Earth Day: 5 Changes for a Better Earth

Today is Earth Day so I wanted to cover some Earth friendly changes I have made in the past year.  Since starting cloth diapering a little over a year ago, I have definitely become more aware of other areas in our life where we can reduce the waste, and reuse what we have.  As Earth Day approached I was reflecting on the different ways that our family has made changes in the past year that are Earth friendly.  We have done a good job of focusing on the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle principles and have seen a significant reduction in the amount of garbage we produce and sometimes we even skip garbage collection day!  Here are 5 changes that we have made in the past year:

 

 

1. Cloth Diapers and Cloth Wipes

I guess this one is pretty obvious one since a lot of my personal time and blogging time is devoted to cloth diapers now.  I estimate that using cloth diaper and cloth wipes on two kids for the past year has kept over 5000 diapers and approximately 6500 wipes out of landfills!!!  I was amazed when I did the math especially because this is just one year.  I of course love using my cloth diapers and wipes for a lot of different reasons, but reduction in waste is a big one.

 

2. Unpaper Towels

I did a pretty tutorial review on unpaper towels when I made a set for a friend but in reality, for myself, I just use cheap dish towels (approximately 9 for $3 at Wal-Mart).  I keep them folded in a drawer and normally just use them once before laundering.  They are great for wiping up spills, cleaning my girl's faces and hands after meals and just cleaning up any mess.  I have noticed the paper towel consumption decrease drastically in our house and I don't even remember the last time that I bought paper towels (we do keep some on hand for grease spills or other things that you don't want to put in your washer).  If you wanted to make your own it would be easy to just finish the edges (serge or turn and stitch) of some terry cloth, approximately 9x11 inches.

 

3. Reusable Sandwich Bags

This is a recent change for us but I really love it.  After trying out my sandwich bags for the tutorial I made a bunch and now we use them for everything.  The only thing I use zippered plastic bags for now is if something is really messy (e.g. peaches), things that need to be air tight or things that will go in the freezer.

 

4. Recycle

While recycling is not new to my family, this year I have spent more time checking to see if something is recyclable.  In the past I knew my spaghetti sauce jar and newspaper were recyclable but now I am looking up items to see if they are recyclable, so we have drastically increased the amount of items that we recycle (its a good thing we have a new big recycle bin).

 

5.  Reusable Shopping Bags

This is a new one for me and its the one I struggle with the most.  Its not that have an objection to using these shopping bags, it's purely a matter of remembering to bring them to the store.  This is definitely one area that I will be working on between now and next Earth Day.

 

To get your Earth Day started off right I am doing a give away for an Earth Day Starter Pack (not a real thing, I just made it up) that includes 2 cloth wipes, 2 serged "unpaper towels" and 1 reusable sandwich bag. 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

What Makes a Cloth Diaper Trim (or Bulky)?

When I started cloth diapering over a year ago I was obsessed with finding a trim diaper.  I had used disposables on my first daughter for 18 months and I didn’t want a huge bulky diaper on my very petite little girl.  In all of my diaper trials I have assessed the bulkiness of each diaper but what really makes a diaper bulky?  In my experience the two main factors are: crotch width and thickness of the insert used.

 

 

 

Crotch Width

One of the biggest contributors to trimness is the width of the crotch for the diaper.  Having a more narrow crotch makes it so that extra material is not bunched up between you baby's legs and therefore there is no extra bulk.  Not only does the extra material from the width contribute to the bulk but the bunching of the insert also adds to that bulkiness.  Some of the trimmest diapers that I have have very narrow crotches: Peachy Greens and Bottom Bumpers.  Of course the narrower the crotch, the less absorbent material you will have and therefore these diapers might be less absorbent.  I would not recommend Peachy Green or Bottom Bumpers (even with a booster) for overnight, but they are perfect for leggings, jeans and are just nice trim diapers.  I have compiled a listing of the crotch measurements (based on my own measurements from edge to edge) for the diaper brands that I have so that you can get an idea of how they vary.

 

 

 

 

 

Inserts

The type of material used for your inserts and the number of layers of that material vastly contribute to the trimness of the diaper.  In general I would say that minky, hemp, cotton and bamboo are the trimmest materials but of course this will depend upon the the number of layers used for each insert.  I have found that my microfiber diapers are more bulky than my natural fiber diapers.  I love the Peachy Green inserts, they are 6 layers of bamboo and I think for being so trim they are also really absorbent. 

 

What Other Factors Contributes to Diaper Trimness?

Other than the crotch width and the insert type used some other things that contribute to how trim a diaper looks is how the fabric lays, sized v.s. one size and front snapping v.s. side snapping.

Sometimes how the elastic is put into a diaper (in a casing, free, etc.), the thickness of the PUL and just the general construction of the diaper will affect how trim it look.  For example Bottom Bumpers have a very narrow crotch and a trim insert but their diapers look slightly more bulky than some other diapers (e.g. Peach Green) because of how the elastic is done and because of how the PUL lays.

Another factor is buying a sized diaper (S, M, L) verses a one size diaper.  Generally a sized diaper will be trimmer than a one size diaper unless the one size diaper is on the largest setting.  This is because the extra fabric that allows the one size diaper to extend has to go somewhere and ends up making the diaper look bulkier than the sized diaper that doesn't have any extra fabric.

The placement of the snaps can also contribute to the trim/bulky factor.  I know a lot of people find side snapping diaper to be awkward, but I love them.  I love that they have a really smooth front compared to a more bunched up look of a front snapping diaper.  While the side snapping diaper may not actually be any more trim than its front snapping counterpart, the smoothness under clothes gives the illusion that it is.

 

Of course there are many factors to consider when purchasing diapers for your baby and trimness may or may not be a factor for you.  I, of course, love having a variety of diapers for different "occasions" and some of my favorite diapers are also very trim.  What are some of your favorite trim diapers?

Enough with the Lists!!!

I know this post isn't about my normal natural parenting or crafting but writing about this has been eating away at me for a month so I finally decided to share my thoughts.

 

 

 

I love FaceBook as a tool to keep up with friends and family as well as my favorite cloth diaper resources but I am over the lists!  Every day I see a new one: 10 things not to say to a mom of multiples, 35 things not to say to a nursing mother, 64 things not to say to a parent of a specials needs child, 1, 574 things not to say to a pregnant woman.  While I understand that the purpose of these lists is to inform people that there might be a nicer way to formulate their questions what I really get out of it is that we have turned into a nation of Easily Offended Mothers.  The over prevalence of these lists, instead of encouraging a change in the way we ask questions, discourages mom's from asking each other questions, learning from our differences and communicating with each other. 

 

I 100% recognize that some people are just rude and inconsiderate and in that case you should just ignore what they have to say, but most people are just asking questions or making statements to their fellow moms to support them or learn from them.  Mom's need to recognize the intent behind the questions instead of focusing so much on how it is worded (its the thought that counts right?).  It makes me sad to think that we would let these lists break down the lines of communication between moms because we are too afraid to talk to each other out of fear of saying the wrong thing.  These lists are really just an extension of the mommy wars, instead of supporting each other we are correcting each other's approach on every possible subject.

 

So...Enough with the Lists!!!  Let's get back to being a community of moms that focus on lifting each other up, learning from ether other and celebrating our differences.  We need to stop being so easily offended and instead be the strong moms that we are! 

 

Reusable Snack Bag Tutorial

Today I am sharing an easy tutorial for making your own reusable sandwich/snack bag.  I started making these when I had leftover PUL from making diapers because I hate throwing away and wasting plastic sandwich baggies.  Unfortunately for my, my dog Molly loved the reusable bags as much as I did and kept tearing them apart to get to the snacks.  I finally made a few more for us to use in our lunches and also took the necessary pictures so that I can share here how to make them.  They are really easy and maybe took me 15 minutes each. 

 

 

 

 

The most recent bags I have been making are a cotton print outer and white PUL for the inner (top picture, center and right bag), and the first few ones I made were just just PUL (top picture, left bag). I am going to be covering the lined version but to make the PUL only version just skip down to where you sew on the hook and loop and cut it slightly smaller than the lined version.

 

Start by cutting out your material pieces, one piece of PUL and your selected cotton piece.  For a sandwich bag cut both pieces 16x8 inches, for a snack size bag cut your pieces 12x8 inches. Put right sides together and pin in place (I only pin PUL inside where I will be stitching so that there are not any extra holes in the PUL.   

 



 

Next starting in the middle of one side, and back stitching, sewing almost all the way around the rectangle leaving a few inches open.

 

 

Clip the corners (as per the picture below) so that you can make the corners sharper and putting your fingers through the opening, turn your fabric right side out.

 

 

Once you  have it turned right side out and the corners pushed out, top stitch all the way around the outside, making sure to close up the opening as you stitch (I like to start just before the opening and close that up first, holing it closed with my fingers while I sew).

 

 

Next you will want to attach the hook and loop.  I cut my hook and loop about an inch to an inch and a half shorter than the width of my finished rectangle.  I attach the loop (softer of the two sides) on the cotton side about 2 inches from the edge (with the top part of the loop being 2 inches from the edge).  I then attach the hook (rougher side) about a quarter inch from the opposite end on the PUL/inside.

 

Once you have the hook and loop attached, fold the edge with the loop up to about 3 inches from the edge with the hook.  Check that the placement is correct by folding over the flap with the hook to make sure that it closes nicely.  Once you have the placement right, sew from the bottom fold all the way to where the top meets the bottom.  I like to sew a few stitches over the edge of the cotton and onto the PUL and then back stitch a bit so that it is securely attached.

