Plastic bags everywhere at the Farmers Market. Makes me cringe. Makes me want to live in California or wherever else they’re banned. Plastic produce bags filling their carts at Whole Foods. I find myself wanting to ask these people if they know that there are other ways of bringing home their foods! But I do try really hard to not be “one of those people” so I walk on and use my SustainableHomestead drawstring produce bags and nylon bulk food bags without confrontation. I was thrilled to see SO many people using reusables at Trader Joe’s though… and then my daughter and I walked to the organic produce section only to find these foods sitting in plastic trays, wrapped in plastic wrap. Bleh. No thanks. I explained to my daughter why I wasn’t going to buy any of it and we walked on. She’s almost 7 and getting great at spotting these things on her own. Sometimes I feel like such a little fish in a big, big pond though.

I miss my garden! But I have found a local company that delivers produce to your house and it's all locally sourced...even milk! Maybe that's my solution? What's yours?

Here is my beautiful, reusable rainbow!

I am so excited that SustainableHomestead is restocked in reusable sandwich/snack baggies!

Now to take a sewing break to plan my winter knitting...

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Yes! SustainableHomestead has been on ETSY for 2 years this week! To celebrate, upcycled hankies will sell for $2 a set with any other purchase. 1 week only.

Crafting Update

First of all, I have new fabrics for back to school shopping! Doggies with sweaters, pirate skulls, tropical ocean and cherries! I have plenty in stock, ready to ship. What a fun and easy way to spice up you or your kid's lunch boxes!

And here they are... my big boy's longies, felted and cut into coasters. I decided to mostly use the stripey parts. So far they work great! No regrets. I really enjoy seeing them and using them.

I've been a busy bee lately. I have had this hand batik fabric for several years, just waiting for the perfect project. It was so fun and quick to sew this tunic for my daughter.

I still have a new apron for me that's 1/2 finished and a big mess of nylon reusable baggies in progress. Wow, I really have had an eruption of craftiness lately! But, oh no, it doesn't stop with me. My kids have been making their own glittery play dough and my daughter is knitting!

Photography used to be my all-consuming addiction, I mean hobby. Back when I’d process my own black and white film, make a contact print, then painstakingly spend hours in my grandfather’s dark room making prints. I loved it. I’ve tried working up the courage to be more daring with digital. I want to. From here on I'm going to do my best to take more photographs, get faster at downloading them, and try out some new editing techniques. My grandfather ingrained it into me from an early age that a good photographer can get it perfect at the moment of capture if she takes her time and pays attention to the details. I guess that’s one thing that’s always bugged me about digital – the over-processing of photographs when just paying attention to the camera’s settings, lighting, and framing at the time the photograph was captured would have done the job. Well, I’m going to think a little less and take a little more. Hopefully I’ll start sharing more with you too. What’s your favorite trick or tip?

Speaking of...I have a few photos to share, but I need to download them first!

Treasures - What To Do?

More unpacking…. Discovered my remaining stash of longies for my little guy. Oh my. I have already picked out a few of the tiny ones to keep and treasure for always and have passed on others but now what do I do with these?

Big Duke “D” with stripey legs, shorties with an “R” on the booty, bear fetish with stripey legs and Christmas red and white stripey among others. When he was close to outgrowing these I just let him wear them hard…and they look it. Some were knit with mediocre wool that I happened to have in my stash. Sure, I might be able to wash them up and make them look great again… but do I want to give these treasured babyhood remnants away?

I am thinking that I might felt them and cut drink coasters out of them. I think I would like constant reminders of my little baby/toddler that is now a little guy. What do you think?

Reusable Cotton Baggie to the rescue!

Shock! I mean, I know that SustainableHomestead’s sandwich baggies are wonderful but I had no idea just how great a job they can do to keep snacks fresh! During our trips back and forth to close on a home and then a day later for our big move I packed various snacks and veggies in both cloth and nylon snack baggies and stashed them in my mom bag as well as the 2 backpacks we took with us. If you are a parent, you know the fear that hits you when you find a child’s food or beverage container that you KNOW is old. Ick, right? Yea, then you pray it’s not milk! 1 week+ after packing a cotton baggie with o’s I found them, sitting at the bottom of a backpack with a drawstring bag of emergency little cars. Not only had they NOT fallen out and gotten into every nook and cranny, but they were NOT stale! YES! IN COTTON! When I sold out of my nylon baggies and was out of fabric I tried to convince several people that the cotton ones are becoming my favorite because they work so well. Maybe you’ll believe me now. They’re lovely. If I knew where the video camera was right now (and if I had all the internet stuff set up yet) I’d let you hear the crunch for yourself. I’m not saying it’s going to happen every time because I usually do not try to leave snacks hanging out in baggies for 1+ weeks but…. You get the point. YAY for cotton!