Travel with Kids - Travel Laundry Bags

We are in the midst of Spring Break season and I know a lot of families use this time to schedule a fun family vacation.  In the planning stages it sounds fun and relaxing, but traveling with kids is totally different experience than adult travel.  There is a whole different set of necessities and items needed for a peaceful, relaxing and fun vacation.

In addition to all the toys, snacks and electronics needed for the car or plane ride getting there, there are also little things that can make your destination with kids a bit more tolerable.

When we stay in hotels, we always seem to have a dirty laundry problem.  Maybe it's just my kids that haven't learned how to live out of a suitcase properly, but we inevitably run into the same problems every hotel stay.  The dirty clothes end up getting piled up into a corner, or worse mingled back into the suitcase with the clean clothes.  By the end of the stay there is a pile of stinky dirty clothes to try to stuff back into a suitcase.  If I wanted to stare at piles of laundry, I could have skipped the vacation and just stayed home.

Some hotels provide the little plastic laundry bags that I think you are supposed to use for the in-hotel cleaning services, but we usually end up using them for our own dirty laundry to take home.  But they must be the thinnest plastic ever made because they ALWAYS end up busting open when we stuff them too full.

Enter these nifty little bags I made up for the boys.  They are just simple drawstring bags, sized about 18" x 24" with a cotton cord drawstring closure.  They will hold most of the kids dirty laundry for a 3-4 day trip and can easily be hung on a doorknob or chair to keep the hotel room nice and neat.

BONUS: Upon repacking, just toss the bag into the suitcase and you don't have to touch the dirty clothes and it will keep them separate from any unworn clean clothes.  (I tend to overpack with kids, and I hate having to wash everything when we get home because of contamination, LOL.)

If you want to make your own, free tutorials on drawstring bags are easy to find online.  Ours are just basic bags because I was in a hurry, but you can customize these and make them as simple or embellished as you like.  Color-blocking, contrasting lining, appliques or embroidered monograms would make these bags truly special as well as functional.  I used a cotton cord for the drawstring (it reminds me of a clothes line), but you could also use ribbon or make a fabric drawstring.  The possibilities are endless!

Or if you are not a seamstress, there are very cute ones for sale on Etsy.  I love this bag by Swoon.  Just search for "drawstring bag" or "laundry bag" and you'll get lots of handmade options!

Happy (and organized) traveling everyone!

Recharging Creativity

For the last month or so, I have been trapped in creative funk, so to speak.  With the school year winding down and summer starting, schedules got changed and I found my sewing time rapidly disappearing.  I had had a few shows in May and had been working like crazy to get last minute stuff done and my studio was a disaster zone.  After the shows, I threw my stuff back in and shut the door.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

The more I stayed out of the studio, the harder it was to jump back in.  Finally this weekend, I tackled the project head on.  After a few hours of cleaning, straightening and folding fabrics, it was much more presentable in there.  Not perfect, but at least I could walk in it again.

I knew I should probably make something to stock in my shop, or finish an unfinished project, but I just didn't feel like it.  I was facing a crafter's version of "writer's block".  Staring at a room full of materials and possibilities, but not knowing where to start.

So I did what I usually do when I get to feeling this way.  I make something just for fun.  Just for me.

First up was this fun, patriotic Pennant, seen here gracing our living room mantle.  I'm not usually one of those "pennant people" that love them for any and every occasion.  You know those people on Pinterest that pin everything pennant related? That's not me.

Don't you love the quilted flag? My mom made it for me when I traveled to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 with a group from my school!  It's been a part of our Independence Day decor ever since.

But 4th of July seems to be one of those pennent appropriate holidays, at least in my world, and this was a simple enough project to get me started.  Simple fabric triangles, (I didn't even finish the raw edges) and some ribbon and ... Viola!  Instant patriotic flair!  If I could have found my pinking shears, that would have been a nice touch, but alas, my studio was still a bit disheveled.



Once my creativity motor started running, there was no stopping it, and I quickly moved on to another project or two.  I started a voile shirt for myself, but got stuck on the pattern instructions, (sewing clothing is not my forte), so it got put aside for now.

I also tackled a project I've been meaning to do for 4 years now, since my studio was finished.  I had this cute white chandelier hanging in the center of the room with plain white shades.  Well, those shades are plain no longer!

 Using modified instructions from this blog, some pretty fabric and a glue gun, I prettied up those boring shades.  The first one I did was a bit wonky, but by the time I did all five, I had mastered the technique and only had one glue gun burn to show for it.

I'm pretty pleased with the effect.  I know the light will be dimmed quite a bit when it is on, but I have stronger task lighting around the room and during my early morning quiet time, the shaded effect will be quite welcomed.

I'm feeling quite accomplished now that I've gotten some things done that I've wanted to do for a while.  This upcoming week I hope to get to work on some new items for my shop.  Now that my creative side has been recharged, I have lots of ideas!  Now if I could only find the time to do them all with two kids underfoot! Hmm... maybe they need another week at camp this summer??

Summer is A'Coming!!

Are you ready for it?

We've had gorgeous weather this past week, so I'm feeling like I'm ready for summer to begin.  But then I realize I only have 2 1/2 more weeks of kids in school to get all my "to-dos" done, and I panic!  Not Yet! It's a Catch-22, isn't it?

So for the next few weeks, I will be preparing for vacation.  Finishing up projects, stocking the pantry and freezer (grocery shopping with kids is just torture!), planning activities, etc.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to this summer is spending more time with my oldest son.  I feel like we hardly see him now that he is in First Grade and at school all day and activities all afternoon.  I'm eagerly anticipating just hanging out with him.

We are planning for a relaxed summer for the most part.  We have one big trip planned (Legoland!), a few camps scheduled, camping with grandma and swim lessons.  Hopefully we will have time for a few fun day trips as well!  We are blessed to live in beautiful area that has so many fun things to do which are close-by.

Now that the kids are older, I don't get to take along a giant stroller to stash all my things in.  I hate lugging a big purse to the zoo or the amusement park, and really, I don't need most of the things in it.  That's why I love this hip pack!  It's just big enough for your keys, phone and a lip balm.  And it's WAY cuter than a fanny pack!  

Available here at Universal Mama.

I just have this one instock in my shops right now, but I will be working on adding more in the next few weeks.  The pattern is from Ali Foster on Etsy.

Another thing I like to put in my hip pack is a mini wallet, with my ID, cards and cash.  I almost exclusively use one of these in the summer months because it's so easy to toss in a pool bag or slip in your pocket.  Summer is all about being carefree, don't lug around a giant overstuffed wallet!

Available here in my Etsy shop.

So how are you preparing for summer?  Are you excited about the break in the routines, or does the lack of routine frighten you?  I know I usually can't wait for summer, and then halfway through, I can't wait for school to start again!  Let me know what you are planning for or most excited about and I will draw a winner for a special "Get Ready for Summer!" surprise!  I will pick a name on Friday, May 18th at 3pm PST.  Good luck!