Let's Keep Handmade In Business

I'm musing at the Green Phone Booth today about the new craft and toy safety regulations that may put lots of independent artists out of business in February if we don't speak up. Check out my post - I link to some great background reads on the issue and to ways take action to keep our kids' toys (and one-of-a-kind clothing) safe and unique. Read more!

Little Alouette Discount Today (Sunday)

If you're in the market for a baby gift, check out Little Alouette this weekend for some simply, beautifully made wooden toys. I met Ms. Turn Sharp in San Francisco last summer and she's as warm and sparkling in person as her toys. Love the wooden keys (you know how I feel about the real ones as a toy) and the new tagline for the store:

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood."

Little Alouette's offering 10% off with the code "Mamabird10" if you shop today (Sunday, Dec. 7) -- Happy Weekend!

P.S. This store's in Ohio - if you're looking to support independent artists in your area, check out Etsy's Shop Local feature. If you're in the DC Metro area, check out CREST, a consortium of local etsy artists. Read more!

Too Late For Cloth Diapers? LemonCadet Guest Posts!

Well, I could not be more excited. I threw a random challenge at one of my favorite Etsy crafters a little while ago (What? You don't fall in love with the people who make your kids' clothes? And then pepper them with questions? Maybe you should be shopping on etsy!).

LemonCadet? I asked, should I bother to switch my almost-two-year-old-boy to cloth diapers? I figure lots of folks out there already do the comparisons (like I did) back when they are pregnant, but who's out there doing the math for us late bloomers (heh, heh)? I won't bore you with our tale of switching from a diaper service to the 7th Generation whole wheat diapers and now on to the theoretically compostable Nature BabyCare diapers (for the moment). If there's anyone out there on the fence like me on the cloth scene, check out the LemonCadet wisdom on the washable nappies. And if you live in DC, you've got to check out her a-dorable stuff at the CraftyBastards fair in Adams Morgan on Sunday, Sept. 28th. See you there!

LemonCadet: "Since I have recently become absolutely obsessed with cloth diapers, MamaBird here asked me if it was too late to start using cloth on her 21-month old son. Always up for a challenge, I got started on the research --and the math.

There are many reasons to use cloth. Many mamas use cloth because of the environmental impact (I've read that one baby's disposables take up as much space in a landfill as a car!). Others choose cloth because their children are allergic to the chemicals in the "sposies." One of the most common reasons to use cloth is that it's just plain cheaper (well, it can be). MamaBird will spend almost $500 on disposable diapers for the few months left until potty training using only 3 - 4 diapers per day (the average age of potty training for boys is 31 months, longer for kids not in day care). It will be devastating for her if we add up just how much she has spent on sposies so far so we'll leave it up to the imagination while remembering that newborns go through at least 12 diapers a day for the first few weeks. My 5-month old is still using about 8 - 9 dipes a day. And how many times have you put on a clean diaper only to have the kid pee on it before you get the tabs closed?

I personally use cloth because I hate throwing stuff away. We recycle, we compost, we use dishtowels to dry our hands and hankies to blow our noses. It only made sense to use cloth diapers. We have a washer/dryer in our basement and a clothesline in the yard. Hanging up the wet diapers on a sunny day has become a routine that I look forward to. I enjoy stuffing my clean pocket dipes in the evening after the baby's in bed. It's one of the few mindless things I get to do.

At the bare minimum, I would suggest that MamaBird buy about 15 pocket diapers and at least 20 inserts. This is an easy combination allowing for fewer trips to the washing machine and little to no dryer use. Pocket diapers (the most popular brands are bumGenius for their one-size diaper and FuzziBunz for their sized diapers) have an inner layer of a polyester fabric that wicks wetness away from the baby. The outer shell is PUL, a waterproof material that keeps the clothes from getting wet. Inside the pocket there's room to stuff an insert.

I prefer FuzziBunz because they have snaps that are harder for babies to remove than velcro. They also dry really fast --and that's the key in this experiment. Inserts take longer to dry; that's why I recommend having more of those on hand. Most people get by with one microfiber insert, heavy wetters may need two. Plain microfiber doesn't take too long to dry but hemp and bamboo do take a while. Many mamas opt for an insert that combines layers of microfiber and hemp for maximum absorbency without a lot of bulk.

Sadly, I recommend that she stick with sposies at night because I have yet to find a good nighttime option that I feel comfortable sharing. This may soon change.

The goods: I found seconds at the FuzziBunz site for only $12 each! Several websites sell packs of inserts at a discount so 20 microfiber inserts would run about $50 (you would need more of these because of drying times). That's a total of $230; a whole lot less than will be spent on sposies. And just think about the value if you plan to use them on more than one kid. If not, you can always give them away, donate them, or resell them. Another option is to buy used. I have bought FuzziBunz with inserts in excellent condition for only $15 each.

Of course there are hidden costs. I read on my favorite cloth diapering forum, The Diaper Pin, that it costs about $5 a week to wash and dry cloth. That's even less if you line dry. You can put a drying rack in your tub or hang the diapers with hangers from your shower curtain bar if you don't have easy access to a clothesline. If you want to go out for the day, you need a wetbag to haul your diapers home with you ($15) although you could reuse plastic shopping bags. We use a washable pail liner and a laundry hamper to store our dirty diapers at home. These cost $15 - $20 but you could always repurpose a plastic bucket with a lid. You could buy some cloth wipes or cut up your own from old t-shirts and towels. You could buy wipe solution or make your own.

So let's add about $45 to this to be generous for a revised total of $275 --still almost 50% less than what would be spent on disposables. And this is just what I recommend. Everyone has their own favorite brands. This is just a suggestion that I think will work for someone who doesn't have the best access to her washing machine.

On the other hand, you could spend hundreds and hundreds on fancy organic diapers and matching covers but cloth can be done easily and cheaply. Either way, you will get addicted."

Thank you, LemonCadet! What more could I need, personal researcher?! You rock and I can't wait to see your new yetis on Sunday! My little guy already sleeps with two "monnies" (that's monster to you and me) so I have a feeling a little more furry love may be in our future.



P.S. The gorgeous pictures are all from LemonCadet: of the beautiful cloth diapers and wipes she sewed, as well as her darling baby girl, Zadie! Check out Zadie's beautiful nursery (the Flickr set is amazing) if you dig LemonCadet's artistic vision as much as

Saving...

I do. The room is lovely without being sappy. Kind of like LC. Read more!

Wooden Teether Giveaway

Who needs plastic teethers, huh? After bpa in baby bottles and formula and cans and pacifiers and who knows what else, it's a relief to handle a hunk of wood carved just for my baby's mouth. amy t sharp of doobleh-vay is an inspiring blogger (check out her poetry lessons for chil'ren) and she also creates fine waldorf-y wooden toys for her etsy store, Little Alouette. I just bought a few of her wooden teethers, for CBoy and for our newest baby-girl friend on Earth, so I can vouch that they are solidly beautiful and magically delicious.

In case you have never been on over to etsy, it is a "place to buy and sell all things handmade." In general, I think that we all buy and consume way too much. But supporting independent artists and buying secondhand when we do choose to buy gifts for others or absolutely necessary toys for our tiny ones are practices I can get behind.

All that said, it's lovely to host a giveaway of something that won't be leaching anytime soon. Amy kindly offered to give a teether to a lucky Surely You Nest reader! So leave a comment by Friday 5pm EST and EGirl will play Vanna once again. Also? Please leave some way to contact me in your comment, ie an email address if you're not a blogger, and/or email me with that info at surely you nest at gmail dot com if you'd like to keep it private. And by all means, check out her etsy shop, 'cause she sells wooden blocks and pennants and all sorts of creative items for small people. By the way, I've got no connection to ms sharp other than that of satisfied customer and avid blog readership.

xoxo
Read more!

Gifting In the Land Of Plenty

In preparation for Thanksgiving, we've been reflecting each night as a family on how grateful we are to have each other. At this point in our lives, we--even (especially?!) our kids--have enough stuff, and we're hoping to keep that in mind as we plan our holiday season.

Want to skip the transfer of goods? There's Save the Children's Holiday Gift Catalog and the slick Better Present Pledge, put together by Share Our Strength, Heifer International, and Conservation International (they exhort you to "pledge that this year I will give at least one gift to a nonprofit in honor of a friend or family member, instead of giving them a material present. I will choose a gift that reflects my values, that will touch the heart of the person I give it to, and that will help create a better future for the Earth and its people." Pretty sweet message.)

If you do want to give a tangible gift, what about supporting an indy artist by buying something on Etsy? Not only do the artists there have OOAK (one of a kind) stuff (like recycled poppy bobby pins or upcycled wool felted fingerless gloves), you can convo sellers to end up with something truly custom made.

Another option is to give experiential gifts -- gift certificates for restaurants, massages, theater tickets, consumables (food, tea, wine -- my mom wants a coffee gift card so she doesn't have to blow her budget every time she weakens and craves a $5 latte). There's the pragmatic category eg photo sharing (SmugMug has lovely sharing capabilities) or even organic produce delivery.

For kids, non-cluttery gifts include tickets to concerts (ie Dan Zanes) or to a show (Cirque du Soleil), memberships (Smithsonian/museums, zoo), funding classes (ballet, yoga, art), or magazines (we are huge Click fans for the 3-7 set and Babybug fans for the 1-3-ers). And none of those gifts leach Bisphenol-A! They're not made in China! They're not going to morph into date rape drugs!

Speaking of kid festivities, if you are actually counting down until Christmas, DC Urban Moms had a thread recently about advent calendars.... One idea our family's going to adopt is to make a felt advent calendar with little pieces to move each day (snowmen, trees, etc) in lieu of gifts or chocolate. We're also going to use our current advent box with little wooden drawers to house ornaments we already have for our kids to add to the tree one by one over the month (will a tree last a month if we water it enough?).

In preparation for the holiday onslaught of stuff you might want to purge in a targeted fashion -- local neighborhood listservs are a great place to start, as is freecycle (altho the flakiness factor may make your head explode), and/or your local parenting listserv.

I'm curious about non-traditional gifting ideas you have for the holidays.

Peace to all. MB Read more!