Trying to have a ‘green’ Christmas isn’t easy! In previous years, I’ve been shocked by the bags of trash produced at gatherings simply due to gift wrap. {Spending money on paper to throw away just a few weeks later seems a little crazy.} This year, I’m taking steps towards using green wrapping!

My grandma gave me several beautiful Christmas fabrics a year or two ago and they’ve just sat in my craft chest. I realized it would just take a little bit of time and effort to turn the Christmas fabric into cloth Christmas bags that can be used for years to come!

Making these bags was so simple. They’re not super fancy and the edges aren’t serged {due to the fact that I don’t own one} but they’re adorable and I love that they’ll be reused over and over in our family!

Step 1: Cut out your fabric in a rectangular shape. The size doesn’t matter, just base it upon how big you want your finished bags. I made several bags of varying sizes to hold both large and small gifts.

Step 2: Hem the edges of the fabric that will become the top of the bag. This step makes them look much neater!

Step 3: Fold your rectangle over with the hemmed edges touching and sew up the sides.

Step 4: You’ve sewn a cloth Christmas bag! All that’s left now is finding the perfect gift to place in your bag!

Isn’t this cute? I used scrap ribbon {mostly ‘recycled’ from gifts I’ve received in the past} to tie up my bags!

I love these colorful cloth Christmas bags!! { The larger bag is holding a 12×12 children’t book to give you an idea of the scale}.

I made about 10 bags already and have plans to make a few more. I’m using a few as gift wrap for gifts outside our family so I won’t personally be able to reuse them. The rest will be used in our little family so we’ll be able to reuse them for years to come!!

The best part of these bags, they were completely free since I already had the fabric on hand! Look in your fabric stash and see if you have any fabric that would work, reds and greens would make wonderful traditional colored bags but don’t forget blues and whites too! And of course any color or print would work because there are no rules that say your gift wrap has to be a certain color!!

Are you taking any steps towards a ‘green’ Christmas? If so, what are you doing? 

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Back in August while my husband was out of town, I began making over our bathroom! I painted the bathroom vanity, replaced the curtain and added in some decor.

Here’s the result:

The black cabinets turned out wonderful and the small touches really make the bathroom look wonderful!

I made the curtain using fabric I had on hand and simply tacked them up over the window using the ‘window mistreatment’ philosophy!

Since the color scheme is black, white and tan, I thought this Rolled Paper Africa Art was perfect! John David traveled to Ethiopia this past June and we have a Compassion child there so it’s a reminder of that trip, the wonderful people there and our sponsored child. I purchased it from Mercy House Kenya, a maternity home in Kenya.

And here’s another angle of the bathroom. I put a scripture verse on the wall and we bought a new soap dish that’s easier to clean!

Cost ::

Paint & Supplies: Free (used what I had on hand!)

Africa Art: $50 (with shipping)

Scripture Art: Free (I’ve had it for years!)

Soap Dish: $4 at Ikea

Curtains: Free (used fabric I already had!)

Total: $54

I think that was $54 well spent making the bathroom look wonderful!

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A few weeks ago, while my husband was out of town, I kept myself occupied with several small projects! One of the projects was painting the bathroom vanity.

Since we moved into our home back in April, I’ve been thinking about a mini makeover in the bathroom. I finally decided that I wanted to paint the vanity and mirror black!

Before ::

After ::

This project really turned out better than I expected it would! I was so anxious for my husband to get home from his trip so I could show off my work! He told me probably 5 times that it looked really good and that he really liked the black!

Close up of the cabinets ::

This project cost me nothing since I used leftover black paint.

I simply cleaned the cabinets and let them dry and then painted! I applied two coats of paint. If I had to do it over again, I probably would prime the cabinet first.  {I’m thrilled with how it turned out and I’m just hoping it will hold up since it wasn’t primed!}

We love the new look in the bathroom!

Have you thought of painting your bathroom vanity? 

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My husband left on Sunday afternoon, leaving me alone for 3 days with Paxton {I wasn’t excited about being left all alone with a moody teething toddler!} I usually dread him leaving but I’ve found that keeping a positive attitude combined with keeping busy is the best way to make it through these days.

