Travel with us
Nadine (Topanien Gift's Owner) Peru Trip
Fair Trade in South Africa
Artist in Peru
Mexican Jewelry Business
Alebrijes, Oaxaca
Nadine in Mexico
Wall Hangings, Kashmir, India
Posada in Huajuapan
New York City
Ghana
Artisans of Mexico
San Bartolo
Cambodia
Exchange Student in Ecuador
Rajasthan, India
Haiti
Kenya 
Nadine, of Topanien Global Gifts & Margarito.
Going Into Business With Your Brother
The Santos brothers' father passed away when they were both just boys. This was followed by their mothers death just a few years later but by then, the brothers had begun to establish their jewelry making business.
A combination of discipline and hard-work set them onto the path to success. Today they are selling to not only the tourist shops in Mexico City but they export their jewelry to the United States. Luckily Nadine, owner of Topanien Global Gifts, discovered the Santos brothers when they were still small enough to be found at a local market.
Is that a blue brazziere hanging in the brothers' garden? Expect to find everything from drying laundry to soccer balls to flowers and friends.
Artisan putting dried flowers into ring molds. Artisans set their schedules but work closely with Margarito to be sure orders are filled in a timely fashion.
Making a chain link by link. "I couldn't believe it. This would be worse than knitting and yet, Margarito quickly had a chain dangling down between his fingers and ready to attach to a pendant," Nadine of Topanien Global Gifts. 
Margarito laughing with staff as he tries to show me how to put the
jewelry together.
Placing the dried flowers into the resin is best done without pressure. No one lords it over the artisans as they work and the atmosphere is pleasant.
Workshops are often small and make shift but for two brothers starting and running a business on their own since high school the space works. Margarito quickly showed me how to make a chain from tiny bits of alpaca metal and then to attach this chain to a recently created heart pendant filled with miniature dried flowers inside of durable clear resin.
The Brothers
Two years ago the Santos Brothers were offering their wares at the huge weekly Tianguis Silver Market in Taxco, Mexico. Today, they only sell wholesale. The business continues to grow.
Two years ago the Santos Brothers were offering their wares at the huge weekly Tianguis Silver Market in Taxco, Mexico. Today, they only sell wholesale. The business continues to grow.
"What I really like about Margarito and his brother is that they are happy and their staff is happy. It is a pleasure to be around the workshop and I am thankful to them for sharing their time and experiences with me," Nadine, owner of Topanien Global Gifts, after a buying trip to Mexico.