Scraps to Skirt

My niece recently turned two, so I made her a little skirt out of strips of cloth scraps.  I always have leftover scraps from projects, so this was a perfect way to use up some of that.  Originally I saw the idea on Pinterest.

For this project, you'll need:
-Scrap fabric
-Scissors
-1/2" or 3/4" piece of elastic that's smaller than the waist you're making it for
-Sewing machine and thread

First, you can sew the elastic in to a circle.  You should overlap it about an inch, stitching an "X" and a box on the overlapping area for extra stability.  Second, you can start tearing your strips of fabric.  I tried to make all of my strips the same width, but they're different lengths depending on the size of the scraps I had.  To tear the fabric, I simply cut a small notch in the fabric, then tore down it from there.  This can actually be a fun thing to do with older kids or a friend (my husband helped me).  You can choose to tear all your fabric at once or tear as you tie it on the elastic.

Third, start tying the strips on the elastic band.  I knotted the strips on by looping them around the elastic so the fabric would lay more flat, and it covers the band more nicely than a standard knot.  Try to keep the elastic from getting turned around while doing this, though it will stretch a bit.

I hope you enjoy this fun little project!  Little effort, but lots of fun for a little girl.

Reusable Shopping Bags 301: Gift Them!

Reusable shopping bags can make great gifts!  Recently I saw that the Disney store is selling adorable ones with characters on them, which would be great for a children's gift.  A bag that doubles as wrapping paper and can be used for a long time afterward!

The shopping bags for groceries are great for wedding gifts.  I got two recently and filled them up with my favorite brands of kitchen essentials: flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, olive oil, etc.  I included a note with the gift explaining why I think using reusable shopping bags is important and why I chose fair trade items for the shopping bags.  The couple really appreciated it and received a little education on grocery shopping.

This same idea could apply for a baby shower gift too.  What mom doesn't want another bag??  Fill up an already cute bag or add pockets to one.  Check out my friend ferferfly's blog for a tutorial on "cutifying" reusable shopping bags.

If you like what you see, leave a comment, like it, share it, email me.  I'm eager to hear from you!

Reusable Shopping Bags 201: How do I remember them?

Now you've been informed on all types of reusable shopping bags and where to get them.  Hopefully you have some by now, and you're wondering "How do I remember them when I go shopping?!"  Like anything else new, you have to get used to it and make it a habit.  I'm going to share a few tips to help you solve this problem though.

1. Keep them in your car. Designate a place in your car to keep them.  If you have small children who sit in the back seat or no children, then your passenger seat is available and you're most likely to see them there.  When someone needs to sit in the front seat, the bags can easily be moved to the floor in the front or back.
2. "If I keep them in a visible place in my car and use them, how do I get them back in my car?"  Again, put them in a visible place in your house or take them straight back to the car after they're unloaded.  In a pile near the door could be a good place for them:

Or right on the door knob may be the only way you'll remember them:

3.   Make sure everyone who owns a car in your house has some bags for their car.  Getting everyone in the habit of using the bags will help all of you remember to use them.
4.   Get or make one large bag that closes with Velcro or by drawstring to put all of your bags in.  This will give them a designated place in your and help keep them organized.  It will also make them easier to move around if someone needs to sit where the bags are.  I wish I had a photo to show you of this, but I haven't gotten around to making a large bag yet.

One other thing to consider when buying bags is which ones will be for food and which ones will be for non-food items, like clothes or craft stuff.  I designated all the bags I have from grocery stores for food only, and I have a few bags from non-food places for my non-food items.  The wallet size fold up bags like Target sells would probably be the most handy for non-food items.

Happy shopping!  Please share your comments or questions via email or the comment form below.  Like what you see?  Share it on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social network you use!  Thanks for reading!

Reusable Shopping Bags 101: Which ones and why?

There's a huge variety of reusable shopping bags now since they came out on the market a few years ago.  I have purchased several different kinds, so this post is going to explain the various kinds and include my review of each.

First, I'll discuss the most common type of reusable shopping bag out there.  These are found mostly at grocery stores, but also some large chain stores.

