Thrifty Craft Mama

This blog has moved!

2009-09-24T22:53:00.001-04:00

I created this blog on a whim about eleven months ago. Since then I’ve discovered the beauty of the online blogging community. I have found both inspiration and encouragement from my fellow bloggers.

My blog has evolved beyond what I initially envisioned, and I find myself looking for greater flexibility and user-friendliness for my readers. So, I have decided (with encouragement and a LOT of help from my computer guru husband) to move over to a self-hosted blog. All of the posts and comments from this blog have been transferred to my new site.

I hope you will join me at my new (online) home, mamasmiles.com. Thank you for all of your fantastic comments, support, suggestions, and input here over the past eleven months!

A long overdue thank you!

2009-09-24T07:53:00.001-04:00

MANY weeks ago, I got this lovely package from the incredibly talented LiEr at ikat bag with these beautiful bibs, my favorite nursing cover ever, and (knowing that I like to sew) a fleece ball kit to put together for the soon-to-arrive baby Lily.

That Saturday, Emma and I spent some time together deciding how to arrange the ball panels and which ribbons to put where. We pinned everything together and then set it aside to sew up the next day.

Instead of sewing, I spent Sunday evening in the hospital, with Lily arriving shortly before dawn Monday morning. Since said project was full of pins, I was careful to put it in a safe place before leaving.

Or so I thought. If you haven’t already figured out, this was the sewing project I’ve ranted about a few times on this blog. Thankfully Johnny unearthed it during a recent self entertainment episode (so much for putting it in a “safe place”). I have no idea where it was, but thankfully he brought it to me without getting into any of the pins. I was happy to have it back, and we sewed it up into a beautiful fleece ball:

Lily is just starting to show a slight interest in toys, so in the meantime Emma is doing her best to relive her own babyhood:

Thank You, LiEr!

Wordless Wednesday: Personality

2009-09-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Pattern blocks: Beyond templates

2009-09-22T08:03:00.002-04:00

I blog about pattern blocks quite a bit. They are currently my favorite educational toy, and this is one of the (many) reasons why. Emma called me in the other day and said, “Mama, look at my robot!” I went in, and she had created this beautiful robot. She went on to explain that she gave the robot a skirt, because the robot is a girl.

Three Under Four

2009-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

I always feel like my babies graduate from the newborn phase at around seven weeks. Lily turns seven weeks old today, so today I’m in a reflective mood. A few thoughts from the first seven weeks with three children under four:

Going with the flow is the surest path to happiness for children and parents.
My children are happiest when I only schedule one outing (e.g., grocery shopping, story time at the library, play date, doctor visit, etc) per day.
Outings are simplest in the morning, before the time when my children should be (but usually are not) napping.
Non-naps can be a good thing when they result in earlier bedtimes.
Beautiful fall weather is a blessing.
Emma has grown into the capable role of the big sister – but she’s still only three and a half years old.
Johnny has moved from being jealous of me holding Lily because he wants to be held to being jealous of me holding Lily because he wants to hold Lily.
Baby smiles are the best.
Children grow up way too fast.

Bicycle Mud Guards (and giveaway winner)

2009-09-18T09:52:00.001-04:00

Eleven years ago today, Mike and I met for the first time on our way to freshman orientation. We went on a long walk that night, and two years’ worth of walks later were engaged and then married a year after that. According to Mike, we never dated, but for our one-month “we’re not dating” anniversary he bought me a gift.

Sure, mud guards for a bike aren’t a traditional gift, but they were much appreciated. We were in Northern California, and it was raining a lot. And who knows when I would have found room in my budget to buy them myself… The mud guards were sold with my bike to a graduate student who, when bidding for my bike against another grad student, rejected my offer of a second price sealed bid auction (where the highest bidder pays the second-highest price), insisting instead on the winner paying the higher bid. And this was an economics graduate student in one of the highest ranking economics programs in the country. No wonder our country is suffering an economic crisis. And no, he wasn’t hitting on me; I was married and selling my “husband’s bike” because when I tried to sell a men’s bicycle as my own nobody wanted to buy it…

Thank you to everyone who entered, I got a lot of entertainment out of your answers. Random.org chose Katrina, whose use of logic I quite liked anyhow. Congratulations, Katrina!

