Being a Little Green With Cloth Napkins

I don't really consider my family 'green' - yes we do drive a Prius as our main vehicle, we recycle as much as we can, we use bio/earth friendly products and yes we try not to use paper products when we can.  Hmmm maybe we are a little 'green'.

 

A few cloth napkins I pulled from our household's cloth napkin pile.

But whatever the label is, I wanted to share one of my favorite things around the house.  It happened out of necessity.  When my oldest was around 2.5 and my younger one was starting solids, I got FED UP with paper napkins.  We would go through dozens at one meal sometimes.  The paper ones would tear, get stuck on their little sticker mouths and hands and even eaten sometimes.  As a solution, I decided to sew up some cloth napkins from fabrics from my stash. 
 

Over a dozen washes and still looking good :)

The sewing wasn't hard, but it took a bit of time since I kept having to sew more and more to keep up with the demands of a growing family (we must have about 80 napkins now - and it usually last us a whole week before washing).  Here we are 3 years later and we are still using cloth napkins.  We keep a stash of emergency paper ones somewhere in the pantry just in case we don't have time to wash or have larger parties.  I don't know about the rest of the family, but I am absolutely hooked on cloth napkins.

I'm sharing this [green and on-going project] at these lovely linky parties.

Looking for some pre-sewn cloth napkins sets?  I have been adding it to my JAQS Fabrics shop HERE.  And through October - enjoy 10% off the whole shop with coupon code JAQSBlog10 for being a JAQS Studio blog reader :).

Napkin Set Giveaway at Sweet Greens

If you have ever visited my home or seen my online Etsy shop, you would know I am a fabric napkin user.  I switched from paper to fabric over 2 years ago and I am HOOKED. Making them from quality cotton prints makes the napkins super easy to wash (quick wash and dry in the machine), inexpensive (compared to heavier fabrics) and lightweight & slim so I could slip in a my pocket or lunch bag. I love them because I could use them over and over again (read: LESS WASTE, SAVE MONEY and of course better for the environment and all that good stuff :)). With 2 young kids, we are always dealing with messes that are sticky, gooey and dealing with paper napkins that rip, tears and sticks on their faces is NOT good.

Need I say more? :) OK just one more perk of using cloth napkins: BEAUTIFUL prints. If you are a fabric-addict like me or just love pretty things, you would appreciate the array of fabrics out there:

Cloth Napkins @ JAQS Studio

That is why I am so excited when Jennie from Sweet Greens contacted my shop as a feature on her blog.  Jennie has great posts on how to stay green, organic - even on a budget - music to my ears!  Hop on over to Jennie's blog, leave a comment for a chance to win a set of FOUR napkins - it will be enough to get you hooked on fabric too ;)

Thanks Jennie!  Great blog and I can't wait to read more of your green tips :)

Green Grocer Bag Challenge - For the Holidays

Every year I try to put together a package of things that I really enjoyed during the year for family and friends. It's nothing big or expensive (haha I'm not Oprah ;)), but usually something small and fun to share. So last year I put together a Green Grocer Goodies bag.



Why am I reliving this project?  I'm sharing this project at this years'


@Sew, Mama, Sew!

I think Green Grocery bags are a great way to save resources and reduce the amount of waste in landfills.  But reusable bags are not just for groceries, they could be used for ... anything you would need a bag for :) - including gift giving.

I got these from the local Whole Foods Market. It's their Sheryl Crow bag in the smaller size. They cost only 79 cents but it held a good amount of goodies. I stuffed it with my favorite teas, coffees, cookies and other treats.  The bags are sewn at the seams and super durable - and quite stylish :).

Why Green Bags for the Holidays are TOTALLY Awesome:

• The bags were tied closed with scraps of fabrics I have left over from sewing projects
• For the 'gift tag' I just used the tags that came with the bags.  It was a nice green tag printed with the why green bags are awesome :)
• For added festivities, I got some holiday ornaments to tie on the outside of the bags.  Makes the bags scream out Happy Holidays and the ornaments are totally reusable to hang on a Christmas tree later on. 
• Added bonus to the green theme was seeing these bags being used after the holidays.  I saw family members and friends use it for everything from grocery shopping to lunch bags to kid's toy/book bags.  It's great to see them make good use of the bag instead of throwing it out like every other regular gift bag.

So go ahead and raid your local grocery store for these bags - or any bag that you absolutely find to be totally awesome.  Here's my stash from last year:

I put together over 40 bags.  I wonder how many of these are still being used :).

Happy (Early) Holidays. 

The Green Gift Wrapping: Week 4 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas

Spreading some Holiday joy and being environmentally friendly could be a challenge sometimes.  If you have kids or just love presents during Christmas you are well aware of the massive amount of paper and plastics used to make those presents look extra special.  Well - why not wrap them with something reused or reusable and help reduce the amount of waste we put into the landfills each year?

Each year for the holidays, I try to do something Green and help do my part in preserving our planet's resources.  This year I'm re-purposing old Christmas cards and using odds and ends from my quilt scrap pile to create finishing touches on Christmas presents.

The Green Gift Tag - Re-purposed from an old Christmas card:

Cut up those old Christmas cards.  They come with nice Christmas images all ready to be reused and enjoyed again.  Cut it to size and string with a ribbon.  Make sure the back has enough space for names.


Gift Wrap Made from Scrappy Fabrics - Completely Reusable for that special gift receiver:

Perfect solution for a small gift.  Use those small pieces of fabrics lying around in your scrap box - a double present for fellow quilters and crafters - fabric to use and a present inside :).


Fabric Ribbon - Reducing the amount of 'New' material by using Fabric Scraps:

A good way to use up scraps from the fabric scrapbox.  Use fabrics that have nice bold colors to add an extra pop to any present.  For this ribbon I used the 12 Days of Christmas Moda Charm Pack fabrics.

You could use these separately as an added green touch to any present, or use them ALL together to amaze your family and friends on how Green Christmas giving can be :).



However you decide to celebrate the holidays this year, remember to be mindful of what you're using and where it ends up after being used. 

Thanks for visiting JAQS and I will be sharing these Green Holiday Ideas at THESE great sharing parties.