The bags I have from Albertson's feature a loop at the top of the bag and a black piece of heavy duty plastic-like material inside for the bottom.  I do not recommend getting bags for groceries without a heavy duty bottom.  However, I think it's more rare to find grocery bags with the heavy duty bottoms, so you can make your own with cardboard or the thickest lining available at a fabric store.  The loop is really handy for self-checkout because it holds the bag open for you when you place the loop over the plastic bag holder.  I always use these for grocery shopping and never have problems with them.  We've been using these for two+ years now.

The second type of bag is one made from a thicker plastic-like material.  I got some from Costco, Trader Joe's, and Fresh and Easy.

The ones from Costco (at least when I bought them about a year ago) came in a pack of four with two square bags and two long rectangle bags.  They are the largest (of course) reusable shopping bags I've found.  With this type of bag, a heavy duty bottom isn't needed because the material is heavier duty than the standard grocery reusable bag above.  Lots of heavy items may cause sagging though.  I put a game next to the Costco bag because it's the perfect size for carrying board games to a friend's house.  We've also taken hot meals to people's homes in the Costco bags.  They can carry A LOT!  Be creative with their use and you'll find you never need another plastic grocery bag!

The third type of bag is the hot/cold bag.  Lots of grocery stores sell these now, but compare prices before you buy one.  I ended up getting one at Sprouts because Sprouts is the furthest grocery store from my house and I needed it at the moment.

It's about the size of the standard grocery bag, and it does a great job of keeping food at a good temperature.  If you have a family, you can pack a lunch or snacks in it for a day trip or picnic.  Throw a couple of ice packs in even to help keep the food cooler.  This bag has never leaked either.

Fourth is the reusable shopping bag for non-food items.

This is a special baby registry edition of a Target shopping bag, but they do sell similar fold-up wallet bags that are red (and I love red!)  The fold-up wallet bag is a great size to put in your purse, and just be sure to not use it for food items so you can always use it for clothes or other items at your favorite non-food store.  Target even gives you a five or ten cent discount for every bag you bring!  This particular one even has a pocket on the front, so it could double nicely as a book bag.  You could slip your phone and keys in the pocket, books in the big pocket, reusable coffee cup in hand, and head to the coffee shop.

Fifth is the reusable produce shopping bag, which I recently purchased on Amazon.  For $9.46 I got ten Bring It! Valencia produce bags with a bonus small bag that they can all fit in.

On the left are the bags inside their holding bag, and on the right is a produce bag in use.  They're just as light as a plastic bag from the store, so you don't have to worry about it costing you more to use these versus the plastic bag.  They'll also be great for taking to a farmer's market, once I get around to that, maybe this week.  When we went camping recently, we stashed all of our little snacks in them for the week, like bags of pretzels and nuts, bars, etc.  These seem like they'll hold up well.  I ran them through the wash, but not the dryer because they don't need to be dried.

Do you have other favorite reusable shopping bags?  Do you want to know more about any of these?  Leave a comment or send me an email!

Reusable "Paper" Towels

In one of my first posts I mentioned my desire to try to make as many things reusable in my house as I could, including paper towels. This week I purchased two of Trader Joe's Kitchen Cloth and plan to clean my counters with them thoroughly today.  These can be found on the aisle where they have cleaners, usually hanging from the shelf.

In my usual morning perusal of baby deal sites today, I came across Pepperjack Home products on Baby Half Off.  They make tons of different reusable products, including snack bags, dryer sheets, and wool dryer balls.  However, I purchased their kitchen wet bag with twelve reusable cloth towels in attempt to replace my paper towels.  I'm rather excited to give this a try!  The wet bags and towels come in lots of different stylish fabrics, but I chose a simple green fabric with red and yellow dots on it so it didn't look too feminine.  The one pictured below is obviously not the one I bought.

Something I was reading recently (I think it was the Web MD diaper article I linked to last week) in regards to using reusable, washable items instead of throw-away argued that using reusable and washable items was just as bad for the environment because it used electricity and water.  However, water is an ever-renewing source.  Second, everything we throw away will end up in a landfill or something like that.  Land ills are horrible on the environment around them because of the smells and other things released into the air and ground, so it has to be a better trade-off to wash these things rather than throw away more.  I'm going to make a note to do more research on landfills to share with you.  I also promised you a post on reusable shopping bags last week, and I took photos of several of my bags last night, so I will write that post this weekend.  In the mean time, check out some reusable cloth towels for your kitchen!