No-sew Fabric-covered box

2009-09-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

Being my frugal self, I tend to store toys in cardboard boxes. They work great, but aren’t terribly attractive. Here are the results of a recent attempt to beautify the playroom. If you want to be super-thrifty, use a water-soluble glue so you can peel off, wash, and re-use the fabric once the box wears out. I can guarantee that I’ll at least consider doing that…

MATERIALS:

Cardboard box
Fabric
Craft glue
Duct tape (optional)
Scissors to cut fabric
sharp knife or exacto blade

Steps:

1) Cut flaps off of box.

2) Figure out how much fabric you need to cover the outside and inside of box and cut two pieces – one for the outside and another for the inside. The fabric should overlap each edge 1-2 inches.

3) Put craft glue on bottom of box.

4) Center fabric on inside of box and press into glue. Add glue to top inside edges of box.

5) Attach fabric. You could trim the corners before this step, but then you risk fabric fraying. We left ours intact, which is why it bunches a bit in each corner. I think it looks good that way, but this might bother a perfectionist.

6) Secure liner fabric to the outside of the box either with craft glue or duct tape. We used duct tape (I love duct tape), but failed to get a picture thanks to “must remove duct tape from all surfaces” Johnny.

7) Center the piece of fabric for the outside of the box. If you want you can glue the fabric to the bottom; we skipped this step but it might help keep the fabric in place.

8) glue outside fabric to the inside of the box, tucking under the edges to prevent fraying. Glue the sides first, and then fold in the extra fabric on the ends before gluing the edges. Any extra fabric that you don’t catch this way can be tucked in after gluing.

9) Add toys. Or three-year-olds.

These boxes would be even easier to make if you skipped the craft glue and went straight to duct tape. I didn’t do this because 1) we only have the traditional silver duct tape and none of the pretty colored stuff and 2) for some reason Johnny has an irresistible urge to remove duct tape from surfaces. Maybe it’s the challenge of peeling it off?

Wordless Wednesday: Ballerina Baby

2009-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Beth, for the darling dress!

Review: Eating Right Kids

2009-09-16T06:30:00.000-04:00

Team Mom sent us a set of samples from the new Looney Tunes Eating Right Kids created by Safeway and Warner Bros. to try out. Here are our reactions:

Chewy bar: It tastes a little less sweet than your typical granola bar, and I like that it has no high fructose corn syrup. Still, the first ingredient is corn syrup, which I wouldn’t call healthy even if it doesn’t get quite the rap HFCS is earning lately. Milk chocolate is the second ingredient.
Juice: My kids gobbled this up; no surprise since they would both live off of juice and nothing else given the opportunity. I like that it is 100% juice.
Fruit cup: This is your standard fruit cup. Sugar is the fourth ingredient, after water, peaches, and pears. I would prefer for it to be in pear or pineapple juice, but at least this is a light rather than a heavy syrup. The kids liked it, minus the maraschino cherries.
Pasta: The whole wheat cheese-filled ravioli weren’t a hit at our house. Both the ravioli and the sauce tasted blah to me, but I’ve always found that the case with canned ravioli. It seemed strange that the container held two fairly large servings – if the whole point is for this line to provide ready-packed healthy food for your child’s lunch, it doesn’t seem like you should have two servings in a single container.

Final verdict: These seem like okay pre-packed options for your child’s lunch if you’re okay with corn syrup and fructose (both in the granola bar), and they’re probably better than your average cafeteria options. The full line also includes pre-packed fresh fruits and veggies. I was happy to hear that Warner Bros. Consumer Products is clearing retail shelves of the majority of foods featuring Looney Tunes that don’t meet a “better-for-you” standard – here’s hoping the only foods they aren’t removing are clearly marketed as candy.

A few favorite lunchbox favorites in our home:

fresh fruit
veggies with hummus
cheese sticks
yogurt
fruit cups (I try to buy ones packed in juice, but sometimes I buy light syrup ones)
applesauce – we especially like the ones with other fruit purees mixed in. We buy the “no added sugar” ones. In the summertime my kids like them frozen.
raisins
freeze-dried fruit
freeze-dried potato slices
leftovers from dinner (you need microwave access for this to work most days)
wraps
sandwiches

What are lunchtime favorites at your house?

