Guest Blogger

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today I am the guest blogger over at Life On The (Clothes) Line . Jeannie has an adorable series where she profiles people's clotheslines from around the United States and even in other countries! How cool is that?

 I met her and her blog a few months ago during the Sew Mama Sew giveaway event and agreed to tell her readers about our "clothesline" at home.  Hop on over and read the post, and make sure you check out some of the other clothesline profiles. I never knew there were so many different ways to dry clothes! Leave her a comment letting her know you are reading from Grits and Giggles!

Click Here to Read the Post!

New Favorite Green-Bag

Ya'll know that when I find something I love, I have to share it! Hubby and I went to Greenville yesterday, and we stopped in at Earth Fare, an organic/natural grocery store in town. We had never been to one and wanted to check it out. I didn't have my greenbags with me because we didn't plan on doing any shopping. We found some great little items that we had to have, and I decided to pick up a new bag to take them home in.

I saw these tiny little pouches hanging with the large bags, and picked one up to see what it was. It was a Green bag in a pouch!! I was so excited! I always forget my bags if I'm not specifically going to the grocery, and this little thing will fit in my purse without me even knowing it's there! It even has a tiny little clip so you can hook it anywhere you need it.

It's called the "Vita" and it's made by ChicoBag. It claims to hold up to 40lbs, and after what I shoved in it, I believe it. When in the pouch it measure about 4 inches long, and folds out to a full size bag with shoulder length handles.

I don't model it very well, but it gives you a good indication of size.

It was very handy on my little grocery run today. I had to pick up some stuff for Gray's party. (I know, her party isn't for another 6 weeks, but there was a sale, and I like to be overprepared.)

I'm going to have to pick up a few more of these little babies when I go back to Greenville so I can stash one in my purse, my console, and anywhere else I can find room....you know....just in case.

Eco-Friendly Favorites

A few weeks ago I was accused of being a tree-hugger (Thanks Dad!) and I took it as a compliment. Why is there such negative thoughts surrounding being "eco-friendly"?? I guess some of the older folks think of "going green" as the people in the 70's who chained themselves to trees and did some less than practical things to "save the planet".

Well it's a new generation, and taking care of the planet and ourselves is becoming easier, more fun, and more popular!! I want to share with you some of the things that I enjoy doing to do my part in keeping the planet a little greener!

We'll start with two of my favorite things that you've all read about by now....Cloth Diapers and Homemade Baby Food!!! I won't go into great detail, because there are several older posts about my love for both of these topics, but I just had to mention them! It is so nice not to throw away bags of diapers and poo every week, along with a trashbag full of baby food containers! I would imagine we would probably go through 5 or 6 containers a day if we used them! YIKES!

One of my new favorite eco-friendly practices is line drying! NO....I don't have a gigantic clothesline in my back yard with sheets hanging from it. I use two small wooden racks to dry Gray's diapers when it's sunny outside! They dry super fast and the sun keeps them bright and white!! When it's in the 90's outside, just doing one load of laundry without running the dryer saves the house from a lot more heat! And it give me an excuse to get outside and get some sunshine!

My next two favorite things are products I have fallen in love with that I want to share with you! I know I just mentioned line drying...but hey....I do most of my laundry at night. A girl has to use the dryer some time! I hate, hate, hate dryer sheets! They end up all over the house, I find them in my shirt sleeves, and they fill up my garbage can. Not to mention I can't use them with our diapers! I heard of dryer balls a long time ago and have seen them in stores. They look like whiffle balls with holes in them, and I'm sure they make a horrible noise in the dryer!! NOT THESE!!

I found this great little shop on Etsy called Clean Sypria. They sell hand-felted wool dryer balls in sooooo many colors! You can also get them scented with all kinds of fragrances to give your laundry a super fresh smell! I just knew I had to try them and get rid of those stinking dryer sheets! I ordered a color combo called "A Day at the Carnival" which comes with these 4 gorgeous colors!

I got them scented with Vanilla-Pomegranite, which is just heavenly! It's light and clean and smells sooo good! They make no noise while tossing around in my dryer, and my clothes come out fluffier! And the icing on the cake....These will last for years and I never have to buy dryer sheets again! Talk about a money saver!

My next favorite thing might be better for the environment than some alternatives, but I wanted to write about it because it's better for ME!  These are organic and vegan soaps from DeShawn Marie HandMade Soaps on Etsy. I stumbled across her shop one day and stopped by because the soaps looked so pretty!

After I started reading about her process, her ingredients, and still seeing how pretty they were, I decided to buy some samples, because I just couldn't decide on which ones I wanted! I ended up with 5 and they are amazing! These tiny little bars of soap have lasted me forever! I bathe every day and one little sample bar is lasting me about 4 weeks! I've been using Bath and Body Works for years, and have had dry skin....for years! Not anymore!

The soaps are so creamy, smell so delicious, and leave my skin baby soft! Below are the two I haven't tried yet. You can SEE the ingredients in the bar! Poppyseeds in the Lemon Poppyseed bar, and an oatmeal crust on the Grapefruit bar. I will definitely be going back to this shop over and over again!

Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite eco-friendly things with you! Being eco-friendly doesn't have to be a chore, and you don't have to turn your life upside down to do it! Just little changes make a big difference! Start with green-bags at the grocery store if you need a starting point. They hold way more food and they're so stinking cute! Have a great Saturday!