DIY Waxed Fabric Wraps // Eco Craft {food storage}

Hi friends! Today I have a simple project from our grandparents generation that will save you time, money and most importantly keep a bit of trash out of the landfill. Reusable food wraps! I think these would beexcellent craft fair and gift ideas too!

I have been unhappy with the amount of disposable packaging in my home recently. When my town stopped the recycling program I realized that I wanted to change my habits so less ended up in the trash. Plus I am too frugal to buy something I am just going to throw away! Here are some of the steps I have taken so far:

• Buying products in glass jars (then washing and saving the glass jars so I can use them as food storage)
• If I must buy in plastic I go for larger tubs (like the kids yogurt) which can be washed and used for craft storage or donated to the school’s art room. *My mom is the queen of reusing plastic containers, she saves meat trays for paint palettes and plastic containers to send leftovers home with friends. My brother-in-law gives her a hard time about it but I think it’s great!
• I purchased some silicone suction lids which work great for leftovers and you can reheat items with them on! They are easier than foil or plastic wrap because you just lay them over the bowl and they cling. I also got some silicone stretch lids which I don’t like as much as they kinda want to pop off unless the bowl has a lip on it. They worked pretty well on plates tho. If I have a rounded over full bowl of food these work better because than the suction lids where the bowl can’t be filled over the rim.
• And now I am trying waxed fabric wraps! I saw them on Amazon to buy but couldn’t justify the $18 price tag so today I’ll show you how to make them!

Look how little space they take up!

The video contains real-time instructions. Each set only takes a few minutes to make. The instructions are in real time so you can see how long it takes to melt the wax and how the fabric should look.

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• 100% cotton fabric (I used some fat quarters I had on hand but you can get it by the yard or recycle old clothing)
• Beeswax pellets (Leftovers can be used in homemade lip balm recipes!)
• Parchment paper
• Iron
• Pinking shears

*I placed a teflon mat on my craft table to protect it but you might want a cookie sheet under your parchment paper to contain any wax that might seep out especially if you are working on an ironing board. If you are working on a table I’d also place a folded towel under the cookie sheet so the heat won’t damage your table.

Directions:
1. Wash and dry your fabric, press if desired.
2. Cut fabric to desired sizes with pinking shears. A fat quarter cut in quarters will give you four 9″x11″ pieces minus a bit of offcut when you trim off the frayed edges after washing. You can make these in whatever size meets your needs (and fits your bowls and dishes!)
3. Place a piece of fabric on parchment paper. (see note about using a cookie sheet above) and sprinkle with wax pellets. Cover with another piece of fabric ideally the same size. Cover that with parchment paper and press with a hot iron to melt the wax.
4. Look at the fabric for any “dry spots” and add more wax if needed or reposition the fabric so it will sop up extra wax. Replace the parchment paper and repress.
5. Separate the fabric pieces and set aside on a piece of parchment paper to cool. Repeat for the remainder of your fabric using the same parchment papers.

Wait! Don’t toss that used parchment paper!
You can use it to protect your work table after your next messy craft project or use pieces of it to help start your next campfire. Or, since parchment paper is biodegradable and compostable you can mix it in with your compost as any leftover beeswax is compostable too.

Remember after about 150 washes your fabric wraps may be used up, when that happens cut them into smaller pieces and compost them! I really enjoyed making this project and using the wraps in my kitchen. I got a few more “thumbs down” on this video on YouTube than usual (I always get a few no matter what the video is about) and made me a bit confused but Oh well, you can’t please everyone. I wish people had to give a reason why they hit the dislike button, for instance:

• I don’t like this type of project.
• I don’t like Lindsay (I only subscribe so I can dislike a video as soon as it’s posted.) *Sadly, I think the few dislikes that appear on my videos seconds after they are posted are because of this because the video couldn’t even have been watched yet. LOL!
• I tried it and didn’t like it.
• I sell these and now people can just make them for cheap.

I hope you like this project but if you don’t you can let me know why or wait patently for tomorrow for something different:) Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!