Blog Favorites: Sewing

2009-09-15T09:16:00.001-04:00

September is National Sewing Month, so I thought I’d showcase a few of my favorite sewing tutorials - some simple, some challenging, some for hand sewing and others for machine sewing. I’ve linked to shops run by these wonderful bloggers in the cases where I am aware of their existence (if I missed your shop, let me know and I’ll edit this post to include it). When using these tutorials, please follow requests made by bloggers with regards to fair use. Most bloggers restrict their tutorials to personal, non-commercial use. Now, on to the blogs:

LiEr at ikat bag has a fantastic collection of sewing tutorials for toys, clothing, and hair accessories. You can find the full list in the sidebar on her blog. She also recently opened an etsy shop.
Get instructions for a sandwich wrap that doubles as a placemat from the Frugal Family Fun Blog. Valerie has a few sewing tutorials, including this apple printed lunch sack and instructions for making a bib from a pair of old jeans.
Deb from Works in Progress shows how to make a bag from a vintage sheet. I also like the pram bag she made using two pillowcases. She also recently opened a shop – based in New Zealand, but ships worldwide.
I love this repurposed girls’ ruffle front shirt from Make It and Love It. Ashley has a TON of tutorials for sewing projects – just check her left sidebar. She also has an etsy shop.
Beth from be the thread has a great two-part tutorial for making adorable onesie dresses here and here. She has a few other sewing tutorials here, and an Art Fire shop.
Katherine at One Inch World has wonderful sewing tutorials, including several for felt food. Just check her sidebar. I think her ravioli tutorial is especially clever as it is the most efficient way of making felt ravioli that I’ve seen. Many of Katherine’s tutorials can easily be sewn by hand, so you don’t even need a sewing machine.
Favorite tutorials from homemade by jill include her ruffle shirt, taggie animals, and very adorable quiet book. See her sidebar for more templates and tutorials.

This blog has sewing tutorials for baby wipes, crayon rolls (the giveaway for a crayon roll is open until Friday morning), instructions for repurposing jeans and t-shirts into toddler shorts, a doll bed mattress, a pattern for Christmas stockings, a winter toddler dress, and a princess gown, Also hand-sewing tutorials for princess shoes and patterns for felt food here and here.

Do you have a favorite sewing resource that I’ve missed? Please link up in the comments, I’d love to check it out!

Sew Organized and a Giveaway

2009-09-14T09:55:00.001-04:00

Mike surprised me on Labor Day by suggesting we drive to Ikea to pick up this computer workstation I’ve been drooling over for the past couple of years with no intention whatsoever of using it for our computer. Mike says it’s my anniversary and Christmas present – meeting anniversary (this month), not wedding anniversary. Aren’t I lucky to have a husband who celebrates two anniversaries every year? =)

I’m hoping this will be my solution to sewing without having children climb on the table. I can lock the machines in the cabinet by putting a child lock on the doors, and I finally have somewhere to store my fabric, which actually mostly consists of clothing I’ve collected from family members who humor my questionably sane desire to repurpose all old clothing into new things.

I can’t call the cabinet thrifty, but my sewing stash is, and this is the best solution I’ve come up with for having a (child-proof!) sewing corner in a limited-space home (although I lived in a few apartments before moving here that didn’t have space for this corner). I’m especially proud of it because, although Mykel built the main frame for me, I managed to put on and adjust the doors and hinges all by myself – with all three children “helping”.

As for the giveaway, I’m offering a crayon roll like these to whoever can guess what the first present Mike ever gave me was. If you wish to earn entertainment points, give some ideas as to how he chose your guess of a gift for this girl he was “not dating”, only spending every spare moment with. If you have a preference for crayon roll colors, put that in your comment and I’ll match them if I have those colors in my felt stash.

If nobody guesses correctly, the winner will be chosen randomly – unless someone leaves me a particularly entertaining guess, in which case I reserve the right to subjectively choose them. If more than one person guesses correctly I’ll choose a winner randomly from the correct guesses (unless one correct guess was particularly entertaining, in which case they may win instead).

This giveaway is open worldwide; just expect your prize to take a while to arrive if you live very far away. If you know this story and want to enter the giveaway, make a suggestion as to what it could have been instead (fitting within the limits of my hints).

I’ll give you a few hints: it was very practical, relatively thrifty, very G-rated, and immensely useful. And last I heard, it was in the possession of a graduate student whose name I no longer remember.

This giveaway ends at 9am Eastern time on Friday, September 18th (the actual meeting anniversary).

