Mini Easter Basket Tutorial

I have been on a recent quest to rid the world of the plastic Easter egg! Ok, well, not completely, but I have been brainstorming alternatives. I mean, really, do we need to buy a bunch EVERY year? They are good for outside egg hunts and can be reused, but there are other alternatives for handing out treats, indoor decoration, etc.

What I came up with was this cute little woven basket that would be great for a little gift, favors, or something to put by each place setting at Easter dinner. How cute would these be with your guest's names written on the handles? All it takes is 2 "dixie" cups, and a few common craft materials.

I practiced making these first with my 7 year old son, and he loved making them! Yesterday I tried them out on a group of 7's and a few older kids during my son's playdate. They all needed a bit of help with the weaving, but they had a good time with it. I wish I had remembered my camera, because they all turned out quite differently...very colorful and Eastery. Really sweet.

To view the tutorial, go to my Mini Easter Basket Flickr Slideshow. While in the slide show, click on "show info" to see the written step simultaneously with the photos. Be sure to pause the show as needed, and have fun with it. Please let me know if I omitted anything.

Reusable Sandwich Wrap Tutorial

Visit Craftstylish for a tutorial of the Reusable Sandwich Wrap from my book, Sewing Green!

photo by John Gruen

Kick the baggie habit! Save money and bring less plastic into the world by using sandwich wraps when you pack lunches. I made a handful of these for my boys and use them every week. (Ours have Batman and Scooby-doo on them and they never get left behind in the lunchroom!) It's fast to make and easy to use, which is a major plus for a busy family. The material is woven PUL, a polyurethane laminated cotton, not vinyl coated. (Do you recall the lead-in-vinyl-lunch-box scare a few years ago? Most modern oilcloth is laminated with vinyl. Of course not all vinyl contains lead, but I am passing that along to you for safety's sake.) I bought my woven PUL from a company that sells fabric for making waterproof diaper covers, called DiaperCuts. Simply wipe the wraps clean with a damp cloth or throw in the washer. Don't however, put through the dryer as the heat may cause the laminate to bubble.

(edit: Uh oh, apparently Diaper Cuts is "closed" for maternity leave! I found that A Cut Above Fabrics also sells PUL. Searching eBay or Etsy for diaper cut cotton PUL is also an option.)

Make a lunch and make a difference!
Perhaps you've never thought about this, but the waste created from school lunches alone is staggering! Recently I spoke at our elementary school's PTA meeting about packing a "green lunch". I thought I would share the info I presented here with you. (The following facts are from Kids Konserve)

* Children's lunches create 3.5 billion pounds of garbage each year
* 18,760 pounds of trash is generated annually from one averaged size elementary school
* 80% of the 25 billion single serving water bottles Americans use end up in landfills
* Taking a disposable lunch costs an average of $4.02/day ($723.60/yr)
* Packing a "waste-free" lunch costs about $2.65/day ($477.00/yr)
That equates into about $250 in savings per person/year.

What can you do about it? Try using these options.

For sandwiches
1) Reusable Sandwich Wrap
2) Laptop Lunch: Bento Box
3) Waxed Paper (unbleached if possible) *While this still creates waste, it is biodegradable and better than using plastic bags.

For snacks
1) Reusable Snack Pouches (These can be made using PUL as well. Hope to have a tutorial for these soon! you can also purchase pre-made ones at Reusable Bags.)
2) Waxed Paper Bags* (can be purchased here)
3) Reusable containers, such as Glad. (Not ideal as they are plastic, but if you've got 'em ,use 'em!)

For drinks
1) Refillable drink bottle, BPA free

Utensils, etc
1) reusable flatware
2) cloth napkin (also how-to's for these in Sewing Green!)

What to ELIMINATE if at all possible:
• Plastic baggies and wrap
• Foil
• Pre-packaged foods (Such as Lunchables, single serving snack packs of crackers, applesauce and yogurt.)
• Juice boxes and pouches
• One-use water bottles
• Plastic flatware
• Paper napkins
• Straws

I hope you'll consider implementing some of these ideas the next time you pack a lunch. As I told the PTA attendees, one step at a time. I'm by no means perfect, but I try to remember: Packing a no-waste lunch is healthier, saves money and saves the planet.

updates!

Just a quick post to let you know about a few things. There is a Sewing Green book give-away happening this week over at Craftstylish! While you are there, check out my interview about what inspired me to write the book. Friday they are featuring one of the projects from the book, my Reusable Sandwich Wrap. I provide a complete tutorial...for free! I'll chat about that more on Friday.

Also today, I updated my etsy shop with some classics: Cupcake Pincushions, Cup O' Joe Pincushions and one little bird pouch. As always, signed copies of my books are also available.

Hope your week is off to a good start. I have a feverish little hot-potato home with me today, so I am a multitasking Mom/nurse/designer/maniac!

P.S. Are you in the Raleigh NC area? I'll be there teaching a workshop SOON! Please come and we'll hang out! :)

field guys

Last year I made a field bag for the boys out of an old pair of outgrown cargo pants. I used this field bag tutorial (via the Crafty Crow). I just love this idea! Many cargo pants come with great pockets and I hate the thought of getting rid of them just because the knees are worn through.

Since then we've used this bag for Letter Boxing and in today's case, rock collecting for a school assignment at a local State Park. Have you been Letter Boxing? It's great fun and now that the weather is getting nice I want to start scoping out new adventures near us.

Hope you had a little adventure this weekend yourselves!

Stu-Stu-Studio!

Today the mailman brought my long awaited spring issue of Studios Magazine! You may recall the sneak peek of my tidied-up workspace from January. Now that the issue is out (well, actually March 31st) I thought I'd share a few pics that didn't make it in the mag.

