Last year I wrote about A Change in Lifestyle and how one of my objectives was that of learning to live with less. In part, for principle. In part, for need.

Living with less is, in some ways BUT not in all, easy. It means using what you have before buying anything  else. Take those slippery slithers left when a bar of soap is almost gone.  They generally get dumped as they are difficult to use and look really sad. No one wants to touch them. Solution: put them aside until you have a few then clump them together in some produce netting like that that garlic comes in.

Before

After

These little netting bags are fantastic and can be used in so many ways. For example, fill them with dried herbs or spices and use them as sachet bags. Being on Paros, thus near the sea, often means that your clothes will aquire a yucky musty smell to them especally during the winter. So I fill these little bags with dried rosemary and hang them in the closet. They really help. And, in the kitchen, I fill them with dried bay leaves to keep away the bugs.

Bay leaf in netting

I also save the netting for art projects. There are two kinds of netting: rigid (like the garlic bags) and soft (like that for potatoes). At present, I am experimenting with the rigid netting for embroidery work (like cross stitch). And I cut up the soft netting into long strips that are then knotted together to use for crochet or cardboard loom weaving.

Below is a Muy Marcottage purse I made using cardboard, produce netting, and paper wrappers from oranges + art supplies from the grocery store!