James and the Giant Donation!

Hi Teresa, Sorry I didn't get to meet you yesterday but we were trying to multitask with our various acts of hauling. James was quite thrilled to be able to meet you and pass on the material. We are very happy to have found you and are grateful for all you are doing with this. It just couldn't have been a more perfect fit for passing the things on. Thank you very much. And thank you for the bags also. They are adorable and I know we will put them to lots of good use. Best wishes to you and your endeavours. Cynthia Wood

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A huge thank you to Cynthia and James for their donation of many bins and rolls of fabric and a huge amount of art supplies. This will keep us sewing for a long time. The photo is of James with the donation and the bags I sent home with him! Teresa

Acceptance. . .

I'm usually not very wordy in my posts (I like to let pictures say 10,000 words), but this one will be. . .

I've decided that 2010 will be a year of accepting things. The first thing I have accepted over the past few weeks is that I am a blogger. Well, duh, you say. Here is the thing, when my students first suggested that I keep a blog, I immediately said, "No way, I am NOT a blogger."

Why? I had a problem with the word 'blog.' I mean, c'mon, it sounds like a log that was found in the bottom of a bog. Wet, slimy, brown and green with stuff stuck on it. Really gross. Yes, I am aware that the term comes from a combination of the two words, WEB+ LOG. Which, if someone had suggested keeping a Web Log I probably would have been ok with it.

No more. I have accepted the term blog and I am a blogger. Even though, 9 times out of 10, I will refer to this here page that you are reading as my site and not as my blog. Just so ya know.

Second thing to accept, I am slowly but surely reaching the age where my students at the University could be my children. I still don't consider the 20 year age gap to be quite enough, not yet. I did not have kids at age 20 so it will be at least another 5 years before I can think of myself as the age of their parents. Scary, it will take me those 5 years to accept it. It would be helpful to understand that this is my 12th year teaching at Belmont, I began there when I was 29, definitely not old enough to be a parent, maybe a big sister.

Third, I am giving in to green tea. I drink water. Only water. It has been this way for a VERY long time. I am not fond of coffee, soda, juices, etc. I. Love. Water. It is what I crave. However, here in 2010 I am giving green tea a shot. I'll let you know how it goes. I am trying different brands and will post about them and let you know what I think. I do believe it was this article in Body+Soul magazine that tipped me over the edge.

We have about 7 inches of snow. I grew up in Minnesota. I now live in Tennessee. We are not supposed to have snow here. However, I have accepted that too. Teresa

Little Man and Little Girl with our sorry excuse for a snow man.

France Bag!

Thank you so much for this beautiful green bag. I shall use it and help to support the battle against plastic.

Best wishes for the new year

Brenda Schaefer

France

Snow Day. . .

We don't get much snow in Tennessee. Except for today. Kids are out of school. Me too, because they are. It is still coming down. It feels like Saturday. What to do? Bake of course. . .

Chewy Date Bars--makes 24

(from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey--by Jill O'Connor)

1 pound room temp butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups desiccated coconut

for the date filling:

1 pound dates (I used 2-8 oz. bags of Dole pitted dates)

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

combine butter and sugars in a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium to beat together until creamy--add vanilla and salt, beat to combine--beat in flour, baking powder and 1 cup of coconut until a soft dough forms

spray 9X13 pan with cooking spray--press 1/3 of dough in the pan to form the bottom crust--wrap rest of crust in plastic wrap and put in frig for at least 30 min.

combine the dates, water and sugar in a heavy pan over medium heat--cover pan and cook for 10-15 min stirring occasionally until dates are soft--cool slightly--pour into food processor to grind dates to a fine paste

preheat oven to 325--bake bottom crust on middle rack for 20-30 min. until brown on edges--take out, let cool slightly--spread date filling evenly over crust--crumble rest of dough over filling to form a pebbly topping

return to oven and bake until topping is firm and crisp about 30 min.--remove and sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup coconut over the top--let cool to room temp. (ya, right) and enjoy!

My Grandma Ruth used to make date bars. I have never made them before. They make me happy. This video made me happy today too.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend. If you have the white stuff falling too, enjoy! Teresa

LOVE it ! ! ! From a fellow photo friend. . .

Hi Teresa:

OK, it took a little too long, but it's definitely the only one you have like it.

:-D)

Thanks for the bag. I use it all the time.

Passion,

Eric

Recycling 101 or maybe 102. . .

