If you’re looking for ways to “green up” your holidays, cloth gift bags are a great idea! They may not be as much fun to rip open as wrapping paper, but they don’t make as big a mess and can be used again, and again, and again. Besides, it’s so quick and easy to make cloth gift bags that in no time you’ll have gift bags stashed away for every occasion!

Supplies for Making Cloth Gift Bags

One of the advantages of making cloth gift bags is that you don’t need many supplies:

• Sewing machine or serger
• Pins, scissors, etc
• A safety pin
• Iron
• Fabric
• Thread
• Ribbon

How to Make Cloth Gift Bags – Step by Step

I’m not going to give you specific dimensions for the cloth gift bags because I’d rather have you “go green” and use up leftover fabric. Gifts come in all shapes and sizes so just make whatever size bag you can from the fabric you have. If you really need a bag to fit a specific item, measure the item then add a couple of inches to the width for ease and seams, and 4-6″ to the height for the hem.

Ready?

Ok – let’s get sewing!

Step 1: Iron
If your fabric is fresh from the fabric store it’s probably ready to go, but if it was stuffed in a bag in a corner of your bedroom like mine was you’ll probably want to iron it before doing anything else.

I didn’t bother washing my fabric ahead of time because I figure the gift bags won’t be washed often, and if they do end up shrinking in the wash it’s really not a big deal.

Step 2: Cut
Cut your fabric into the desired dimensions. I cut across the entire length of the fabric and planned to fold it in half to make a medium-ish sized gift bag.

When I use leftover fabric I cut the pieces into the largest square or rectangle I can. Make sure you cut two pieces the same size if the rectangle isn’t big enough to fold in half!

Make sure you have straight edges and square corners so you don’t end up with a wonky gift bag.

Step 3: Press Top Hem
This is what’s called a selvage. It’s the edge on both sides of a length of fabric and doesn’t ravel.

If your fabric has a graphic design like mine that looks nice from any direction, turn your fabric sideways and use the selvage as the top hem to save a little time. Don’t worry if you’ve got Santa or reindeer or something that’ll look weird turned sideways; using the selvage edge is a nice bonus but not necessary.

Turn the top and bottom edges over several inches and press. This will be the top hem and the “ruffle” at the top of the bag. I like a decent sized ruffle so I turn my fabric over about 4″ for larger cloth gift bags, and at least 2″ for smaller ones.

If you’re not using the selvage you’ll need to finish the raw edge of the fabric so it doesn’t ravel. You can serge it, zig-zag it, or simply turn 1/4″ under – like I’ve shown here – and press.

Step 4: Side Seams
Unfold the edge you just pressed and pin the bag, right sides together, matching the top edges, pressed fold, and sides. Serge or sew.

Yes, you can switch those two steps and serge the bag together before pressing the seam, but I find it easier to press a flat piece of fabric instead of a tube – especially if you’re making smaller gift bags.

Since my fabric is one large rectangle I simply folded it right-sides-together, so the fold was at the bottom, and serged the side seams. If you’ve got two separate pieces of fabric you’ll obviously have to serge or sew from the top down one side, across the bottom, then up the other side.

If you used a sewing machine, either trim the seam with a pinking shears the scissors that cuts VVVVV or with a zig-zag stitch, so they don’t ravel.

 
Step 6: Stitch Top Hem
Fold the ironed hem back down and stitch close to the edge. I like to start at a side seam so you can’t see the backstitching as easily.

Optional Square Bottom for Cloth Gift Bags

If you’re making a larger gift bag, like I am, you may want to square the bottom of the bag to add depth so larger items fit better. If you’re making a small gift bag you can skip ahead to the final step.

Find one of the bottom corners of the bag. Open the corner and fold it, right sides together, so the side and bottom seams or bottom fold touch.

Figure out how wide you want the bottom and draw a line perpendicular to the seam. Keep in mind that the bag will be shorter by the amount you take off the corner.

I ended up drawing my line 2″ in from the corner, which gave me a width of about 4″.

