Recent Posts

Slow Living, Sustainable Living, Waste Free Living

Reusable Gift Bags Tutorial

A few years ago, I sewed a bunch of reusable cloth gift bags in cheerful Christmas patterns and they continue to bring me such joy! I love wrapping presents in these gorgeous bags. I love giving them to people (and am so honored when friends and family want to keep the bag in addition to the gift… in fact, you’ll regularly find me sneaking around and gathering my bags up after gift opening is over at our family gatherings). I love reusing them year after year! AND they’re super easy to make! I swear, they’re a great project for beginner sewers because it doesn’t matter the size, shape, or even if they’re particularly square. The process is three simple steps: cut, sew, enjoy!

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Slow Living, Sustainable Living, Waste Free Living

The Great Christmas Tree Debate

Are you on Team Natural or Team Artificial when it comes to Christmas trees? Have you ever wondered which is more sustainable? Most of us firmly believe that one is “better” than the other, but there’s a really interesting debate about the sustainability aspects of this tradition. Here are a few pros and cons to consider when choosing the type of tree you use to celebrate the holidays.

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Slow Living, Sustainable Living

Hunting for our Christmas tree in the National Forest!

Did you know you can harvest a Christmas tree from the National Forest? You can! And in Michigan, the permit is only $5, making this a more affordable alternative to many traditional Christmas tree farms in addition to an amazing family adventure. This is one of my FAVORITE family holiday traditions! We love the adventure of hunting for our Christmas tree in the natural woods! We pack hot chocolate and marshmallows, and make an afternoon out of it!

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Sustainable Living

13 Tips for Green Apartment Living Directly From Experts

HAPPY BELATED EARTH DAY!!! To honor the holiday, I was thrilled to contribute to a blog on Redfin.com. The blog went live last week, but since every day is Earth Day around here, I’m sharing it with you now. Read on for some great tips from sustainability bloggers around the web, including yours truly. P.S. most of these tips are relevant for everyone, even if you don’t live in an apartment, so don’t let the title fool you into skipping this great read. 

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Waste Free Living

Corn Pudding with leftover Easter ham

Let talk about Food Waste: Did you know that if global food waste could be represented as a country, it’s carbon emissions would be the third largest in the world (behind China and the USA). The resources needed to produce the food that becomes lost or wasted has a carbon […]

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Waste Free Living

Zero Waste Super Bowl!

I might be in it for the snacks and commercials, but I LOVE a good Super Bowl Party! We’ve spent the past couple of years developing a snack spread that minimizes waste and includes everyone’s favorite goodies!

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Slow Living

The Simple Living Collection is here!

A few years ago, I bought a bunch of flannel fabric in adorable holiday prints and sewed up a bunch of reusable gift bags. This year, I’m honored that my tutorial was selected to be included in the winter edition of the Simple Living Collection! The Collection is a digital bundle of resources to help you settle into a slow and intentional life, reconnecting with each other and nature, and embracing this magical wintery time of rest. There are 70+ tutorials, recipes, ebooks, stories and other activities from more than 50 contributors, just like me. It’s on sale for $25 until Monday, December 13th.

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Slow Living, Sustainable Living, Waste Free Living

Roasted Red Pepper Curry Soup

Let me introduce you to my FAVORITE fall soup: Roasted Red Pepper Curry Soup. It’s easy to make, gluten free, dairy free, and EVERYONE in my family is happy to eat this meal! Sure you can buy roasted red peppers in a glass jar at the grocery store (and glass is definitely better than plastic), but have you ever roasted your own? Now is the time! Carpe diem! They freeze really easily so you can have home-roasted red peppers to cook with all winter.

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Sustainable Living

Top 5 Sustainability Swaps

There’s one thing I know for certain: we can’t consume our way to a life that doesn’t destroy the planet, so you won’t find a quick list of things to buy in any of my blog posts. That means my top five is a list of simple ways to change your mindset and habits that will help you tread lightly on the planet. Here’s my list of five great sustainability {mindset} swaps.

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