We all know we should recycle, yes? We are good about the paper and the cardboard and the aluminum and all that, right? RIGHT? Please say yes or at least nod your head loudly. Ok, so what about some of the other stuff, the stuff we think we cannot recycle, or that is more difficult to recycle. I hope this post will help with that. . .

Let's start with caps. You know the ones that come on EVERYTHING. Soda bottles, milk cartons, peanut butter jars, etc. Did you know that you can RECYCLE them? Yes, you can. Aveda will take them off your hands and make new products out of them. You can read all about it here. The site tells you what they take and locations that accept them. I have a little container on my kitchen counter to keep the lids. When I get too many, I bring them to the mall and drop them off at the Aveda store. Easy. And you can download the cool coloring sheet above!

How about batteries. Please tell me you don't throw them in the trash. Batteries Plus will take your batteries and recycle them for you. Yay! Read more about it here.

On to plastics that are marked with a #5. You can recycle these at Whole Foods. They have a great campaign going called Gimme 5. You can even recycle your Brita water filters there. Hurray for Whole Foods!

Let's start there, let me know how you do! Keep up the great work. . . Teresa

Produce bag winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the produce bag freebie! They were from ALL over! Yay! Use them well everyone. . .

Lisa--Downing, WI
Lynn--Carrollton, GA
Sarah--Garland, TX
Sage--Lee's Summit, MO
Crystal--Hahira, GA
Grace--Bayside, NY
Jennifer--Ankeny, IA
Donald--Charlotte Hall, MD
Cindy--League City, TX
Alexandra--Madriat, Auvergne, FRANCE
Carla--New York, NY
Camey--Tooele, UT
Jennifer--New Orleans, LA
Beth--Machias, NY

Also, the check will go to Haiti at church tomorrow. Thanks for all the comments. Teresa

UK Sew Mama Sew Bags!

Hello!

I just wanted to let you know that I recieved the bag and kit I won in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day. The ready made one (no 7753) was immediatley tried out by my son who used it to put his swimming things in! The second bag (the pink one in the photo) was made by me from the kit you sent in next to no time. It is being given to a neighbour - I need to return a few things she lent me so thought I would give them back to her in the bag! I am in Warwickshire in the UK. Many thanks again and all the best with your fantastic work.

Jo

Produce Bag Freebie Update. . .

And the winners are:

Apples with 17 votes

Avocados with 12 votes

Bananas with 10 votes

The people winners have been contacted by Bagette Dad. Please check your spam folder in case the email went there. Congrats to the 14 winners!!!!

And, as promised, I will donate $51 (actually, I will round it up to $100) to Haiti relief for Holy Name parish in Port-au-prince this weekend at church. Thanks for the comments.

Have a fabulous weekend. I will be sewing, you? Teresa

P.S. Like the fruit face above? I spent at least 10 minutes making it in Photoshop!

France bag!

Hi Teresa,

Here’s a picture of Laurence with her bag. She loves it and has been taking it everywhere, using it as a beautiful handbag, rather than a shopping bag. She tells me everyone is amazed that it’s made of fabric, and not plastic-coated!

Love,

(Cousin) Irene

Bag #2. . .

Now that we have given away over 8000 bags, have you ever wondered where those first, say 100 bags are? Pictured above is bag #2. Registered to me. Bag #1 is registered to hubby, in case you were curious. I recently got bag #2 back. Also pictured is my friend and colleague at Belmont University, Robbie (on the left, me on the right). I saw Robbie one day shopping at Whole Foods and she had no bags. I teased her about it and she said, "You have a fistful, let me use one of yours." So, I gave her bag #2 to use and made her promise that she would give it back. Sentimental reasons and all.

After this incident, I sent her a bag, in her own name, through campus mail. I assumed she would then send me back #2. I did not get it. I sent her threatening emails. She sent me a ransom note. Kidding. Finally, last week, after nearly a year, she gave me bag #2 back. Sigh. All is right with the world again. We had another colleague snap a cell phone photo of the Big Bag Return Handoff.

That is all. Bag #2 is back in my grubby little hands. Do you have an early # bag? You KNOW who you are! Send me a photo and the bag number. I would love to post them! Teresa

Mexico Bags!

Hi Teresa!

My name is Graciela, I'm from Mexico and finally I can send you this email! I was a winner for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway. Sorry for the delay, I was on holiday but as soon as I got home, I began to sew the bag which I gave to my sister.

We chatted about your project and we both are very pleased that there's such generous people like you. I make her promise that she would use the bag for what it's made.

