Made with Love by Mom!

Back on July 27, 2012........


Today was a great day! The reason it was so great is that I was able to spend it with my Mom!! We had been planning a day of sewing together for quite some time and today’s agenda included cloth napkins which we made from scraps of material and old sheets. My reasoning for doing this was so I could be more earth friendly and also so I could save some money on unnecessary paper products.


Mom simply took squares of material and sewed them (wrong sides together) leaving a space so that we could turn them right side out. Once they were turned right side out, we gave them a quick press with the iron and went around the edges with a zig-zag stitch and voila'! We created various sizes so that my husband and I could try them out and decide which ones we would prefer to use on a regular basis. Time will tell if I will need to purchase darker material for those meals that include spaghetti sauce and other stubborn staining foods.


Here is a picture of my Mom cutting the squares and getting ready to sew them together. My Mom is so creative and makes some of the most gorgeous items you have ever seen. Her new love is quilting and she has made gorgeous quilts, quillows (a quilt that wraps up to form a pillow—great for car trips for the kids) and place mats/table runners. I’m not quite ready for quilting, and not sure I am up for the challenge, but I love to see the new projects that she is tackling.

Here is Mom putting on the finishing touches on the daisy napkins.

She also organized my sewing container.....thanks Mom!

Here are the finished projects….different sizes and patterns….I can’t wait to use them!

Mom made sure that she left a special tag on one of my napkins. This message is not only true for the napkins but for everything that Mom does. God has blessed me with such a loving and caring Mother who puts love in everything she does. Whatever task is ahead of her, and whether it’s for family, friend or stranger, she puts love into it. I want her to know how special she is to me and how much I cherish the time that we spend together. Whenever I use these napkins, I will always remember you Mom, telling me to "use my napkin".

Fast forward 3 years, I'm still using the cloth napkins that Mom and I made together. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised how well they have held up! They are still in tact, still very strong and have very little stains for being used for three years. I have a picture of them below.

My plan was to make more cloth napkins, but I was blessed to become pregnant and now have a precious 2 year old boy- aka- the Sheriff. Time has not allowed me to make any more cloth napkins, but it has not stopped me from using them.

I was watching an episode of the Pioneer Woman and she uses bandannas for cloth napkins which I thought was just awesome and so country!!! She had all sorts of colors ranging from primary to primitive to fluorescent. Me being the country girl I am, I wanted to stick with the primary colors as they reminded me of Americana Country (my collection is pictured below). I checked out the internet for the best value and ended up at AC Moore where I bought 2 to try. Before I invested in them, I wanted to make sure that they too would handle the abuse that our homemade napkins have taken. One year later, my bandannas are still going strong; in fact, these are perfect for the Sheriff because they are much bigger than the ones Mom and I made, so he puts these over his lap when he's eating. It's great!!! He loves them so much, that he now asks for his napkin when he eats.

I also want to note that we will reuse our napkins, if they are not overly soiled, before tossing them in the dirty laundry. Let's face it....how many times have you had meal and all that has ended up on your napkin are crumbs? I know that has happened to me, so I simply take my cloth napkins and give it a good shake over the sink and return it to my spot on the table for the next meal. There are times when I'll barely use a quarter of the bandanna, so when times like these arise, I will just simply fold over the napkin and use the other side, as they are large enough for more than one meal. Now don't worry, we do not keep dirty napkins hanging around because we are trying to be more green..... we are good stewards of our napkins and know when laundering is needed ... :o)

Mom had some leftover material that she did not want to dispose of, so she made me a few more napkins....yay! 

I love you Mom!

Are you using cloth napkins? If so, I would love to hear how you got started on cloth napkins. If your not using them, I hope this post has inspired you to either make some or buy some.....trust me, you will love them!
In what other ways are you becoming more green?

Till next time y'all......

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Finally....a Clothesline!

Finally……I have my own clothesline!!!!!  Isn’t this just great???!!!

I know…. you are probably thinking, “What’s the big deal?”  Well, I’ve wanted a clothesline for years now, but couldn’t have one where I lived before; so in order to make up for the loss of the clothesline, I used my Mom’s old fashion dryer rack that she had given to me (see below).  This rack worked well when it was super hot outside and the wind wasn’t strong.  I can’t tell you how many times I would look out the window only to find that the wind had knocked over my rack and all of my clothes were in a wet and dirty heap!  The best part of it all, try picking this thing up after it’s fallen over with clothes attached to it; I felt like I was being attacked by own laundry! 

I told the Mayor that I wanted my own clothesline when we move into our temporary home;  a place where I can watch my clean laundry blowing freely in the breeze!!!  Shortly after we moved in, my father in law told me that he bought me a “clothes drier” and that he was going to put it up for me!  YAY!  I was super excited!!!!  Isn’t it just beautiful? And I’m saving energy and using natural resources just like my ancestors did!   Now all I have to do is get my hedge clippers and give that bush a little trim! 

Does anyone have a clothesline story to share?  How about tips/suggestions on making clothes a bit softer when using nature to dry them?  I asked my good friend Jen if her bath towels came out stiff after being line dried, she replied “yes, but it’s like having a natural loofah!”  What a wonderful way to look at stiff towels…..I never quite thought of it that way!    

Until next time y'all……

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