I made a lofty to do list and started working! I accomplished a lot by using nap time wisely and once Paxton went to bed each night, I spent time blogging. {There will be posts coming more frequently on this somewhat neglected blog!}

• I started Sunday afternoon on the big project I wanted to accomplish, painting our bathroom cabinets! I painted the bathroom cabinets black. I applied the first coat Sunday afternoon and finished up Monday morning during nap time. The cabinets look great. {Pictures coming soon once we get some of the hardware updated.}
• I stayed up several hours past bedtime Sunday and Monday night writing blog posts! I spent the bulk of the time writing a series titled “Our Financial Story,” which I’ll be posting once John David has a chance to read over it and gives me the okay for sharing some of the personal details.
• Monday evening I made curtains for both bathrooms! The half bath has a simple white curtain and I made a black and white curtain for the bathroom! {I’m so excited about finishing this mini bathroom makeover and sharing with you!}
• Tuesday morning was nice and cool so Paxton and I headed outside to vacuum and de-clutter our car! He played in the drivers seat while I vacuumed. A vacuumed and clutter free car looks so much better!
• During nap time Tuesday, I finally made laundry soap. I’ve been out for a month and was lazy and bought a container of detergent! It was easier to make than I remembered and I was kicking myself for wasting money on detergent when I had the supplies for homemade detergent already at home.
• I spent Tuesday afternoon lightly de-cluttering. We’re planning a yard sale in a few weeks and I want as much of the excess clutter gone as possible! I went through our hall closets, Paxton’s closet, toys and dresser and my craft chest. I have a box full ready to go out to the yard sale pile in the garage.
• And I did the usual, playing with my sweet boy, changing diapers, washing diapers, doing laundry, washing dishes, going outside to play, snuggling with Paxton in the mornings and many more daily joys!

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When we made an offer on our house back in March, I began planning the ‘new nursery’! Since Paxton was almost a year old, it was finally time to really personalize his space and make it a bright, happy place for a little boy!

Since I love primary colors, I decided to use some pops of red and blue in the room and needed some pops of red to go along with the blue curtains we had!

Enter this mirror:

We’ve had this mirror for years! Once upon a time it was in the living room of one of our apartments but was currently sitting in the donate pile in our garage. I thought a mirror would be nice in his room and a coat or two of spray paint would give it a totally different look!

It turned out even better than I expected:

I love this red mirror! It’s such a bright and cheery color and looks great with his room!

The best part is that this cost me nothing! The mirror was from our donate pile and we already had the red spray paint. You can’t beat a free project that you love.

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I was inspired to make a tie for Paxton a few months ago for him to wear to a wedding. The sweet baby tie turned out much cuter than I anticipated and he received lots of comments on it! {It’s hard to resist a baby in a tie!}

This little tie was so simple to make. It took about an hour and cost nothing since I used fabric in my stash!

Supplies

• Fabric (around 42 inches in length)
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Needle

Directions

Step 1: Cut your fabric into a long strip. I cut my fabric 42 inches long * and it was 2.5 inches at the narrowest point and approximately 3.5 at the widest (I made the bottom a little wider).

*This made a long tie for a small baby but it was easy to tie and we just tucked the extra in his shirt, plus he can wear it for a couple years since it is longer! You also may want to cut it a little wider to make it easier to flip!

Step 2: Fold the fabric in half and pin.

Step 3: Stitch up the tie. {Be sure to leave a an inch or so at the beginning to make flipping a little easier!}

Step 4: Stitch the tie end. {I cut a crude triangle  to use as my guide!}

Step 5: Flip inside out. {This was the most time consuming part of the entire project! It took about 25 minutes to flip since it was so narrow. I used a crochet hook to help me! Again, you may want to make your tie a little wider so the flipping will take less time!}

Step 6: Iron tie. Tuck the open end and press to make hand stitching easier!

Step 7: Hand stitch the open end and you’re finished! {And then have your husband tie the tie!}

Your baby instantly looks like a handsome little man with a tie on! {Fair warning, you will want to take a ton of pictures!}

If you can sew a straight stitch you can make this baby tie!

What are you waiting for? Go make an adorable baby tie!

And, I’d love to see pictures of your babies in their ties!

Send me a picture if you make one: rachel (at) frugalandsimple (dot) com!

Happy sewing!

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