I can only tell you that keep going with this great project and never give up, because I know that sometimes it is difficult but there's people who want a change and we put a grain of sand which is the only way that can be big changes.^_^

Please sorry for my english, you can correct me if you find some mistakes. And again THANK YOU!!

Graciela

FREEBIE Produce Bags! 14 winners! And, some compassion. . .

NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS in 2010! Win a set of produce bags and you won't need to use those plastic bags either!

This FREEBIE is brought to you by Green Bag Lady AND Sara, the Smokey Mountain Bag Lady. Sara sent me a box a couple of weeks ago with fabric in it for pet beds, about 2 dozen shopping bags and a stack of produce bags. I love Sara. She is wonderful. She lives in Knoxville. I wish she lived in Nashville. Sigh.

Anyway, Sara kicked me into gear to finally make all the produce bags that I had sitting in my sewing room that needed some love. Here they are! Pictured above. . .all 42 of them. I have split them into sets of 3 making 14 sets. SO, Sara and I are giving away 14 sets of produce bags. YAY! Here is how you can win:

•LEAVE A COMMENT, IN THE COMMENT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THIS FORMAT: name(at)something(dot)com it is important to spell out dot and at so you don't get spam, if you DO NOT leave an email address, we will not hunt you down to send you a freebie, thanks.

•In the comment tell us your 3 favorite produce items.

•DEADLINE FOR THIS FREEBIE IS MIDNIGHT (CST) Wednesday, January 20, 2010.

•14 winners will be randomly selected on Jan 21 to win 3 produce bags each.

If you are not selected, the produce bag PATTERN is here, make some!

Thanks for playing! Good luck! Teresa and Sara

P.S. For the compassion. . .you would have to live in a bubble not to be touched by what has happened in Haiti. My church has a sister parish in Port au Prince that was damaged by the earthquake not to mention lives lost. I will donate $1.00 per person (up to $300) that comments on this freebie. Even if you don't want the produce bags, just say hi and that you would like to have me donate a dollar for you. I will be donating directly to our sister parish, Holy Name, in Haiti. Thanks.

COMMENTS CLOSED, WINNERS ANNOUNCED SOON.

Another Sew Mama Sew Winner!

Hi Teresa,

Here’s a photo of me with my new bag. #7783. I won it during the 100 bag giveaway during the Sew Mama Sew giveaway. I love it! I carry it with me everywhere. I’m surprised how much I can fit into it. I plan to make my second bag and give it away as part of my birthday giveaway on my blog in February. I’ll ask them to send you a photo too.

Thanks so much. Your project is very inspiring and I have made several bags – with a stack of fabrics designated for more. I’ve also included photos of the bags I made during the Sew for Peace campaign with Sew, Mama, Sew.

With Joy,

Sarah Vanderburgh

http://sewjoy.blogspot.com/

Drowning in Plastic

Great article by Sharon Guynup called "Drowning in Plastic" is found here. Please reduce the amount of plastic you use. Fabric shopping bags are a great first step, it is time to take it to the next level! The article includes some good tips. Teresa

Pet Beds 101

I have had requests from people who want to know how the pet beds are made and if they are really made entirely from our scraps. Here you go, step by step. . .

I know when the scrap can next to my sewing table looks like this, it is time to make a pet bed. . .
First, I take fabric that is too thick to go through the sergers for bags and sew it together in a rectangle or square, depending on the size of the fabric. For this example, I stitched together 8 thick fabric samples to make the bed. 4 for each side. . .
It looks like this. Remember to leave a hole about 6-7 inches in length open on one side of the bed to do the stuffing. Turn the bed right side out. . .
It will look like this, this hole was about 7 inches. . .
Then, you start stuffing fabric scraps and thread clippings into the bed. . .
Kids love to do this. . .

After you are finished, you can machine or hand sew the hole. Depending on the size of the bed, it might be difficult to machine sew, we usually sew them by hand. . .
This is what you need, a strong needle, pins and button and carpet thread. I keep black, brown, cream and tan on hand. . .
Pin the hole together. . .
Start stitching, I double the thread so it is really strong. . .
When you are finished and have tied a knot, push the needle back through the seem to a spot about 3 inches into the bag, pull the needle out and cut the thread. This will assure that the end of your thread is INSIDE the bag. . .
Yay! All finished, one side. . .
And the other. . .
It is even comfy for little boys. . .

Let me know if you make some! I would love to hear about it. You can read more about what happens to the pet beds we make here. We enjoy donating these beds for sick or abandoned animals.