Here's me at my sewing machine, which you can see is right by my window to the backyard and neighborhood park. Mixed blessing, that view. Mostly great. Sometimes nerve wracking and noisy. The idea board behind me is painted homasote my husband put up for me. I used to have lots of little bulletin boards but this is a luxurious expanse by comparison.

Hanging above me on the retractable clothesline is a Clothes Pin Caddy made from a refashioned blouse. (I made this project special for Studios Magazine, so check out the issue for all of the how-to details!) I loooove my clothesline to hang even more swatches and inspiration.

You would not believe the amazing and inspiring studios shown in this issue. You'll see, you'll have total studio-envy. I'm even envious of my own studio. Good thing it has been documented in all it's tidy-glory, because I'm sure it'll NEVER look that organized again. It certainly doesn't now!

take a moment

Oh look, things are starting to POP! 

Spring is coming with new beginnings. It doesn't care about grocery bills or the Bailout, a slow internet connection or piles of laundry. Spring just shows up every year. Spring happens, life moves forward...

I'm trying to teach myself to take a moment, to look around and notice the movement forward. This is what I'm seeing...

New pink buds, green sprouts

Little boy's feet looking not-so-little today

Baby teeth replaced by gaps and ridgey incisors

Longer days, more sounds of kids playing in the park

The highlights in my hair, hmmm, looking more grey now than golden

New friends both local and "virtual" 

New opportunities, ideas, inspiration...

Keep it coming, keep it coming.

What do you see?

more than I can say

Ok, forget what I said yesterday about things being calm. There I was feeling like a little pan simmering on the stove, busily steaming away at my tasks when the fire suddenly got Cranked. Up. Wooo, it's getting hot in here!

My freelance gig got kicked into high gear, due to a shortened deadline, but I am determined to make it work. And just when I was starting to break a sweat, the doorbell rang...my first box of books arrived!

Now signed copies of Sewing Green are officially available in my shop! Just a few for starters, but I will be getting more soon. So cute, my youngest son took one look at the cover and said, "Mommy, that looks like (cousin) Alice!" to which I said, "It IS Alice!". Yup, that's my niece on the cover.

Oh boy, I'm scheming now. If only I didn't have to work all weekend on this project, get my taxes done, wrap up my workshop/event schedule, feed my family, um...sleep, I'd be whipping together some kind of Grand Hoopla Book Release here on the Blog. I will do it, I promise. There will be hoopla-a-plenty. Soon.

I've posted this here before, but in case you missed it, I'd like to share my editor's Sneak Peek again. (If you poke around a little on Melanie Falick's blog, you'll find the introduction to the book as well!)

The photography (by John Gruen) in this book is simply to die for. The styling (by Raina Kattleson) is perfection. I can say that because, well, just look at that photo up there! I could go on and on fawning over all of the people that made this project happen, but I will save it for another post. I am so thankful for all of them. More than I can say.

on my worktable

It's a little quiet here this week on the blog. I've got a big freelance project I'm trying to get through this month. April is shaping up to be crazy-busy with the book release, so I'm looking at this month as the relative *calm before the storm*.

Look at all the pretties I get to play with! Too bad I can't show you anything I'm making with it though. :) Well, maybe I just give you a tiny little hint. :)

Holy Moley! I just looked on Amazon and Sewing Green is off pre-order and NOW AVAILABLE! :) EEEEEEEK!

what i learned on our family hike

enjoy the view

gain a new perspective


stick together


persevere, despite obstacles

enjoy the unexpected


appreciate the small things

find your inner peace


stop for hugs

We hiked this morning at Great Falls Park in Potomac, Maryland, just about a 20 minute drive from our home. Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

workshop in Raleigh

On April 4th and 5th I will be doing workshops in Raleigh, NC at Panopolie! Visit the Shiny Little Things Blog for class descriptions and give 'em a call to sign up. I will also have my hot-off-the-press book available for signing. :) Yippee!

chicken and egg

I'm feeling a little scrambled these days. With Sewing Green coming out soon, I'm planning workshops, signing events, even an upcoming blog tour. I'm writing up a newsletter to let everyone one know When-Where-What. (By the way, if you want to subscribe to my e-Newsletter, sign up in the little white box on my website homepage) I'm anxious to get it out there but I'm waiting on some last minute information. Back and forth in my mind, over and over, what to do first. Chicken and egg...

I love this little glass chicken. She belonged to my Grandmother. And what's there...little chocolate eggs? Mmmm, she's a good little chicken. 

I start buying Easter candy as soon as I see it, it's just my favorite. The colors of Easter, the promise of spring. A few times in my life Easter has fallen on my birthday. As a child I thought a real bunny would be the perfect easter-birthday gift, but it never worked out. :)

Next best thing? How 'bout this sweet little cashmere bunny? An oldie, a goodie, and a freebie! Take a look over in the sidebar. Ol' long ears looks great hanging out with the stuffed birdie, don't you think? They'd make a great match for somebody's easter basket. Or birthday gift. :)

I leave you now with a little treat I discovered via soulemama. This is a bit of creative inspiration for you about art itself. I just love it.

forecast: fun

The kids finally have a decent snow day! Yay! Five inches.

The bush out front is wearing little hats.

Out back this morning I saw two doe galloping through the park! Frollicking! They took off between the houses and through the neighborhood. Guess deer school was canceled today, too.

I can see the kids out my studio window in the park behind our house. Fortunately, I can't see the sledding hill, but when every kid in the neighborhood is out there, I sure can hear it! (photo taken through a dirty window with a screen)

I'm happy to have a use for all of the bread bags I've been saving. My husband, growing up in Michigan, said they used to put them on over their socks, inside their boots! I tried it for my little guy after he got a bunch of snow in his boots. Must be working!

Stay warm!