Just when you think you're the reigning Queen or King of Green – reusing and recycling your way through the day, someone rains on your parade. Stories have hit the media in recent years about everyone's favorite green choice: the reusable store grocery bag. Turns out we should be washing those things regularly or they can become a breeding ground for bacteria. Problem: if you've ever tried washing the ones you often get at the market, they start to fall apart or go as limp as week-old lettuce. Great. Then, more stories pop up that show many of these bags are coming from overseas, containing potentially unsafe levels of lead. Great x2. Time to make your own: prettier, safer, and sturdier. Reclaim your throne, Queen or King of Green! And thank you for helping to keep single-use plastics out of the world's oceans.

The cloth napkin; you simply can't ask for an easier home décor project. If you are just getting started in sewing or teaching someone new, napkins are an instant-gratification winner. If you're already a pro, they're a fast and fun project. And this time of year, when the holidays are almost upon us, they're a perfect host/hostess gift to whip out in an afternoon before your evening festivities. We kick ours up a notch with beautiful decorative stitching all around the edge and a coordinating fabric napkin ring that "ties" them altogether.

This Ribbon Wallet is so beautiful, you'll want to carry it by itself – not hide it away in a handbag. We've used the technique of assembling a number of ribbons side-by-side to create our own "ribbon fabric." The ribbons used in our sample are some of the breathtaking Jacquard ribbons for which Renaissance Ribbons is famous. They are intricately woven with brilliant color. Because of this detail in the weaving, the ribbons have wonderful substance that makes them gorgeous to work with.

These terrific totes are as much of a present as the gifts they can carry inside. We've done gift bag projects before, but decided to really kick it up a notch, making generously-sized gift bag totes for the whole family in small, medium, and large. These totes are done in bold, heavy weight fabrics that will look great from the holiday season right through to spring and summer. We picked strong graphics in colors outside traditional holiday reds and greens yet that blend with these classic tones beautifully. A sparkling bow or embellishment adds just the right touch of holiday pizzazz under the tree; remove the bow and you have a tote that's good to go for everyday use.