{"id":50957,"date":"2014-09-01T00:09:33","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T07:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=50957"},"modified":"2014-09-01T00:09:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T07:09:33","slug":"shopping-green-merit-badge-expert-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/50957","title":{"rendered":"Shopping Green Merit Badge, Expert Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>, now with 5,965 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,526 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Cleaning Up\/Shopping Green Expert Level Merit Badge<\/a>, I graduated (with honors) from the whole I-own-lots-of-cute-reusable-shopping-bags-but-I-always-leave-them-at-home thing, to the not-only-do-I-own-lots-of-cute-reusuable-shopping-bags-but-I-nearly-always-remember-to-take-them-shopping thing. This graduation deserved three cheers, a toss of my figurative hat in the air, and several slices of cake. You know. To celebrate.<\/p>\n

\"twine-shopping-bag2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But this was not enough for me. Nay. Never let it be so. My love for reusable shopping totes was not going to stop there. I was off to convert someone. Share the love. Spark some interest.<\/p>\n

And also:<\/p>\n

party.<\/p>\n

A bag party! A swap meet of sorts. An evening with my fellow farmgirls, chatting, sewing, trading, admiring, and re-gifting our collection of shopping bags. What could be more fun than never having to hear the condemning words from our friendly local cashiers again,<\/p>\n

Would you like paper or plastic?<\/em><\/p>\n

Shudder, gasp, PSHAW! As if!<\/p>\n

Since I was hosting, I figured I should have the most bags to begin with. I mean \u2026 okay, it\u2019s not a contest, and it\u2019s not like I\u2019m greedy or anything, it\u2019s just that I wanted everyone to go home with plenty. So I stocked up. I learned how to make the cutest totes from old T-shirts, and since I kinda got on a roll and made approximately eleventy-seven of them in one afternoon, I thought I\u2019d share a little tutorial with you all.<\/p>\n

1.) Raid your husband\/father\/friend\/Aunt Sally\u2019s closet for vintage Ts, or better yet, tank tops. Do they have to be vintage? Nope. But they turn out awfully cute. P.S. Make sure the fabric is somewhat heavyweight. We don\u2019t want your container of organic mango sherbet crashing to its tragic death on the way out of the garage. Been there. Done that. Have the T-shirt. Hah!<\/p>\n

\"T-shirt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2.) Flip inside out. Sew the bottom shut (using a sewing machine or serger, this will take like two nano-seconds). Using a large bowl, or just eyeballing it, draw a semi-circle along where the original neck hole is. (You\u2019re just enlarging it is all. You know, so you can fit in the family-size cheddar-and-sour-cream potato chips without squishing them.) Cut. Hem (or skip the hemming and just use pinking shears if the fabric isn\u2019t the fraying kind; I won\u2019t tell).<\/p>\n

3.)\u00a0 Remove the\u00a0sleeves. Hem. (Step #3 not necessary if using tanks).<\/p>\n

4.) Voila!<\/p>\n

Other ideas to get your creativity juices flowing:<\/p>\n