Notes to Self

2009-09-12T10:56:00.002-04:00

Searching every cupboard and drawer in the house may not result in finding your missing sewing project that you stashed somewhere while in labor well over a month ago. However, losing important sewing projects is a strong motivator for necessary home organization. Given that your home is approaching organized mode, here’s hoping said sewing project turns up soon.
Having two children who can walk/run means you have two children who can walk/run in opposite directions. This complicates supervision since you cannot split yourself in two. Be thankful that your children like to stick together in public so this is only a problem at home. We won’t worry about three children who can walk/run just yet.
Your toddler is an expert at self-entertaining. However, he may not choose the forms of self-entertainment you would select for him. You would love for him to draw nicely on paper, read books, or do puzzles. He may choose instead to:

draw on the table, floor, chairs, and walls
tear pages from books
throw puzzle pieces
taking three bites out of each ripe nectarine on the kitchen table
pull every baby wipe/kleenex out of the box

If your toddler does any of the above, be sure to remember that he does sometimes choose to entertain himself by:

completing puzzles nicely
reading books without ripping out pages
building block towers
drawing on paper
cleaning the house with the baby wipes he pulls out of the box

If a parenting tip works one day, be sure to thoroughly enjoy your success. The same trick may not work the next day.
Hugs, kisses, and “I love you, Mama!” are fantastic antidotes for sleep deprivation, general exhaustion, and bad days.

Favorite Reads: Stories featuring animals

2009-09-10T09:31:00.001-04:00

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, is a current family favorite. I was first introduced to this series when I was seven years old and my two-year-old sister got the original Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? book for Christmas. Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? is probably my favorite of the series. I like baby animals, so it was an immediate win there. I also like the fact that this one is all animals (no humans). Emma and Johnny both love this book, and Emma had it memorized within a day or two.

David A. Carter’s Woof! Woof! makes clever use of shapes and was an instant hit with both kids. We all like the texture of the cut-outs on the pages, and Emma enjoys guessing what each shape is going to be. I’m currently loving minimal-word-count books, because Emma memorizes them almost immediately and “reads” them to Johnny (and herself) over and over.

We borrowed Hop! Plop!, written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tali Klein and illustrated by Oliver Dunrea, after seeing the Infant Bibliophile’s review. Emma loves this book, and reads it several times each day. Johnny enjoys the book’s use of onomatopoeias, and I like the way these two friends find a way to play together in spite of their size difference.

Sherman the Sheep, written by Kevin Kiser and illustrated by Rowan Barnes-Murphy, is a clever tale about how, while the grass may seem greener on the other side, you’ll probably be happiest where you already are. I’m pretty sure my kids missed the message (possibly because young children seem to naturally be happy with what they have), but they enjoy the pictures of the sheep and the places the sheep go.

See more children’s book reviews from this week at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Wordless Wednesday: Five

2009-09-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

Geometric Shapes Boat

2009-09-08T07:51:00.004-04:00

Between gorgeous weather and a new baby, crafting has been a bit slow around here lately. I did put together this new geometric shapes template for Emma to use with her felt shapes on her travel felt board this weekend. Go here for other geometric shapes templates, and here to learn how to make a simple travel felt board. I also posted instructions on how to make a large felt/flannel board in two parts, here and here.

Emma and Johnny Quotes

2009-09-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Emma: I put it [a toy] in my pocket so that none of my friends will get it.
Mama: But it’s nice to share with your friends.
Emma: Well, I share with my dolls.

Emma: The floor is really dirty. It’s only for feet and dancing.

Conversation between Mike and a feverish and coughing Emma at 3am:
Dada: What would make you feel better?
Emma (instant answer): Maybe we could go to Disneyland.

Emma: I wish our house was pink. I think everything should be pink.

Emma, looking at some nylons:
I like those tights. Them look like skin.

Johnny, as the local high school girls’ track team runs past our house:
Hey! Girls! Wow! (climbs up on the couch to get a better look) Girls, girls, girls!

Blog Favorites: Preschool Activities

2009-09-04T09:10:00.001-04:00

Simple Cardboard Lacing Tubes and Montessori Smelling Bottles from The Wonder Years

Homemade Lacing Cards from Just For Fun – made from greeting cards

Shape Sorter Stamping from The Adventures of Bear

Eco Friendly Crayon Melts from No Time for Flashcards

Picnic Table Talk: Summer Highlights

2009-09-03T09:11:00.002-04:00

Here is the highlight of our summer – who, appropriately, turns one month old today:

We also enjoyed visits from my parents, a cousin and uncle of Mike’s, two of my brothers, and two of my sisters. Emma asks nearly every day when Aunt K will come stay with us again. We spent hours outside, and plan to continue to do so through the fall. I got some sewing projects done. I picked up some bins to use as workboxes at Walmart last night (they currently have sets of 5 for $3.50, if anyone else is looking for them). We aren’t following the standard workbox system; rather I plan to fill the bins with activities Emma and Johnny can complete with minimal supervision. The bins will be within their reach, and they can choose which bin to pull out.

