0.7 per cent from the previous three months.

Failure to meet expectations may lead to some serious questions about the quality of the recovery in Japan’s silver necklaces economy, particularly if third-quarter growth drops below the 0.6 per cent rise seen in the second quarter.

US industry comes into focus tomorrow with the release of producer prices data for October. The headline producer price index is forecast to be up 0.8 per cent on September because of higher energy costs.

A Garden City High School class ring that was lost more than 30 years ago is now in the hands of the tiffany ring owner’s son, who lives in Garden City.

The ring will return to Don Birkholz, who lives in Iowa, when he sees his son, Tyson Birkholz, around Christmas.

In 1971, Don graduated from GCHS. He gave the ring to an acquaintance in a neighboring town, who then lost the ring, Tyson said.

When a woman contacted USD 457, saying she had found a GCHS class silver money clips ring and wanted to return it to its owner, employees at the school district began to search for the ring’s owner.

The search took a matter of hours, said Janet Reed, GCHS associate principal.

Reed’s sister graduated in 1971, so Reed looked at the yearbook and at the graduation program from that year and determined there were two names that matched the initials on the ring — DGB.

Reed called a few businesses in Garden City and asked if they employed a person named Birkholz. Those businesses said they did not, but suggested a call to a few other businesses. About three hours after the first phone call, Reed contacted Tyson, who said Don was his dad.

While on the phone with Reed, Tyson called his dad on another phone and asked him to describe the ring.

“He described it perfectly,” Reed said.

The ring is white gold with a blueish gray stone.

Tyson said his dad didn’t want the ring mailed to Iowa because he didn’t silver pendants want the ring to get lost again. Tyson said his dad did not want to be interviewed because of his hectic schedule, but said Don was happy and surprised to learn that his ring had been found.

Reed said the fact that the woman gave the ring back is a testament to the people who live in southwest Kansas and that it might not have happened in another part of the country.

The woman who found the ring, Barbara Straight, lives in Dodge City and said she doesn’t remember exactly when she found the ring. She said it was probably in the early 1980s when her kids were playing in a paved alley behind their house.

She tried to locate the ring’s owner then but was not successful. She put the ring in her jewelry box and forgot about it, she said.

Now a retired teacher, Straight said she thought technology might be able to aid in finding the ring’s owner. She contacted Roy Cessna, USD 457 coordinator of public information. He put Straight in touch with Reed.

Reed received the class ring from Straight in the mail on Aug. 19. The next day, she got in contact with Tyson, who said he was out of town and couldn’t pick up the ring until the next day.

On Aug. 21, Tyson picked up the ring from James Mireles, principal of GCHS, in the morning before school started.

Straight said she talked to Don on the phone and the two tried to determine how the silver earrings ring got into the alley behind her house in Dodge City. They never figured it out, Straight said, but she was happy she got a chance to speak with Don.

“I’m just tickled he got it back,” Straight said.

On the Web:

What does your class ring mean to you? Talk about it at SWKTalk.com.