Spotted: DIY Mesh Grocery Bag from an Old T-Shirt

DIY Mesh Grocery Bags

Is your stash of reusable bags a little bit slim? If you've got an old t-shirt handy, you can turn it into a DIY mesh grocery bag super easily!

My very first reusable grocery bag was one of those crochet mesh ones. I got it at a health food store as a teen and felt so good about saying no to plastic and doing the family grocery shopping. The whole thing felt so grown up!

Over the years, I've built up a big stash of reusable bags, and I don't think any of them are that old school mesh sort that I remember from my teen years.

Those bags were great, though! You could shove them in your purse, because they got really small, but the mesh design meant they expanded to hold way more food than they looked like they would.

Want your own mesh bag, but don't want to pony up for the expensive crochet version they sell at the store? Delia Creates shows you how to make your own out of a reclaimed tee, no crochet skills required! All you need are:

  • an old t-shirt
  • pen
  • fabric scissors
  • sewing machine/thread or needle/thread
  • ruler
  • rotary cutter (optional)

Get the tutorial here!

Note: She says that you can use a straight stitch or a narrow zigzag, and I would definitely go with the latter, unless you're super skilled at sewing jersey. The zigzag gives that knit fabric more room to stretch, so you'll be less likely to have stitches break.

Craft Recycled: 5 Ways to Alter and Repair Your Jeans

craftRECYCLED logoAlter and Repair Jeans

I love shopping for jeans at the thrift store. Some of my favorite pairs of jeans have come from the thrift store and cost me less than $5. The thing that can be frustrating is when you find a pair of jeans that would be perfect except for one little detail. Maybe they have a small tear, are a bit too long, or fit great in the hips but have a cheesy bell bottom thing happening. Never fear! Whip out that sewing machine, crafty friends, because you can easily fix these problems and turn those thrifted jeans into your favorite pair.

1. Hemming

Hemming is probably the most basic repair you can do, and there are a couple of ways to go about it. The easiest is to cut off the pants, fold them to the length you want, and sew the seam, but you can also hem your jeans and keep the original hem, if you like the look of it. Here are tutes for both methods:

  1. Basic hem
  2. Keeping the original hem

2. Lengthening

Shortening jeans is very Sewing 101, and it's not that hard to add a little length to jeans that are a little too short. Julie over at Crafting a Green World shows you a simple way to lengthen too-short jeans.

3. Patching

Confession: I love a patch! Sometimes I add patches to things that aren't even torn, just to up the cute factor. Whether you want to add a splash of color or cover up a tear or stain, check out this tutorial on how to sew a patch. Easy peasy!

4. Reverse Applique

Reverse applique might sound daunting and fancy, but it's really not much harder than sewing a patch. Get more deets on reverse applique and how to use this method to repair torn jeans here!

5. DIY Skinny Jeans

Ever tried on a pair of pants at the thrift store that are super cute until you get to the knees, where they balloon out into bell bottoms? Fear not! You can turn those outdated duds into skinny jeans that fit like a glove. I love this skinny jeans tutorial from Cut Out + Keep for taking in those pant legs!

Have you done any creative repairs or alterations on old jeans from your closet or from the thrift store? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

Image Credit: Thrift Store Jeans photo via Bigstock

Spotted: Repair Torn Jeans with Lace

repair torn jeans

Did your favorite pair of jeans get an unsightly rip? You can repair torn jeans by adding a sassy lace detail!

We are all about mending instead of replacing around here, and one of my favorite things about mending is that you can make your repair into the centerpiece of the garment. That could mean using contrasting thread, a cute patch, or - like Sophie at The Forge - a super cute lace reverse applique!

What is reverse applique?

For these purposes, you can think of applique as basically a fancy word for patch, and a reverse applique is a patch sewn behind the hole or tear, rather than on top. So, instead of sewing a piece of lace on top of the hole in your jeans, you sew it in on the inside of the garment, so the lace peeks out from behind the tear.

I love the depth that reverse applique can give a project. Some designers use it intentionally on original garments and accessories, and using it for repair adds some interest while fixing a problem at the same time. How cool is that?

Using this method for a repair is easy as pie. If you don't have lace handy, you could really reverse applique with anything! Choose a cute fabric scrap from your stash, for example. With jeans, the only caveat I'd give is to choose something that's not too flimsy, because you want your repair to stand up to wear and tear.

All you need to repair your torn jeans are:

  • the jeans in question
  • sand paper
  • scissors
  • iron-on transfer paper
  • lace or scrap fabric
  • iron
  • a sewing machine
  • thread that matches the color of the jeans you're mending

Ready to get mending? Get the tutorial here!

