Sustainable Business Practices

***********Humor my while I talk business for a few minutes. I promise you something more interesting will be posted soon.***********

I've wanted to write this all down for a while now. My goal for my little Etsy shop is to promote waste-free homes...to make it easier for busy people to waste less, use less, live more. And it'd be nice to not be too crunchy in the process! So, what are some sustainable business practices that I use in my shop?

Waste less. My designs sometimes vary a little bit from the sizes noted to best utilize the fabric at hand so there is minimal-no waste. Now, when I say something is approx 7"x8" it won't come to you measuring 5"x4"...no worries. I also strive for honesty ;)

Less Packaging. I do not include a printed copy of your transaction when I ship your order. You should have this in an email from Etsy/Paypal anyway. In my shop policies I do state that if you *need* a printed copy from me, I'll happily accommodate that. I also don't use plastic mailing envelopes. Paper from me, thanks. I have not had any issues with shipping in this manner for 100+ orders. Some orders do require more packaging, though. When I need boxes I strive to get reclaimed and to reuse them. This also goes for extra packaging in the boxes. If a plastic bag is needed for cushioning or protection, rest assured that it's a clean reused bag from a smoke-free source.

Product sources. I am going more in the direction of reclaiming fabric and upcycling and repurposing it for most of my products. Much greener, less waste, less energy. Rest assured that I am very picky about where I get this fabric and it's condition. I do try to shop locally as much as possible but when I do order supplies, I try to do so in bulk to decrease packaging and shipping waste.

As no one is perfect, I do have goals for my shop...things I'd like to do better on. I'd like to provide a repurposed fabric option for ALL of my products. I'm working on finding more of my supplies from locally-owned small businesses (no small feat when you live in a small town in the mountains!). Our 5ish year plan includes going totally off grid and moving to solar power for our home, which includes my home studio!

Lastly, I consider my time as a valuable resource that I try to conserve. I love spreading the love for reusables and love making items for this shop. However, you'll never see a huge stash posted for sale. I'd happily make large orders specifically for you though, and even include a small discount.

Your money is also an important resource that needs to be conserved and used wisely, right? I do not mark my items up excessively. Because of this you'll rarely see sales at my shop. I compensate myself for my time but I also want to make reusables accessible for everyone. I rely on word of mouth for my advertising too. BUY HANDMADE!

******Now we can get back to the fun stuff*******

Phew! Glad I got that out! :)

All you need is love

Happy Valentine's Day! I've never been big on this holiday, but it's certainly one for crafters!

SewMamaSew had a great tutorial and contest for these adorable valentines and I decided to participate. Nothing like handmade love notes for the husband and kids!

The last one was my 6 yo daughter's first solo embroidery project. She made it into a pillow and gave it to us for the occasion. Aww. MF= my family. Handmade is so appreciated in my house. I love it. Little treasures. I can't wait to find another reason to sew up a love note for them.

Seeds, Catalogs, and Dreams

It’s that time of year again…the seed catalogs are arriving. You’d think my 6 year old and I had found the next best seller by the way we pour over them as soon as they arrive. February feels like the longest month. Some people I know are going to start seeds inside soon. Not us. We get late frosts. Until I either build my dream greenhouse that can withstand strong winds or get a fancy grow light –shelf thing, I’ll have to settle for salivating over the catalogs this month.

Do you garden? I think our learning and expanding process will continue for a long time. I grew up surrounded by home gardens, both at my grandparents’ home and my own childhood backyard. It wasn’t until I was a newlywed that I tested out my own green thumb in the backyard of our townhouse. Along the privacy fence we planted Shasta daisies and tomatoes. We even tried a few summer squash in large containers. Success! Amazing! I’ll never forget how exciting it was to watch tiny seedlings grow to bear fruit just for us!

I’m working on learning to preserve foods we grow. Last year we made and froze pesto from our mounds of basil. This year I’d love to try my hand at canning tomatoes if blight doesn’t get to them first. I grew up in a city but my Appalachian roots had me surrounded by women who canned. So, why didn’t I learn then?

I dream big for my garden this year. My space is a bit limited – it’s really only 2 raised beds and any space I carve out in my large flowerbeds. I love the idea of mixing edibles into formal front yard flower space. I dream that the moles and rabbits and deer will leave my seedlings alone, that the slugs will not attack my fruit, and that we will have veggies growing out of our ears! Oh, maybe, just maybe, this will be the year that our little blueberry bushes bear fruit too!

