Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Econobum Cloth Diapers

Photo from www.econobum.com

Econobums are made by the same company as the Flip diapers. After trying, and liking, the Flips I wanted to increase my stash. I wanted to see if I could find covers that would work with the Flip inserts (my favorites) but didn't have the flaps and were cheaper. As I mentioned in my Flip review, I don't like the flaps. I went to my local cloth diaper store and spoke with the owner about my options. I came across the Econobums and noticed they looked similar to the Flip covers. They were a lot cheaper and one cover came with 3 pre-folds. I bought two covers with pre-folds and another Flip insert. These quickly became my go-to cover and went back to buy another. The cover works just like the Flip cover, but without the flaps. They are made of the same material, but only one layer instead of two, and work with all the inserts, including the disposable ones. I don't have any trouble with leaks. You can wipe them out with a wet wipe if they are damp and they are dry in a couple minutes. They only come in white, but you can get different colored edging.
The pre-folds are very thick and absorbent. They have pre sewn lines to show you were to fold them and can be folded in different directions depending on the size you need. You can use them with pins or Snappi's or just lay them flat in the cover like an insert. I still prefer the Flip inserts and use them more often than the pre-folds. The inserts are easier since there is no folding involved, plus they are trimmer and more absorbent.
You can buy a kit from Econobum that claims it will get you from birth to potty training for only $100. If you have the money upfront that would be a great deal.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Giveaways

When my facebook page hits 50 "like"s the giveaways will start. We are so close! Please share this with your friends.
50 =Scentsy Plug-in warmer and 3 scent bars. If you haven't tried Scentsy before, you will love it!
100 =Bag of Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent
200 =Posh Pumpkins Cloth Diaper. See my review and check them out on facebook.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer

My husband is in the sheet metal industry and comes home covered in metal dust. That mixed with soap leads to a really nasty shower. The metal dust sticks to the shower floor and turns it black. It also gets on the tile and grout. I have tried a lot of cleaners (mostly natural) and have had a hard time making it look very clean even with scrubbing on my hands and knees for over an hour. I know that S. C. Johnson claims to use more earth friendly products, so yesterday I decided to try Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer since he and the kids would be out for the day.
At first I couldn't get the spray to foam, but once I did it started cleaning right away. I saw some of the metal dust begin to run down the wall without any scrubbing. I let the product sit for 3 minutes, as the directions state, and then used a shower brush to scrub the residue. The effort I had to put in was very minimal and the shower is cleaner than it has been in awhile. It even cleared the soap scum off the shower doors. I was very impressed with the results. Unfortunately, I used the entire bottle in one use since it didn't foam right away. I really needed a little more on the floor of the shower, but it still removed most of the black staining.
The fumes from this cleaner were minimal compared to other chemical cleaners. I did not feel over powered by them.
The bottle also states that it will continue to work for four days. I did notice that the floor looked even better after my shower this morning.

Eco – Friendly Activities for the Summer

This is a guest post from a blog I follow. Lots of great ideas. Let me know if you try any of them and feel free to include pictures :)

Eco – Friendly Activities for the Summer

By Melanie Melugin of Going Green with Noah

Summer is here and you either have kids that are not yet in school…..or kids that are out of school.

Trying to find great eco friendly activities for them to do?

Here are some ideas for a wide variety of ages of children.

Make a Homemade Bird Feeder

Once you finish your milk, whether it be a carton or a gallon, rinse it out and save it to make a homemade birdfeeder!

Basic Materials: Milk carton, string, bird seed

Difficulty: Very easy

********

Another option is to make a FULL milk carton Bird Feeder:

What you'll need:

Empty quart sized cardboard milk carton
Scissors
String or cord
Hole punch or pencil
Bird seed

How to make it:

Cut a hole in the bird feeder – it should be big enough so a bird could come and sit and eat the feed, but not too big or the carton will become unstable. (See photo.)
Cut a hole using the hole punch in the top of the milk carton and put a string through the hole. Alternatively, you can poke a hole on either side of the flap at the top of the carton by poking a pencil through the top. (See photo.)
Tie a knot in the string. (See photo.)
Fill the carton with bird seed until it reaches the top of the hole. (See photo.)
Hang the cart on a tree branch and watch the birds enjoy their snack! (See photo.)

Tips:

A quart size carton works perfect as it isn't too large and holds a decent amount of food.
You may choose to decorate the outside of the carton but keep in mind that it will be outside in the elements and decorations may wash off in the rain. Also, you wouldn't want the birds pecking at flaking paint!