Review: Hail Merry Raw Macaroons

raw macaroons

When you think raw food, you probably don't picture desserts, but there are lots of yummy raw dessert options out there! I recently got the chance to try out Hail Merry Raw Macaroons, and I have got to say: I was impressed!

The macaroons came in the same Conscious Box as the raw protein bars I reviewed last week. This might make it seem like the Conscious Box is full of raw food, which isn't the case. This one had a lot more raw treats than usual. Not that I mind raw snacks - they're delicious and much healthier than most cooked snacks!

The macaroons they sent me were the chocolate variety, and they were rich and cocoa-y! All of Hail Merry's macaroons are gluten free and vegan and contain no refined sugars. I was a little bummed that these were sweetened with maple syrup, though. Often, raw cookies use dates or other dried fruit to get the sweetness, which means a little boost of nutrients and fiber to balance out that sugar.

Here's the whole ingredients list:

organic maple syrup, organic shredded coconut, Fair Trade dark cocoa, organic extra virgin coconut oil, pure Madagascar bourbon vanilla, sea salt

As desserts go, I'm really impressed with this list! No mystery ingredients, and they went the extra mile to source their cocoa from a fair trade supplier. All of Hail Merry's products are also Non-GMO Verified, which means no franken-ingredients here!

Hail Merry makes macaroons, tarts, granola, and sells a few types of nuts. You can find their whole line of raw snacks on their website.

Review: Dale’s Raw Protein Bar

dales raw protein bars

Every once in a while, the awesome folks at Conscious Box send me a media box to check out full of vegan goodies, and they sent me one in December that I'm just now making my way through! There was nothing wrong with the box, it's just been a super crazy time: I didn't even open it until last week. D'oh!

The box was full of awesome goodies like a PeopleTowel and some fun vegan bath products that I can't wait to try out, but the thing I sampled right away was a vegan protein bar that came in a shiny silver wrapper.

I'd never heard of Dale's Raw Protein Bars before, and I'm so glad that I did! I've been avoiding my previous go-to vegan energy bars - Larabars - because their parent company (General Mills) funneled big money to stop the California GMO Right to Know Act. This Dale's bar kind of reminded me of a Larabar, but I think I actually liked it better! I tried the raspberry hazelnut variety, and it had crunchy chunks of hazelnut throughout the bar.

The bar itself was soft and a little bit chewy, like other date-based energy bars, but it didn't taste as strongly of dates as some of the others that I've tried. These seem like a great snack to keep in your purse for those mornings that you're too busy to eat breakfast!

What's in It

Like Larabars, these Dale's bar is date-based, which means it's naturally sweet. You don't need to add any refined sugars when you're using dates - they're nature's candy!  The bar gets its protein from peas (just pea protein - it didn't taste like peas!), rice, hemp, and almond butter, and one of the things I liked most about this bar is that aside from the pea and rice protein, all of the ingredients are things you could pick up at the grocery store. Here's the ingredients list for the raspberry hazelnut bar:

dates, pea protein, hemp protein, rice protein, almond butter, hazelnuts, coconut nectar, dried raspberries, raw cacao, coconut oil, water

How It's Made

Not too shabby, right? On the Dale's Raw Foods site, they have a video showing how the bars are made, which I thought you guys might like to see, too:

Don't you love how hands-on the production is? They even make the raw almond butter from scratch!

I've never seen Dale's in any stores (Have you? Tell us where in the comments!), but you can pick them up by the case on the Dale's Raw Foods website. At $36.99 for a case of 12, that works out to just over $3 for a bar, which I think stacks up pretty well to other energy bars I've seen, especially since Dale's is a small company.

Infographic: America’s Cancer Clusters

Cancer Indoor Air Qualidy

We talk a lot about indoor and outdoor air pollution around here, so when I ran across this infographic at sustainablog, I couldn't resist sharing it with you guys. It gives a lots of information about common carcinogens that we encounter both in the workplace and at home. Check it (you can click the graphic to view a larger version):

America Cancer Indoor Air Quality

Indoor Air Quality and Cancer

The part of the graphic that struck me most was the section at the end on cancer and indoor air quality. The air inside our homes is often far more polluted than the air outdoors, thanks to chemical cleaning products and off-gassing from our furniture and housewares.

If you're not familiar with off-gassing, it's when a product made with harmful toxins releases small amounts of those chemicals into the air. A good example is that "new car smell." What you're actually smelling is all of the chemicals used to make everything from the seats and steering wheel to the dashboard, gear shift, and floormats. When you think about what's actually causing that smell, it's not such a pleasant odor!

Looking for some tips to improve the air quality in your own home? Check out these 9 ways to make your home's air safer!

