My mom and I began working on this tiny house when I was about 8 years old. But we had left it just shy of complete and it had sat untouched ever since. As we were packing up our art room it became very clear what we needed to do.

So, Mom and I got to work and lots of glue and sandpaper and one funny trip to the dollhouse store (they have tiny Playg!rl magazines!) later, we finished it up just in time to gift to my niece.

Granted, she’s still a little young and the front door now needs new hinges. But it was fun watching her eyes light up and I love passing along something we worked so hard on.

More dollhouse photos here.

I also discovered something about myself – and it applies to all areas of my life: I enjoy things much more when they aren’t for me. I enjoyed growing my veggies last year, but loved giving them away even more than eating them. I’m learning to enjoy cooking and when I can keep my focus on giving my husband and son nourishing foods as a gift of love it becomes much easier. And for nearly two decades I put off finishing this dollhouse until I had another person to keep in mind while I worked.

I just hope she continues to love it as much as I loved watching her with it. Something to always remember me by.

And something to remember her uncle by as well…

The average reusable bag has the lifespan of over seven hundred disposable plastic bags.

I love the fact they have lasted so long! Canvas shopping bags are the best; their durability is obvious. I’ve seen some reusable bags that were poorly made and had holes or broken handles within a year.

The red is even still bright!

Using canvas bags can save an average of 425 plastic bags per person, annually!

Our “vintage” bags (as the store clerk calls them) only recently broke a couple straps. We load them up pretty heavily and the stress started to show in two of the 8 bags’ handles.

Their canvas material makes them easy to repair: I just overlapped the two halfs of the broken handle by a few inches, and machine-sewed vertically and horizontally until it felt good and secure. Nothing fancy and it shortened the handles a bit but it extended their use at least another decade!

An estimated one million birds and 100,000 turtles and other sea animals die of starvation each year after ingesting discarded plastic bags which block their digestive tracks.

Other than some day owning family heirloom bags, want some more interesting reasons to switch to reusable bags? Click here: