Infant Gift-Giving on a Budget

I am being invited to many baby showers right now, for some reason. Many of my young friends are multiplying!! I love these parties, but it can be expensive and sometimes limited if you simply look through the register (if there is one) and get something on the list. I have loved receiving hand-made gifts, and give those whenever I can. Right now, with our gift-giving allocation in the budget at about zero, it's a great time to brush up on my hand-making skills and make the shower gifts for friends' babies.

A young mom told me how much she liked some hand-knit washcloths I had given her in the past, which made me feel like my little bit of trouble was appreciated and the gift was actually useful. In the past couple months I have made some flannel blankets with crochet edging [modified from http://sewchic.blogspot.com/2007/07/crocheted-edge-blanket-tutorial.html ] . Pretty easy and fun, and I thought very cute, too. (A great friend of mine made these many years ago, and I was thoroughly disappointed not to get one when I had my last baby!) Also in my repertoire have been burp cloths, of which Mom can never have enough. Not really a keepsake novelty, but practical and (possibly) cute nonetheless. Bibs are another reliable standby. Even sweet toys are beginning to pop up on my radar.

What do you enjoy giving as baby gifts? What is the favorite gift you received when your babies were born?  

My Re-Usable Net Bags

One of my goals for this year is to not collect an entire closet full of plastic bags. It's not that I am the greenest person in the world, though I sometimes consider how my activities impact our environment. Mainly, in an effort to simplify my life, I realize that digging all the plastic bags that get shoved in our little broom closet, and hauling them to the recycle bin at my local Safeway or WalMart is a ridiculous use of my time.

I have a number of reusable cotton (or other) bags, which I am not reliable at bringing to the market when I shop. They have been in good use so far this year since they are now hanging by the front door, an easy grab on the way to wherever. An even better idea is to have a few stored in the car for those times I decide to shop without consulting my front entryway. Oh, well.

My biggest pet peeve since adopting the no-more-baggies-in-the-house attitude is what to put the produce in at the grocery. I saw some lovely homemade bags like these on a blog (down-to-earth) and wondered how they would work. Since I didn't have netting in the house, I simply made a mental note.

A couple weeks later I stumbled upon a baggie (ouch!) of netting scraps at St. Vinnie's for 75 cents. They made 9 of these great net baggies, and they were totally easy to whip together. They hold plenty of weight, including tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, and oranges. I stuffed those not in use into my purse, and found that I did not have to accept a bag from Lowe's when I purchased a bunch of hardware--and it was pretty heavy for the little bag I used.

I am tickled with this latest project. Cheap, recycled, reusable. What more could I ask?