36 of the Best Zero Waste Lunch Bags for Back to School

I'm on a bit of Zero Waste kick lately. Well, more like Trying to Reduce Our Household Trash Each Week Without Living Like Little House on the Prairie Because Electricity and Indoor Plumbing Are Fantastic but that is too much to write over and over in one blog post.

Specifically, I'm looking for low waste lunch bags and container ideas.

I'm finding it is better for me to pack a dairy free lunch, dinner, or snack to better deal with my food allergy when I'm on the go. I like to travel as light as I can (especially if I'm at an event and have to cart stuff with me all day,) I don't want my food to dry out before lunch (which means cloth snack bags are out) and as much as I love my glass food containers they are too heavy and impractical.

All of that and it must be attractive without looking like something a preschooler would carry.

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How to Fix Rear View Mirror

The rear view mirror came off my car windshield. Luckily I wasn’t driving at the time.
I’ll admit it was odd to get into the car and see the mirror was sitting on the front seat like it expected me to drive it somewhere after it popped off.

Replacing the car would be a fun way to repair the rear view mirror until I remembered that as much as I love cars (and I really do) I hate car shopping.

I despise the haggling, the fake let-me-talk-to-my-manager dance (seriously. they are salespeople who know how, when, and where they can go only so low on the pricing,) and worse how I’m often treated like I am an idiot who doesn’t know anything about cars (my father worked in the industry.)

That may not be an exclusively female customer thing because a male friend who is a car nut also gets treated like he can barely put the key in the ignition when he goes to a car dealership.

Besides, the car is paid for. Fix instead of replace it is!

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How to Sew an Easy One Seam Sundress

We’re deep into what I call Three H Summer Weather – Hazy, Hot, and Humid.

Ugh.

The type of weather that makes a sun dress the most appropriate way to stay cool (while still looking cute!) which you can barely find in a store because it is full of Fall Back to School clothes and gear.

Double ugh.

Fortunately, while shopping for costume fabric, some pre- shirred and pre-smocked with elastic flamingo fabric caught my eye. I adore flamingos! Most of work was done for me and the kids maxi length fabric is just the right length for my wee 4’11 frame to be a sundress to the knee. I popped the bolt in my cart and starting shopping for the actual reason I went to the fabric store in the first place.

As I shopped, I put the fabric back on the shelf since I was drawn to it only because I have a made crazy love of all things flamingo. It’s an impulse item and I’m trying to stick to my shopping list.

Later I went over and put the bolt in my cart. I do need some summer clothes. I can wear to the annual luau!

Again, I put the fabric back. Would I have time to make an unplanned sewing project or will the fabric sit and take up space until I forgot why I bought it in the first place? Not that there is already any cut fabric like that in my stash already…

I stood there looking at the fabric I put back and though,”Oh for Pete’s sake you are TOTALLY overthinking this! It is a quick and easy one seam sundress. You can sew in less than an hour because most of the work is done for you.. Life is short!  BUY THE FABRIC!”

So I did.

How to Make a Sundress in an Hour or Less

Friday Favorites Linky Party 381

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Friday Favorites Linky Party 380

It's raining.

It's pouring.

The old man is snoring. (I don't see how with Lacey barking at thunder all. day. long.)

So we woke him up and said it is more fun to DIY, craft, and cook recipes and share them on line with all of your friends while you have electricity to use the computer than let him bump his head, go back to bed, and not wake up until morning which is a terrible way to deal with a rainy day. Who writes these old nursery rhyme anyway?

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Quick and Easy DIY Wood Shower Floor Tile

I absolutely adore high end teak in a bathroom, especially the trend of using it for a shower floor. It is warm, it has texture, and not to mention wood is more eco friendly than the vinyl shower pan that came with my house.

On the flip eco side, keeping the current shower floor during our bathroom remodel to be is uses less new resources than ripping it out and replacing it with a new shower pan and wood shower tile just for looks sake.

Fortunately the solution was a quick, easy, and split the eco friendly middle IKEA hack away – install removable outdoor wood deck tile over the current the shower floor.

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Easy Zero Waste Summer Food Options and Friday Favorites Linky Party 379

Husband took time off to play over the long Independence Day weekend. Naturally part of that was taking in a local Fourth of July parade with Lacey in a way that was as convenient as was it Zero Waste.

We can't eat out when Lacey is with us because Ohio law prohibits dogs on the outdoor restaurant patios we used to patronized when we were waiting for the parade to start.  It is way more convenient to bring our own and impromptu picnic.

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It was super simple to pop some snacks in  containers and a few reusable water bottled from the fridge into the bottle holder in our backpack picnic cooler (aff links to the best family Christmas present ever!) and set up Parade Central. Even Lacey goes low waste with a sweet insulated double tiffin we just used as a water bowl since Lacey ate before we hit the road.

A Chinese parasol for shade, cloth fan for the heat, and mineral sunscreen for the sun and we were good to go!  A green life doesn't have to be full of angst and woe unless you want it to be.


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How to a Make Tomato Cage Plant Stand

This year’s Tabasco and Habanero pepper plants aren’t doing as well as they could planted discretely in our front flower bed as they could on the sunny backyard patio. They only way to do that is to eek out space for two more plants on my small patio container garden with  four plant stands.

