what's that I smell?

*sniff sniff*

... smells like
a giveaway!

a bright, pretty, yummy, "ooh I want that!" giveaway!

**stay tuned**

Modern Meadow Hoarding, 100 (AND ONE!) Followers and a Giveaway.

It's no secret that I'm a little obsessed with Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow. I bought the fat quarter pack in "cool stream" for the Crazy Mom Quilt-a-Long (as I'm sure you know, because I mention it about every, oh, 7 seconds! I love it so far!) and I have not been able to throw ONE SCRAP of it away!

I wish I was joking, but literally zero pieces have made it to the trash bin.

I may have to be on "Hoarders".

Anyways, the first thing I did was obviously the quilt- here's my progress so far (as of this minute, I'm a week behind. Oh well. I'll catch up! ):

Next, I took some of the scraps from cutting the strips and braided them for a necklace to wear with my favorite navy shirt!

The third thing I made (see how ridiculous this is getting?) is the sneak preview I gave you a couple of days ago! Joe and I both have little black softcover bibles that we received from the headmaster and teachers when we graduated from high school- they're identical on the outside except for our names inscribed veeeeery small on the front right corner (which mine isn't even the same anymore but that's beside the point!). Also, every Sunday I end up dropping papers or forgetting my pen so I really wanted to make a bible cover! I saw this tutorial over at Amy's Creative Side, but I didn't really want handles (weird, huh?) and I had some linen scraps so I made this:

I used my snap press (YES! I always want to use it but never have a reason to!) so that it basically folds over and closes- keeping all papers in that handy pocket or between pages! Score!

The LAST thing I made is for one of YOU!

As you will note to the right, I now have 101 followers- that's nuts!

Thank y'all so much for reading all of this random crap (baby junk, sewing junk, cooking stuff, some photo stuff!) and leaving all the sweet comments about things I make!

I used linen and (obviously) Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow 100% cotton prints to make this clutch/bag. The finished size is a one and a half inch taller (for a finished size of 9" wide by 6 1/2" tall) than the ones that I sell in the etsy shop. The finished size is and I want one of YOU to have it as a thank you for helping me reach my first milestone of 100 (and 1!) followers!

Win It!
To enter, leave me a comment here (don't forget to include your email address!) telling me a crafty fact about you! Do you like to sew? Are you a bad-a with some knitting needles? Can you scrapbook the pants of anyone who dares challenge you? I want to know!

Want more chances to win? Leave a separate comment letting me know you did any of the following:
- Follow my blog (if you're not one of my lovely 101 already!)
(warning: SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION AHEAD)
-Go check out my shop, wee little winslow, on Etsy, come back here and tell me one thing you'd like to see added to the shop ("for you, your home or your little one")!
- Become a fan of wee little winslow on Facebook

I will choose a winner on Friday, July 16th and notify the winner by email.
If I don't hear back in 48 hours, I'll pick another winner.

Good luck and thanks so much for reading all these ramblings!

Un-Paper Towel Winner!

The winner of the Eco-Friendly and Frugal UnPaper towel giveaway is.......
#9- nsees! Congrats!
I've sent you an email with details and to see what pattern of towels you would like- so check that out and get back with me!

Congratulations!

Let's talk GREEN- with a giveaway!

Here's my view on being green, take it or leave it:

God made the earth.
He said that it was good.

He then intrusted us to take care of it
and to be good stewards of what we have been given.

In my opinion, the best way to do this is to not waste and try not to use products that are manufactured in places that produce a ton of waste! The biggest and most expensive change to go "green" that I've mentioned before was cloth diapers for Noah- but there are TONS of smaller and much cheaper little changes that you can do! Every little bit helps and keeps garbage out of landfills!

Today, we're gonna be going on a little tour of my kitchen- thrilling, right?

One (waaaay cheap) thing we've done is gotten rid of paper napkins! I found these cloth napkins at a Vera Bradley sale for $1 each. Booyah! Score! We keep them on top of the microwave in a little basket so we can grab one after we fix our plate and head to the table!

The next thing we did was get rid of paper towels (I mean, we're already washing dipes and napkins, right?). I have few different kinds of "un-paper towels" and we keep them in a basket right beside the sink where the paper towels used to be:

From left to right we have Owlie Towelies from Eco Friendly and Frugal on etsy (oooh more on that in a sec!), some little scrubby-ish towels made of terry cloth on one side and flannel on the other (that I made as wipes for Noah but they just work better in the kitchen!) and then some towels from IKEA (10 for $3!)

After the towels get dirtied up, we just throw them in a basket on top of the dryer (note the vinegar- I could write a whole post on vinegar, but I'll spare you and just point you to this website that can explain a TON of uses for white distilled vinegar! And no, it doesn't smell like vinegar when you use it in laundry and to clean):

Oh our laundry? Glad you asked! That stuff in the candy jar right there is Charlie's Soap (10 cents a load, people!) We also use vinegar to soften the fabric and Fuzzy Wuzzy Dryer Balls instead of dryer sheets (aren't they pretty?)

But enough about all of the goings-on in the kitchen- let's talk about these babies (click for a larger pic): Un-paper towels from Eco-Friendly and Frugal!

What I love about these:
- They can also be used as napkins! Hello, versitile!
- With two layers of flannel, they are super absorbant (especially if you use vinegar in the rinse- the vinegar helps breakdown any detergent build-up, making flannel more absorbant!) and made very sturdy. They're turned and topstitched, meaning the two layers are sewn together not once, but twice to ensure that they won't come apart.
- This may sound strange, but after using a few different kind of towels in the kitchen, these dry very well! You know how sometimes you have to wipe up water, and the towels not neccessary dirty? With some towels, they dry very stiff and make it hard to use it again before washing- not these! They dry soft and pliable and ready to use again!

What I don't love:
- I kind of wish they came in different sizes- or maybe just a little bit smaller. You know, like the paper towels that you can tear off 1, 2 or 3 depending on the size of the mess? I do a lot of wiping up little spills and wiping down counters, so that could just be me.
(but I'm sure that is something that Eco-Friendly and Frugal could do something about- special order, maybe?)

So.... you want to try a set of these?

Buy 'Em!
Roll on over to the Eco-Friendly and Frugal Etsy shop
and check out her other stuff while you're there!
(Minky wipes?! Noah's butt says "yes, please!")

Win 'Em!
Eco-Friendly and Frugal has offered up a set of these to one of my readers! This is a perfect first step (of 100th!) towards doing your part to keep garbage out of landfills! Plus you are seriously saving some money!

To enter, leave me a comment here (don't forget to include your email address!) telling me how you try to "go green" at your house (or office or school!).

Want more chances to win?
Leave a separate comment letting me know you did any of the following:
- Follow my blog (if you don't already!)
- Follow the Eco-Friendly and Frugal Blog
- "Heart" the Eco-Friendly and Frugal shop on Etsy
- Become a fan of Eco-Friendly and Frugal on Facebook

I will choose a winner on Monday, February 22nd and notify the winner by email.
If I don't hear back in 48 hours, I'll pick another winner. Good luck!