Stitch or serge along the line. Finish the seam with a zig-zag stitch or pinking shears if you’re using a sewing machine.

Turn right-side-out.

Viola – a square corner!

Finishing the Cloth Gift Bags

Step 7: Attach Ribbon
Cut your ribbon twice the width of your bag plus about 6″. Find the center of your ribbon and the center of the front or back of your bag, and stitch the ribbon to the bag.

Remember to clip those threads!

Cut the ends of the ribbon on an angle so they don’t fray. You could also use clear nail polish to seal the ends, but cutting on an angle is quicker and easier.

Step 8: Enjoy
That’s it – you’re done!

Gather the top of the bag, wrap the ribbon around, and tie in a pretty bow.

 
You can embellish the ribbon with beads or jingle bells if you like. Unless your beads and jingle bells are all set aside for art projects, like mine…

That was easy, wasn’t it?

One of the hardest things about being a parent is trying to figure out what to do when your child is sick. How sick are they? Is it just a cold or is it more serious? Should you call the doctor or wait another day? Should they stay home from school or child care?

When deciding whether to keep your sick child home from school or child care, remember that germs spread very easily in school and child care settings. Children are constantly touching each other, coughing or sneezing near each other, trading toys or other items, and are overall more likely to spread or catch an illness than adults are. When you also consider that children are still developing good sanitary habits covering coughs and sneezes, using tissues instead of hands for runny noses, etc, it’s easy to see why keeping a sick child home may be the better choice.

Most schools and child care programs have policies that state when a sick child should be kept home, so make sure you’re familiar with your program’s policies. If in doubt, here are some common-sense reasons to keep a child home:

• Unusual spots, rashes or bruises unrelated to an injury
• Extremely sore throat with difficulty swallowing
• Impetigo or infected skin patches
• Unusually dark (tea-colored) urine
• Fever
• Headache and stiff neck
• Vomiting – for any reason
• Diarrhea – for any reason
• Crankiness, general discomfort, seems unwell, cries more than usual
• Ear ache
• Child does not feel well enough to participate in child care program’s activities

Consider the other children at school or child care, and their families. Bringing a sick child to school or child care may cause other children to become ill, and that illness may spread to their family members. If all parents keep their sick children at home everyone will stay healthier, which will result in fewer lost work days and a healthier environment for everyone.

Image credit: www.sxc.hu/profile/Mrinkk

My Aunt Betty makes the world’s BEST stuffing – even Cowboy says so, and he’s got a pretty discriminating palate aka: not used to eating as many different kinds of food as we are. We can’t make any other kind of stuffing now, and I’ll bet once you try it you’ll be hooked on sausage and apple stuffing too!

Sausage and Apple Stuffing – in Pictures

Cut a loaf of bread into cubes and spread on a baking sheet. Place in oven until dry and slightly toasty. We like to use a mixture of different whole wheat and whole grain breads – I think one year we added some rye bread and it was really good too.

Allow the bread cubes to cool children playing cards next to the cooling bread are optional, then place in a large bowl.

Start browning about a pound of Italian style sausage. We use turkey sausage because it’s healthier and because Princess and Angel Face don’t eat pork, but you use what you like.

Chop the celery.

Add the celery to the pan so it can cook with the sausage.

Chop the onion and add it to the pan also.

When the sausage is done and the vegetables are translucent, add chicken stock, butter, and seasonings to the pan. Bring to a simmer.

While the chicken stock is heating, chop the apples and add to the bread cubes. We like to use Cortlands because they’re my favorite, but any baking apple will do.

When the chicken stock is hot, carefully pour the mixture over the bread and apples.

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Fold the sausage and vegetables into the bread cubes and apples, being careful not to mush the bread.

If it seems dry, add more chicken stock.

Spread in a greased 9×13″ pan, and bake.

Enjoy!