Traveling with Cloth Diapers

Once again, as an expecting mother all I can tell you about this subject are my preparations.  For running errands, I intend to have a smaller wet bag to go in my mommy clutch by Lilly Bit that will serve as the diaper bag.  Wet/dry bags have pockets for both soiled and unsoiled items.  For longer days out, I will bring a larger wet/dry diaper bag, like the bag or backpack I registered for on Amazon, both by Planet Wise.  I intend to sew in velcro in the backpack so that the wet pocket will velcro closed to help prevent smells and leaks from escaping.  I also purchased a wet/dry bag with clear pockets on the outside by Smitten Baby from babyhalfoff.com because I liked the idea of having pockets that would allow me to see where things are.  However, the pockets only have one piece of velcro in the middle for the closure, so I may sew some more velcro on so that the pocket closes more.

Don't forget to have a nice changing pad, too!  I registered for Kushies Deluxe Flannel Changing Pad because they're extra large, soft on one side, and waterproof on the other.  If you have a crossover, SUV, or van, you might also like the car changing pad by Dipe n' Go.  It attaches to the inside back of your car, holds diapers wipes, and keeps the pad in place since it's being held in down.  I've also found a couple diaper rash ointment options that allow you to not get gunk all over your hands!  Wouldn't that be nice while you're out, especially?  One is the Magic Stick by GroVia, which is all-natural, and the other is California Baby's Non-Burning Diaper Spray. 

Both of our parents live out of town, so in traveling to their houses, I'll bring either the diaper pail liner for soiled diapers or a couple large wet bags, and one of the larger wet/dry bags.  I will certainly have to have all of my diapers clean before leaving, and bring all of them with me.  If we'll be there for more than 2-3 days, then I'll also have to bring stuff for washing the diapers (i.e., detergent).

Cloth Diapering--A healthier choice?

There's much debate among researchers about whether cloth or disposable diapers are a healthier, safer choice.  Web MD concludes that cloth may not actually be so much more safe and healthy for a baby than thought, despite listing the many chemicals in disposables within this article.  The article discusses some of the biggest health concerns I've heard.  The same use of harmful chemicals in tampons long ago is present in disposable diapers, but the article disputes this concern with the fact that tampons were inserted in the body whereas diaper are not.  Since I'm having a boy, I was concerned when I heard about the German study that found scrotum temperatures to be higher in boys who wore disposables, which kills the sperm.  However, Web MD says that another study was done two years later that shows the temperatures were the same.  Additionally, dioxin (or a type of bleach) is present in most disposable diapers to make them white, so Web MD whisks away this worry by saying that parents can choose to buy chlorine-free diapers. The article fails to mention that dioxin is also known to cause cancer and is banned in most other countries, but Michelle Alsoop addresses that in her article about dioxin elimination.

Personally, I don't think Web MD's counter-arguments are very strong.  Despite the fact that diapers aren't inserted in the baby and you can choose chlorine-free diapers, there's a host of other chemicals in disposables.  Plus how can we be sure that the same tampon chemical really isn't harmful?  What if parents don't know dioxin is present in disposables?  Lastly, how could one study show differences in scrotum temperatures and one doesn't?  It seems there are some major discrepancies here.

Unfortunately, there are a host of other things to be concerned about regarding disposables.  In an article from CBC News, it says, "Diapers contain a variety of plastics, adhesives, glues, elastics and lubricants, some of which can cause irritation."  The article also explains that diaper-making companies are self-regulated, meaning they have to check for themselves to make sure they're meeting diaper regulations.  What a joke!!  They also don't have to list all of the ingredients in their diapers, and many companies only list one ingredient while there's a long list of other things in them.  According to the article, some diapers may have chemicals in them that are known to cause irritations, more serious skin problems, and respiratory problems. 

My conclusion is I know what's in a cloth diaper, uh, cloth, which is more safe than taking a gamble with disposables.  It seems there's no incredibly conclusive evidence on the harmful effects of disposables, but there are a lot of big concerns.  I'd rather not risk those concerns.