I love Etsy. And when I find something great there, I am inclined to tell everyone about it …

I had originally ordered these Soft & Scrubby Baby Wipes back in January when I switched my youngest from disposables to cloth diapers. I loved them so much that I not only bought more, I asked her to make me napkins out of all my daughter’s old baby blankets and cloth diapers (not the ones used for diapers, but the ones used for burp rags and one really pretty one that was a gift). I got the idea after reading some how-to thing online about going completely paperless (How to Stop Using Paper Towels, Napkins, and Baby Wipes) but I realized that I’d never have the time to do it myself so I gave another mom the job. From the box of receiving blankets I sent her, she created this pile of napkins/wipes, 4 little tea napkins for my daughter’s tea parties, and two pretty doll diapers for my daughter’s dolls:

I know it probably would have been "greener" to use someone local for this job, but this had come right on the heels of a bad experience with a local shelving maker, so I was going for quality and someone I could trust. In the end, I have managed to only buy one roll of paper towels in the last 4 months. (Ungreen or not, I need that roll because I just can’t deal with cleaning up cat pee. Everyone has their limit!)

The biggest trick in going paperless is to make the towels accessible while putting that reserved roll (the emergency cat pee backup one) high in the closet so that it is out of reach. To do this, I just put our napkins in a pretty basket, where they are left on the kitchen counter for easy reach.

Helpful Links:

• How To: Make Your Own Cloth Napkins — With Zero Sewing Skills
• Soft & Scrubby Baby at Etsy

In case you are wondering, it really is fun to serve guests lunch with Winne the Pooh napkins.