Beyond Cloth Diapering

we are a cloth diapering household.  but it’s evolved into way more than just diapering for us.

when we first got started, we learned a huge chunk of what we now know from a good friend: the Cloth Diaper Guru.  i shared with the Guru’s readers a bit about how i got started with cloth diapering through a guest post on her blog.

unfortunately, due to FL law, our daycare provider cannot cloth diaper our Little One. we use cloth at home and when we’re running errands around town after work and on weekends, etc.  but the goodness that comes from cloth diapering (goodness for the planet, for our wallets, for our daughter) leaks into many other areas of the household (couldn’t help the pun!) and not in a gross or inconvenient way. quite the opposite, actually.

because of cloth diapering, and just having a daughter to care for in general, we’ve changed these things (among others) about how we run our home:

• we use all natural, cloth diaper-friendly diaper rash treatment (we use CJ’s BUTTer, but here’s a list of other cloth diaper friendly and not-so-friendly diaper rash options)
• we make a larger effort in our recycling collections each week
• we pay more attention to the amount of usage, size, and ease of storage of everything we buy (but especially baby toys!)
• we pay more attention to the quality of what we buy, where it’s made, what it’s made from, etc
  • our Best Bottom Diapers and Planet Wise wetbags are all made by the same amazing midwestern family-owned business! interested? read more about how Nicki’s Diapers (and Best Bottom and PlanetWise) came into being
• we pay more attention to what’s in our food and our daughter’s food such as where it’s grown, what’s in it, and whether it’s organic or natural or just plain chemicals

but there are still more things we could do (and more things i want to do in the future) like:

• replace our paper towels with reusable cloth ones like these on etsy
  • the same etsy seller also makes cloth toilet paper replacement! on a roll and everything!
• replace our disposable baby wipes used for diaper changes with reusable cloth moistened with a home-made solution
  • there’s a whole slew of solution recipes online, though i’ve yet to try any
• look into replacing my monthly feminine products with reusable cloth liners
  • found this retailer, Talulah Bean, through the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt which is still going through the end of May!
• make more of our own wardrobe (i feel comfortable altering clothing, but making from scratch is a bit intimidating yet)
• pare down every closet in the house to get rid of unnecessary items that are just taking up space
  • this will be very difficult for me since i tend to save fabric and boxes that i think i may use again

have you made a life change that spilled over into other areas without even intending to? 

First Camping Trip

camping has been a part of my entire life, and i despirately want to make sure it’s a part of my daughter’s life as well. i even bought “babes in the woods” to help me get prepared.

one thing it mentioned over and over was the importance of non-cotton apparel. but with the emphasis on organic everything, it’s difficult to find baby clothes that aren’t cotton. so i grabbed a too-small work out shirt from my (totally under-utilized) athletic apparel drawer and went to town. here’s the onesie i made next to the template onesie:

i finished it over the course of a day, during various naps, etc. and it’s a good thing i did, because we used it right away!  she’s almost 8 months old, but whether we were ready or not, we opted to take advantage of the long weekend and car camp at a local-ish spot. i think she had fun, despite the chilly weather. (she’s wearing my wool socks over her leggings in this photo:)

it got pretty cold though that first night (41F!) and we weren’t really prepared for that, so after some hiking and checking out the local springs, we opted to check out a little early. we stayed through dinner on the second day and past dark (which isn’t all that late anymore), until we were all ready to stop putting wood on the fire. then we did final packing and headed home.

it was fun, i’m glad we did it. and we definitely have a lot to work on for next time!

what experiences or traditions are you working hard to pass along to the next generation?

Soft and Simple

hinted at in a few of my previous WIP posts, i recently made a soft & simple quilt for a high school friend who’s expecting her first (gender yet unknown) baby!  now that she’s received it, i’ll give you more details:

during a recent trip to the fabric store for pillow inserts (for the cathedral window border pillows i’m making for christmas gifts) i ran across a perfect gender-neutral baby fleece.  i snagged a couple of yards and made it my backing and batting all in one!

then i used some green apple themed rick-rack-y fabric i picked up a couple months back (which matched the backing fleece perfectly!) and some of the orange-y fabric from the comforter quilt to make a simple checker board quilt top with each square measuring about a foot square. even though the orange-y fabric is covered in flower names and comes off as slightly pinkish, i think this color palette still qualifies as gender neutral don’t you?

to help neutralize it even more, and to break it up a bit / make it more interesting, Hubby suggested putting white squares on their points at the intersections. i appliqued those on and quilted the intersections to the fleece backing at the same time. yay for quilt tops made entirely from stashed fabrics!

i rolled the fleece backing over to make a binding for the front. super easy!

finally, i deemed the applique to be not enough quilting, so i sewed squares on the green squares and circles on the orange ones.

the cherry on top is the label (i think so anyways). it’s a bit of a december themed fabric that actually says “december”. that’s when my friend’s baby is due, and it’s my birth month, so i already had that fabric on hand as well. i hand stitched the “baby!” along with a heart and my name and called it good to go!

i love it, so much so that i almost kept it! she loved it too!

mostly i love how quickly and perfectly this project came together. i finished it in less than a week!

have you completed any super quick, super satisfying projects lately?

A Rattler!

Hubby’s mother HATES snakes. even the mention of them!

but i LOVE rattles! (yes, i’m a 20-something who loves things that make noise when shaken) i’ve just been frustrated that it seems like no store ever seems to sell them for use in making baby toys.

so when i saw this post at Samster Mommy, i was nearly jumping up and down (too tired… i DO have an infant you know!) with excitement.

smiley faces aren’t exciting enough for me (or maybe i just like making things more difficult than they need to be) so here’s what i made:

it’s an amish puzzle ball (a blurry one, sorry). it’s been on my project to-do list for only a little while, but a friend’s baby shower seemed like the perfect occasion to make this little gem! it’s basically 12 “footballs” sewn together at their tips. that leaves a nice little gap in the center, just right for a small rattle.

the added bonus is that i already had on hand the perfect fabrics to use! their nursery is going to be “beary” cute which worked well with the “playtime” fabric with the white background. and the father is in the air force, so all my starry fabrics came in handy!

but i took a shortcut on the rattle. instead of making one, i used a cat toy. these little balls with bells/beads inside are great for cats and babies alike! actually, the overlap is true of so many cat/baby toys! probably dog toys too (the squeaky ones especially)! as long as they’re properly cleaned before letting baby enjoy them, of course.

there’s a variation on this amish puzzle ball pattern sold at sewbaby.com if you’re interested.

anyways, i’m really happy with how this project turned out. it was a great addition to the nerdy baby flashcards i got for the little man growing in my friend’s belly. and in exchange (and totally unexpected), she gave us this for our Little One:

her orca whale cross-stitch looks great up on our wall, doesn’t it? and it works perfectly with our arctic themed quilt! THANK YOU!!!!

speaking of giving and receiving, would any of you be interested in participating in a fabric swap?

Growth

it’s hard to believe my Little One will be 3 months old this week! she’s grown so much already!

taken at 2 weeks 3 days, her legs and feet don’t even go down into the leg openings of the sleeper:

same outfit taken at 12 weeks 2 days, she fills it out much better:

aren’t babies amazing creatures?