Create an "Analog" Bag or Basket for You and Your Family

It’s more important than ever to incorporate screen-free time for yourself and your family into our daily lives. Most of us spend too much time on our phones or watching TV that we’ve forgotten how to entertain ourselves without a screen. Probably the biggest red flag is kids out and about (especially in restaurants or in the car) always need a tablet to keep them occupied - they don’t know how to sit and enjoy others’ company anymore or entertain themselves. Teens and adults are often guilty of it as well, we keep our noses in our phones and ignore who we’re with.
One easy solution is to create an “analog bag” - a bag that has screen-free activities in it. It can be travel games, puzzles, books or magazines, knitting, small toys, coloring, word searches, etc. You can make it for on-the-go or something to keep in your living room for designated screen-free time. Read on for more ideas on how to incorporate this easy modification into your lives.…
| This post contains affiliate links |

An Analog Bag is something you can make for yourself, your young or older kids, or the whole family! You can also tailor it to things to use on-the-go or something that you keep at home for quiet evenings. Whatever it is you can make it yours and change it up as much as you want! Here are some ideas:

Analog Bag Basics:

• a sturdy tote bag (this "Analog" embroidered L.L. Bean Bag is PERFECT!)
• something to help organize your things, such as a small canvas pouch or a tote bag organizer
• Now for the fun part - filling it with what interests you or your family! I've broken it down with ideas for different age groups below.

Ideas for Adults & the Whole Family:

• a beautiful coloring book
• colored pencils
• Sudoku book
• knitting kit
• mini watercolor travel set
• deck of cards
• magazines or your current library books

Ideas for Teens & Tweens:

• you may want to consider a different bag, like a trendy rubber tote
• a fun card game like UNO or Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
• a travel puzzle game (like Kanoodle)
• a cute crochet kit (my daugther LOVES this brand - they have great tutorials and are easy to make)
• a journal
• Rubik's Cube

Ideas for Young Children:

• you may want to consider a different bag, like a cute animal alphabet themed one
• Water Wow books (these were such a hit when my kids were little - a lot of fun and zero mess!)
• Paint by Sticker books
• Spirograph
• fun activity book
• activity dice (these Bluey themed ones are really fun!)

Analog “Basket” Ideas for Home:

The Analog Basket is something that would stay in your living room or family room and your family can use everyday! The following ideas are for a mix of age groups.

• sturdy basket that will look nice in your room
• puzzle the family can do together
• games such as Jenga, Chutes & Ladders, or Chess (Chess is making a comeback!)
• a tabletop activity like wooden balancing "stones" (irregular-shaped wooden "rocks" that you can stack and balance)
• nice LEGO kit to make with the family

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Shop some of our Analog Bag picks here:

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Happy New Year! Giving Back for 2025

Happy 2026! Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and successful new year!

A tradition I started back in 2016 was to donate a percentage of profits from Birch Landing Home to charity at year end, and it’s a tradition I’ve been proud to continue every year since.

2025 had been a challenging year for a lot of small businesses, including mine. Many of my remaining wholesale accounts have been cutting back how often they reorder, regular sales on Etsy have been slow, and affiliate sales/ad revenue on the blog are down (thanks AI). Inflation and spending habits have impacted everyone.

Nevertheless today I made a small donation to continue the tradition. I think it’s important to give back when you can and I want to make sure this tradition continues. This year’s donation goes to Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance, to help protect our local lake for generations to come. Thank you all for the continued support of my little business - wishing everyone lots of health, happiness, peace, and love in the New Year!

Reducing Plastics and Microplastics in our Kitchen

After reading some articles about the amount of microplastics the average person gets exposed to and consumes I knew we had to make some changes in our household. Here are some easy and simple swaps and replacements we made in the kitchen to try to reduce our exposure to plastics. | This post contains affiliate links |

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, just sharing some swaps and changes we made to try to be more intentional and reduce plastic exposure in our home. Please make sure to do your own research on this matter.