5 Packing Peanuts Alternatives

packing peanut alternatives

Packing peanuts are the pits from an environmental perspective. These single-use packing materials are made from Styrofoam, a petroleum product, and they're a huge waste of resources.

Of course, you can find ways to reuse those packing peanuts, but the greenest option is to skip them all together.

Whether you're packing for a move or wrapping up something fragile for shipping, it might be tempting to pad your package with peanuts, but there are lots of other, more eco-friendly ways to protect your valuables while they're in transit. We've rounded up a few packing peanut alternatives, and I've love to hear your ideas in the comments!

1.    Shredded Paper

Do you have a paper shredder to dispose of things like bank statements and bills with sensitive information on them? Instead of dumping that paper in the recycle bin, save it for the next time you have to pack and ship something fragile. I love this method, because not only does it replace a disposable petroleum product, but it extends the life of that paper just a bit longer.

2.    Linens and Towels

Next time you're packing for a move, don't put your linens, towels, and clothes in separate bags and boxes from your breakables! Instead, use all of that free fabric to wrap valuables. You'll end up with fewer boxes, which means a quicker, easier move, too!

3.    Reclaimed Paper

Junk mail, old newspapers, and magazines are perfect for wrapping up breakables, whether you're shipping something or packing for a move. Just make sure you use lots of layers, so your valuables will arrive safely.

4.    Popcorn

This might sound crazy, but in a pinch you can use popcorn in place of packing peanuts. Yep! Actual popcorn! Just make sure you go with the air-popped variety. Buttered popcorn would be a hot mess by the time your package arrived at its destination.

5.    Fabric Scraps

Seamsters! Those bins of fabric scraps that you've been hoarding are invaluable when you're moving. Use them to pad boxes with fragile items.

What other eco-friendly packing peanut alternatives have you guys run across? Let's keep the ideas going in the comments!

Image Credit: Packing Peanuts photo via Bigstock

Spotted: Upcycled Packing Peanut Garland

Packing Peanut Craft

Aren't packing peanuts just the worst? They're made of toxic Styrofoam, intended for a single use, and they get everywhere when you open a box that's full of those suckers.  Reader Hester Burch of Fun in the Making shared a beautiful, seasonal way to reuse those nasty little peanuts, so at least they're not landfill-bound after you unpack a boxful of them: snow swag!

Hester says:

Create a winter wonderland. Foam peanut snow swags would also be cool décor for a winter wonderland prom theme. -bonus that the materials wouldn’t cost anything!

All that you need to make your own are:

  • packing peanuts
  • embroidery needle
  • white string or embroidery thread

If you need more details, check out the full description of how she made these on Hester's blog! I love how they look all strung up on her chandelier, and I think they'd look lovely strung up in a window or layered up on the mantle.

Have you guys found any fun ways to reuse packing peanuts? Share your ideas in the comments!

5 DIY Beauty Recipes to Treat Yourself

Home made sugar scrub

Indulge in a little self-care with these DIY beauty recipes!

Self care means taking the time to do for yourself. We get so swept up in obligations and our day-to-day routine that sometimes we sacrifice our own mental health to get things done. When we neglect ourselves, we can become irritable, exhausted, and even make ourselves sick. Self care doesn't have to take a lot of time. It's just about stepping away - even for just 15-20 minutes - and doing something nice for ourselves. It could be enjoying a cup of fancy coffee, listening to a favorite podcast, taking a walk, or indulging in a little DIY beauty.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, this time of year is incredibly stressful. Even if you don't observe any of the December holidays, chances are lots of folks in your office do, so your work days have been hectic from being short-handed all month. Whether your stress comes from getting gifts together and dealing with family or from fighting holiday traffic, we all need a little self-care this time of year.

Check out these five beauty recipes to pamper yourself!

1.    DIY Bath Bomb - A hot bath is a great way to sneak away for a short time and relax, and a bath bomb really ups the luxury!

2.    Homemade Sugar Scrub - Treat your dry, winter skin to a decadent scrub that will leave you smelling and feeling great.

homemade-face-scrub

3.    Simple Homemade Oatmeal Face Scrub - Relax with a soothing oatmeal scrub!

4.    DIY Face Scrubs For Any Skin Type - If all of that holiday stress is making you break out, try choosing one of these face scrubs according to your skin type.

5.    Mint Sugar DIY Lip Scrub - We sometimes neglect our lips in our beauty routines, but they need a little care, just like the rest of our bodies! Lip scrub to the rescue!

What do you do to care for yourself when you feel a little overwhelmed? Let's share more self-care tips in the comments! My favorite way to treat myself is a warm bath or a nice long walk with a comedy podcast. Take that, stress!