I had Lily and Johnny simultaneously napping yesterday afternoon (first time ever), so I pulled out my sewing machine only to find that the project I started right before Lily is born is not where I thought it was. Nor is it in any of the other logical places I may have put it. So, I have some motivation to do some major reorganizing of our closets and cabinets, which needed doing anyhow. Now to find the time…

Lessons learned this summer:

Do not put away sewing projects while in labor. You may not put them where you thought you did.
Do not attempt to stop at a playground with a 4-week-old baby, a 20-month-old, and a 3.5-year-old if you left your baby carrier at home.
Do not go out without your baby carrier or stroller, even if it is just to meet your husband for lunch. You may want to stop at a playground on the way home and will wish you had the baby carrier. You will also wish you had the baby carrier and/or stroller when you arrive at your husband’s work and find your toddler has fallen asleep and refuses to wake up.
Indoor climbing toys from grandparents are a lifesaver if you have a toddler who loves to climb, particularly if said child attempts to scale very tall furniture in the absence of climbing toys.
Grandparents are wonderful.
So are aunts and uncles.
So are friends – particularly those who drop by at 1pm with a surprise dinner just when you were starting to realize that your sick children were going to remain high maintenance and that you had no idea what to cook that night.

Wordless Wednesday: Affection (plus an update)

2009-09-02T06:29:00.000-04:00

Johnny’s diagnosis was downgraded to a simple reaction to illness by our pediatrician at a follow-up yesterday, much to my relief. He’s hoping it was a one-time reaction – I know I don’t want a repeat of Saturday anytime in the near future! He also ate today, thanks to my serving meals in a muffin tin – thank you, Michelle, for the inspiration! Thanks to everyone who left food suggestions in the comments Monday, also – I’m sure I’ll be trying out all of your strategies since both of my solid food consuming children go through phases of considering food optional. I wouldn’t worry about it much except that not eating tends to equal dramatic meltdowns and I don’t care for those…

Homemade Maracas

2009-09-01T09:46:00.001-04:00

They may be a little lacking in the handle department, but the kids don’t mind and these sound exactly like maracas. We filled ours with small pieces of cardboard, which make enough noise that the kids are happy and are quiet enough that I don’t mind listening to them all day long. Glue on the lids (hot glue works well) if you don’t want your children opening the containers. Our lids are not glued on, and my kids have had fun emptying and re-filling their bottles.

A few extensions of this activity that we may or may not do:

Decorate the containers
Try swapping out different materials to see what they sound like. A few we might try:
- beans
- rice
- pasta
- cotton balls
Shaking along to the beat in a song
Counting shakes
Experiment with putting more or less of a material in the bottle to see how it changes the pitch and timbre of the maraca.

Month in review and September goals

2009-08-31T10:17:00.001-04:00

If you ignore the near-constant sickness, August was a good month. We’ll especially ignore the end-of-month bonus we got Saturday in the form of a LONG day in Boston Children’s hospital for Johnny ending in an asthma diagnosis and the fact that Mike currently has bronchitis for the second time this year. I do want to know, can anyone tell me why the nurses at Boston Children’s thought it was a good idea to try to draw blood from the back of BOTH of Johnny’s hands before finally succeeding in the much-more-common inner elbow spot?

Back to reviewing August… I enjoyed the simplicity of life with two children for the few hours before I went to the hospital to have Lily. The kids got to go to TWO birthday parties August 1st, which would have been impossible with a newborn. Lily has been a joy to take care of, so enjoying having a newborn around has been a breeze. I LOVED having so much family around. It was wonderful to spend time with family members I rarely get to see. I thoroughly appreciated my mom’s cooking, and my siblings and parents spent a lot of time baking with Emma, wrestling Johnny, reading to Emma and Johnny, snuggling Lily, and helping to mow the lawn, paint the cathedral ceiling in our family room, and install a new ceiling fan in the same room. Our final visitor left August 27th, so we’re still adjusting to life as a family of five. Emma and Johnny are learning to share their parents with Lily, and Johnny is getting better at understanding just how gentle you need to be with a newborn. Emma has emerged this past week as an absolutely stellar big sister to both Johnny and Lily. She’s great at comforting both of the younger children and helping around the house.

