Today’s fabulousness is brought to you by a desire to use fewer baggies. Grab a P, B & J for a snack and take a look at the reusable, fun to make, super cute Handmade Picnic Gear I found!
Most of my baggies are used for sandwiches and I’ve wondered what else is “packed” in with our lunch from all that plastic. Maggie of the Smashed Peas and Carrots blog wrote a fabulous tutorial for an all fabric Sandwich Cozy that doesn’t involve a plastic liner. You can choose adorable fabric, spend a little time sewing and escape the plasticizing of your sandwiches. And, wouldn’t these make great gifts!
The Sandwich Cozies are generously sized for a hearty sandwich or jumbo portion of snacks. You’ll need 15” x 15” pieces of fabric and interfacing plus 2” of hook and loop tape for each Cozy. To totally keep your sandwiches from touching plastic, choose 100% Cotton fabrics and Coats 100% Cotton Thread. The hook and loop tape makes these very child-friendly, as well as perfect for those with arthritic fingers – wonderful for all ages!
This is the perfect project for “assembly line” sewing, so plan fabrics that can all be stitched with the same color of thread. Make a couple of cozies for each family member, so you can have one in use and one in the wash. And, speaking of wash, this is definitely a time when you’ll want to pre-wash your fabric before cutting and sewing. Click here for Maggie’s Sandwich Cozy tutorial.
For Handmade Picnic Gear full of personalized style, stitch up a fabric Bento Box for everyone’s lunch! Marvelous for school or office lunches, this all-in-one style box is full of possibilities. Bento is a Japanese style “boxed lunch” with compartments for food. The instructions and template are generously provided from the Lark Crafts book Stitch Happy: Patchwork on the Lark blog. You’ll also find links to Bento meal ideas and other delicious “boxed lunch” delights.
For your Bento Box, you’ll need fabric scraps, 1/4 yard pieces of three fabrics and interfacing, 1/3 yard of binding fabric, a small piece of muslin and a few other supplies. This charming Bento Box is more involved than the adorable Sandwich Cozies, so allow yourself enough time to relax and enjoy the process. Click here for the Bento Box post on the Lark Crafts blog.
So, we’ve packed lunch goodies and sandwiches and now we have a big bowl of Grandma Lorna’s potato salad to add. And, the flies and ants always love that salad just as much as we do, right? No problem. We’re going to add Fabric Food Bowl Covers to our Handmade Picnic Gear!
Serena, author of the yummy The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen book shared a super simple Food Bowl Cover tutorial on her blog that you will love. Super simple, super quick! You’ll need pieces of fabric the diameter of your bowls plus an extra 1-1/2 inches all the way around. The bowl rim will be your pattern and it’s easy-peasy from there. You can use fabrics you have on hand, but I think this project really must have food themed fabrics, don’t you? Click here for Serena’s Food Bowl Cover tutorial.
One of our favorite wedding gifts was a picnic basket with simple handmade napkins, packed in with non-breakable cups, plates and bowls. For many of our early years a picnic was the most entertainment we could afford and the love put into that gift made our days “out” extra special events. You’ll want to make Handmade Picnic Gear for yourself, of course, but think about making a little more and giving a gift of fun, thrifty entertainment and warm memories as a Summer wedding gift, too!
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