Get Rid of All the Plastic Cooking Utensils

The first step was getting rid of ALL the plastic cooking utensils we had in our home (I just recycled or tossed them all to make sure I wouldn't continue to reach for them). These utensils are constantly getting heated and scraped on pans, contributing microplastics. I thoughtfully replaced all the plastic utensils with a combination of bamboo, wood, silicone, and stainless steel cooking utensils.

Replace Plastic Cutting Boards

This is supposedly one of the biggest sources of microplastics in the kitchen - a plastic cutting board! If you think about it, every time you cut with a knife you’re cutting and scraping the plastic board, adding microscopic (and not so microscopic) plastic shavings to your food. We replaced our cutting board with a quality hardwood one made by a local craftsman, but you could also use a bamboo cutting board.

Get Rid of Non-Stick Cookware

This is a big change we made several years ago - we got rid of all of our non-stick cookware in order to reduce microplastics and PFOAs exposures. Instead of using non-stick pans, we switched to quality stainless-steel cookware and have never looked back!

Never Heat Plastic

Make sure to never reheat food in plastic containers - always use glass!

Never Cut on Plastic Dishes

This goes right along with never using plastic cutting boards - but to take it a step further, don’t cut on plastic dishware (like kids’ dishes) either - and for the same reasons. Always make sure to cut on a cutting board or glass plate before transferring the food to your kids’ dishes.

Use More Glass and Stainless Steel Dishware

This one is pretty self-explanatory - use glass or stainless steel dishware more and try to phase out your plastic ones. We have been working towards slowly replacing our plastic Tupperware with glass and stainless steel varieties.

When You Must Use Plastic, Use High Quality

When you must use plastic dishware in your kitchen (like for kids’ dishes), always use high quality ones. Avoid cheap plastic dishes, especially if you don’t know if they’re BPA-free or lead-free, etc. And if they seem to be breaking down with just normal use (fading, scratching easily, discolor easily, etc) definitely get rid of them.

Silicone Food Covers

Rather than use plastic wrap for leftovers we switched to silicone food covers years ago. We love that they’re reusable (better for the environment!) and not plastic.

Air Purifier

To take it a step further for general home health we also added several air purifiers in our home. This helps reduce dust and allergens we breathe in and we feel better knowing the air in our home is being filtered.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, just sharing some swaps and changes we made to try to be more intentional and reduce plastic exposure in our home. Please make sure to do your own research on this matter.

Simple Soap Saving Hack

Does your family waste SO much liquid soap at the bathroom or kitchen sink? I know mine sure does. Here is a quick, easy, and CHEAP tip to save soap (and money) big time! | This post contains affiliate links |

The cover photo for this post shows the bottle of soap “before” - but I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to modify the pump so that it uses less soap with every pump! To do this you only need 3 simple items you probably have on-hand already.

Materials

• Liquid Soap - you can use any liquid soap pump (even refillable ones) but personally we love Mrs. Meyer's handsoap (usually we use Oat Blossom but we're still using up one of the holiday scents here)
• Small Zip Ties (we used black here because the pump is black, but you could use white or another color zip tie if it matches better)
• Scissors

How To

Seriously this couldn’t be much easier!

Simply put the zip tie around the soap pump where it goes down, tighten (but not too tight), and then trim off the extra. Ta-da, it’s done!

This “ring” made by the zip tie will prevent the pump from going down all the way. This way you get like a “half-pump” of soap rather than a whole pump (personally I feel like a whole pump tends to dispense far too much soap).

Now it dispenses far less soap = less waste!

Once the zip tie has been trimmed it’s barely noticeable. This little hack has saved SO much soap in our family - I really notice us going through the hand soap much slower. I hope this little trick will save you soap and money too!

PS - if you buy the same brand soap over and over you can reuse the pump top from bottle to bottle so you can keep reusing the same zip tie modified top if you don’t want to keep using up zip ties.

Disclaimer: Use at own risk.

Happy Giving Tuesday!

A tradition I started back in 2016 was to donate a percentage of profits from Birch Landing Home to charity at year end, and it’s a tradition I’ve been proud to continue every year since.

2024 has been a challenging year for a lot of small businesses, including mine. This year I had 4 brick and mortar shops I wholesale to close their doors, many of my remaining wholesale accounts have been cutting back how often they reorder, regular sales on Etsy have been slow, and affiliate sales/ad revenue on the blog are down. Inflation and spending habits have impacted everyone.

