snack bags

Around the time that Sophia {aka, the Fif} was born, I became more aware of some of the issues surrounding plastic. I had always naturally been more of a fan of wooden toys for Tobin {da Monks}, however, I really took it to the next level by ridding ourselves of most of our plastic toys, tupperware food storage and drinking vessels. At first, my husband throught I had gone crazy, and would just shake his head and smile at me as he headed out the door to work with his lunch; a handful of leftover baked ziti in a ball of tin foil. We purchased stainless steel water bottles, began using ceramic jugs for juice made from concentrate, used Born Free bottles for the baby and little by little adjusted to our new way of doing things.

I didn't like the idea of using plastic wrap so much, or the idea of just how many plastic baggies were being thrown in the garbage, so I decided to come up with something that would work for me. I decided to sew reusable sandwich baggies, made from fun cloth material, but lined with oilcloth that could be wiped clean. This was actually one of my fist ideas of what I could make to begin a little Etsy shop, however, time went by and my creative energies were pulled in a variety of different directions, based on the needs of our family...mass production of said sandwich baggies were put on hold.

When the Monks began kindergarten last autumn, I was happy to have a special set of baggies for him, something handmade to send with himto school. Even though we had purchased his school back pack and lunch box from a store, each time he opened his lunch, he would see his snacks packed in these little baggies, with my Mama loves you label {reminding me of the I love you, xoxo, my mum would write on my napkin when I was a child} accross the front, and he would know that I was thinking of him...

These baggies were not all that difficult to make, just alot of wrong side sewing, turning right side out, and ironing, {that was tricky in that you don't want to melt your oil cloth. Let air dry + I would suggest putting a towel inside when ironing.}

***************

Even after a few years, we still don't have it all together when it comes to the plastic that we use {or do not use}, or whether or not it is done well {John still uses tin foil for ziti?} To be honest, with 3 kiddos, I've been pretty darn lazy when it comes to eco of late...but I still use these bags! When I saw Earth Mama's post, I thought I would pass around what I had made from my first blogging/etsy venture with My Sweet Babu. This is a great summer project, with many littles off to begin school in just a month. I felt extra good that even though I wouldn't be eating lunch with the Monks at school, he would have a piece of home with him + know that we love him more than anything and that we can't until 2:45 to hear all about what he learned and did in school!