Paper Grocery Bags Help With Holiday Dinner

 Hello Readers. When I get groceries I try to order online. It's just easier. I get my groceries brought out to my car in brown paper grocery bags. I fold them up and save them. After a while you start to get quite a lot of them. I have a couple ideas to use them for a big holiday dinner. Thanksgiving is coming soon in the U.S., and I will be using these ideas on the big day. 

Paper grocery bags? Yes. Check it out.

I like to shop at a store called Aldi. The specific grocery store doesn't matter. The traditional brown paper grocery bags are what you need. 

These specific bags had handles so the first thing I did was remove the handles. I pulled them off gently and slowly. The handles are not difficult to remove. 

I used some craft scissors and cut straight down the side of the bag. It doesn't matter what side. 

 

I continued cutting around the bottom of the bag to completely remove the bottom of each bag.

 

I spread the bag out flat and then continued to cut more bags. The bags will get flatter the longer they are spread out. I needed 5 in total for my kitchen table.

 

I put the bags with the writing side down and used some clear tape to hold the edges of the bags together. I wanted to make a table cover, sort of a "table cloth" out of bags. You can buy rolls of paper to cover the table but the bags are free and using what you already have on-hand is more environmentally friendly.

 

I got some crayons, stickers, candies, and set a table with kids in mind. I put unbreakable decor on the table as well, just to make it fun. 

 

I set the table and scattered the crayons and candy around. The kids can draw and decorate their table. They are going to drip food and get a little messy. It's OK. They are kids, kids are messy. I can roll up all of the paper at the end of the night and throw it all away. Less cleaning for me. 

 

My second idea is a twist on the first idea. If you are setting up a big buffet for a lot of people it can get messy. Using paper bags that have been cut open to cover your buffet/serving tables can save you a lot of clean up. Spread the flattened bags out and put all the food dishes and such on the paper. Use hot pads if you have hot dishes from the oven. 

I used a marker to write down what was in each dish. If you have friends and relatives with dietary restrictions or food allergies then you know how they need to be careful about what they eat. This is a good way to let people know what is in each food without having to tell each and every person as they go through the buffet line. 

You can mark places for all the foods ahead of time to make getting the food out of the kitchen and onto the table easier and faster. When you have a large dinner, someone will spill something while getting the food on their plate, when dinner is over you can roll up this paper buffet cover and throw it away. Less cleaning for you.

I would suggest writing large enough that people can read the writing easily. Older relatives, kids or visually impaired people might not be able to see or read small or cursive writing. Thanks for reading along, and I wish you the best of holidays. 

***Year End Update- Covering my Thanksgiving table made clean up so much easier and I learned that even adults will color as they sit around the table if the crayons are available.