Check your bird feeder regularly and refill as needed.

(Courtesy of Kiboomu.com)

Make your Own Paper

Don't throw away those old newspapers and magazines!

Recycle your own paper products to make your own paper at home!

A messy, but simple, project, this is great to do with or without kiddos

Here's how:

Supplies Needed:

Paper from your recycle bin

Large bowl

Blender

Brownie pan

Acrylic paint

Mesh screen

Towels

Water

Tear your paper into small pieces and place them in your bowl. Squares about 1 inch by 1 inch are fine. Add hot water and soak your paper for about 30 minutes.

Have and adult help you pour your paper-and-water mixture into your blender. Blend the paper until it becomes thick and pulpy.

Pour the mixture back into the bowl and take it to your protected work space.

Choose a color for your paper. I decided to make mine blue. Add paint to the pulp and mix with your hands until the pulp is the color you wish your paper to be. Keep in mind that the paper with look lighter after it dries.

Move a few handfuls of the pulp into your brownie pan. Cover with more water.

Cut a piece of screen slightly larger than you want your sheets of paper. You want to use a sturdy piece of screen. I choose a flexible piece of screen and it was difficult to keep the pulp on the screen.

Dip the screen into the mixture and cover with a thin layer of pulp. Allow the water to drain through the screen, then move your screen to a towel. Flip the screen so the pulp is directly on the towel and the screen is facing up. Fold your towel over the screen and let it soak up some of the water.

Remove the screen and repeat.

Your paper will need to dry for about a day.

Finally, cut the paper to the size you want, or leave the edges unfinished. You may wish to decorate your paper with a stamp at the top or bottom. Be sure to leave enough room to write on it.

Courtesy of Artsmarts4Kids.blogspot.com

Make Homemade Strawberry Fruit Leather

Fruit Leather Recipe

Ingredients:

Strawberries
Water
Lemon juice
Sugar (if needed)

**4 cups of fruit yield about one sheet of fruit leather

Directions:

Preheat the oven to the lowest setting or 120 degrees...the lowest my oven would go was 170 degrees.

Rinse the berries and cut of the green tops. Cut the berries into quarters if they are large berries.

If the berries are sweet you will not need to add much sugar, but if they are tart you will need to add a bit more.

Place the berries in a covered saucepan on medium heat. Pour in 1/2 c. water for every 4 cups of fruit. Bring the berries to a simmer and let them cook down for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is soft.

Use a potato masher to mash the fruit that is left in the pan until fairly smooth. (Or wait for the mixture to cool a bit and put it in your food processor or blender.) If you kiddos are sensetive to the seeds, you could strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove the strawberry seeds.

Add sugar 1 tsp. at a time until desired sweetness and lemon juice to taste I added 1/2 c. sugar and the juice from 1/2 of a lemon to give it some real zing.

Simmer fruit until sugar is completely disolved and the mixture has thickened (about 5 or 10 minutes more).

Spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray and line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the strawberry mixture onto the lined baking sheet until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick or so.

Bake in the low temperature oven for as long as it takes for the puree to dry out (between 8 and 12 hours) and not be sticky to the touch...ours took 6.5 hours since it was at a higher temp.

Let the fruit leather cool. Then as you take the leather up, tightly roll it, plastic wrap and all as you would do cinnamon rolls.

Then cut the leather into desired widths.

Store the homemade "fruit roll ups" in airtight containers or plastic baggies.

4) STAY AT HOME

Parents – Stay at Home whenever possible!

I’m one that is a busy bee, but think about the amount of emissions that we emit when we are driving from place to place.

Find activities at home, whether it be building blocks, planting an herb garden (in the shade to beat the heat), or even having a playdate with neighbors. Keep the car turned off, be creative with your children, while helping the environment at the same time.

5) Visit the Library

If you do need to get out of the house, take your child to the local library. Many have story times that range from birth and up. Noah and I attend each Thursday morning to the toddler time and he LOVES it. Then take time to search books and read to your child!

In addition to these great ideas, here are a list of resources that I use for additional ideas and inspiration to keep my little one active and entertained!

Kiboomu

Crafts.Kaboose.com

FamilyFun.go.com/Crafts

GummyLump

Melanie operates the blog Going Green with Noah. She is a stay at home mom with a 19-month-old son and expecting a baby girl in August. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Posh Pumpkins AIO Cloth Diaper Review + Giveaway

I received a Posh Pumpkins AIO (all in one) to review. This is my only AIO diaper and I wish I had a whole stash of them. I love this diaper! It is so trim and cute, and the color is bright and cheery. The outside of the diaper is as soft as the inside, so it doesn't look like plastic.

