Plastic-Free Living Update: New "Eco" Stuff

I'm still trying to avoid using and buying plastics whenever possible (spoiler: it's harder than you think).  One of my resolutions this year is to try to purchase fewer things I don't need. It's easy to mentally commit to "going green" and then go out and buy a ton of new "eco" stuff...when your old water bottles, reusable bags, and silverware are totally safe and usable.

I've tried hard to avoid it, but with a $50 Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I finally ordered some long-standing wishlist items. My only regret is the huge amount of plastic they came packaged with. A better alternative would be to order from Life Without Plastic, or a more environmentally-minded retailer than Amazon.

Anyway, my new purchases include stainless steel straws, a Klean Kanteen Reflect water bottle with literally no plastic parts (amazing!), and a set of bamboo utensils. I plan to keep the straws and utensils in my purse. I've been using my tiffin almost daily since I got it almost a year ago, and found it's made a huge difference in the amount of single-use plastics I consume. Hopefully these new items will help keep me on the right track, especially when I'm out and about.

Do you have any favorite "eco" products? Guilty new purchases? Leave a comment and let me know!

Tutorial: Make a Cute Skirt from an Ugly Christmas Sweater

Can an ugly Christmas sweater ever be turned into something cute? If so, this is an easy way to get a new skirt! If not, well, I've devised a way to wear ugly sweaters all over your body.

Thrift stores are full of ugly holiday & Cosby sweaters (although the biggest and smallest stores tend to mark up the prices around the holidays). I found a sweater with a wide boat neck and thought it'd be fun to make into a skirt.

This technique can be used to turn many kinds of shirts into skirts. Depending on the fabric, consider leaving the sleeves partially intact and turning in to become pockets.

Making a Skirt from a Sweater

1. Cut off the sleeves. If you like, you could stop here. Your ugly sweater has become an ugly sweater vest! Cut across the shoulders to widen the neck/waistline if yours isn't as big as mine.

2. Create a skirt shape. I laid a skirt that fits me well over the top, and cut the sweater to the same shape (similar to my old sweater dress tutorial). Consider the differences in fabric between the two skirts and how stretchy your sweater might be. Either way, leave yourself a little room for seam allowances. You can always take it in if need be.

3. Stitch up the sides.  I'm a little afraid that sweater fluff will gunk up my serger, so I used my regular machine. Is this a legitimate fear? Either way, if you don't have a serger, a zigzag stitch will do the trick.

At this point, since the original sweater had a boatneck and was quite stretchy, I called it done. Most sweaters will probably call for some kind of elastic waistband. If you choose to add one, it's easy to do!

Adding a belt helps polish this look, especially if the elastic gets bunchy or the neckline looks more like a neckline than a waistline. You could even make a belt out of the sleeves of the sweater. Or, use the sleeve to make something like this wine bottle gift wrap. Congratulations! You're all ready to rock the ugly sweater parties in a new way this year.

Sun and leaves and jackets and scarves

I've never heard anyone say that they don't like fall. Even though it means that winter's around the corner, I can't get enough of beautiful sunny fall days- especially when a pretty hike is just a couple miles away.

Even if the leaves weren't starting to change, I'd know fall is here- not only is my CSA vegetable box full of squash and pie pumpkins, the number of people finding my blog by searching for variations of "Mary Poppins Halloween costume" is huge! I think we can expect a lot of umbrella-carrying nannies flying around at the end of the month. Happy fall!

Going Shampoo Free: The 8 Month Update

I'm going on month 8 of a nearly shampoo-less hair care routine, and my cousin just announced that she'll be going shampoo-free too, so I suppose it's about time for that long-promised update.

You may have read about my endeavor to go shampooless back in February. Feel free to stop by that post if you're new to the idea of giving up shampoo. Besides a couple of rough spots and adjustments, I'm pretty pleased with how this has gone. Generally, my hair is less frizzy and more manageable than it used to be. Best of all, I don't have to wash it every day! Since middle school, it's gotten greasy by the next morning, and I couldn't stand how it felt to not wash it every day. Believe it or not, that greasiness is actually caused by regular shampoo use.