Sausage and Apple Stuffing – Official Recipe

Ingredients for Sausage and Apple Stuffing

• 2 loaves multigrain bread, cubed and dried
• 1 lb. sweet Italian turkey or pork sausage
• 2 cups sliced celery
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• 7 cups (or more) low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 apples, cored and chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions to Make Sausage and Apple Stuffing

1. Slice bread into cubes. Place on baking sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 min, or until dry. Cool. Place cooled bread cubes in a large bowl.
2. Start browning the sausage over medium-high heat. Add the celery and onion. Sauté until the sausage is cooked through and the vegetables are translucent.
3. Stir in the poultry seasoning, sage, and as much chicken broth will fit. Heat to a simmer.
4. While the chicken broth is heating, chop the apples and add to the bread cubes.
5. When the chicken broth mixture is hot, carefully add to the apples and bread cubes. Add any of the chicken broth that didn’t fit in the pan.
6. Stir. The bread cubes should be quite moist but not soggy. Add more chicken broth if needed. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Place into 9×13″ baking pan and bake for about 1/2 hour, or until lightly browned on top.

Happy cooking!

Several years ago Teacher stumbled across a fantastic recipe for Baked Cranberries on Food Network.

Of course, in true Teacher fashion he made it better, and it’s become a must-have
at Thanksgiving every year.

Drunken Cranberries Ingredients

• 1 12 ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup Jack Daniels

Pour the bag of cranberries in a bread loaf pan.

Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Stir gently until combined.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about an hour.

Take out the cranberries and stir in the secret ingredient: 1/4 cup give or take of Jack Daniels.

Cool before serving.

Here in Wisconsin we put things on the back porch to cool – I don’t recommend that if you live in Texas though.

Enjoy!

Drunken Cranberries – Official Recipe

Adapted from Baked Cranberry Sauce on Food Network

Drunken Cranberries Ingredients

• 1 12 ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup Jack Daniels

Drunken Cranberries Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Combine the cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small baking dish and cover.
2. Bake for about 55 minutes. Remove the cover and stir to melt any un-dissolved sugar.
3. Return the dish to the oven and bake for about 5 to 10 more minutes, or until the cranberries are soft and surrounded by a syrupy sauce.
4. Remove the dish from the oven and immediately stir in the bourbon, to taste.
5. Let the dish cool to room temperature, then chill for at least hour before serving. The sauce will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

If you’re not into Jack Daniels or the bourbon called for originally, experiment with your favorite liquor. I’ll bet Cointreau or another orange-flavored liquor would be delish.

Try them, then let me know what you think!

The other day I got an email from BlogHer.com, inviting me to participate in their Life Well Lived editorial program by answering this question:

How do you care for your hair in the colder, drier months?

That really made me think, and I realized that the only changes I make for winter are purely cosmetic: style and color.

Generally in the spring and summer I go blonder…

Then brunette or red the brighter the better in the fall and winter.

Then I started thinking again… Wisconsin winters are notoriously cold, with freezing dry air outside and hot dry inside. Maybe I should take better care of my hair during the winter.

I did some research, and found these tips for beautiful winter hair. Most of them are pretty common-sense, but it can’t hurt to go over them again:

1. Use the right kind of products. Ask your stylist which products are right for your hair, and buy the highest quality products you can afford. If you can’t afford salon products, ask for “over the counter” recommendations that will work with your hair type and style.

2. Don’t go outside with wet hair. Obviously if there’s ice outside it’s cold enough to freeze water – including the water in your hair – so take the extra time to dry your hair before you go outside. Not only is it better for your hair, it’ll keep your head warmer too. And we all know that if our head is warmer, our whole body is warmer, right?

3. Protect your hair with a hat, scarf, or conditioner. I know, those three don’t seem to go together, but here’s the deal – I can’t wear hats. Or scarves. Some people look adorable in hats, can take them off, tousle their hair, and be Victoria’s-Secret-model gorgeous. Hats make me look bag lady frumpy, and after I take it off I’m more Don King than Victoria’s Secret. Not the look I usually go for. Those of us who can’t wear hats can protect our hair by using conditioner every day. If your hair seems really dry use a light-weight leave-in conditioner.