Nevertheless I am still planning on making a donation at year-end even if it’s small. I think it’s important to give back when you can and I want to make sure this tradition continues. If you have a suggestion of a charity or non-profit to consider please let me know! And thank you all again for your continued support - even just views, clicks, and likes on social media and my blog or Etsy go a very long way to supporting my business and don’t cost anything. Thank you!

A List of Educator (Teacher and Staff) Discounts - Happy New School Year!

I’ve been working in the school system for a few years now - while I did have a teaching degree at one time (I let it lapse), I’ve been working in a support staff role. Being a school staff member doesn’t pay much so getting discounts at different retailers is a small but appreciated perk of the job. I’ve complied a list of some of the stores and restaurants that give Educator/Teacher/School Staff Discounts. Also if you homeschool some places will honor that and give you a homeschool educator discount too so it’s always worth asking! | This post contains affiliate links |

Disclaimer: Different stores have different offers and rules - and they’re subject to change. Make sure to double check on discounts and read the fine print and before you use them. Some of these discounts are in person and others you can do online with verification. If I’m shopping in-store I always ask if they offer an educator discount - you’d be surprised how many random places do!

A Quick List of Some Educator Discounts:

• Many local museums - Always ask when going to a local museum if they offer an Educator Discount - many do for admission or at least for the gift shop

• Some local restaurants/coffee shops - You may find a local restaurant or coffee shop may offer an educator discount on a particular item (like coffee) or your whole meal - it’s always worth asking!

• L.L. Bean - 10% off (online or retail stores - does not work at L.L. Bean Outlets)

• Target - varying offers throughout the year with special coupons/discounts

• JoAnn Fabrics - 15% off

• Michael’s - 15% off

• J.Crew - 15% off

• Under Armour - 20% off

• Crocs - 15% off (full-priced items only)

• Loft - 15% off (full-priced items only)

• New Balance - 25% off

• Sunglass Hut - 15% off

• Canva - may be free if you sign up for an educator account with your school email (not all schools are eligible)

What other places give you a teacher/educator discount? Let me know!

Disclaimer: Different stores have different offers and rules - and they’re subject to change. Make sure to double check on the discounts and read the fine print and before you use them.

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Curated Teacher Picks:

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FREE National Parks Pass for All 4th Graders and their Families - "Every Kid Outdoors"

Did you know every 4th Grader can get a FREE National Parks Pass? I found out about the program when our not-so-little one went into the 4th Grade and we were able to take advantage of it. Signing up is incredibly easy through the “Every Kid Outdoors” Website - once you’re signed up make sure to bring your printed confirmation with you and your 4th grader to a National Park and the ranger there will finish the sign up process and give you National Parks Pass that’s good for the whole year (Sept 1st-Aug 31st of the school year your child is in 4th grade). If you’re a homeschool family this program also works if your child is homeschooled and in the equivalent of 4th grade.

We personally used it to go to Acadia National Park (our favorite place) in Maine and Saint-Gaudens National Park in New Hampshire. Maybe when our next child is in 4th grade we’ll get a little more adventurous and get to a National Park out west.

If you're planning on checking out several National Parks during the year, you might want to pick up a National Park Journal (affiliate link) so your kids can document the journey and adventures! Happy Exploring!

Note: This is not a sponsored post, I’m just sharing my experience with this program when we did it. Please see Every Kid Outdoors’ website for details as they may change.

We Are Losing Our Local Shops and Makers

Money is tight for everyone right now. But please try to support local shops and makers when you can.. we’re losing them at an alarming rate.

As an example - in the past eight months 4 brick and mortar shops I wholesale to have closed their doors. These are shops that employ many local people and buy goods from small businesses like myself. These shops not only support themselves and their employees but so many other small makers and businesses. These shops have all been in business for years and been successful, but times are tough and they had to make difficult decisions.

It’s so sad to see them close, but it’s a ripple effect that goes far beyond that one business. Everyone is struggling right now, but if you’re looking to spend your money please try to shop small and local when you can - thank you from all of us.