Replacing shampoo with baking soda and apple cider vinegar has helped immensely. For me, the first couple shampoo-free months were actually the easiest. I just used a dab of  baking soda dissolved in water when I lived in Madison, and my hair felt clean and great.

Unfortunately, traveling to the Chicago suburbs for job interviews became problematic. I found that the water here requires a far higher baking soda to water ratio to keep my hair clean. Emergency hotel shampoo bottles had to save the (greasy) day pre-interview! Now that I live here, I have to use a thick paste of baking soda to keep my hair clean. I still use the same apple cider vinegar rinse I used before. For whatever reason, I definitely have a harder time keeping my hair clean here than I did in Madison.

That said, I clean my hair with baking soda every other day. On the occasions when I do use shampoo, as long as I do so seldomly, I can go three or four days before it starts to feel oily- which is a vast improvement over the daily washings I used to rely on. I've heard some people say that they can cut it back to weekly or even stop the baking soda process completely. Can anybody weigh in on how well that works?

Eight months in, here are my tips:

• Research what others are doing, but don't be discouraged if their ratios and routines don't work for you. Everyone's hair and everyone's water are different!
• It's ok to use shampoo now and then, especially when traveling. Some people use baking soda just once a week or month to give their hair a break from shampoo, and still see great results. 

What are your tips for me?

What's New in the Shop: Pandas, Mugs, Purses, and More!

The Simply Step Back Vintage Shop is up and running! I am processing more items right now, so expect more soon.

Here's a peak at what's up in the shop!

A Cauldon England vintage plate dating1862-1904. It's almost too pretty to sell...I'm tempted to keep it myself as a bedside tray for jewelry.

Set of four Studio Nova Fresh Mint mugs. I love the charming tulip pattern.

An adorable Glasbake Panda mug.

Set of 3 pretty glass bud vases.

Set of four amber glass teacups.

Vintage leather woven belt.

Cute brown Carson Pirie Scott purse. It has three compartments and is the perfect size.

Head over and check them out! Which item do you like best? What would you like to see more of?

Sneak peak: Simply Step Back Vintage Shop

Yes, it's true- I'm starting a vintage Etsy shop! It's always difficult for me to turn down my vintage thrifting finds- yet I've seen enough episodes of Hoarders to know I shouldn't keep them all. I have some items already that I think my blog readers especially will like.

I'm busy getting the items ready for listing, so they aren't for sale yet. But here's a sneak peak at what's to come. I especially love these pretty tulip milk cups, There's a set of four.

This Glasbake Panda milk cup is another favorite.

I hope you'll stop by the shop!

Infinity Dress

I made an infinity dress! If you're looking for a super easy one-evening project, this is it.  Since convertible, or infinity dress tutorials are all over the internet, I won't write one up, but I recommend Sew Like My Mom and Knuckle Salad, who has a great diagram for added help.

Basically, the infinity dress has four parts: one circle skirt, one waistband, and two loooong straps, all made of jersey. The dress can be worn an "infinite" amount of ways by tying the straps around your upper body. Most tutorials call for the straps to be 100 inches long; mine are 60 inches long and work just fine.

The wedding industry has turned this very simple dress into a big money maker, since it's a great idea for a bridal party- every bridesmaid can tie the dress a different way. After you make yours, check out some sites that are selling these for a lot of money and give yourself a pat on the back.

Pretend you don't notice the wrinkles...

A few tips:

• Consider making a matching separate tube top to wear under the dress. This will give a little added modesty, and make wearing a bra possible in the many backless styles. Plus, with more coverage up top, you'll be able to tie the dress even more ways.
• Many people call this the "one-seam" dress. Don't worry if this doesn't work out for you. I found that sewing the straps on first, followed by the waistband, made this step make more sense.
• Make the waist a little smaller than you normally might for a circle skirt, since this fabric is really stretchy. It'll be easier to make the waist larger later if you need to.
• Check out some YouTube videos and tutorials for ideas on how to tie the dress.