4. Use heat sparingly. Wash your hair in cooler water, switch to a cooler setting on your hair dryer, and save the curling iron or flatiron for special occasions. When you do need to use hot styling tools, apply a heat-activated conditioner first to help prevent damage.

5. Stop static by applying a light coat of hairspray after you’re done styling. If you don’t normally use hairspray, spray your hairbrush then run it through your hair – you’ll avoid both “helmet head” and static.

For more suggestions – including my favorite tip of all – check out BlogHer’s Life Well Lived Cold Weather Hair Care post, and add your own tips.

While you’re at BlogHer be sure to enter the $250 Sweepstakes. Someone’s going to win – maybe this time it’ll be you!

One of my favorite family traditions is “Second Thanksgiving.” Like all the best family traditions, Teacher and I didn’t plan to start a new tradition; it just evolved.

Don’t get me wrong – we love going to Ike and Elle’s place for “regular” aka “First” Thanksgiving every year. Ike roasts a wonderful traditional turkey, Elle whips up her special non-diet mashed potatoes and gravy, and they also have ham, shrimp, rolls, beverages, and a dessert or two.

The rest of us have our assignments: Jay makes fantastic pecan pies, and usually brings two or three of them. Dee makes banana cream pie for Ike, non-banana cream pie for Jay, and another amazing dessert or two for the rest of us. Yes, my family likes dessert… and we like dessert left-overs.

Dad always brings several bottles of wine it’s not a family get-together if Dad doesn’t open at least one bottle of wine and Mom brings great-grandma’s no-fail corn custard, traditional green bean casserole – both with and without onions so everyone will be happy – and whatever dessert or salad she’s decided to test on us. So far she hasn’t followed in her mother’s footsteps and brought Jello with weird stuff – carrots, celery, cranberries, pecans, etc – in it. So far…

We’re in charge of bringing the things that no one else in the family besides us and my Dad likes: sweet potatoes, squash, and stuffing. We also bring drunken cranberries, homemade macaroni and cheese a Southern tradition Jay adopted when he lived in Savannah, and several pumpkin, cherry, and apple pies. But now that our older two children are married we passed some of our duties to them: College Boy and Irish Girl took over Apple Pie duty, and Princess and Cowboy took over Mac ‘n’ Cheese and Pumpkin Pie duties. I’m thinking that by the time all six are married Teacher and I won’t have to make anything!

Anyway, as much as we love First Thanksgiving at Ike and Elle’s, there were two problems: 1. We always had lots of “fixins” leftover without any turkey to go with them, and 2. Teacher wanted to try out different turkey roasting recipes and techniques but didn’t want to take the turkey-making away from Ike.

Then, a couple of years ago Teacher wanted to try brining a turkey, so he made one the Sunday right after Thanksgiving. I suggested we reheated the leftover “fixins” so they’d get eaten up, and the wonderful tradition of Second Thanksgiving was born!

We’ve eagerly looked forward to, and happily celebrated, Second Thanksgiving every year since.

What about you – does your family celebrate Second Thanksgiving? What do you do with all your Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers?

P.S. Recipes will be posted as quickly as I can edit the photos, so keep your eyes peeled. I promise you won’t want to miss them; they’re so good you’ll be inspired to plan a Second Thanksgiving of your own – right away!

It’s no secret that Teacher and I try to make “green” choices whenever we can, and the holidays are no exception. Here are some quick and easy my two favorite words besides “chocolate” and “coffee” to greenify your holiday season:

