It's a wrap folks...

... a beeswax wrap!

Sorry I just couldn't resist that one!

So... last night one of my girlfriends (Carey) and I headed over to Syd Workshops in Tauranga to do a workshop about making beeswax wraps, sustainability and the whole reduce, reuse, recycle philosophy. The classes are held at 'Our Place' which is a little group of shipping containers set up as individual 'shops'.

I have done a workshop at Syd's before.  At the end of last year Krystal and I did a workshop about how to make a Christmas wreath. We had a good time... learnt heaps... and even managed to raid Mum's garden on the way home to make another wreath... I'm surprised I didn't get the secateurs taken off me!  Luckily I was able to find a photo of my wreath... thank goodness for sending photos to friends on Messenger!!    After I got my wreath home I added some dehydrated orange slices and some cinnamon sticks as well... can you tell I love Christmas???  One thing I can tell you... my wreath smelt absolutely divine.  I didn't hang it on my front door... I decided to hang mine on the dining room wall and the scent of all the greenery, oranges and cinnamon perfumed the whole room. 

Which brings me back to beeswax wraps... a few months ago I received a couple of beeswax wraps... yes, they were Christmas presents... and I also bought a couple from the Farmers Market.  The quality varies greatly but I soon became hooked on using them.  I've got my cheese wrapped in one... my butter in another... and I have one that goes backwards and forwards in my lunch box every day.  Just so you know... my sandwiches NEVER taste like beeswax but they do stay fresh and not-dried-out. I'm not a huge fan of plastic wrap... mostly because I always seem to get it stuck where I don't want it to stick... or it rips crooked... I'm a plastic wrap disaster folks!... and to be honest I LOVE all the lovely fabrics I've seen them made out of... pretty packaging makes me happy!

Carey had recently done a bit of internet research and worked out how to make her own... and given it a go... so I thought she might be keen to go to the class with me... quite frankly I like doing stuff with other people... it just makes it more fun!

So off we went... the class was pretty much what we expected.  To be honest we both felt a little 'talked at' during the first half hour because Baillie spent most of that time asking us questions about how 'we' recycle, reduce, reuse and what we already knew about being 'green'.  We kind of felt that if you've come to a beeswax wrap workshop you're probably already somewhere on the sustainability journey.   Having said that we both learnt some new skills, techniques and tips for making our own wraps. 

Carey is a fabulous photographer and she took a couple of photos during the class... just using her phone.  She did a little photo editing... also on her phone... and viola... an arty photo of me stirring the pot of beeswax so we can make our wraps.

Photo courtesy of Carey Bennett

We were provided with plenty of ingredients and both walked away with FIVE new wraps to keep. The fabric we used was old... and well washed... sheets.  Not going to lie... I'm not sure how I feel about that one folks...  I mean WHO has slept on those sheets??? but it was all just part of the recycling last night.  I'm seriously thinking about making some more wraps for gifts and I'm 100% sure I will be using some of the lovely fabrics I have in my Fat Quarter collection.  Yes... I'm a closet hoarder of pretty fabrics.  I've been purchasing Fat Quarters for years... I've never had a reason for doing that... I just like to touch and feel the fabric and look at all the pretty designs.  It sounds a little Autistic now that I've written it down... oh well they say we're all on the spectrum somewhere... I suspect I may be further along the spectrum that I care to acknowledge. 

An added bonus of the class was that we were given recipes for making other 'eco friendly' cleaning products for use around home.  While half the class were making their wraps the other half had the opportunity to make either an All Purpose Cleaner OR Glass Cleaner.  Considering the glass cleaner included 100ml of Vodka in the ingredients list... and neither of us had vodka at home... Carey and I both made the glass cleaner.

Another reason I made glass cleaner was that I knew I had particularly dirty kitchen windows.  I've been 'meaning to' clean them for ages... in fact I remember thinking at Christmas time... gosh those windows are dirty... I must clean them when I get a chance... there's no need to rush these things is there???  So this morning... with my new eco friendly glass cleaner at the ready I pulled up the blind on my kitchen window and... SPOTLESS!!!  My window was SPOTLESS!!!  How had that happened??? Oh that's right... Mum came to 'puppy sit' for Mr Toby while Krystal, Chloe and I all went to Whangarei last week.  Thanks Mum xx

So I haven't tested out my glass cleaner yet... but I'm sure I will... after all these things take time right???