Have a great week. We begin classes at the University tomorrow. Teresa

Cousin Irene

My cousin Irene was here visiting for a week. She lives in France and has for 24 years. She was here in Nashville to watch a friend who was competing in this event. Of course, I could not send Irene home without a Green Bag Lady bag, could I?
And, I had to send some for her friends too. I do what I can for international relations! Teresa

Other sewing. . .

I do sew other things. Promise. Little man really wanted an owl. An owl it is.

Big girl grew out of her jammies all of the sudden. I made these with room to grow. :) Teresa

Love this. . .

I love this sign that Kroger has added to their cart returns in the parking lot. I posted about Whole Foods having signs too. It is so nice that they are reminding people to remember to bring their bags into the store. But, look closer, see what it says?
Do drastic, stop plastic. I know Harmony is laughing out loud right now as we both love this song from this post. You really need to listen to the song. It is hilarious. Monday soon. Ugh. Teresa

One more. . .

I couldn't resist one more t.p. item I found this AM. I might make these with my kids next December. Instructions are here. Happy Saturday! Teresa

A word about T.P.

Yes, T.P. Toilet paper. Well, ok, not the actual paper, but the roll. You know, the ones that you always put in the recycle bin. What? You don't recycle them? Well, here are some great ideas to do with them. People are so creative, no?

I love this wall hanging from this post.

This little piece is from artist Yuken Teruya. While you are on the site, check out the other great projects, like this one. Seriously, this is one of my new favorite artists.

This is another one of my new favorite artists, Jacquet Fritz Junior. He has a whole series of masks made from t.p. rolls. They are quite incredible, especially considering their humble beginnings. . .or ends? Or both?

What do you do with t.p. rolls? It feels like Saturday here. We have had 2 consecutive snow days. Have a good weekend. Teresa

So cute. . .Harmony Art Fabric Winner!

Hi Teresa, As promised here is a picture and a blog post of what I made with the organic cotton from Harmony Art. I was so delighted to see how buttery soft it was. My niece loved her gift and now I am going to decide what to make for myself with the remaining yardage. Thanks again! ~Danielle Twisted Threads Go to this post to see cute felt food that Danielle made her niece too! Adorable!

Whisker Graphics Bag!

Hi Teresa,

I have been working on getting a photo of the bag in action. It’s amazing how hard it seems for me to adopt a new habit! I’ve had the cute bag you made for me sitting by my purse on the counter so it would be “at the ready”. I’m embarrassed how many times I’ve forgotten it! Yesterday I folded it and put it IN my purse. Today is the first day it “saw action”. I had some clothes to exchange and I happily sported the bag! Of course, I forgot to take a picture (probably cause I was so giddy about remembering to use the bag!).

Attached is a photo I had my daughter take of me and #8036 on our front porch.

Fear not. Just because I wasn’t carrying your fabric bag on my recent outings doesn’t mean I used paper or plastic. Any time I could manage, I carried items in my hands and didn’t use any bag at all. But each and every time I had to do that I was wishing I had your Green Bag Lady Bag with me!

Because of you I’m so much more conscious and thoughtful about using any type of plastic. Maybe my new “green” habit is forming slowing, but it is forming!

Thanks so much for the wonderful bag and all your efforts!

Whitney Beard

Whisker Graphics

(her blog) (her shop!)

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I met Whitney "on line" after I bought some Divine Twine from her. I just love it. Read about it below:

Eco-luxe bakers twine in yummy colors. Perfect for wrapping a gift or using in your design projects. Dress up your packages, letters, boxes, gift tags, baked goods or greeting cards. Perfect for scrapbooking and crafting fun.

Great care has been taken in creating our Divine Twine. It’s s made from 100% cotton and is bio-degradable, so it’s earth friendly. It’s sturdy and strong with a 4-ply twist. The white is nice and bright so it offers a clean, fresh look to all your projects. Made in the USA

Sew Mama Sew Winner and Bag. . .

Hello Teresa :D,
I want to say thank you so much for this wonderful cause of yours. It has opened my eyes and has changed my views forever. I have decided to make fabric bags for all of my gifting. I now have a reason to use up all of the hundreds of yards of fabric collected over the years. Thanks!

I was a winner through the 100 bags Sew Mama Sew giveaway and I have included the photos of myself and the bag I made and gave to my daughter, she being the reason I know of your cause. I will make it a point to pass on your message of fabric over paper or plastic. Thank you!!

Rita Barriga
Pasedena, California