• Think layers. Your furnace probably uses some sort of fossil fuel to keep you warm. Help conserve resources and reduce global warming by turning the temperature down a degree or two and dressing in layers to keep warm. Wearing shoes or slippers, cuddling under a comforter, and snuggling with your Honey can also help you keep warm. Snuggling is a stress reducer – who couldn’t use less stress during the holidays?
• Waste not, want not. Leftovers take up refrigerator space, energy to keep them cool, and landfill space when they’re tossed out instead of eaten. When planning holiday meals, calculate quantities carefully to eliminate leftovers, freeze leftovers for later use, or plan meals that will use up the leftovers before they go bad. We’ve learned that almost anything can be made into pizza – even cranberry sauce makes a great dessert pizza!
• Go for seconds, and thirds, and… Reuse items until they’re used up. Save this year’s Christmas cards to use as gift tags next year. Reuse mailing boxes and envelopes by removing the stamps and taping new address information over the old. Save tissue paper and bows to reuse again next year. You get the idea…
• Choose cloth over paper and plastic. Tis the season to be shopping, but don’t get so distracted by decking the hall and being jolly that you forget your reusable shopping bags! Stash a few in your car or purse so you’ll be ready for eco-friendly shopping at the drop of a santa hat.
• BYOB here, there, and everywhere. Staying hydrated is important during the winter, but don’t waste your money and the Earth’s resources on bottled water. Most bottled water is just filtered tap water from somewhere else, so save money by using tap water from your own house! Invest in a water pitcher with a filter and a couple of reusable water bottles, and you’ll be good to go.
• Embrace the dark. Instead of trying to fight off the dark with lots of light, embrace the extra hours of darkness. Turn off the lights in rooms you’re not using and use fewer lights in rooms you are using. Plan to get work done during the daylight hours so you can dim the lights and relax when darkness falls.
• Lose the junk. As in junk mail. Catalogs multiply like rabbits around the holidays, but instead of recycling which uses energy the ones you don’t want, eliminate them by calling the company and asking to be taken off their mailing list. You save energy and make sure there’s room in the mailbox for things you really want – like that necklace and earring set at Etsy that you couldn’t resist.

So there you have it; a few easy ways to have an Earth-friendly holiday season.

What are your favorite tips? How do you greenify your holiday celebrations?

1. I’ve never jumped off anything higher than the monkey bars.

Actually, I’m not sure I’ve even jumped off those; I’m not a big fan of heights.

2. I’ve never lived alone.

I lived with my family until I went to college, then I had a roommate, then a second roommate I had more in common with *waves to Patty* then I got married. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I’d lived alone between college and marriage, but I wouldn’t give up a day with Teacher to find out.

3. I have never visited Ireland.

Or Venice, Scotland, New Zealand, England, Mexico, Maine, Washington, Colorado. Or any of the other states and countries I’d love to see someday. Someday…

4. I have never broken a bone.

I’d never had surgery either, until a couple of years ago. And I’d like to keep it that way.

5. I have never ridden a horse well.

In high school I got to ride my first horse. I was doing OK until she took off across a cornfield with me hanging on for dear life. I haven’t felt the urge to get on a horse again since.

6. I’ve never gone to jail.

Except for our 8th grade field trip and I don’t think that counts.

Oooh, oooh – I do have a favorite quote about jail: “A good friend will come bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying…’Dang, that was fun!’”

7. I’ve never run a marathon.

Or even a half-marathon, although Teacher and I walked our third half-marathon this past September. I was a sprinter in high school but have never been fond of long-distance running. It’s a lot of work.

8. I’ve never slept on the couch, or made Teacher sleep on the couch.

Not that I didn’t try when we were first married; I just wasn’t successful. I think that’s partly why our marriage is so strong.

9. I have never done drugs.

Seriously. I can look my children straight in the eye and tell them that I’ve never done drugs. Not every parent can do that. I’m proud that I can.

10. I’ve never found balance in my life.

I’m like the plate spinner at the circus: I focus on one aspect of life until another starts to wobble, then I pour my efforts into that one until the next one threatens to crash. Someday I’ll find balance… I hope!

Thanks to my good friend, Cricket, for thinking up this blogging challenge; it was fun, and made me think at the same time.

How about you; what are 10 things you’ve never done? Post your list and leave a comment below with a link to your blog!

Attention, attention, may I have your attention please!

Thank you.

I am pleased heck with that - thrilled – to announce the redesign of my child care website!

Drumroll please…

Ta da!!

My most recent favorite designer, Jeff of Snowfyre.com, created it for me.