As for annual goals:

Find places to keep all those odds and ends that get stashed in random places: ignored, although I cleared out some old toys.
Potty train Emma: Done. Johnny is still interested in using the potty and sits on it occasionally, but I’m honestly not terribly interested in having two potty-trained children at the moment. If Johnny chooses to train himself overnight, that’s great, but I’m not pushing it.
Get Johnny to eat more solid food: we’re back to ground zero on this one since the trauma of Saturday. He drinks milk from a sippy cup and not much else. Any suggestions?
Be more patient with cooking/baking that involves a rolling pin: My mom did this, but I don’t think she had my patience issues to start with.
Take the kids outdoors more: They were outside most days, sometimes for hours on end. We kept them in most of the time for one particularly hot and muggy week.
Get the kids to sleep through the night better: Another setback here, I’m guessing due to the combination of new baby and illness. Neither Emma or Johnny is sleeping through the night. They don’t stay awake long when they wake up, but it’s still disrupting everyone’s sleep.

September goals:

Enjoy New England’s beautiful autumn weather by spending time outside and visiting a farm at least once this month.
Visit a farmer’s market. My town runs one and there are several others in neighboring towns.
Make sure all three kids get quality time with both parents. I was baking cookies with Emma last night and she said, “This is fun. I needed some Mama time.”
Enjoy the return of play dates: we’ve been in self-imposed quarantine for the past month thanks to The Evil Virus That Took Forever to Go Away, so we’re all looking forward to visits with friends this month.

I’d love to get my sewing machine out, so we’ll set that as a bonus goal. I’m also excited about running a review and giveaway from All Modern this month, a store that specializes in contemporary furniture but offers some fun toys for babies and children as well.

What are your goals for this month?

Sisters

2009-08-29T08:00:00.001-04:00


Emma at 27 days	Lily at 25 days

When little ones don’t feel well…

2009-08-28T08:28:00.001-04:00

It’s been a month of not feeling great at our house. Nothing serious, just a rather miserable and long-lived virus making the rounds in our family (Lily, thankfully, seems to have been spared the experience). It has, however, gotten me thinking about ways to keep little ones as happy as possible when they feel anything but great. Here are a few quiet activities that have helped to distract from illness this month at our house:

puzzles
books (hooray for public libraries!)
drawing
coloring
painting
play dough
sidewalk paint
looking after baby dolls and stuffed animals
building with blocks
pattern blocks
playing with fabric scraps
playing “school”

I have resorted to television on occasion, but I try to stick to Signing Time DVDs (I did allow a handful of Bob the Builder and one or two Word World episodes). I watch with the kids so we can talk about what they see and to keep myself from using the television as a babysitter. Both my children and I have learned sign language vocabulary from Signing Time, and I learned about greywater purification systems from Bob the Builder. I even looked it up afterwards, and the description seemed reasonably accurate, at least according to Wikipedia…

How do you keep your young children happy when they don’t feel well?

Fluff Talk Thursdays: Show Your Stash

2009-08-27T09:42:00.001-04:00

My stash, from left to right, top to bottom:

Lily’s small-size Huggabuns diapers (this particular version is no longer made) with liners underneath
Bumgenius 3.0 snapped to fit Lily with liners (also snapped to fit Lily) underneath
Johnny’s medium-size Huggabuns diapers (also no longer sold in this incarnation) with liners underneath
Imse Vimse training pants for Johnny with home-sewn cloth wipes (see this post for instructions) underneath
Lily’s home-sewn newborn cloth diaper covers (see this post). We used wipes as inserts for these, and she already outgrew them being the fast-growing child that she is…

The Bumgenius 3.0s are my favorites, but I only have three. They also don’t really fit Johnny at 20 months and 26lbs, so they aren’t the ideal one-size diaper in my mind. I would love to try out some one-size FuzziBunz or Smartipants but we have a decent stash of sized diapers that work just fine so I can’t justify the expense. Thirsties diaper covers also look lovely, although I always prefer snaps over velcro (ironic given that I put velcro on the diapers I made, I realize, but I didn’t have any of those fancy diaper snaps). I also want to try my hand at sewing an RRP diaper and one of Katrina’s fleece soakers – once I figure out how to use my sewing machine with three children in tow, that is!

And while we’re on the topic of sewing, if you’ve always wanted to learn but didn’t get the chance, consider joining Valerie from the Frugal Family Fun Blog’s FREE sewing workshop here – you have until August 31st to sign up!

Wordless Wednesday: Growing up so quickly…

2009-08-26T07:00:00.000-04:00