I was a little concerned at first because it only has two snaps for height adjustment, but so far that is working out just fine. My little one is on the highest adjustment on his other one size diapers, but he still has one to go in these.
I have not experienced any leaks with this diaper during day time use and as you can tell from the pictures, he is a mover. He was doing circles around me while I was trying to get shots of the diaper. Even with all the ups and downs, twists and turns, we still didn't have any leaks.
I know after reading this you are going to want one of these diapers too. Luckily, Posh Pumpkins have offered up a diaper for one lucky reader. So share this with your friends because when I reach 200 "likes" on my facebook page, we will have a Posh Pumpkins diaper giveaway!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Flip Cloth Diaper Review

After the gdiaper failure, I went back to the store and asked for advice on purchasing other AI2 diapers. The girl working recommended the Flip AI2s. I purchased a kit containing two covers and 6 Stay-dry inserts. Here is the website description of the Flip system.

Description

The Flip™ Diaper System is a flexible, hybrid cloth diapering system that provides options for every occasion. The one-size cover and three choices in absorbent inserts make diapering your baby less expensive, easy and perfect for where-ever, when-ever.

FLIP™ IS AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3

1. TOSS the used insert in your diaper pail

2. CHOOSE the best insert for the occasion: Stay-Dry, Organic or Disposable

3. REUSE the cover

FLIP WITH STAY-DRY INSERT

A Flip diaper cover used with a Stay-Dry Insert is perfect for overnight & anytime use. Made of 3 ultra-absorbent layers of microfiber and a smooth stay-dry suede cloth that wicks moisture from your baby’s bum. Flip Stay-Dry Inserts work to keep your baby drier, longer.

Here is my review.

The Flip Stay-Dry inserts are by far my favorite inserts (pictured below.) They are a great length for front to back coverage and they are one size, so you don't have to buy new ones every time your baby grows. They have pre-sewn lines so you know where to fold them for each size. The inserts work with every waterproof cover I tried. They are trim and very absorbent! The disposable inserts are cheaper than the gdiaper ones, but other than that are exactly the same.

The covers come in a small variety of colors and are one size for 8-35lbs. Definitely a money saver. They are quick drying so you can wash them off and they are dry before the next change. You can also wipe them out with a wipe during each change in order to remove any urine that is inside and they are dry within a minute or two.

My only issue with the Flip Diaper is the flaps that you tuck the inserts under. Since they are on top of the insert they tend to get soiled quickly. If your child has a BM, it will definitely get on the back flap and the front flap gets wet with urine. Since the material is the same as the outer material it is more absorbent and therefore keeps the moisture against the babies skin. I just didn't tuck the inserts under the flaps to eliminate the problem, and found the diapers also fit better that way.

For overnight coverage, I use a Stay-Dry insert and a disposable insert. The Stay-dry absorbs anything that gets through the disposable and we haven't had any leaks.

8lbs

20lbs

Stay-dry insert

Friday, July 8, 2011

Gdiaper review

When I originally decided to cloth diaper I chose the gdiaper system because I loved the idea of a diaper that could use cloth as well as a biodegradable insert. I also wanted a cover that could be reused so I didn't have to purchase as many diapers. This was the only AI2 diaper I had heard of. I started with two small covers, 4 snap in liners, 6 cloth inserts, and two packs of the biodegradable inserts. The diapers are very cute and trim, but I couldn't get them to stop leaking.
The biodegradable inserts are flat and thin. The breastmilk poop just slides right off and onto the snap in liner and typically out of the liner onto the cover. This meant I had to change the cover each time, which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place. They were very absorbent, but not enough for overnight coverage.
The cloth inserts are much shorter than other brands and didn't give the front to back coverage needed. My son was of average height and a little below in weight, so it wasn't an issue of a large baby. I even tried using the medium/large inserts and they still leaked. They were not very absorbent even after going through all the prep work. The liners and snaps also left marks on my sons skin. You could see the imprints from the snaps and red puckered skin from the elastic around the liner.
I spoke with some other users and retailers for support and they said they had the same problems with the diapers. The retailer also informed me that he has heard the same from several other customers.
I do have to say that the gdiaper company has great customer service. They encourage their customers to contact them with any questions or concerns and have a great facebook community to discuss your gdiapers.