Not only is Jeff a talented designer with unbelievably reasonable prices, he’s an absolute saint! I can’t tell you how many versions he proposed only to have me respond with “just a couple i.e. a whole list of changes…” The poor man!

I felt so guilty every time I asked him to make a change, but when all was said and done he said he enjoyed working with me and would gladly work with me again. He’s either lying through his teeth, or really was a saint in a past life. In any case, I’ll definitely contact him the next time I need some graphic design done.

So, what do you think? Leave your comments below and I’ll pass them on to Jeff; I’m sure he’d love to hear them!

When we bought our house we inherited several things along with it: Pepto-Bismol pink exterior, clumps of thistles and cilantro five feet high, kitchen cupboards gummy with cooking oil, ugly 1960s trim and wrought-iron details, glossy white paint on every interior wall, I could go on and on. Let’s just say that we knew it needed “a little” work.

We also inherited a pear tree. A very prolific pear tree. A pear tree so prolific that we couldn’t eat enough pears to keep up, and the windfall pears attracted so many bees and wasps that it was suicide to go in the back yard.

We loved the pear tree. All of us except for Angel Face who hates pears.

Over the years we came to an uneasy truce with the pear tree. At first Teacher pruned the tree back so much that it rebelled by not producing any pears. Then Teacher let it grow, until the branches were so high that only the Jolly Green Giant or squirrels would be able to reach the pears. Finally Teacher reached pruning nirvana – the pear tree wasn’t too overgrown, and pear production pretty much met our demand. The few windfall and squirrel-abandoned pears were disposed of before they could attract bees. We had our back yard and yummy pears to eat too.

Life was good. At least as far as our partnership with the pear tree was concerned.

Then the storm came. Not an actual tornado, but tornado-strength winds that set off tornado sirens and sent us scrambling to the basement as they roared through the neighborhood, indiscriminately knocking down stately old trees and electric lines.

When it was safe to come upstairs again we were shocked by the devastation, but thankful that none of the giant trees that went down in our neighborhood caused any major damage to homes or cars.

As we looked out the windows to see how our yard had fared, G was the first to notice: “Amy! A big branch fall down in the back yard!”

Sure enough – a big branch, which happened to be attached to the rest of the tree, had fallen. Amazingly enough, the canopy which hadn’t even been staked into the ground had only been flipped over by the wind.

Apparently our pear tree hadn’t been as healthy as we’d thought, and the strong winds were too much for the diseased trunk.

When Teacher got home from school he started carrying some of the smaller branches out to the curb. Our general area of the city had lost power, but College Boy was able to find ONE spot where his cell phone would get service.

Angel Face came out to help with the tree. Even though she doesn’t like pears I think she was a bit shaken when she saw the whole tree lying on the ground.

Poor, poor pear tree.

Disclaimer: No trikes were harmed in the making of this blog post.

The next day was Saturday and Teacher had a soccer tournament, but Grandpa and College Boy came over to help clean up the rest of the pear tree.

Z-Man helped out by carrying twigs and smaller branches.

Of course, once Little Guy saw that his brother was helping, he had to grab a branch too. Monkey see, monkey do!

Soon only the trunk was left.

It doesn’t seem hard: simply dig a trench around the trunk, sever the roots, and pull it out. Easy peasy, right?

NOT!

Of course there had to be a ginormous root right at the base of the trunk. And of course it had to be surrounded by other roots so the guys couldn’t dig under it.

When the small tools won’t do the job, you bring out the big tools. In this case, an ax. Go College Boy – you can do it!

Oops.

Teacher came home from soccer and lent a helping hand. Actually, I think he’s putting his whole body into it.

Finally – success!

The trunk was carried out to the curb, which was piled shoulder-high with the rest of the tree. Then we refilled the hole and I seeded the dirt.

It looks so sad and empty to me.

But as we learned in The Lion King, life is a circle. So we’ll replant another tree to take the place of the old one.

We just need to decide what kind. Apple? Sugar Maple? Ginko? Weeping Willow?

What’s your vote?