 

 

Attach the hook and loop and wash/dry on hot to seal the sewing holes.  You an use your snack bag for anything that isn't really wet (e.g. I wouldn't put peaches or anything with too much juice).  After using, wash on warm and line dry or tumble dry low.  Enjoy!

 

 

Pancakes & Pajamas Birthday Party

Today I am providing the details of my daughters first birthday party: Pancakes & Pajamas over at Tampa Bay Moms Blog.  It was a really fun but easy party idea.

Thirsties One Size Pocket Diaper Trial

I have a few diaper trials that I will be posting over the next few weeks but I wanted to start with the Thirsties One Size Pocket Diaper.  This is a relatively new diaper on the market by Thirsties and I was so excited to win a pair from another blogger.  As soon as I got them I was excited to put them to the test with my diaper trial.

 

 

Number times of uses: 18

Number of leaks: 6 (all with only one insert, 0 with both inserts)
Longest wear without a leak: 3 hours, 30 minutes (both inserts)
Big Booty factor – 4 (with both inserts)
Best Use: Around the house

Pros:
     * Nice colors with contrasting piping
     * Available in snaps or hook & loop
     * Options for insert configuration based on baby's size or needs
Cons:
    * Hemp insert along did not last very long and leaked frequently
    * Average bulkiness with both inserts

When I got them I was glad to see something different, two inserts: a short microfiber one for the newborn stage and a larger hemp one for when baby is bigger.  The inserts even snap together so that you can double them up.  My daughters are both average size and not considered heavy wetters so I went ahead and prepped the larger hemp cotton insert to use.  After 12 uses I had a 50% lead average and I was very discouraged.  I love Thristies products and I thought that this diaper might be a fail for me...and then I remembered the other insert.  Once I added the second insert, for the next 6 uses, I didn't have another leak and I even had one use that was 3.5 hours. 
Overall I was happy with this diaper once I started using both inserts.  I don't think I would risk it when out of the house with just one insert, but this is a fine diaper for around the house.  I especially love that there are pocket openings in the front and the back so that you don't have to pull out the inserts (it agitates out in the wash). 

 

Pajama Party Crafts: Pillowcase and Pajama Pants

My "baby" turned 1 last week so of course last weekend we had her first birthday party.  The theme was Pajamas and Pancakes and I had so much fun planning and the party turned out really cute.  I will be detailing out the whole party later on (either here or on Tampa Bay Mom's Blog) but I wanted to share the two main sewing crafts that I did for the party: Pillowcases and Pajama Pants.

 

Pajama Pants

Since this wasn't just any party, but my sweet Hadley's big first birthday party, of course the girls had to have adorable pajama pants.  I used the pant pattern provided by Dana Made it but only used the back piece (note that the existing pattern is similar to 2T but you can easily cut it down or up, use an existing pair of pants as a guide).  You can follow her tutorial but they are pretty easy to put together.  One thing that I did different is that I used only the back pieces and cut the pattern along a fold in the fabric.  Cutting it this way makes it so that there isn't a seam on the outside of the leg, but two pieces this way but cut one with the pattern flipped over/upside down.  Once you have your two pieces sew from the bottom of the leg up to the point in the crotch for both leg pieces.   Then join the two legs together by matching right sides together and sewing back to front of the crotch.  Once you have the two pieces together you can add a casing at the top for the elastic and hem the bottom.  To give mine a really girly touch I also added a 2.5 inch ruffle on the bottom. 

My older daughter loved her pajama pants and asks to wear them all the time.  Overall they were really easy and turned out really cute.

 

Pillow Cases

 

The second craft I did for the party was making pillowcases as favors for each kid in attendance.  Pillowcases were a fun and cute way to tie in the pajama party theme but also give them something personalized.  As friends RSVPed I just asked each parent what the kids room looks like so that I could match up fabric to their room.  Once the pillow cases were done, I sent them to my mom to embroider each child's name on it for a special personalized touch.

Thankfully pillowcases are super easy and each took me less than 15 minutes.  To start you will need a yard of cotton material.  Most cotton material is approximately 44 inches wide but you will only need about 42 inches, so cut off an inch or two.  Once you have done this you should have a rectangle that is 36x42 inches.  Take your rectangle and fold it in half (right sides together) so that you now have a rectangle that is 36x21 inches.  Sew (or I serged so that the seams were nice but a regular straight stitch is fine) along the long side (36 inch side) and along one of the shorter sides (this will be the bottom).  Take the open end and turn under 3-4 inches.  If you are using a serger, you will want to serge the raw edge before turning under.  If you are using a regular stitch you can either turn under 2 inches and then 2 more or just turn it under the 4 inches knowing that the edge will not be as pretty.  Sew close to the raw edge all the way around the opening.  Turn pillow case right side out and press. 

 

Overall I was really happy with the crafts I did for the party, my girls loved their pajama pants and the guests are hopefully sleeping well on their new personalized pillow cases.