Which was a fantastic excuse to check out our new IKEA store! I saw a self watering planter and stand on the IKEA website that would do the job nicely.


Until I got to the store and an associate told me they were discontinued. *sad face*

No worries! I swung by Home Depot on my way home to buy tomatoes cages to make into a quick and easy modern plant stand.

Quick and Easy DIY Modern Plant Stands

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You will need:

How to Make Compost Tea Fertilizer

Every evening as part of my post dinner cleanup,  I try to dump our kitchen compost collector into the big tumbling compost bin outside to keep the little guy from stinking up the joint.

This particular evening I gave the compost bin a crank like I have done so many evenings before only for the half full bin to suddenly become much easier to turn, like it was practically empty – because it was.

The hinges and latch on the door to the compost bin failed and dumped compost all over the yard.
For the third time.

I didn’t have enough finished compost to fertilize my garden but instead of singing the Condo Blues, I used it to make compost tea. Compost tea is an excellent plant food and fertilizer and well earns its nickname – Black Gold.

How to Brew Compost Tea Concentrate the Easy Way

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Wahoo! Yesterday was the Summer Solstice and the Official Start of Summer!!!!

As I was running errands yesterday, I popped into a nearby craft store (as one does) to find the employees putting out aisle upon aisle of Christmas supplies and decor where I hoped to find Summer stuff for First Day of Summer project inspiration for you.

*sigh* 

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Mod Podge Wallpaper Update: How Does it Last?

Shortly after buying our condo, I used Mod Podge to wallpaper a bathroom with old book pages.
I frequently get email asking me how using Mod Podge as wallpaper glue holds up after the 10+ years I used it to remodel my bathroom.

I thought I’d give you an update.

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Chemical Free Sunblock Hack and Friday Favorites Linky Party 376

I'm very good about applying sunscreen before I spend time in the hot summer sun. (My current mineral sunscreen favorites are Goddess Garden Sport, Bock Island, and Jason Sun Sport. (aff))  Unfortunately, I am rubbish about replying sunscreen throughout the day, especially when I'm having fun at an outdoor festival or street fair - which happen almost weekly in our fantastic city.  Which means it doesn't take long for my prolific perspiration powers to blow through my screen screen and allow me to fry like bacon in the sun.

Easy DIY Camp Chair Makeover

I used a fun nautical fabric to make replacement camp chair carrying bags (read the Condo Blues tutorial here) to go with my blue camp chairs. Unfortunately while there are many shades of blue in my fabric, the exact color of the chair isn’t in the fabric - and it bugs me.

A lot.

Putting an anchor on the back of my chairs would tie them in with the anchors in the fabric chair tote bags. I’m not a great painter so painting is out.

But sewing?

Sewing I can do.

How to Embroider a Folding Chair

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Hello Friends! Do you have plans this weekend? If not, GO SEE WONDER WOMAN! Husband and I went to see it opening weekend and IT WAS AWESOME!

I see folks talking about the Wonder Woman movies as some sort of statement or Thing which I suppose it can be if you are looking for something like that. (Although I almost fell out of my chair when I saw frail little Princess Buttercup from one of my favorite guilty pleasure movie The Princess Bride plays the Amazon general that trains Wonder Woman because she is their best fighter. Also they cast a ton of female champion athletes to play the Amazons who are also drop dead healthy and gorgeous,)

In all honesty, this is the first DC Comics superhero movie in a long to,e that makes me WANT to cheer for the hero. She's not there to be all "statementy", she's there to fight the bad guys and save the day - and she does.

I gotta say, I was scared Warner Brothers was going to mess up the Wonder Woman movie and make it deep, dark, depressing, broody, and totally unlike the character I like and remember as a kid. You, know, just like they did with the recent Superman and Batman movies. I felt like I lost several hours of my life I cannot get back after I watched those poor excuses for superhero movies.

So yeah, I totally recommend this movie. Best of all it is kid friendly! This isn't a sponsored ad or anything. I just really, really like the movie and hope everyone sees it, especially men and boys so movies studios will get over "this type of movie does't make enough money to make female lead character movies" because Husband is totally ready to movie to Thematically if they'd let him!

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How to Make a Hanging Self Watering Herb Garden

Husband and I like to cook with fresh herbs and the easiest and cheapest way to do that is to grow them on the patio off our kitchen. Unfortunately for my herb garden to be, most of the patio space has already been claimed by tomato and pepper plants.

No problem -  if you can’t go out, go up!

I made last fall’s hanging flower pots into a self watering hanging herb garden. I hung them on hanging plant pulleys I bought from Amazon here so I can water then more easily using the pulley to lower the pots to Lisa height and then raise the planters so no one else bonks their head on a low hanging plant. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience)

Easy DIY Self Watering Hanging Planter

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Easy DIY Captain America Wreath

I want a new patriotic wreath to hang on my front door for the Fourth of July. I grabbed various bits and bobs from around the house (I always shop my house first so I don’t potentially buy stuff I end up not using for the project) and started to play with layouts and designs.

The design I kept coming back a floating star in the center of the wreath form which reminded me of Captain America’s shield. I wasn’t quite sure how to make the floating star work and joked it would be easier to hang Cap’s Shield on the front door and call it a Fourth of July wreath.

Then I thought why don’t I?