Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Pillowcase Purse: Affordable, Green, Unique Gift Idea

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Are you currently trying to come up with ideas for gifts to give to others this holiday season? Have you been asked to give ideas for yourself and are drawing a blank? Well going green is HUGE for a second year in a row, so I would love to suggest that you think closely about gift ideas that support reducing, reusing and recyling in all its various forms. One way that has really caught on big is something called “up-cycling.” This is basically when you take an item and repurpose its parts to make something way cooler than what it originally was. Today I’m bringing you a very cool up-cycled product!

pillowcase purse from uniquerabbit Check out these pillowcase totes from Unique Rabbit! Kimberly, the owner of Unique Rabbit, has taken vintage pillowcases and turned them into fabulous bags that can serve a variety of purposes. These can hold your groceries, serve as a diaper bag, a toy holder, a library book holder (that’s what I use mine for every single week!) or any other number of purposes. And since it is made from vintage fabrics that are pretty much one-of-a-kind at this point, what you have will be totally unique. And isn’t it fun to have something that NOBODY else has? You know it is! The bag is also super soft, which simply makes it nice to carry! 🙂 Every time I take my bag out (which is every week!) someone comments on how very cool it is.

I can’t say enough about what a fantastic gift idea this is, especially if you are on a tight budget. Including shipping, this bag will set you back $10.50. That’s $10.50 for a handmade, one-of-a-kind, super cute, super green, super functional gift. Kimberly only has a few of these in stock, so jump on them now before they are gone!

Unique Rabbit is one of the very first stores that I ever featured on my blog. For that reason, and because Kimberly makes wonderful products, this is a store that I have so much love for in my heart! Please take a moment to look around her shop and see if anything catches your eye. Oh, and if you aren’t using paperless towels at this point in your kitchen, please do yourself a favor and purchase some right now. Her prices can’t be beat!

Win it!: Would you like to win an up-cycled tote? Of course you would! Here’s your chance! The contest will run until November 7th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is drawn Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about a time you re-purposed something. Sewing doesn’t have to be involved! For example: I recently re-purposed a beautiful short stem vase that hadn’t been used in years into a pencil and pen holder on my desk!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Add Unique Rabbit to your Etsy favorites!
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (totally easy and no big deal to sign up if you haven’t before! Just check out my sidebar).

Be sure to check out the other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage. My giveaways typically have good odds!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

People Towels: Green and Clean On the Go! (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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I’ve never been to Japan? Have you? It seems like a gorgeous country, and also a fascinating culture, since they seem to be on the cutting edge of technology, fashion and also eco-consciousness!

I recently learned that in public restrooms in Japan, paper towels are nowhere to be found, and they haven’t been for about 40 years! It has become a cultural norm there for folks to carry their own personal reusable hand towels. While America has certainly started to get more serious about going green (at least this American has), I have to admit that the thought of bringing my own hand towel with me never even occurred to me until I learned about PeopleTowels which is a fabulous company pioneering the “B.Y.O. Towel” eco-habit in the U.S.!

people towels Why have I never considered this idea? It really isn’t that strange, if you think about it. Do you have paper towels in your bathroom to use after you wash your hands? Doubt it! You have a hand towel, don’t you? Good point, Tiffany, but what a pain it would be to carry around a bulky hand towel. I don’t have room in my purse for that!

Quite true, but People Towels has developed a perfect solution. They offer 9 x 9 towels that are extremely lightweight and roll up to a tiny size, so they can be tucked away in your diaper bag, purse, or even your pocket, if needed! I’ve been breaking in the towel at home, and I can tell you that it successfully dries one adult pair of hands, but then it needs some time to dry (10-15 minutes seems to do it for my towel and it is ready to go again). Check out their information on how they were inspired to make such an excellent product!

I’ve gone paper-free in my kitchen, I am mostly paper free in the diapering department (yay cloth diapers and cloth wipes!). Why not go paper free when I’m out and about (rare though those moments may be!)?

I also think that these are the PERFECT introductory hand towels for kids. They have really cute designs that kids will be drawn to, and once they are used to drying their hands on a People Towel at home, drying their hands on a People Towel somewhere else will be totally normal to them. It would only take one generation growing up NOT using paper towels to bring a People Towels revolution to the U.S. and help us ditch disposables in one more area of our lives.

I bet you never even think about your paper towel use in the office and out on the town, do you? I know I didn’t. But guess what: the average person uses between 2,400 – 3,000 paper towels at work alone in a given year. If you work at home, you are already using a reusable hand towel in your bathroom (most likely) so keep it going when you leave home!

Buy it!: People Towels are an awesome gift idea for the eco geek in your life, and they are also great gifts for yourself if you’d like to make this change for the greater good! You can buy sets of 1, 3 or 5 for yourself or your loved ones! One People Towel is $8 but if you buy 3 or more, they are $7 each. My favorite is this 3 day supply. So cute!

Win it!: Lucky you, and lucky planet Earth! One Stuff Parents Need readers is going to win a 3 day supply of People Towels in your choice of available prints! The contest will run until October 30th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about something you are doing now that is eco-friendly that you are pretty sure you weren’t doing 3 years ago. For me, I’ve switched over to clean cleaning products, and I was using harsh chemicals throughout my house 3 years ago!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow People Towels on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to check out my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my main page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary item for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.