For now, with my head deep in the coming snow clouds, I’ll sit with a cup or tea or coffee and stare at my seed packets and catalogs…

Healthy Cookie

I love messing with recipes. I also love baking something for my family that not only tastes good but is good for them. Here's my latest:

Banana Peanut Butter Whole Wheat Cookies!

1 1/2 c. flour (I use a mix that I make that's about 3/4 whole wheat)

1/2 t baking soda

2 small mashed ripe bananas

1/4 to 1/3c packed light brown sugar (my family does fine with less)

1/4 c butter or whatever you fancy (I used a bit of Earth Balance, some ground flax seed and the rest apple sauce)

1/4 c chunky style natural peanut butter (no sugar or oil added)

1 large egg

1t vanilla

Beat bananas, brown sugar, applesauce/butter, and peanut butter until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour and baking soda. Shape into small balls and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Using a lightly floured fork, press a crisscross pattern into each cookie. Bake in a 375 degree oven until the edges are set, 10 minutes or so. Cool on baking sheets.

I want to play with it a bit to eliminate the white flour and use another sweetener too. But for now, it's very healthy and the kids LOVE it. They think they're getting a treat and I feel good about it!

Do you have a favorite healthy but delish recipe?

I have worms!

***This is another article that was previously posted at a different site, written by me***

Seriously, I have worms. Loads of them. In fact, my entire family has them.

No, this isn’t a PSA about personal hygiene or a warning about some strange new trendy diet. I wanted to share with you my new composting adventure: vermicomposting, aka worm composting.

My regular compost bin wasn’t doing so well. Turns out we have too many veggie and fruit peels, coffee grounds , etc and not enough yard material like leaves. Its design makes it hard for dogs to gain access but also made it hard for us to turn what was inside. It became anaerobic and stopped working. Oops. I did not want to throw our kitchen waste into a plastic trash bag to sit in the landfill while we worked to correct this problem. My answer – WORMS!

We first bought them a little house.

Then we gave them some furnishings.

Next we invited some worm friends over to stay.

We fed them well.

They did their business.

Soon we’ll have great rich compost to put in the garden and flowerbeds!

I bought a fancy bin made just for the worms with multiple trays, a roof and even a valve at the bottom for “worm tea,” but there’s no need to get fancy if you don’t want to. In fact, you can DIY or even buy a simple and inexpensive bin with all that you need from a local expert, Tracy Myhalyk of RoomToSqworm.com.

Our particular worm house was easy to assemble. Because I have a curious toddler, I then searched for the perfect shaded spot outside. You can keep them totally self-contained and stink-free inside but I was NOT interested in having our new friends wiggling all over the kitchen floor every day!

To furnish their home I added some bedding. Dirt, dried leaves and all that would make them super comfortable would hopefully also make them ready to dig in and pig out.

Apparently it’s not a good idea to use regular earthworms, so I invested in 1 pound of red wigglers from a local source. It was an exciting day when we put them in their new home! Would they stay? Would they eat our eggshells and banana peels and give us rich compost in return? Only time will tell.

They’ve been eating and re-eating our kitchen scraps at approximately a pound a week for almost a month now. We even have worm eggs! We must be doing something right!

I’m still checking to make sure the scraps I feed them are ok – no citrus, limited coffee grounds, and try to chop up the peels to make them quicker to eat through. I keep my scraps in a large yogurt container in the kitchen until they are ready for a fresh meal. I’m still working out the kinks in the process but all in all it’s easy!

Worm composting can be faster, more exciting and take up less space than a regular compost bin. Apartment dwellers/patio gardeners can take part in this one too. I have a friend who has worms at her office! Are you wondering why you’d want worm-made compost?

This is from the RoomToSqworm.com website:

"Vermicompost benefits soil by

* improving its physical structure;

* enriching soil in micro-organisms, adding plant hormones such as auxins and gibberellic
acid, and adding enzymes such as phosphatase and cellulase;

* attracting deep-burrowing earthworms already present in the soil;

* improving water holding capacity;

* enhancing germination, plant growth, and crop yield; and

improving root growth and structure."

And it just might make your kids (or the neighbor's kids) think you’re cool.

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Update...8 months later our worms are going strong! We moved them to the garage for the cold winter but they are still eating, eating, eating! I am so excited to work their "stuff" into our garden areas this Spring.