Sunflower Sacks

My sister, Rachel, and I were talking at Thanksgiving about how wasteful wrapping Christmas presents is - buying new paper every year, just to rip it off and throw it away. We were looking around online to find alternatives to traditional wrapping paper and didn't really come up with much. There is recycled wrapping paper, but it is a lot more expensive than regular wrapping paper and still produces waste. Then we had the idea of reusable gift bags. We looked for some, but didn't find much, and the ones we did find were pretty pricey. Looking at them though, we thought we could make gift bags ourselves, but not in time for this Christmas. Well, Rachel is a more accomplished seamstress than I am, and also has more time than I do. She ended up making a bunch of bags for me as a gift for Christmas. I love them, they are beautiful, and I'm so excited to not have to wrap gifts and waste paper anymore!!

Here is a pic of one of my favorite bags that she made me. It is reversible and has red satin trim along the edge. It is tied at the top with a simple, iridescent red ribbon.
I think these are such a fantastic way to give gifts and reduce waste. The presents look beautiful, are super easy to wrap and transport without the paper getting wrinkled or torn and the bows getting smashed, and best of all you can use the bags over and over and over! In fact, Rachel thought it was such a great idea that she decided to start making and selling them herself. Her bags are called Sunflower Sacks and you can check them out on her new blog, sunflowersacks.blogspot.com. She has lots of different sizes available for different types of gifts, she has some super cute fabrics right now, including some that are great for birthdays or any other time, not just Christmas, and her prices are so reasonable. If you're intersted or have any questions, let me know, or send her an e-mail. I know you will love having these bags the next time you are giving a gift!